5.18.2006
Ongoing outrage in Somalia
The newest US foreign policy outrage is in Somalia. Yesterday’s Washington Post story about US government support to certain Somali warlords believed to be against al Qaeda, is brand new bad news. Somalia at the moment is not a functioning nation-state; it’s a set of territories that are constantly under contention by various warring factions. There is hardly any humanitarian presence, all the teachers sell khat for a living because there are no schools, and civilians die at unknown rates from disease, violence, and accidents. The country is a haven for drug smugglers, arms dealers, international fugitives and, yes, terrorists. BUT FUNDING VIOLENT WARLORDS IS A TERRIBLE RESPONSE.
I’m no historian and my knowledge of many regions and periods of history is weak, so it is possible that covert US funding of armed insurgents or paramilitary forces has somewhere established democracy or toppled a bloodthirsty leader. But I do know that US funding and covert operations are at least in part responsible for the rise of corrupt and violent Mobutu Sese Seko in Africa, for the ongoing instability in Haiti, for bloody overthrow in Nicaragua and, oh, the rise of the Taliban. Covert support in this case is in direct violation of a UN arms embargo and undermines the closest thing to a legitimate government that is there. In a situation as complex as Somalia, I truly doubt that there are any ‘good’ guys, much less that we would know for certain who they are. Even if there are some that are “better” than others (as determined by their potential threat to the USA, of course), support to any violent faction means more guns, more violence, and more death. All of the factions abuse human rights, and all have blood on their hands. Now we know that our government does too.
I’m no historian and my knowledge of many regions and periods of history is weak, so it is possible that covert US funding of armed insurgents or paramilitary forces has somewhere established democracy or toppled a bloodthirsty leader. But I do know that US funding and covert operations are at least in part responsible for the rise of corrupt and violent Mobutu Sese Seko in Africa, for the ongoing instability in Haiti, for bloody overthrow in Nicaragua and, oh, the rise of the Taliban. Covert support in this case is in direct violation of a UN arms embargo and undermines the closest thing to a legitimate government that is there. In a situation as complex as Somalia, I truly doubt that there are any ‘good’ guys, much less that we would know for certain who they are. Even if there are some that are “better” than others (as determined by their potential threat to the USA, of course), support to any violent faction means more guns, more violence, and more death. All of the factions abuse human rights, and all have blood on their hands. Now we know that our government does too.
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