Still grumpy from the sour taste the Blood Diamonds movie left in my mouth last night, I woke up to read about the war between Somalia and Ethiopia. What a way to celebrate theYuletide!
The hand-writings of the war mongers have been very clear on the wall, and events in the last couple of weeks have strongly suggested the region is going to explode; however, I had hopes that somehow, a reasonable and peaceful resolution would be achieved well before the rivers of tears and blood begin to flow, yet again on another African battlefront.
From Sudan/Darfur, then Chad, now to Somalia/Ethiopia.
Nuts!
Check the facts and more stories here:
Wikipedia: Ethiopian Involvement in Somalia
EthioBlog: Ethiopia Hits Somali Targets, Declaring War
Global Voices Online: Somali-Ethiopia Conflict Looms Over Ethiopian Blogosphere
Technically speaking, it’s only the Union of Islamic Courts (a faction that controls a large part of Somalia) that’s at war with Ethiopia (which by the way is being assisted by a Somalian faction that calls itself the Provisional Government).
I don’t think this is a war that the Ethiopians can win. The best case scenario for them is that they end up occupying all the Somalian territory that is currently under the control of the Union of Islamic Courts, and they install the provisional government as a puppet administration.
If this happens, I think that this government will be extremely unpopular with Somalians, given that there is a long history of mistrust between Somalia and Ethiopia. So I don’t know how long such a government will last. And more importantly, I doubt that Ethiopia has the funds to prosecute such military action, anyway.
December 26, 2006 at 9:22 am
AWW: Your analysis makes the conflict even more senseless. It is a lose-lose situation for both countries! Unbelievably Nuts!!
Compliments of the season. See you in Pangolo Junction soon.
December 26, 2006 at 1:19 pm
It’s just sad
December 27, 2006 at 7:15 am
[...] Grandiose Parlor has a round up. [...]
December 28, 2006 at 12:02 am
Apparently, the United States is actively “supporting” Ethiopia in this action. I fear that we may have actually initiated the invasion, although there appears to be a long history of border wars with Somalia having invaded Ethiopia as recently as 1977 in the “Ogaden War.”
December 28, 2006 at 10:00 am