From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sat Mar 13 2010 - 08:15:33 EST
Somalia: US Backs Puppet Government's Planned Military Offensive
by Brian Smith
http://www.globalresearch.ca/coverStoryPictures/18082.jpg
<http://www.globalresearch.ca> Global Research, March 13, 2010
The United States' military is working closely with its Somali counterparts
in planning a major offensive against Islamist militias who control the bulk
of the country, including almost all of the capital, Mogadishu.
The New York Times reports that Washington is using drone surveillance
planes over Somalia and is providing surveillance information on insurgent
positions to the military commanders of the Transitional Federal Government
(TFG). The Obama administration has also supervised the training of Somali
forces and provided covert training to Somali intelligence officers. Such
training, which has also been undertaken by Washington's European Union
allies, has taken place in US client states-Djibouti, Ethiopia, Uganda and
in Kenya and Sudan. It has been condemned by Amnesty International, since it
is not subject to "adequate vetting and oversight procedures", and "some of
the training is planned without proper notification to the UN Sanctions
Committee, therefore undermining the UN arms embargo on Somalia".
Following the lessons learnt in Somalia in 1993, the US military has been
wary of committing its own troops into areas considered unstable or hostile.
It has relied instead on local forces, while guiding events from a safe
distance.
"This is not an American offensive," US Assistant Secretary of State for
Africa Johnnie Carson claimed. "The US military is not on the ground in
Somalia. Full stop." He added, "There are limits to outside engagement, and
there has to be an enormous amount of local buy-in for this work."
However, the Times cites an unnamed Washington official, who predicted that
US covert forces would get involved if the offensive that could begin in a
few weeks dislodged Al-Qaeda terrorists. "What you're likely to see is
airstrikes and Special Ops moving in, hitting and getting out," the official
said.
The US press has clearly been thoroughly briefed about the offensive.
TheWashington Post explained how the US administration's tactics have
changed under President Barack Obama, as the US has escalated its attacks
against perceived Al Qaeda suspects and their allies.
The Post sets out the three options that the US military considers with
regard to "terrorist" suspects. Firstly, an airstrike on the suspect's home
or vehicle; secondly, an attempt to take him alive; or, thirdly, an attack
from helicopters that land at the scene to confirm the kill. The latter was
the option the White House authorized last September, when helicopters
launched from a US ship off the Somali coast blew up a car carrying Saleh
Ali Nabhan, who was nominally the head of Al Qaeda in East Africa.
The Post believes that the decision to kill Nabhan was one of a number of
similar operations the Obama administration has conducted globally over the
past year, resulting in dozens of targeted killings and no reports of
high-value detentions. Such attacks are authorized even more frequently
under Obama than under the Bush administration.
The US government is directly responsible for the chaos and insecurity that
pervade Somalia, after decades of US support for warlords and illegitimate
governments. Somalia and Yemen-a country on the Arabian Peninsula directly
across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia-are seen by the US as key areas in its
efforts to control the strategic Horn of Africa as it confronts its rivals,
such as China, and makes preparations for a possible war with Iran.
In preparation for the imminent offensive, the TFG has gathered its forces
in Mogadishu and massed new and refurbished military trucks, tanks, armoured
personnel carriers, ambulances and dozens of "technicals"-pickup trucks with
cannons riveted on the back.
Militants from the opposing al Shabaab militia, backed by a faction of
Hizbul Islam, have also poured into the capital and its outskirts to
reinforce the numerous organised groups already there.
This influx of forces has deepened the humanitarian crisis, leading to a
mass exodus of civilians from Mogadishu. Thousands of residents have fled to
cramped makeshift camps on the outskirts of the city, where little aid is
reaching them. In the past month, some 100,000 others have been displaced
across the country, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees.
Amnesty International estimates that some 1.5 million people have been
displaced by fighting in Somalia since 2007.
In a pattern that reflects its past practice in Somalia and Afghanistan, the
US is setting tribal, religious and ethnic factions against one another.
This can only lead to further conflict and produce a ruling clique that
reflects the interests of a small group that rules by suppressing all
opposition.
The TFG recently struck a political deal with Somalia's main Sufi Islamist
group, Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah. This arose in late 2008, as the withdrawal
of US-backed Ethiopian troops from Somalia led the Ethiopian government to
seek a means of containing the Islamist threat on its border.
The strategy is to use Ahlus Sunnah militia to push towards Mogadishu from
the central region, as part of a three-pronged offensive. The other two
prongs are a militia made up of Somali refugees living in Kenya advancing
from the Kenyan side, and TFG and African Union troops (AMISOM) attempting
to retake the capital. AMISOM has about 5,000 Ugandan and Burundian troops
in Somalia, with another 1,700 on the way. The offensive will be backed up
by US drones, airstrikes and special forces operations.
The other weapon that the US has at its disposal in Somalia is humanitarian
aid. Mark Bowden, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Somalia,
believes that the West, in particular Washington, is using the issue of
humanitarian aid as a political tool: "Our concern is that what we're seeing
is a politicisation of humanitarian issues," he explained. This follows the
halving of aid by the US and British governments, the largest donors of food
assistance to Somalia, despite the growing humanitarian crisis.
Aid has been cut in order to stop it reaching areas controlled by the
insurgents, primarily al Shabaab. The Times article appears to bear out this
claim, with reports that Washington is using its influence to encourage
private aid agencies to move quickly into "newly liberated areas," in an
effort to make the TFG more popular. Food is being prevented from reaching
civilians in areas held by the insurgents and only provided in return for
support for the TFG.
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