From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Nov 02 2009 - 06:44:33 EST
The threat from Somalia
Must the United States also intervene in this failed state?
Monday, November 2, 2009
ONE OF THE rhetorical questions frequently tossed out in the debate over
Afghanistan concerns the brewing trouble in Somalia and Yemen, both of which
are known to host al-Qaeda cadres and training camps. If it's necessary to
pacify Afghanistan to protect U.S. security, goes the taunt, must we also
intervene in Somalia and Yemen?
The presumed answer is: "Of course not -- and therefore why bother with
Afghanistan?" The more sensible response is: If something is not done soon
about these lawless places, one or the other may well become the next
Afghanistan -- a place where U.S. military intervention was compelled by a
devastating attack on the homeland.
Most urgent is Somalia: Washington's focus on Afghanistan has obscured what
ought to be alarming recent reports about al-Qaeda's schooling of terrorists
there -- including a substantial number of American citizens. National
Counterterrorism Center Director Michael R.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/03/AR200910030
2901.html> Leiter recently reported to Congress that a radical Islamic
militia known as al-Shabab has sent dozens -- that's right, dozens -- of
Somali Americans and American Muslims through training conducted by
al-Qaeda. At least seven have already been killed in fighting in Somalia,
where al-Shabab is challenging the internationally recognized but weak
Somali government over the parts of Mogadishu it still holds.
Some experts question whether the Taliban leadership is still intertwined
with al-Qaeda. In the case of Somalia, there is no question. Al-Shabab
recently released a video pledging allegiance to al-Qaeda. It featured an
American spokesman and showed footage of a training camp starring a former
University of South Alabama student. Al-Shabab may not aspire to launch
attacks against the United States, but it seems more than plausible that it
would allow some of its U.S. passport holders to be drafted for an al-Qaeda
mission.
The Obama administration is not ignoring this threat. Last month a bold raid
by U.S. Special Forces killed one of Somalia's top al-Qaeda operatives. But
such stand-off counterterrorism operations are no more likely to solve the
problem on their own than they are in Afghanistan and Pakistan. What's
needed is a complementary and concerted effort to bolster the Somali
government and its army, so that it is able to turn back al-Shabab and
extend its authority across the country.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton recently met President Sharif
Ahmed and said that his moderate Islamist administration was "the best hope
we've had in quite some time for a return to stability." But U.S. support
for Mr. Ahmed has been modest. Washington is a big donor of food and other
humanitarian aid and provides funds to train the military, but Mr. Ahmed
recently told The Post that he desperately needs more military support and
an expansion of a U.N. peacekeeping force.
Administration officials say that a review of the situation in Somalia is
underway, with aims that include strengthening the government. It's a hard
problem: The country has lacked a national government for 20 years, and
attempts by the past three U.S. presidents to help restore order, with U.S.
troops or with proxies, failed dismally. But Somalia is not a country the
United States and its allies can ignore or treat merely with missile
strikes. As in Afghanistan before 2001, the mounting threat of terrorist
organizations, and their potential to strike far beyond the horn of Africa,
are apparent. The indelible lesson of Sept. 11, 2001, is that they must be
countered aggressively.
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