Why Somalia?
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
There's been little mentioned about the United State's interest in Somalia. I'm in the process of forming a hypothesis on why we're involving ourselves in Ethiopia's overthrow of Somalia's government [what little there was of it]. Strategically, Somalia would be perfect for an airstrip in which to launch an air campaign against... you guessed it: Iran.
Pull out your map and tell me which countries lie between Somalia and Iran... The answer is none--just water. I haven't checked, but I'd be willing to guess that Somalia is on the outer edge of most of Iran's long-range missiles, too. This gives our anti-missile defenses plenty of time to counter any incoming attacks. Furthermore, Somalia's location removes our aircraft carriers, support ships, command-and-control, etc, far enough away from Iran's shore-patrolling missiles.
More on this to follow.
posted by Don Bangert | 8:50 AM
2 Comments:
Actually, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iraq lie between Somalia and Iran. The reason why the U.S. has an interest in Somalia is that it could be Al Qaeda's next Afghanistan or Sudan. Afghanistan served as the welcome breeding ground of the jihadist from the mid-1980s through until 1993. At which time Al Qaeda moved to Sudan and continued to grow, spread its influence and to grow its international sources of funding. Al Qaeda moved back to Afghanistan in 1996.
The U.S. needs to be concerned with Somalia because it is ripe to become the next haven for Al Qaeda. In Somalia, Al Qaeda would have access to ports that it currently does not have.
For a good understanding of why we should be involved, read Thomas P.M. Barrett's "The Pentagon's New Map." Also, for a better understanding of Al Qaeda, read Rohan Gunaratna's "Inside Al Qaeda."
Afghanistan served as the welcome breeding ground of the jihadist from the mid-1980s through until 1993.
But let's not mention that it was the US government that supported Al Qaeda in its "breeding ground" in Afghanistan when Al Qaeda was fighting another imperialist power, the Soviet Union.
The word, "concern" is a euphemism for threat and/or invasion. To pursue a band of terrorists, it is assumed to be necessary to invade a country, overthrow its government and kill thousands of its people, guilty or not. Some concern.
For a good understanding of why we should not be involved, read the Federalist Papers and Washington's Farewell Address.
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