Islamic courts capture capital of Somalia
How will one interpret the current situation in Somalia? With reports that the Somali ‘Sharia courts’ have captured the capital Mogadishu, this quite reminiscent of the Taliban back in the mid 90’s when they captured Kabul. Is this the rise of another Islamic movement, or simply the people of Somalia, frustrated over the lawlessness that has plagued their nation, rising to give it a sense of semblance?
Well for one thing, the leader of the movement, known as Sheikh Ahmed, has disowned any involvement or support for the Al-Qaeda, or what’s left of it. But I, for one, see several things here that are worth noticing. For instance, the ‘Sharia courts’ enjoy a lot of support from the masses in Somalia, and is known to be funded by local businessmen, who want law & order to be established. Second, the so called ‘anti-terror’ militia, which is a loose alliance of warlords (note how they use terror or anti terror for anything Islamic) is being supported and heavily funded by the US. This is the same group of warlords who publicly mutilated the bodies of American soldiers.
There is a lot of hypocrisy here folks! America, the harbinger of human rights (like we believe that anymore!) instead of aiding a faction that is pro law & order, goes out of its way to support warlords who are known for their ruthlessness. The question arises, why are they doing this? Is there a greater geo-political motivation? While it can’t be denied that there are ideological motivations behind this, Somalia, the horn of Africa, is very strategically located in the Middle East. It is also reported that Somalia has possible reserves of natural gas, minerals, and, hold your breath, petroleum! Ah, suddenly things are beginning to fall in place!
Anyways, it is still too early to jump to conclusions, but don’t be surprised if the media portrays the ‘Sharia courts’ as the bad guys, who support the Al-Qaeda and hate freedom that all Americans hold so dear and the US administration strives to uphold and spread….blah… blah. Okay… Okay… I’ll leave the rest to you to figure out.
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Comments? Voice your opinion!
I must say that this is a well written article and makes a lot of sense.
way to go!
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Ditto. Sharia laws never satisfy western world, G8 countries to be exact. Split and conquer. Same scenario being misjudged about Sudan. People living peacefuly until UN done worse than undoing problems, caused a civil war to split a nation. Once again for oil. Now Darfur case that had presence for decades; nomadic tribe robbing cattles and herds, and murdering whoever resists. Lebanon reoccupation happening under our eyes.
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