KavkazCenter - U.S. opens another battlefront in the Muslim world

U.S. opens another battlefront in the Muslim world

The U.S. military, unprepared to recognise that it had lost control of the situation in Iraq, continue to suffer major losses. Most recently media reports worldwide highlighted the fact that the number of American souls killed in Iraq war exceeded the number of those killed in September 11 terrorist attacks.

But the Bush administration seems to have not been deterred by Iraq failure, as well as failure in Afghanistan, where Taliban is expected to rise again to power soon. It opened another battlefront in the Muslim world, this time in Somalia, stated an editorial on The International Herald Tribune.

Earlier this week, the State Department bluntly expressed its support for the Ethiopian military attacks in Somalia, noting that Ethiopia has had "genuine security concerns" stemming from the rise of Islamist forces in its eastern neighbor.

Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos stated that the Ethiopian military acted at the request of Somalia's transitional government, which has been resisting with little power the rising influence of the Union of Islamic Courts, which now controls almost the entire south of the country.

But that's not true.

It was the U.S. ‘s full support and military aid that enabled the 15,000 Ethiopian troops enter Somalia in an illegal war of aggression against the Islamists.

Ethiopia's Christian-led government has received great assistance from the United States, including military training for aviation security, police training and border and coastal security, according to the Pentagon.

Claiming its aid and support to Ethiopia aroused from the growing strength of the militias and the welcome they reportedly have given to Al Qaeda militants, the Bush administration is once again trying to convince the world that this war, like Iraq war, is aimed at rooting out terrorism.

The real goal in Iraq wasn't to liberate the nation from the dictator rule of Saddam, nor to protect the U.S. and humanity at large from the threat Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction posed, but to lay hands on the country's oil resources.

This time, Bush' goal is to obtain a direct foothold in a highly strategic region by establishing a client regime in Somalia.

Somalia, and the greater horn of Africa region, a newly oil-rich, and lies just miles from Saudi Arabia overlooking the daily passage of large numbers of oil tankers and warships through the Red Sea, has been a site of simmering geostrategic conflict and rapacious foreign interests for long years.

General John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command in the Middle East, made a visit to Ethiopia earlier this month, and President Hu Jintao of China visited Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia earlier this year, both seeking to pursue oil and trade agreements.

With oil becoming the West's main concern, the world's competing superpowers, as well as smaller strategic players, are very willing to engage in more violent, frenzied and bizarre actions, all over the world.

As noted by Mike Ruppert in Crossing the Rubicon, "it comes to this: first, in order to prevent the extinction of the human race, the world's population must be reduced by as many as four billion people. Second, especially since 9/11, this reality has been secretly accepted and is being acted upon by world leaders."

But the difference between Iraq war and the U.S. role in the current conflict in Somalia is that in the run up to Iraq war, most of the European leaders backed Bush's suggestion that war was the only way to deal with the Iraqi threat. But today, many experts, including from the European Union, voiced concern over the U.S. plans in Somalia, warning that such war could bring much bloodshed, disability and turmoil to the entire region, as it will fuel insurgency by Somalis, who mostly live in Kenya and Ethiopia, and attract thousands of new anti-U.S. "terrorists".

In another sign of adopting double standards and taking an anti-Muslim stance, the UN Security Council bowed to American and British pressure, and authorized a regional peacekeeping force to enter Somalia to help forces loyal to the transitional government, against the Islamic Courts.

If this war continues, it will have a disastrous impact on the whole region. It will harm U.S. interests and threaten Kenya, the only island of stability in this corner of Africa.

The only way to protect Somalia against the possible influence of terrorists is bringing stability, which is what the Islamic Courts have provided by introducing law and order to the capital for the first time in 15 years.

The courts, set up in Somalia by clan-related businessmen in a bid to establish some law and order in a city without any judicial system, gained legitimacy and popular support through their ability to provide a judicial order based on Sharia law.

Agencies and AJM