Somalia: Will It Become Obama's War?
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford
"George Bush and his
Ethiopian military allies have reduced Somalia to a wasteland."
Somalia's humanitarian crisis is nowhere near an end - but
the cause of it might be. Ethiopia may be preparing to end its bloody
occupation of its neighbor, which began with the invasion of December 2006, at
the instigation of the United States. If the Ethiopians are, indeed, going,
they are leaving Hell behind. Half the population has been displaced, in what
the United Nations has called "the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa." The
capital city, Mogadishu, once home to three million people, is empty
of civilians. The puppet government installed by Ethiopia is said by the
UK's Sunday
Herald to "control just three small areas in Mogadishu and a few
streets in Baidoa, the seat of parliament." If the Ethiopians withdraw, the
so-called "transitional government" is unlikely to survive.
The United States' own Voice of America reports that
all of Ethiopia's opposition parties now demand the regime bring the troops home.
It is also clear that the Bush administration wants the Ethiopians to remain in
Somalia, as U.S. surrogates. Their departure could lead to a quick pullout of
an African Union so-called "peace-keeping" force made up mostly of Ugandans,
who have acted as proxies for the United States elsewhere on the continent.
In less than two years, George Bush and his Ethiopian
military allies have reduced Somalia to a wasteland. The U.S. is widely - and
justifiably - despised by Somalis, who have been bombed and strafed by American
airpower, and know full well that Ethiopia would not have invaded without massive
U.S. urging and assistance.
"All of Ethiopia's
opposition parties now demand the regime bring the troops home."
The Islamist forces that had brought a brief period of
relative peace and stability to Somalia - and whom Washington claimed were linked
to Al Qaida - may soon be in a position to claim military victory against the
invaders and their American backers. Ethiopian politicians worry that their
country's reputation in the world will suffer. Said one former Ethiopian lawmaker:
"No Somali would consider Ethiopia as a savior.... They resolved to fight against
us, and they are fighting, and in my opinion they are winning."
The timing seems to make it certain that Bush's proxy war
against Somali society will have to be rethought by the next U.S.
administration. Barack Obama has said nothing - not a word - about the
suffering of the Somali people, or to indicate what his policy will be on
Somalia, the northern neighbor of his father's country, Kenya. Kenya is also
home to a huge ethnic Somali population, and the site of a giant refugee camp
where a quarter million displaced Somalis languish.
A President Obama would have at his disposal the newly
launched U.S. Africa Command, Africom, and a giant U.S. military base in
Djibouti, the French neocolonial outpost on Somalia's northern border. With
Ethiopia's occupation unraveling, the next American president will have to
choose: Will he continue George Bush's murderous assaults on the Somali people,
or allow them to rebuild their nation in ways of their own choosing.
For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford.
BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted
at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.
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Orion Meadows is a non-violence trainer with Institute for Nonviolence Chicago.
Michael Li is Senior Counsel in the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice.
