From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Fri Aug 07 2009 - 09:33:25 EDT
Friday, August 7, 2009 Clinton vows U.S. aid to fight extremists
Nicholas Kralev (Contact)
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday promised Somalia's
shaky government more weapons, training and other aid to prevent an
extremist militia from turning the East African country into a "haven for
global terrorism."
Mrs. Clinton, after meeting with Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed
at the U.S. Embassy in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, also threatened Eritrea
with sanctions for helping the Islamic group known as al-Shabab, which
controls much of Somalia, including a big part of the capital, Mogadishu.
"There is no doubt that al-Shabab wants to take control of Somalia and use
it as a base from which to influence and even infiltrate surrounding
countries and launch attacks against countries far and near," she said.
"Al-Shabab not only uses foreign fighters and foreign money, but foreign
ideas in its attack on the people of Somalia," Mrs. Clinton said, citing the
recent arrests of four men with apparent links to the group who are
suspected of plotting attacks in Australia.
Sheik Ahmed, a beleaguered leader whose government holds only a few blocks
in Mogadishu with support from a small peacekeeping force from Uganda and
Burundi, said his country needed significant help to deal with al-Shabab.
"Their aim is to make Somalia a ground to destabilize the whole world," he
said. "We cannot suffer any longer. The people of Somalia have a right to
peace."
The impoverished country has not had a functioning government since 1991,
when a civil war broke out. A U.S. military intervention began as a
humanitarian mission during the George H.W. Bush administration to deliver
aid supplies in 1992.
It ended during the Clinton administration with a pullout after the 1993
"Black Hawk Down" incident, in which 18 servicemen were killed and some of
their bodies were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu.
Sheik Ahmed said Thursday that Mrs. Clinton, who is on a seven-nation Africa
trip, promised him an increase of security and humanitarian U.S. assistance.
The secretary did not offer details, but a U.S. official in Washington said
the Obama administration would likely double an initial provision of 40 tons
of weapons. Another official said the United States has begun training
Somali security forces in neighboring Djibouti.
A spokesman for al-Shabab, Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage, was quick to respond to
Mrs. Clinton's comments Thursday, telling reporters in Mogadishu that U.S.
aid would not stop the group from trying to repeat the 1993 event.
"Any support America gives the government will not deter us from pursuing
our path, because we believe Allah and we always hope from him to give us
the upper hand," he said, according to wire reports.
Brett D. Schaefer, a fellow in international regulatory affairs at the
Heritage Foundation, said the Obama administration's approach to Somalia so
far seems little different from that of the George W. Bush administration,
though the current team appears to be "more willing to assert itself in the
conflict by providing more arms."
"The U.S. and international approach has been wrong-headed from the
beginning in trying to establish a government from the top down," he said.
"The difficult part is to create a legitimate government that has the
people's interests at heart. It won't be a result of a U.N.-led effort. You
can try to locate legitimate local authorities and bolster their capability
and credibility."
Josh Ruxin, an assistant professor at Columbia University who is based in
Rwanda, agreed that rebuilding a political system from the bottom up is
preferable but also said the Obama administration's "approach makes sense."
"You do need good leadership at the top, but in the last two decades the
bottom has been all but destroyed," so there are no leaders prepared to move
up, Mr. Ruxin said.
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