December 30, 2006
by Andrea Hackett

As Americans race from mall to mall in a last-ditch effort to feather their nests for the holiday, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), an Islamic group that's vowed to bring Somalia under Quranic rule, is advancing steadily on the city of Baidoa, the last stonghold of the country's secular government. And with artillery fire lighting the night sky, residents, still drenched from November's unprecedented floods, are fleeing their homes in droves. Yet for many, the time to escape has already passed. The UIC has vowed to drive the Ethiopian-backed government from power, and if their successful seige of the capital this past June is any indication, they'll probably keep their promise.

All this, of course, should be a monumental embarassment to the Bush Administration - if they're capable of such reactions?because it was their myopic policy that led to this political, humanitarian, and wholly avoidable disaster.

In 1994, after our failed attempt to nab warlord, Mohammed Farah Aidid and his clan - a debacle in which 18 Army Rangers were killed and upon which the movie, Black Hawk Down, was based - Congress cut funding for our military adventures in Somalia. With our withdrawal to Kenya, the warlords and their unpaid troops terrorized the countryside and raped, kidnapped, and murdered the citizens of Mogudishu with the help of an army of drug-addled street kids called mooryan. Six months later, in attempt to extend their influence, the warlords beseiged Baidoa, kidnapping international relief workers and destroying their equipment. The move signalled the end of humanitarian assistance to the region and prompted the government in exile (the TFG in Nairobi) to declare an all-out war. But with no army at their disposal, except a tribal militia called the Majertine, the government's threat was quickly dismissed.

In 1996, U.N. forces left Somalia, and in the summer the warlord we failed to interdict died in a gunfight. His son, an ex-Marine, took the helm and Islamic groups formed in opposition.

By 2002, those groups had congealed into the UIC, and when suspected Islamic radicals attacked a hotel and Israeli aircraft in Kenya that year, the U.S. embarked on a different tack. The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, and Kenyan President, Daniel arap Moi,  were invited to discuss the situation with President Bush in the Oval Office. After the meeting, Bush hailed the two leaders as "friends and allies of America" despite Zenawi's abysmal record on human rights which included widespread torture, extrajudicial killings, and arbitrary political impriosnment (and, later, suspending elections and the murder of 42 political dissidents). But Bush was enthusiastic, and shortly thereafter announced the establishment of an anti-terrorism task force in Ethiopia (at Djibouti) with a total of 1,600 troops. Bush's obsession that the UIC would turn Somalia into a sanctuary for Al Qaeda terrorists and that the Taliban were rife throughout the region would soon manifest into a series of political blunders.

In fact, there's no evidence the Taliban ever directly influenced the UIC or that Al Qaeda operatives ever used the region as a sanctuary (with a few notable exceptions). And despite token similarities to the Taliban, the Islamic movement began as a moderate tribal federation, subject to the vagaries of tribal and ideological tradition.

But that moderation would soon change.

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In January of this year, Washington announced that it was willing to work with anyone who would cooperate in their hunt for Al Qaeda operatives. The warlords perked up their ears. Hungry for cash and anxious to counter the increasing threat from the TFG and Islamic Courts - not to mention their reluctance to end their lucrative crime spree - the warlords (in league with the CIA) entered the anti-terrorist business by creating the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism.

Sure it was a stretch, coming from a band of barbaric henchmen like the Somali warlords. But if the CIA was willing to hand over cash - and they were, large bundles of cash delivered right to the warlords' airstrip - why not?

Thus began our latest undocumented - and by all accounts, uncoordinated - collusion with the world's most unsavory thugs.

Of course, when word of the CIA payments got back to the UIC, there was no more talk of moderation. They struck the capital with everything they had. And the seige lasted three bloody months.

Recognizing their blunder, the Bush Administration tried to excuse the subterfuge (which breached international law)  in a series of statements that culminated in a galling response from Sean McCormack, spokesman for the U.S. State Department: "Our interest is purely in seeing Somalia have a better day." They then established an ad hoc emergency body to analyze the situation, the Somali Contact Group.  But, though the group consisted of august members from the Arab League, the African Union, the United Nations, the Interdevelopmental Authority for Development (IGAD), the European Union, Norway, and even Tanzania, it was regarded by most as mere window dressing. The group had no decision-making powers and the time had clearly run out for brainstorming sessions - especially with Eritrea and Ethiopia gearing up for a showdown. The battle lines had been drawn and arms began pouring into the region like the torrential rain. Eritrea supplied the UIC, as they hated Ethiopia. Ethiopia supplied the TFG as they hated the UIC. Egypt and Yemen supplied the TFG while Saudi Arabia, always one to hedge their bet, supplied the UIC and the warlords. Perhaps the only thing they all had in common was (and remains) their denial of any involvement in the conflict. No one wants to be caught breaching international law. Heavens forbid!

As so in June, the warlords paid by the CIA to ostensibly track down Al Qaeda operatives, found themselves driven from the capital by an Islamic federation that may well have remained less militant had we not pushed the envelope.  And tonight, a night when most Americans sit lazily at their televisions, stockings draped across their mantles in anticipation of the holidays, the UIC make their final push to the south and a desperate throng of refugees make their way to the coast (as they do by the hundreds each day). And there, in rat-infested towns like Bossasso, they cram themselves and their familes into boats, if they have the 75 bucks, and take their chances on the treacherous seas of the Gulf of Aden with a hundred other desperate emigres who have nothing left in the world, en route to a country that may well turn them back if they make it alive: Yemen?a country most Americans can't even find on a map. One can only hope the incoming House Intelligence Committee finds the time and the inclination to open a full investigation. If not, the New Year may bring more of the same.

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Andrea Hackett [send her email] is the Founder of the Las Vegas Dancers Alliance and Editor of The Populist Review, a popular blog which offers progressive views on the news of the day.