Al-Qaeda may get its own country soon

[irishScott]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8506233.stm

The US long accused al-Shabab of being al-Qaeda's proxy in the region, but al-Shabab had denied the links until last month when it released a statement promising to "combine" its local jihad with al-Qaeda's global fight.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8508176.stm

Hundreds of Somali insurgents loyal to Islamist group al-Shabab have poured into Mogadishu with artillery and trucks, witnesses say.

Residents have been fleeing the capital for days amid a widespread belief that the rebels and government forces are on the cusp of a serious showdown.

Meanwhile, at least 16 people were reported killed in skirmishes that have become almost daily in the city.

Insurgents already control much of Mogadishu and southern Somalia.

However, the government has recently promised to launch an offensive to take control of the country.

The BBC's Mohamed Olad Hassan, who is in Mogadishu, says the rebels have promised to resist the government.

He says the war propaganda from both sides has spread fear throughout the city.

Wracked by violence

The insurgents coming in from the south will reinforce an already numerous and organised group of fighters in Mogadishu.

On Wednesday, African Union peacekeepers fired shells into militant-controlled areas, and our correspondent says at least 10 civilians were killed.

In a separate incident, police said six government troops had been killed after a gun battle with insurgents.

One of the many fleeing his home on Wednesday was father-of-three Mohamed Isa Abdullahi, who told the AFP news agency neither side in the conflict cared about civilians.

"The government has vowed to retake the city, rebels are going to stick to their bastions and the civilians are going to be the only victims, as always bearing the brunt of the war," said the 39-year-old.

Gunfights and shelling are common in the city - and civilians are killed by both sides.

The transitional government - backed by African Union troops and UN funds - controls only a small part of the capital.

The rest of the country is ruled by warlords, al-Shabab or other Islamist militias.

Somalia has been wracked by violence for much of the past 20 years. It has not had a functioning central government since 1991.

Somehow I lack confidence in the Somali "government" to hold it's own.

 

[StageLeft]

Somalia and government. Two words that don't really make sense in a sentence, like Oprah and fit or Britney and genius.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

On Wednesday, African Union peacekeepers fired shells into militant-controlled areas, and our correspondent says at least 10 civilians were killed.

It's strange how when Islamic militant controlled areas are shelled or bombed it's nearly always only "civilians" that end up getting killed.

 

[nick1985]

Somali government.


lol

 

[StageLeft]

http://mgulaid.blogspot.com/

24 min video at bottom, shows partly the impact of the islamic court government and indicates why so much of the population supports them.

 

[Skitzer]

I say let them have their own country. I think it's a great idea.

 

[jman19]

Cool, easier target

 

[werepossum]

Let them have Somalia and all move there. Then kill anything that ventures beyond its borders and territorial waters. They get their Islamic heaven with zero infidel interference and contamination. We get to isolate the cancer from the world body. It's a win-win scenario.

 

[james1701]

Let them have Somalia and all move there. Then kill anything that ventures beyond its borders and territorial waters. They get their Islamic heaven with zero infidel interference and contamination. We get to isolate the cancer from the world body. It's a win-win scenario.

The problem is cancer always grows and metastasizes and can not be contained. It takes radical surgery, or nuclear radiation to burn it out, or some chemo to kill it, and those are not always successful.

 

[werepossum]

The problem is cancer always grows and metastasizes and can not be contained. It takes radical surgery, or nuclear radiation to burn it out, or some chemo to kill it, and those are not always successful.

True - but all those things work better if the cancer is contained than if it is spread throughout the body.

 

[Nemesis 1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O967rVoaMMc

 

[Jhhnn]

Maybe the usual rightwing twits should watch Skoorb's linked video.

Try it- won't burn your eyes out. Probably won't have a significant impact of the usual blind denial and raving, but it might tickle some seldom used part of your neural net other than the usual reflexive knee-jerk...

The official govt, supported by the West, doesn't deliver at a civil administration level. They're apparently too busy diverting Western aid into their own out of country bank accounts. That's why the rebels have widespread public support, because they do actually deliver. Their ways aren't our ways, but they're traditional in Somalia, something the people can accept, respect, and support. More than anything else, what they need is what people everywhere need- basic law and order, a governmental framework in which they can function and hopefully thrive.

Somali Islamists have the failed example of the Taliban, showing them where not to go. It's not like they're trotskyite in their intentions at this point, like Al Qaeda, but rather nationalist, inward-focused.

It's not like we don't support the most harshly Islamist govt in the world, KSA, so it's not like we'd violate our principles, such as they are, if we butt out of the Somali's internal affairs...

 

[WhipperSnapper]

A decade ago we tried to feed these people; we tried to save them. Now we're going to have to kill them.

 

[Moonbeam]

You'd think the American right would want to move to Somalia. They have less government control there. Everybody is free to do his own thing.

 

[nick1985]

You'd think the American right would want to move to Somalia. They have less government control there. Everybody is free to do his own thing.

You love big government. Its so cute.

 

[Jhhnn]

You'd think the American right would want to move to Somalia. They have less government control there. Everybody is free to do his own thing.

It's been a dystopic Libertarian wet dream...

 

[Atreus21]

You'd think the American right would want to move to Somalia. They have less government control there. Everybody is free to do his own thing.

Tell you what Moonie. You move to North Korea, and I'll go to Somalia.