Uh oh

Ahh, democracy. And more war on terror. The difference this time is that the "terrorists" are Black.

Somalia: Fighting Goes On in the Capital for the Sixth Straight Day

...More than 35 people, most of them civilians, were killed in yesterday's mortar and rocket exchanges alone. Shabelle reporter, Hirabe, in the north of the capital where the fighting still rages infrequently says shelling halted around 7:30 PM local time last night.

...the country's Prime Minister, Ali Mohammed Gedi, said the battle continues between government troops backed by Ethiopian troops and international terrorists linked to "al-Qaeda". "The Somali national forces supported by Ethiopian and the African Union troops successfully seized explosives and weapons that would be used by the terrorists...

The prime minister's remarks were, however, contradicted by the spokesman of Mogadishu's major Hawiye clan, Ahmed Derie, who said the prime minister spoke pointlessly. "He repeatedly used the word 'terrorists', which makes no sense when it comes to the real situation in Mogadishu. The rebel forces fighting with the government and Ethiopian troops in the capital are from Hawiye clan and they are clearly opposing the presence of the merciless Ethiopian troops in the country," he said. read more...

So let me get this straight; the U.S. backs an Ethiopian invasion of Somalia in order to bring peace and security to the region even though the Somalian Union of Islamic Courts had already pretty much done that. The Etiopian and their Somalian allies clear out the "terrorists" after about a week of combat and declare victory. Weeks later, full scale war seems to have broken out.

Does any of this sound remotely familiar? Or how about:

...while Ethiopian tanks are pounding parts of the Somali capital... ...Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi denied there had been a "large number" of civilian casualties. He also said that most of Mogadishu was "perfectly stable" with only a few "trouble spots".

Well they have the press conference part down. This is by all definitions a proxy war, with Ethiopia providing the boots on the ground in support of American objectives. The problem however is that everything is painted black or white according to our current leaders. Regardless of the fact that the Islamicists had, through their earlier victory, ushered in the longest period of relative peace in Somalia since the late 1980's, the decision for regime change was made because hey, they're Islamic. Unfortunately for the Somalian people, that aforementioned period of peace only lasted for about 6 months.


UPDATE: Scores die in Ethiopia oil attack

Rebel gunmen have killed at least 74 people in an attack on an oil field in Ethiopia's remote Somali region, the Ethiopian government says. read more...