A Return to Africa II

I was originally going to comment on the mortgage/foreclosure plan and the moral hazard it creates, but I just don't have the time or energy to get into it after a long week. Although as a renter who could not afford property in the Bay Area, I am a bit angry that others who bit off more than they could chew get to be bailed out. Why not bail me and my student loans out?

But that would be about me.

So instead, I just want to update my previous post on the situation in Somalia, which still does not garner any media attention. I can't understand why, considering that this is a lawless area full of Islamic fundamentalists who want to impose the sharia and pirates who threaten international trade. I mean, what else needs to happen before we start paying attention?!?!

So a new leader has been selected, Sharif Sheik Ahmed, a moderate Islamist cleric, that was a compromise between the transition government and the Islamic opposition. Hopefully they will be able to bring some sort of central leadership the area.

Although it appears that more AU troops might be need to keep the peace in the mean time. Democratic Senator Russ Feingold seems to be the only U.S. politician aware of the situation, as he wrote Obama a letter dated February 13, urging the new US president to break with predecessor George W. Bush's approach. He actually seems to have several good ideas.

"The previous administration maintained a disjointed and short-sighted approach toward Somalia that was counterproductive and led to increased anti-Americanism in the region," the Wisconsin lawmaker charged.

"As a result, the situation in Somalia has deteriorated, undermining our national security goals, including counterterrorism," the senator, who visited Somalia in December and met with President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

Full AFP Article. Image also from AFP.

Well-put, Russ.

A Detour to Africa

Although I know these kinds of posts are the least popular on here, I feel this topic is just not getting enough attention.

In the last few weeks some big events have taken place in Somalia. Ethiopian troops, really the only reason the transitional government was able to hold onto any semblance of "power" at all, have withdrawn. The president of the transitional government has also resigned, and his successor has not been named by paliament. This leaves an incredibly large vacuum in this desperate African nation, not only in the transitional government itself, but in the country as a whole. Already the previously expulsed Islamic fighers have retaken the country, and the areas they don't control are ruled by warlords. According to this article:

The government, with its 10,000 strong army and 3,500 African Union AMISOM peacekeepers, controls little more than a few blocks in the capital, Mogadishu. The election is being held in Djibouti because even the provisional seat of parliament in Baidoa fell to Islamists several days ago.

The fact that the parliament can't even sit in its own city is pretty telling.

We only hear about Somalia primarily when the pirates sitting off of the coast of the Horn of Africa board a large foreign ship of some sort. And, of course, piracy is no laughing matter. The piracy off of the coast of Somalia, however, is the symptom of a much larger disease. Some order needs to be established in this country and soon, otherwise Iraq and Afghanistan are going to be fond memories compared to the crisis that emerges there.