The old plan to invade Somalia....................

[Castro]

Pardon my late reply, Le Point, for I've been indisposed.

 

Originally posted by ThePoint:

As I said - I was looking for the following 3 criteria to render probable your assertions regarding an "old plan to invade Somalia"

 

1- Evidence that there indeed was a formal plan to invade Somalia by either Ethiopians or the Americans that are older than a year at least; any plans drawn up within a period of less than 1 year are indicative of a reaction rather than some longstanding strategic objective

 

2- Evidence that shows there was a joint(Eth/US) recognition of an indentified single enemy or antagonist within the Somali political landscape

prior

to the emergence of the ICU

 

3- Evidence that shows there was a definite objective in mind for a new Somali political landscape(in concert with the purported plan of invasion)

separate from and different to

the past attempts at a national gov't

I'm not sure what to make of your three points above. A straw man comes to mind but I've not known you to employ such tactic. Nonetheless, let me start with point 1 by reminding you no self-respecting invader publicizes a plan of invasion. Even rarer are "formal" such plans coming into light or even acknowledged as existing. Reasonable people would agree, however, that once a sizeable invasion is underway, as is the case with Somalia, it is fair to assume that a plan of sorts existed prior to the commencement of the invasion. They would further agree it is nearly impossible that such plans are put together over a matter of weeks, as you suggest.

 

On point 2, again you use a caveat word ("joint") similar to formal in point 1, to stress no such common enemy exists or ever existed. I hate to disappoint you but at least one such case of an identified common enemy does exist. In the early 1990's, the current Ethiopian leadership menaced by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) recognized Aideed Sr., who was helping or turning a blind eye to the OLF's operations launched from within Somalia, as a threat to its existence. Around the same time, Aideed was the most wanted man in Africa by the United States. Sure, this could easily be a case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend but it is even easier to see it as an example of a concurrent identification of a common enemy. You can read more about this here

 

In point three, you sought to find a "definite" objective in mind" for a new political landscape in Somalia but one that is different from all the other attempts at building a national government. Am I reading you right? I cannot fathom why anyone, least of all you, would go looking for such a thing for it does not exist. The plan to invade Somalia is an attempt to keep Somalia a weak neighbor to Ethiopia (by constantly fueling clan conflict) and/or ruled by subservient client (puppet) regime to the US. That was the desired political landscape all along. If you read this analysis authored prior to 9/11 and the genesis of the US "war on terror", you'll understand this current invasion is a continuation of the deep (and detrimental) involvement of Ethiopia in Somali affairs. This involvement has now found a willing partner in the United States whose visceral desire to control many areas of the world coincide quite nicely.

 

If you recall, this is what I said at first, and I'm quoting myself here: "There's a remarkable body of evidence publicly available today showing how this recent Ethiopian/US invasion of Somalia was planned for some time." You'll notice I've refrained from setting a time frame on such a plan for only a few people would ever know of such things. In the lead up to the invasion of Iraq (which I am of the opinion was on the drawing board before Bush Jr. came along given the exponential increase of bombings in the "no-fly" zones towards the end of Clinton's term), it is hard to imagine there was no plan for such an invasion. It is even harder to imagine that such a plan would ever come to light.

 

In conclusion, I suspect you have taken an exception to my use of the word remarkable. The word itself has a few meanings one of which is extraordinary and another is worthy of notice or attention. To have seen the formal plans you seek would have been extraordinary but to understand and acknowledge, within the context of the Ethiopian and Somali history coupled now with the US incessant involvement anywhere a Muslims (or oil) is sighted, is certainly worthy of notice and attention.