Invasion of Somalia won't stabilize country

The Arab League and the African Union called on Ethiopia to withdraw its troops after the U.N. Security Council failed to come to a consensus on a resolution on the conflict.

One of Ethiopia's only backers, the United States, said it had security concerns about the radical UIC movement. They charge that the Union threatened Ethiopia and claimed some of its territory. A spokesman for the White House National Security Council stated Somalia's interim government, which was overthrown by the Islamic Courts Council last June, asked for Ethiopian intervention. The State Department urged the superior Ethiopian forces to show restraint.

The United States sponsored a U.N. resolution on Somalia in early December. It called for the formation of an East African protection force. It was intended to discourage Ethiopian intervention and to diminish its regional rival Eritrea's support of the Islamic Courts Union. The resolution is yet to be implemented, and now faces further obstacles due to Ethiopia's open military role.

The fighting caused relief agencies to pull out many relief workers. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, appealed to the fighting parties to respect "humanitarian principles and protect civilian populations." Mr. Guterres added that Somalia has suffered too many displacements and "relief workers in the region are already struggling to contend with huge obstacles, including security and natural disasters."

This is by far the worst fighting in more than a decade in central and southern Somalia. There are already an estimated 800 wounded people and nearly a dozen dead, as of late December, 2006. Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, claimed his forces killed 1,000 Islamist fighters and wounded 3,000. The Islamic Courts Union say they killed hundreds of Ethiopian and former government fighters. The fighting forced thousands to flee their homes, while hospitals are filling with people in need of care.

The Islamic Courts movement gained notoriety for its harsh, Taliban-like rule after it overthrew a barely functioning government. They closed cinemas, shut down the consumption of intoxicating substances, and banned Western music. With an alleged allegiance to Al Qaeda, America and its few pro-war allies were nervous about a new Afghanistan in East Africa.

This new invasion raises two questions.

What was the political plan after Ethiopia's invasion? Was it as simple as driving out the Courts Union? It probably was. They will simply reinstall the previous government. Like Afghanistan, a failed government will continue where it left off — barely ruling one city and having no control of the many warlords and drug growers and sellers running amok elsewhere.

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