Islamists Linked To Al Qaida On Verge Of Toppling Somalia's Western-Backed Government

Daily Telegraph:

Insurgents linked to al-Qaeda are on the verge of toppling Somalia's Western-backed government amid the worst fighting in the country's capital in more than a year.

Read the whole story: Daily Telegraph

Comments

[jackbauer05]

11:02 AM on 05/18/2009

The media might claim these people are linked to al-qaida, but please who provides the weapons?

[pokemon]

01:42 PM on 05/17/2009

We cannot think like they are in America or another Western nation, there are resources or access to resources and little else. Oh, and there thugs in charge do not dress as nice as ours:)

[mogadishu man]

08:53 AM on 05/17/2009

Ok, as a somali i though i clear something up.
some of you r saying "somalia got a government"? yes there is one the transitional federal gov is led by sharif sheikh ahmed. however his Admin. is weak this is due to when his party in 2006 were routed by ethiopian ac130s or whatever(yes us war planes) when things did not gone to plan the world led by us decided to bring backsharif as pres of the tfg. because some islamists dont trust sharif because of his links with the us, this ones together with the all the extremists in the world probably alqaeda are now pounding mogadishu and fighting moderate islamists weakened by 2006 invasion and the tfg
who as for today being pushed to the sea angle of mogadishu and the pres place and they captured Jowhar town if jowhar falls so is the capital. as for this people who r saying they will root pirates blahblah they r too extreme even for somali standard and they have foreigners like chechnyans arabs and africans in their ranks .

as for

[keefer]

11:54 PM on 05/16/2009

This is another Bush screw up. The only link to Al Qaeda is they are Islamic . The warlords backed by the US are the same ones that killed US soldiers in the famous "Black Hawk Down" movie. The warlords made the claim that the Joint Islamic Courts were "Al Qaeda linked" after they were defeated by them. Bush and the CIA fell for the Al Qaeda story and began backing the warlords. Experts say the courts also won support by providing a semblance of security and justice in one of the world's most dangerous cities. The US backed invasion by Ethiopia destabilized Somalia and actually increased popular support for the JIC among Somalians. That is what has lead to the current situation where the "western backed government is being defeated and Somalia is still a failed state.

[DLBSR]

06:00 PM on 05/17/2009

The only link to Al Qaeda is they are Islamic . The warlords backed by the US are the same ones that killed US soldiers in the famous "Black Hawk Down" movie.

__________________________________________________________________
Al-Qaeda was linked to Somalia just after the Battle For Mogidishu in 1993. This linkage was provided by several sources but primarily by President Clinton's State Departmenbt & CIA.

· Shabaab leader admits links to al Qaeda - The Long War Journal
www.globalsecurity.org/security/profiles/black_h...

· Amazon.com: Black Hawk Down: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom ...
For more information about "Black Hawk Down" visit the Internet Movie Database .... Some of these militiamen were trained under, and had links to, al-Qaeda. ...
www.amazon.com/Black-Hawk-Down-Josh-Hartnett/dp/...

[Egalitare]

10:14 PM on 05/16/2009

That someone is attempting to govern Somalia is news to me.

Can we start globally-coordinated recognition of that status by respecting their territorial fishing grounds?

[CitizenFarmer]

10:09 PM on 05/16/2009

Somalia was Bill Clinton's folly.

[Gasparilla]

09:59 AM on 05/17/2009

How so?

[punk]

05:30 PM on 05/16/2009

What does it mean to be "linked to al-Qaeda"?? Does it mean the taxi driver of the leader in Somalia was once the taxi driver for Osama bin Laden??

[finishcurve]

04:14 PM on 05/16/2009

60 of the 2000 photos Obama doesn't want released:

http://www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2006/02/15/1139890768716.html

[yakaria]

06:16 PM on 05/16/2009

Showing dumbasses torturing people doesn't really help the America's the good guy feeling. We are trying to mend relations with the rest of the world that have been terribly broken over the last 8 years. We are not trying to give the world more reason to hate us. Conservatives don't want them shown because it will tarnish the USA Ultra-left Liberal, I mean way left, want them shown because they don't give a damn about this country.

[finishcurve]

08:10 PM on 05/16/2009

Sounds like you have it all figured out.
I suppose you have a study to support your opinion?

[kapalabhati]

09:14 PM on 05/16/2009

To what end?

[davidwayneosedach]

03:26 PM on 05/16/2009

Let them take it over then nuke the entire country off the map.

[JerryLevy]

02:20 PM on 05/16/2009

Its Groundhog day in the Islamic world once again. Terrorists fighting and killing innocents in Pakistan so they can establish Sharia law and subjigate everyone. Terrorists blowing up Churches, police stations, and government buildings in Iraq. Terrorists blowing up hotels in Bali. Terrorists suicide bombing restaurants, busses, and religious institutions in Israel. Terrorists blowing up embassies in Yeman. Terrorists killing the leader of Lebanon. Now they are trying to overthrow the government of this open sewer called Somalia.

What if these people put down their weapons, stopped preaching their racist hate and victimization, and got to work building a civilized society?

[Sentientbeing09]

05:33 PM on 05/16/2009

Nice diatribe. You seem to paste the same unrelated cut-n-paste paragraph in every thread whether its on topic or not. Gotta keep blaming those Palestinians eh Jerry?

I fail to see your connection between Palestine and Somalia. Palestinians are living under brutal Israeli occupation and deserve self-determination. Theyre fighting for freedom. They want armed Israeli settlers out of their neighborhoods. They want tanks off their streets. They want their homes and land back. Not 'Sharia law and subjugation'.
The original PLO was a secular movement and Israel still refused to deal with them. Hamas and other organizations are a response to Israels ruthless oppression. Israel is responsible for their creation.

Somalia is an unrelated failed state that gets taken over by a new armed militia every other week. Westerners were complaining that pirates were dominating the region last month. Now the Islamists try to take over to drive the pirate culture out and the West is still not happy.

[yakaria]

06:23 PM on 05/16/2009

The PLO was created by unifying a bunch of terrorist groups for Example:
PFLP: Airplane Hijackers
PLF: Opened fire on a Synagogue
and the Biggest:
Fatah: took 11 Israelis hostage in Munich and murdered them.

Terrorism is not justified EVER!

[JerryLevy]

09:05 PM on 05/16/2009

Let's see, Israel signed the 1993 Oslo Peace Accord, withdrew from Gaza, Southern Lebanon, and much of the West Bank. Then they made repeated offers to end the occupation and create a 2 state solution and give up much of E. Jerusalem along with it. The Palestinians then declared war on Israel. "They are fighting for freedom." I don't think so.

[Khirad]

11:40 PM on 05/16/2009

Fair enough, but keep the "Islamic world" out of it ('Islamists', 'terrorists' okay), unless you're prepared to harangue the Maldives or Nancy Ajram, etc.

[ctznjoe]

01:21 PM on 05/16/2009

Somalia's pirates' private property.

[peterg76]

12:44 PM on 05/16/2009

I'm assuming by "Wester-backed" you mean "Western-ignored."

[ObamacratInCA]

03:33 PM on 05/16/2009

Well said.

[johnthesavage]

12:10 PM on 05/16/2009

Thankfully, everyone loves us since O took office, or this might be serious.

[Khirad]

11:46 PM on 05/16/2009

Thankfully we don't have an idiot in office, who can actually identify Somalia on a map.

[rwext]

12:05 PM on 05/16/2009

Well , another special Obama moment since jan 20

[johnr49]

02:29 PM on 05/16/2009

you're supposed to be attacking Nancy Pelosi this week - didn't you get the email?

[ObamacratInCA]

03:37 PM on 05/16/2009

Obama should have fixed Somalia on Jan. 21st, just like the previous Presidents did. Why are we taking so long to impeach this guy?

[Khirad]

11:51 PM on 05/16/2009

I mean honestly, it's not like piracy was a problem during Bush's administration... oh wait, it was? You mean to say the cons have just glommed on to this to fit their narrative of Dems being weak on security when it's really belligerence and recklessness that's more dangerous? You mean to say the Indian Navy, not our guys were the first to take this seriously, when Bush II was in office? Activate Repug cognitive dissonance...

[Khirad]

11:57 PM on 05/16/2009

Having posted that, let me clarify myself, the Indian Navy was perhaps reckless in November, whereas the Bush admin merely did n o t h i n g:

"Without committing more U.S. Navy ships, the administration wants to tap into what officials see as a growing enthusiasm in Europe and elsewhere for more effective coordinated action against the Somali pirates."

This was Dec. 10th, 2008 of the BUSH administration.

[MajorKong]

11:24 AM on 05/16/2009

Oh my. THAT can't be good.