Somalia’s tragedy continues
The tragedy of Somalia shows no signs of going away. Heavy fighting between the Ethiopian occupation forces and the Somali army on the one side, and resurgent Islamic militants on the other has led to the departure of hundreds of thousands of refugees from the capital Mogadishu. These poor people are faced with a journey into the unknown, during which they are prey to every form of blackmail and extortion. There are probably many in the country who look back nostalgically to the corrupt and despotic days of military tyrant Mohamed Siad Barreh.
The Ethiopians now admit that they are bogged down. They know they’re not wanted and indeed have made themselves hated by their indiscriminate killings of innocent civilians. In the middle of it all is a miniscule African Union ”Peace keeping” force, made up entirely of Ugandans, the only country which made good its promise to commit soldiers.
Somalia has no de facto government. As such it’s a neo-con’s dream: no government, no taxes – except “extraordinary donations” to the various armed factions for protection. The mobile ‘phone industry is doing a great trade. It is, after all, the only way for people to communicate without going out of doors where they run the risk of being targetted by snipers. Then again, with the greater use of artillery by all sides, there’s no guarantee that life’s safe even staying in doors.
