Friday, February 11, 2011

America's newest terrorist threat: Officials eye Somali extremist group Al-Shabaab, Al Qaeda’s emerging Africa enterprise

An Al-Shabaab fighter shows off his weapon during military exercises in northern Mogadishu, Somalia.

Somalia's al-Shabaab proclaims allegiance to Bin Laden

WASHINGTON - America's top counterterror officials for the first time warned Thursday that they expect a Somali extremist group to emerge as a major new threat to the U.S. homeland.
The Al-Shabaab "youth movement" is stocked with dozens of Somali-Americans who have flocked to the lawless Horn of Africa country to fight the weak U.S.-backed transitional federal government."We remain vigilant that al-Shabaab may expand its focus from fighting to control Somalia to plotting to attack the (U.S.) homeland," Director of National Intelligence Lt. Gen. James Clapper told a congressional hearing.Clapper said al-Shabaab's "cadre of Westerners includes American converts, some of whom have assumed leadership positions."At least one American, Adnan Shukrijumah, is now a senior operational commander in Al Qaeda as well.
Al-Shabaab - a favorite franchise of Osama Bin Laden which boasts of its long-standing ties to Al Qaeda - rose in prominence after a CIA-backed military offensive routed the radical Islamic Courts Union from Mogadishu in 2006.Thousands joined its ranks after militant leader Aden Hashi Farah Ayro's killing by U.S. special operations forces two years later.U.S. intelligence officials have told the Daily News that al-Shabaab would be Al Qaeda's largest army if it becomes organized.The Somali group also publicly aligns itself with Yemen's Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which Clapper pegged as America's greatest threat now."Absent more effective and sustained activities to disrupt them, some regional affiliates - particularly Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and al-Shabaab in Somalia - probably will grow stronger," Clapper told the House Intelligence Committee.He said AQAP was "energized" by how close it came to taking down a jet over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009 with a bomb hidden in Umar Abdulmutallab's underwear.In October, AQAP almost blew up FedEx and UPS cargo jets over the East coast, but the bombs were discovered after a Saudi intelligence tip.AQAP and its leader, Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, are now seeking to use chemical and biological weapons, officials testified.Bin Laden's group in Pakistan "continues to be damaged" by a CIA drone onslaught, but still "aspires to spectacular attacks" against the West, Clapper said."Al Qaeda's senior leadership in Pakistan remains committed to obtaining all kinds of weapons of mass destruction," added National Counterterrorism Center director Michael Leiter, but "their ability to do so has been greatly diminished since 9/11.,Clapper also revealed that the Al Qaeda-linked Pakistani group behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Lashkar-e-Taiba, has now joined the fight in neighboring Afghanistan and is "an increasing threat to U.S. forces."
ny daily news.

 Al Qaeda’s emerging Africa enterprise

Most of the American media has focused on the late-2010 attempt by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to detonate explosive-laden ink cartridges in cargo planes over the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the continued threats emanating from Yemen. That nation certainly provides favorable conditions for extremist groups such as AQAP to fester and export terror.However, Africa, specifically theSahel and the Horn of Africa, arguably afford the most growth potential for two burgeoning al Qaeda franchises: al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM), a morph of an earlier ultraviolent, Algerian Islamist movement, and Somalia‘s al-Shabaab group, which effectively controls 80 percent of Somalia and pledged loyalty to al Qaeda senior leadership in early 2010.AQIM, operationally based in desolate northern Mali, is now a regional menace in Africa’s Sahel region and poses an increasing threat to U.S. interests in North Africa as well as Mediterranean Europe. The terror network composed of approximately 400 fighters is kidnapping and executing Westerners, facilitating a lucrative drugs and weapons smuggling enterprise from West Africa into Southern Europe, and making inroads through forced intermarriage and intimidation tactics into marginalized populations such as the ethnic minority Tuareg and Hassaniya Moors of northern Mali.Additionally, AQIM is spreading its tentacles into resource-rich Nigeria through joint-training with the Nigerian Taliban. In its current state, AQIM is not a “clear and present danger” to the U.S. homeland, although the requisite conditions of extreme poverty, political instability, resource scarcity and weak governments and security forces in the Sahel are ripe for it to continue to mature and develop into a more serious transnational threat. The addition of a charismatic and media savvy propagandist, like al Qaeda‘s Anwar al-Awlaki in the Arabian Peninsula, would likely thrust the organization onto the global stage of jihad.The security situation in Somalia is even more precarious than in the Sahel. Al-Shabaab, the Somali-based insurgent/terror group, is comprised of more than 4,000 battle-hardened fighters and recruits from faraway places such as Minneapolis and London. Compounding the issue, Somalia is the epitome of a failed state as the Transitional Federal Government is sequestered to a fraction of Mogadishu with lawlessness and street justice rampant. Al-Shabaab and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula are also forging a burgeoning relationship, with fighters from Yemen among the largest contingent of foreign fighters in al-Shabaab’s ranks. Lastly, as a demonstration of the group’s intentions to expand operations, al-Shabaab has proven it is able and willing to conduct out-of-area operations through its piracy-terror nexus in the Gulf of Aden, as well as the July 2010 large-scale, complex attacks in Kampala, Uganda.Traditional military methods in dealing with terrorism in Africa would likely be ineffective and even counterproductive due to the political sensitivities of U.S. military intervention. For example, the mere discussion of moving the military’s Germany-based AFRICOM to the continent was a hot-button issue for most African nations. As Adm. Eric Olson, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, advocates, a direct approach or lethal targeting of terrorist groups may temporarily disrupt the network, but it is rarely decisive in victory. The direct approach is certainly integral to a balanced counterterrorism strategy. However, it should not be the main effort in an approach that draws on all instruments of the government.Enduring results derive from the indirect approaches or long-term initiatives that shape and influence the social environment through better enabling partner nations in Africa to combat the root causes of terrorism. Furthermore, this strategy should be coupled with actively working with our partner nations in Africa in deterring insurgent-vulnerable populations, such as the Tuareg and Moors of Mali, from sympathizing with and facilitating AQIM and their drugs, weapons and kidnapping operations in the Sahel.Ultimately, targeting Africa’s terror-conducive environment through primarily nonmilitary initiatives as well as grasping the complex and diverse “human terrain” of high-risk regions and terror focal points will likely be the silver-bullet in defeating the center of gravity for both AQIM and al-Shabaab: support from the local populace. Steven L. Katz

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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The Foundation is dedicated to networking like-minded Somalis opposed to the terrorist insurgency that is plaguing our beloved homeland and informing the international public at large about what is really happening throughout the Horn of Africa region.

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The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.

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