Somalia: US Backs Puppet Government’s Planned Military Offensive

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Somalia: How Colonial Powers drove a Country into Chaos

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Blackwater/Xe mercs arrive in Somalia, Al-Shabab says

Jan. 12, 2010     Al-Shabab fighters At least 18 people have been killed in clashes between rival factions in southern and central Somalia, and there are reports that Blackwater/Xe mercenaries have entered the country. A battle broke out between the pro-government Ahlu Sunnah militia and Hizbul Islam fighters in the town of Baladwayne on Sunday and went well into Monday, during which at least 13 people lost their lives, witnesses said. In addition, five people were killed when Hizbul Islam fighters engaged Al-Shabab fighters in the town of Dhobley near the Kenyan border, Reuters reported. There are also allegations of US-sponsored bomb plots in the capital.. » read more

Special Ops Report Suggests Assassination Program Aimed at “Enemies of the State”

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 In a report posted on the Wired website, Noah Shachtman mentions a CIA plan to hunt down and kill “jihadists, drug dealers, pirates and other enemies of the state.” Shachtman cites a report produced by the U.S. military’s Joint Special Operations University suggesting a global assassination team. “Report author and retired Lt.. » read more

Al-Qaida-Linked Thugs Now Executing Children

Mother watches sons being dragged away   Al-Shabaad militia man An al-Qaida-linked terror group has been identified as the organization that dragged off three children of a Christian father in Somalia and executed two of them by beheading, according to a horrifying new report from Compass Direct News. The Islamic extremists identified as being with a group called al-Shabaab, which has been described by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization, attacked the family and killed the boys because their father refused to provide information about a church leader, the report said. "I watched my three boys dragged away helplessly as my youngest boy was crying," said the mother, Batula Ali Arbow.. » read more

Somali Pirates Guided by London Intelligence Team, Report Says

Document obtained by Spanish radio station says 'well-placed informers' in constant contact by satellite telephone May 11, 2009 The Somali pirates attacking shipping in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean are directed to their targets by a "consultant" team in London, according to a European military intelligence document obtained by a Spanish radio station. The document, obtained by Cadena SER radio, says the team and the pirates remain in contact by satellite telephone. It says that pirate groups have "well-placed informers" in London who are in regular contact with control centres in Somalia where decisions on which vessels to attack are made. These London-based "consultants" help the pirates select targets, providing information on the ships' cargoes and courses. In at least one case the pirates have remained in contact with their London informants from the hijacked ship, according to one targeted shipping company.. » read more

Cold War Origins of the Somalia Crisis

May 6, 2009 For the past seven months world news outlets have provided daily coverage on what has been described as escalating piracy off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden and attempts by international, primarily Western, military vessels to combat it. Absent from such reporting, as the exigencies of commercial news broadcasting inevitably entail, is how and why the situation in the region reached the impasse it has and what its broader significance is.   Instead the picture presented is, according to the standard formula, a point on a blank canvas with no historical depth, no geoeconomic and geopolitical width and no strata of diversified and interrelated causes that contribute to and dynamics that result from what is in truth a lengthy and complex process of developments. In short the Somali situation is portrayed as a simple and self-contained event that at a seemingly gratuitous moment was declared a crisis. There are dozens of comparable cases in the world, analogous in the general sense of presenting economic, security, national and regional threats to other nations and their environs, but these have not been declared crises and so aren't given world attention.. » read more

The Crisis in Somalia: US-NATO Plans to Control the Indian Ocean

May 3, 2009 STOP NATO Cold War Origins For the past seven months world news outlets have provided daily coverage on what has been described as escalating piracy off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden and attempts by international, primarily Western, military vessels to combat it. Absent from such reporting, as the exigencies of commercial news broadcasting inevitably entail, is how and why the situation in the region reached the impasse it has and what its broader significance is. Instead the picture presented is, according to the standard formula, a point on a blank canvas with no historical depth, no geoeconomic and geopolitical width and no strata of diversified and interrelated causes that contribute to and dynamics that result from what is in truth a lengthy and complex process of developments. In short the Somali situation is portrayed as a simple and self-contained event that at a seemingly gratutitous moment was declared a crisis. There are dozens of comparable cases in the world, analagous in the general sense of presenting economic, security, national and regional threats to other nations and their environs, but these have not been declared crises and so aren't given world attention.. » read more

Pirates and Poverty

Tuesday 21 April 2009  It all worked out in Pirate Alley.     A brave American captain saves his ship and crew by putting his own life on the line. An untried American president deals with the crisis with wisdom and restraint, negotiating for days even as the standoff risks becoming an international embarrassment for his country. Then a team of skilled Navy snipers kills all the captors in a single burst of fire, knowing that even one wounded pirate would surely kill the American captive. The next day President Obama gives a tough speech, vowing to "halt the rise of piracy" off the coast of Africa.. » read more

Human Tide of Misery Flees the Anarchy of Somalia

April 17, 2009 As the world follows the escapades of the country's pirates, civilians are fleeing the anarchy on land, creating the world's biggest refugee camp The lucky ones come with their families, others appear out of the thorn bushes, walking alone. Five hundred Somalis are now arriving at this bleak Kenyan outpost every day. They join a population of 267,000 and counting, in a facility built to shelter just 45,000. While the world has been captivated by the high seas drama of Somalia's pirates, this human tide has swollen the ranks of Dadaab, turning it into the world's largest refugee camp. The new arrivals sit in their hundreds under a makeshift tarpaulin, trying to keep perfectly still in temperatures that reach 40C in the shade.. » read more

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