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<h3 class="storytitle"><a
href="http://canadianobserver.wordpress.com/2006/07/21/the-proxy-war-in-somalia/"
rel="bookmark">The Proxy War in Somalia</a></h3>
<pre><i>By ECZ</i></pre>
<pre>Today the BBC reported that the Ethiopian army (the US ally in the Horn of
Africa region) had officially crossed over into Somalia. This new
development has occurred in the context of the recent military victory in
Southern Somalia of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). I am told that ordinary
people in Mogadishu supported the ICU because the alternative they faced was
the 15 year ineptitude of so called secular warlords. These same warlords
were recently supported by Ethiopia/US and the UN to form the present
transitional government, yet rather than bringing order, warlords continued
to act with impunity. On the other hand, the ICU has brought stability to
Mogadishu for the first time in 15 years. So, although some sections of the
ICU would like to import a form of Saudi Wahabism into what is a largely
Sufi practicing country, the victory of the ICU must still be seen as a
partial victory for ordinary people.
However, under the pretext that the ICU threatens stability in the Horn of
Africa and the transition in Somalia, the Ethiopian state has decided to
move into Somalia. This is a weak pretext given that residents of Mogadishu
have been waiting for 15 years for a transition! Today, it is clear that
there is a complicated proxy war happening in the Horn of Africa (one that
in fact has been happening throughout the 90's). In this war the US plays a
heavy hand despite their supposed absence from the scene after Black Hawk
Down...
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tfast
</pre>
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