No Winners on the Horizon in Somalia’s Long Battle With Chaos

[Che -Guevara]

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

Monday, June 01, 2009

 

 

NAIROBI, Kenya — Somalia is once again a raging battle zone, with jihadists pouring in from overseas, preparing for a final push to topple the transitional government.

 

The government is begging for help, saying that more peacekeepers, more money and more guns could turn the tide against the Islamist radicals.

 

But the reality may be uglier than either side is willing to admit: Somalia has become the war that nobody can win, at least not right now.

 

None of the factions — the moderate Islamist government, the radical Shabab militants, the Sufi clerics who control some parts of central Somalia, the clan militias who control others, the autonomous government of Somaliland in the northwest and the semiautonomous government of Puntland in the northeast — seem powerful enough, organized enough or popular enough to overpower the other contenders and end the violence that has killed thousands over the past two years.

 

Somalia analysts say the main event, the government versus the Shabab, will drag on for months, fueled by outside support on both sides. The United Nations and Western countries see the transitional government, however feeble, as their best bulwark against piracy and Islamist extremism in Somalia, and are pumping in hundreds of millions of dollars for the government’s security. At the same time, the Shabab are kept afloat by an influx of weapons and fighters, much of it reported to be flowing through neighboring Eritrea.

 

The Shabab, more than anyone else, have succeeded in internationalizing Somalia’s conflict and using their jihadist dreams to draw in foreign fighters from across the globe, including the United States. The Shabab, which means youth in Arabic, are a mostly under-40 militia who espouse the strict Wahhabi version of Islam and are guided, according to American diplomats, by another, better-known Wahhabi group: Al Qaeda.

 

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[Johnny B]

^ So 'allahu akbar' here or there is not gonna turn the tide?

 

You know, there is a good reason why the theory of natural selection is accepted.

 

waraa Che , waa kugu kacsanahay nooh, horta why on earth do you support the 'al-shabab' and not the moderate government?

 

1: You beleive 'Al'shabab' are the only ones that can rock Growe and bring the Republic(Hargeisa) back?

 

2: You're against any leadership from South Galcaio/Mogadishu area?

 

'No winner on the horizon', is a wishful thinking ... now that the tide is turning , we're more convinced that the Islamic Government is slowly but surely winning both battlegrounds and hearts and minds.

This is a do or die for the Republic ( no more peace confrences).

 

Now, come onboard , and get saved , if my arm is too slippery, grap Lazie's's... it'd be sad to leave you behind while Duke and co sneak into the republic ship from the backdoor.

[Recovering-Romantics]

The winners here are Eritrea, Ethiopia and Al Qaida. The losers are always the Somali people.

[General Duke]

Johny B: Will deal with your sniffling comemnts later.

 

Now adeer Che, what happened to Shangoole's long march to "our door step". Has it all gone up in smokes.

 

I agree with RR: The winners are outsiders, but the republic hopes are in the North.

[Somali Pirate]

there has always been only one winner in all this chaos.

 

the kuffar of eithopia. It's in eithopia's dna to keep the somali war going. It was apparent after 2006 when the islamic courts took over the south.

 

they know it will be over for them the moment somalis are united.

 

so they spend their entire lives keeping somalis fragmented. to our shame we are at it for 18 years now

[Che -Guevara]

Johnny...Apart from your obsession with anything Islam, why are you against them?

 

On lighter note,If there's anything Al-Shabaab achieved, it would be making Johnny embracing the Islamic government of Somalia..Who knows if they keep it up, they might even make you wear Surwaal Khamiis.

[Johnny B]

^Heh, in another words ,no answer is forthcoming .

 

You're asking me why I'm against a terrorist organization?

[General Duke]

Che: You have to admit your old hero's have become failures of the worst kind.

 

Hope things get better soon insha Allah.

[Che -Guevara]

Jb...Terrorist organization according to you, just because they made to the list of terrorist organizations by State Department doesn't mean they are. These men fought for their country against occupation, brought peace to the part of the south they control, and stop the injustices visited on our people by maruading militias. My support for them stems from the fact they are the best chance to bring lasting peace to the south.

 

 

Duke...Failure resides in Yemen!

[General Duke]

Duke...Failure resides in Yemen!

Yemen is a stable nation adeer. Failures reside in outskirts of shelled out Mogadishu killing Somali's while their children are in Sweden. :rolleyes:

[Che -Guevara]

^Says the man who supported the shelling of Xamar by foriegn invaders and continue to appease more shelling by "peacekeepers".

[General Duke]

^^^The usual rubish, Mogadishu is being shelled today by the same people who shelled it yesterday. Those who you support to "liberate" the nation from infidals while you live, work and mingle with infidals. Clueless individuals like Shangoole have failed badly.

[Thankful]

I said it before, I remember when Aweys fought the coalition of warlords back in 2006ish right in the middle of mogadishu. Then when ethiopia came he left the city quickly claiming that he wanted to limit civilian death and went to asmara, only to return after ethiopia left, and now he's fighting again in mogadishu, where tens of thousands are being displaced. Why did he show so much consideration for civilians when Ethiopia was coming and not anymore? All this current bloodshed started shortly after he arrived.

[Che -Guevara]

Duke-I don't care who's Muslim or who's not, but I do care is not have subservient state which Sharif and company are advocating and fighting for. Movements are bigger than one man but you wouldn't know that, would you..?

[NGONGE]

Originally posted by Che -Guevara:

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

Monday, June 01, 2009

 

 

 

 

None of the factions — the moderate Islamist government, the radical Shabab militants, the Sufi clerics who control some parts of central Somalia, the clan militias who control others,

the autonomous government of Somaliland in the northwest

and the semiautonomous government of Puntland in the northeast —

seem powerful enough, organized enough or popular enough to overpower the other contenders and end the violence

that has killed thousands over the past two years.

[/b]

 

Ahem... ( ), the author does not seem to understand the meaning of the word autonomous!