Somalis Victorious in Ousting Islamists
Major Defeat for Al-Queda
After 15 Years, Someone's in Charge in Somalia, if Barely: ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Jan. 1. After Somalia's Islamist forces abandoned their final outpost on Monday, the transitional government moved aggressively to assert control, setting a three-day deadline for all weapons to be turned in and calling for international peacekeeping troops to be sent immediately. The New York Times.
Attacks on Jilib added to the numbers of residents fleeing Kismayo.
Somalia was already a place where military-grade weaponry was casually flaunted on its streets, but the Islamists' swift collapse has created such a surplus of guns that the average price of a Kalashnikov assault rifle, one of the world's most popular killing machines, has dropped to $15. Ali Mohammed Gedi, the former veterinarian who is the transitional prime minister, said at his daily news conference that he would not tolerate the situation and gave instructions for turning in the weapons. "Individuals or groups of people who have trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns, known as "technicals," should bring those battlewagons to Mogadishu's old port," he said.
Clan leaders were skeptical about whether he would succeed, and many Somalis seemed dead set against it. "They're trying to neuter us," said Muhammad Duudo, an unemployed car mechanic. "And it's not going to happen. Just wait until the full moon passes and the darkness comes. "Whatever lies ahead, encouraging or ominous, most Somalis seemed to agree that after a week of fast-moving events, the rough outlines of a new reality were emerging. For the first time since the former dictator, Mohamed Siad Barre, fled the country in 1991, casting Somalia into 15 years of anarchy, there is a credible government based in Mogadishu, the capital, with serious outside support and no organized military threat from within."
Just a few months ago, it looked like Al-Queda was going to have a strong regional hold in Somalia and surrounding territories. It appears they have been thwarted and defeated.
Though the situation in Somalia is by no means settled, it does represent the first victory in a long time of the West, headed by a Christian army, against Islamists allied with Al-Queda. The United States ought to study this victory as a model for Iraq.
The people themselves threw the Islamists out, headed by their own warlords, and supported by a regional force, Ethiopia. The victorious Somalis did use overwhelming force, and did not fight a politically correct war. They were very tough on the Islamists, making it clear they were not welcome. The so-called "invincible" Al-Queda types eventually turned and ran.
Lessons for Iraq
The United States needs to stop trying so hard to be the visible victors in Iraq. They should instead engage the "warlords" of Iraq and give them what they want and need in order to mobilize their people. The good Iraqis need to be invested and empowered. It needs to be their war, if they want it.
Second, the United States ought to enlist any regional support it can, bar none, without regard to the politics of the thing.
Third, the war needs to be fought ferociously, using overwhelming force, and without political correctness. Those warlords need the West to allow them to fight hard, crush and reject the terrorists from their midst decisively. Otherwise, the people will remain sitting on the fence, afraid to withstand the enemy.
Rock
(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)
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