Imperialists escalate war in Somalia
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
Nov 27, 2011
The Western-orchestrated military effort to defeat the Islamic resistance
group Al-Shabaab in Somalia is bogged down, despite the deployment of the most
modern weapons against this people’s movement.
On Nov. 18, the Kenyan government announced it had requested greater U.S.
military assistance in its campaign to liquidate Al-Shabaab in
southern and central Somalia.
During the same week the Ethiopian army reportedly crossed the border into
Somalia once again in an effort to assist both the U.S. and Kenya. Kenya had
launched a land invasion into Somalia in October aimed at capturing Al-Shabaab
bases in the southern region and ousting the resistance movement from the
strategic port at Kismayo.
In addition, the leaders of Uganda and Kenya traveled to Israel for a
high-level meeting to request its assistance in the Somalia war. Both Israel
and the United States have had economic and military ties with Kenya, formerly
a British colony, for many years.
France also entered the war in Somalia during October. Its naval
vessels reportedly bombed areas in the south of the country. Despite a denial
from Paris, Kenyan military spokespeople confirmed the French
intervention.
The Pentagon has recently stationed drones in Somalia. Air strikes have been
carried out on a daily basis resulting in the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
Washington supplies funding, arms and training for the African Union Mission to
Somalia (AMISOM). This army of so-called “peacekeepers” has 9,000
Ugandan and Burundian troops, largely based in the capital of Mogadishu, to
bolster the U.S.-backed Transitional Federal Government regime in the city.
Kenyan invasion stalled
Reports from the battlefield in Somalia indicate that the Kenyan military
intervention is not going well. Conditions of heavy rainfall and the lack of
combat experience are hampering the efforts to dislodge al-Shabaab from key
towns in the south where it has built up fortified positions with support from
the local population.
The Los Angeles Times reported Nov. 18 that U.S. officials were considering
providing military surveillance and reconnaissance, “which could include
imagery from drone aircraft.”
The U.S. has been a major player in Somalian affairs since the late 1970s,
when the Carter administration persuaded former leader Mohammed Siad Barre to
break ties with the Soviet Union and ally Somalia with Washington. At that time
Washington’s main target in the region was the revolutionary government
in Ethiopia supported by the former USSR and Cuba.
With U.S. blessings and support, Somalia invaded Ethiopia’s Ogaden
region in 1978, trying to annex the territory, but was defeated. This failed
expansionist adventure began the unraveling of the regime in Somalia. Later, in
1992 under the first Bush administration, thousands of Marines were sent into
Somalia ostensibly to provide “humanitarian” assistance to
drought-stricken people. The intervention was quickly exposed as an invasion. A
popular uprising forced their withdrawal by early 1994.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the revolutionary government
of Mengistu Haile Mariam in Ethiopia was pulled down. His successor, Meles
Zenawi, has maintained close ties with Washington. Zenawi ordered troops into
Somalia in late 2006 to support U.S. aims in the region.
Despite large-scale assistance from the Pentagon, the Ethiopian military was
defeated by the resistance forces, led at that time by the Islamic Courts
Union.
This latest push into Somalia by the combined forces of Kenya, France, the
U.S., Ethiopia, AMISOM and Israel is clearly designed to make this
strategically located Horn of Africa nation a base for imperialist intrigue.
The U.S. Africa Command, known as AFRICOM, already has a base in neighboring
Djibouti. So does France. A similar outpost in Somalia would strengthen the
overall objectives of the Western capitalist states: to secure East Africa as a
continuing source of oil, raw materials, shipping lanes, tourism and cheap
labor.
Parallels to Libya war
The recent overthrow of the government of Col. Moammar Gadhafi in Libya has
set a dangerous precedent on the African continent. The U.S./NATO bombing
campaign and support for rebel forces has provided an opening for further
penetration of AFRICOM elsewhere on the continent.
In Somalia, the Kenyan and AMISOM forces, along with a newly formed army
under the control of the TFG, are bogged down in a quagmire. By escalating
U.S., French, Israeli and Ethiopian military engagement, the imperialists are
searching for a formula to consolidate their hold over the region. As in Libya,
this militarization will inevitably lead to further exploitation and
impoverishment of the masses.
In Libya, U.S., British and French oil firms and other corporations are
eager to exploit the vast oil and natural gas reserves. Under Gadhafi, the
nationalization of oil resources gave Libyans the highest standard of living in
Africa. Today, social programs that guaranteed free education, health care,
housing subsidies and women’s equality are being systematically
abolished, with the blessing of the U.S. and the NATO countries.
The use of drones, fighter aircraft, naval vessels, CIA and MI-6 operatives
along with NATO-led rebel military forces on the ground sealed the fate of the
Gadhafi government. A similar strategy is being utilized in Somalia, with total
disregard for its impact on the people.
With the nationwide crackdown on the Occupy Wall Street movement, the U.S.
is seeking to crush opposition to its program of austerity at home and
imperialist war abroad. Anti-war organizations and the burgeoning
anti-capitalist movement in the U.S. must raise demands against increasing
military interventions in Africa. These wars drain resources away from the
working class, the oppressed and youth here in order to enhance the power and
influence of international finance capital.
