Somalia Falls to Islamists … Again

Two years after U.S. and Ethiopian forces invaded Somalia and deposed the ruling Islamic Courts regime, Islamists now are back in control of the East African country. Islamists’ reconquest of Somalia represents the failure of the Bush Administration’s “proxy” strategy for waging the “war on terror” in Africa, using armies such as Ethiopia’s to do most of the fighting. Despite a lack of strong evidence, the Bush Administration had accused the Islamic Courts of colluding with Al Qaeda — and used that to justify supporting the Ethiopian invasion. By contrast, today’s dominant Islamic group, Al Shabab, truly has been radicalized by two years of insurgent warfare and publicly has proclaimed its alignment with Al Qaeda’s global jihad.
During their one-year rule over much of Somalia, the Islamic Courts had welcomed foreign investment in Somalia. Al Shabab has been much less open to foreigners. Two Western journalists were abducted by Al-Shabab fighters outside Mogadishu in August and are being held for ransom.more..http://www.offiziere.ch/?p=1003