Tuesday
Dec302008
Oh, Here's Another Crisis You Might Want To Notice: Somalia
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 2:40
Breaking News: Jeffrey Gettleman has a follow-up piece in The New York Times tomorrow promoting Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, "a well-respected, moderate Islamic cleric", as Ahmed's successor.
Remember the Government in Somalia?
Well, it no longer exists.
President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed resigned Monday, the final confirmation that he had little or no effective authority. There is no prospective replacement. Given Ahmed's repeated attempts to dismiss Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein this month, it is uncertain if there is even an operating central Government in Moghadishu. For the moment, the call is for "parliamentary unity".
Jeffrey Gettleman in The New York Times reported Monday on the emergence of fighting between "Islamist" factions, in particular between a new movement Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama and the Shabab, "one of Somalia's most militant groups".
That story may have significance, however, as a tip-off to Washington's response to Ahmed's downfall. Having toppled the Islamic Courts government in 2006 but failed to get stability, the US Government --- through the State Department and/or the incoming Obama Administration --- may be envisaging an "acceptable" Islamist leadership. No doubt that leadership will be expected to accept the emerging US oversight of the region through the new African Command.
Who that leadership will be and, more importantly, how they will take power in Mogadishu is just a bit unclear, however. So once again it seems that the US has ideas for how a country should be "reshaped" with little regard for the political and social complexities.
Remember the Government in Somalia?
Well, it no longer exists.
President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed resigned Monday, the final confirmation that he had little or no effective authority. There is no prospective replacement. Given Ahmed's repeated attempts to dismiss Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein this month, it is uncertain if there is even an operating central Government in Moghadishu. For the moment, the call is for "parliamentary unity".
Jeffrey Gettleman in The New York Times reported Monday on the emergence of fighting between "Islamist" factions, in particular between a new movement Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama and the Shabab, "one of Somalia's most militant groups".
That story may have significance, however, as a tip-off to Washington's response to Ahmed's downfall. Having toppled the Islamic Courts government in 2006 but failed to get stability, the US Government --- through the State Department and/or the incoming Obama Administration --- may be envisaging an "acceptable" Islamist leadership. No doubt that leadership will be expected to accept the emerging US oversight of the region through the new African Command.
Who that leadership will be and, more importantly, how they will take power in Mogadishu is just a bit unclear, however. So once again it seems that the US has ideas for how a country should be "reshaped" with little regard for the political and social complexities.