New War Front
10 January, 2007
Opening another warfront, US jets have pounded suspected hideouts of Islamic militia in east African nation of Somalia, claiming that Al-Qaeda and Islamic militia are planning to turn the country into a save heaven for `terrorists`.
The air strikes are the result of same preemption policy of the sole super power of the world, which it applied to invade Iraq, though not even a single weapon of mass destruction has so far been found there.
Monday`s attack was the first overt military action by the U.S. in Somalia since it led a U.N. force in 1993 that intervened in Somalia . The mission led to clashes between U.N. forces and Somali warlords, including the "Black Hawk Down" battle that left 18 U.S. troops dead.
The air strike occurred after the suspects were seen hiding on a remote island on the southern tip of Somalia, close to the Kenyan border, Somali officials said. The island and a site near the village of Hayi, 155 miles to the north, were hit.
The main target was Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who allegedly planned the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed 225 people.
President Abdullahi Yusuf told journalists in the capital, Mogadishu, that the U.S. "has a right to bombard terrorist suspects who attacked its embassies." Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Aideed told newsmen that the U.S. had "our full support for the attacks."
According to analysts Somalia`s Islamist movement, al-Ittihad, is a small, relatively weak organization, with a mainly domestic agenda. Some individual members have had links to al-Qaeda which merit close scrutiny, but the group as a whole is in no way a subsidiary of al-Qaeda.
Here are some questions
1) What is real motive of US action in Somalia?
2) Can USA afford another guerilla war in Somalia after Iraq and Afghanistan?
3) Has US right to invade wherever it wants to flash out `terrorists`?
4) Does the air strike on Somalia endorse the contention that USA is targeting Muslim countries one by one?
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