Somali president says U.S. backs warlords

[Theja]

I am ignorant of all the complexities and ground realities in Somalia. But it appears like the present Islamists in power deserve a careful look and serious consideration for International support --- in the hope and for the sake of a stable Somalia. It has to start sometime, somewhere, and this may be an opening.

A Somali professor in the US presented a very convincing argument for the International community to give this present regime a chance.

[Khokom]

Why do you feel that you must give regimes around the world chances, do you feel that any regime u dont agree with it must be removed?

There are plenty of corrupt governments in this world who get direct instructions from Washington, the latest one is in Iraq.

This world will be a better place once America stops trying to police it and stops forcing its corrupt ideologies on people around the world.

Khokom.

[Khokom]

Pfff supporting the corrupt warlords, the secularists of somalia, when the people are adhere followers of Islam,.. . the islamic courts of somalia have plenty of support.

Wherever America sees an islamic government beginning to kinda make it to the top, it labels it as a supporter of terrorism, then it goes about brainwashing people's brains to get some support, . . .then its the talk of "oh this government is a threat to our nation, it hates peace and freedom and its goin to destroy us if we dont do somethin about it", after that it plans to chnage it, and replace it with "one of our boys", a puppet government.

Khokom.

[Theja]

Khokom, please don't blame others for the trouble Somalia is in. As is obvious, Somalia does not help. Right now the international community is at at a loss who to believe and who to help. In that sense I am talking about giving this present regime a chance, meaning help. I also said in the hope of and for the sake of a stable Somalia.

If you can solve the problem of Somalia by your wisdom and without the help of others, so much the better.

[Khokom]

The problem is easy to solve. The Americans must stop financing and supporting a corrupt regime such as the warlords regime. .they do this with the majority of African governments . they felt they had to support them because OH GOSH, an ISLAMIC power has made it to the top,.. oh we cant let that happen can we.... right Theja?

They are already accusing them of having connections with AlQaeda....

Khokom.

[Al-khiyal]

Armed men Wednesday guarded the members of a new Islamic court in the Somali town of Balad, 25 miles north of the capital, Mogadishu.

WASHINGTON, June 7 — A covert effort by the Central Intelligence Agency to finance Somali warlords has drawn sharp criticism from American government officials who say the campaign has thwarted counterterrorism efforts inside Somalia and empowered the same Islamic groups it was intended to marginalize.

The criticism was expressed privately by United States government officials with direct knowledge of the debate. And the comments flared even before the apparent victory this week by Islamist militias in the country dealt a sharp setback to American policy in the region and broke the warlords' hold on the capital, Mogadishu.

The officials said the C.I.A. effort, run from the agency's station in Nairobi, Kenya, had channeled hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past year to secular warlords inside Somalia with the aim, among other things, of capturing or killing a handful of suspected members of Al Qaeda believed to be hiding there.

Officials say the decision to use warlords as proxies was born in part from fears of committing large numbers of American personnel to counterterrorism efforts in Somalia, a country that the United States hastily left in 1994 after attempts to capture the warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid and his aides ended in disaster and the death of 18 American troops.

The American effort of the last year has occasionally included trips to Somalia by Nairobi-based C.I.A. case officers, who landed on warlord-controlled airstrips in Mogadishu with large amounts of money for distribution to Somali militias, according to American officials involved in Africa policy making and to outside experts.

Among those who have criticized the C.I.A. operation as short-sighted have been senior Foreign Service officers at the United States Embassy in Nairobi. Earlier this year, Leslie Rowe, the embassy's second-ranking official, signed off on a cable back to State Department headquarters that detailed grave concerns throughout the region about American efforts in Somalia, according to several people with knowledge of the report.

Around that time, the State Department's political officer for Somalia, Michael Zorick, who had been based in Nairobi, was reassigned to Chad after he sent a cable to Washington criticizing Washington's policy of paying Somali warlords.

One American government official who traveled to Nairobi this year said officials from various government agencies working in Somalia had expressed concern that American activities in the country were not being carried out in the context of a broader policy.

"They were fully aware that they were doing so without any strategic framework," the official said. "And they realized that there might be negative implications to what they are doing."

The details of the American effort in Somalia are classified, and American officials from several different agencies agreed to discuss them only after being assured of anonymity. The officials included supporters of the C.I.A.-led effort as well as critics. A C.I.A. spokesman declined to comment, as did a spokesman for the American Embassy in Kenya.

Asked about the complaints made by embassy officials in Kenya, Thomas Casey, a State Department spokesman, said: "We're not going to discuss any internal policy discussions. The secretary certainly encourages individuals in the policy making process to express their views and opinions."

Several news organizations have reported on the American payments to the Somali warlords. Reuters and Newsweek were the first to report about Mr. Zorick's cable and reassignment to Chad. The extent and location of the C.I.A.'s efforts, and the extent of the internal dissent about these activities, have not been previously disclosed.

Some Africa experts contend that the United States has lost its focus on how to deal with the larger threat of terrorism in East Africa by putting a premium on its effort to capture or kill a small number of high-level suspects.

Indeed, some of the experts point to the American effort to finance the warlords as one of the factors that led to the resurgence of Islamic militias in the country. They argue that American support for secular warlords, who joined together under the banner of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism, may have helped to unnerve the Islamic militias and prompted them to launch pre-emptive strikes. The Islamic militias have been routing the warlords, and on Monday they claimed to have taken control of most of the Somali capital.

"This has blown up in our face, frankly," said John Prendergast of the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit research organization with extensive field experience in Somalia.

"We've strengthened the hand of the people whose presence we were worried most about," said Mr. Prendergast, who worked on Africa policy at the National Security Council and State Department during the Clinton administration......

Continue reading.....Efforts by C.I.A. fail in Somalia, officials charge

(Use ID mediajunkie16 password mediajunkie to access complete 2-page article)

[Al-khiyal]

MOGADISHU, June 9 (Reuters) - Days after winning control of Mogadishu, an Islamist militia advanced on Friday towards the last stronghold of secular warlords, Jowhar.

The coalition of warlords are widely believed to be backed by Washington and their defeat is seen as a setback for U.S. policy.

The United States called an international meeting next week in New York to discuss strategy on Somalia, bringing together officials from the United Nations, Europe and Africa.

Residents said the militia, who won control of the Somali capital on Monday after driving out the warlords, advanced overnight closer to the warlord stronghold of Jowhar, 90 km to the north.

"Our forces have moved towards the warlord forces," said Siyad Mohamed, one of the leaders of the Islamic militia.

Jowhar warlords, reinforced by defeated allies, pushed southwards from the town on Thursday to the village of Qalimoy.

"The (warlord) coalition took their remaining weapons and militia from the town to strengthen their defence in Qalimoy after word came that the Islamic courts were advancing towards Jowhar," said Abdi Warsame, a farmer.

Islamist leader Mohamed said: "If their movements continue, we will have no option but to attack them because they are preparing to attack us....."

More.....