Somalia needs Canada’s support in developing its own peace process:
Inclusion of Islamists, exclusion of Ethiopians essential steps to political solution

Andy Knight and Afyare Elmi, Freelance

March 03, 2007

The Edmonton Journal

When Ethiopia invaded Somalia in December 2006, not only was this act a contravention of international law, it also pushed the unstable Horn of Africa into a dangerous new phase.

There is no question that the United States supported Ethiopia’s attack on this failed state. A former U.S. state department official, John Pendergast, said immediately after the invasion that Washington gave “a yellow-slash-green light to Ethiopia’s policy of containment by intervention.”

It is highly unlikely that this war will bring either peace or democracy to Somalia. On the contrary, it seems that this action has already begun to further radicalize the Somali people. It has the potential to further destabilize the entire region, beyond the Horn of Africa.
When the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) expelled the notorious warlords from their bases in May/June of last year, relative peace was restored to Mogadishu. For the first time in 12 years the international airport and seaport in the capital were reopened, and the majority of Somalis welcomed the move.

Yet, the U.S. and Ethiopia reacted with hostility toward the UIC. Instead of taking the advice of the Europeans to engage in a constructive dialogue with the UIC, the Bush administration, with little evidence, instead denounced this group as a front for terrorism. Jendayi Frazer, assistant secretary of state for Africa, accused the UIC of being controlled by small group linked to the East African al-Qaida cell.

American policy with respect to Somalia has often been counterproductive. Washington supported the repressive military government of Siad Barre during the Cold War. During the 1970s and ’80s the U.S. poured more money into Somalia than in any other country in Africa, most of which went to the military. It was the militarization of the Somali society that eventually resulted in the anarchy and civil war that has been witnessed there ever since.

When Barre was overthrown in 1991, U.S. Marines were diverted from the Gulf to evacuate U.S. embassy staff in Mogadishu. In 1992, the first George Bush administration sent in a 30,000-strong military force to try to deliver humanitarian assistance to the needy Somalis. Although the Operation Restore Hope saved thousands from starvation, warlord Mahamed Farrah Aidid’s faction fought with the U.S. forces, killing 18 American soldiers and wounding 79 others. The U.S. was forced to withdraw.

In recent years, however, the importance of Somalia to the U.S. has increased. Somalia has significant unexploited resources, including oil. And the Bush administration is concerned with the growing Islamists in this collapsed and poor Muslim country.

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