According to The Independent’s Steve Bloomfield, Somalia is the world’s forgotten catastrophe. The following quotation from Mr. Bloomfield’s article reveals the sheer magnitude of the east African country’s humanitarian and political devastation.
According to the UN, the worst catastrophe in Africa is not taking place in Kenya, or even Darfur. Fifteen years after the disastrous Black Hawk Down incident, Somalia has more refugees than any country in the world.
Since the fatal American UN peace mission in 1993, in which 18 US rangers and 1000 Somalis died, Somalia is left at the mercy of various warlords fighting for personal agendas. But is it the only reason for Mogadishu’s gradual destruction in front of the so-called civilized international community? We will come to various answers in the course of this particular article.
Fifteen years after Washington withdrew from its mission in Somalia, the US have returned to dictate the political and military situations inside the war-ravaged country. The problem with American foreign policy is that it tends to change sides in dramatic fashion for the sake of its own interests. The White House never cared for the people of Somalia until the war on terror was launched and US intelligence reported Al Qaeda activities inside Somalia. Washington made Ethiopia its new friend in making neighboring Somalia free of Islamic radicals. Since Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia in December 2006, the world hoped of a better future for Somalia’s deprived population but as of now it is still a dream with Ethiopian soldiers battling Islamic extremists on a daily basis resulting in thousands of deaths and millions getting displaced.
First of all, involving Ethiopia was a mistake on the part of the Americans. The UN was and still is not being involved in a wider aspect. Washington supports a regime in Addis Ababa that is not at all innocent by any means. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has been accused of humanitarian abuses in a country which is also concerned of a radical Islamic resurgence. But America’s backing of Ethiopian forces has clearly backfired with Eritrea, Ethiopia’s sworn enemy, and has provided logistical support to Somalia’s Islamic Courts to launch insurgency against Ethiopian soldiers in the country and that has hurt the invasion.
The UN seems too concerned about Darfur and Kenya and as it should be, Somalia has suddenly disappeared from the radar in the UN’s headquarters in New York. The UN and the African Union(AU) should come out with a clear mandate to stop the anarchy in Somalia. Ethiopian forces should be removed from Somali soil and that should make way for a strong UN or AU peacekeepers to restore order. The international community, particularly the US, is forgetting the simple fact that more the anarchy, the greater are the odds for a radical Islamic resurgence in Mogadishu. The time has come for Washington to give up playing military games which could potentially be disastrous for Africa and the planet itself.
Source: Independent
