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Somalia
By: Maggie Saylor '07
STAFF WRITER

A New Year always brings an abundance of New Year's resolutions, many of which you will find listed in this paper.

As marvelously educated Sweet Briar students, I would encourage you to include current events in the turning over of your new leaves. Keeping up with the news will help you in class, impress your parents, and make the other girls envy your amazing newfound knowledge. Who knows, you might actually learn something you care about!

Though surrounded by many countries suffering a wide range of difficulties, Somalia is truly a unique case. Their recent history is marked by long periods of instability that culminated in the ousting of their president. With the 1991 end of Siad Barre's military rule, clan warfare has spread widely, laying waste to the country's political and physical landscapes.

Despite fourteen attempts to form a legitimate, centralized government, Somalia has essentially experienced a state of anarchy for the last decade and a half. The northern part of the country remains its own republic, while the south is up for grabs to whichever clan warlord comes out on top.

Until recently, the Islamic Courts movement ruled Somalia’s capitol, Mogadishu. For six months the group maintained strict rule over the city and surrounding areas, which is not surprising as the Somali population is almost completely comprised of Sunni Muslims.

Two years ago, some Somalis began yet another attempt to stabilize the country by forming the Transitional Federal Government, working and living in Kenya until the group was strong enough to act. They made their move in December with help of Ethiopian forces.

Ethiopian military strength aided the Transition Federal Government in expelling Islamic Courts from Mogadishu, and for the last few weeks the transitional government has been (shakily) holding down the capital city. Their task of ousting the Islamists completed, Ethiopian forces are now withdrawing.

Somalis have mixed reactions to these recent events. Though not all were in complete support of the Islamic Courts, many found that the religious group did bring some security and trade to the region, making Mogadishu a safer place to live and work. The Courts did not, however, create a legitimate government.

The Somali population is also divided on Ethiopia's presence. While the Ethiopian forces and their role in expelling the Islamic Courts is not widely accepted as good or even as necessary, some still hope their neighbor's aid will help get things accomplished. Perhaps as long as Ethiopia stays involved within Mogadishu, the country will not readily fall back into the control of clashing warlords.

Recently, the transitional government has called upon the Africa Union (AU) to help them raise a force of 8,000 troops to maintain order as the fledgling government attempts to overcome its frailty. At the time this article was written, they had only managed to raise half of the desired number.

The U.S. has also been involved in the action. Throughout the month of January, the American government conducted air strikes on Somalia, targeting some key al-Qaeda members, including those responsible for the embassy bombings in 1998.

The situation in Somalia is troubling for many reasons, and thus well worth attention. The country is not far from Chad and Sudan, two countries that are already facing great difficulties in terms of violence and political instability. Escalating warfare in the region could greatly exacerbate any problems already in existence.

In addition, we are reminded of the United States' role in the world, and what that should be. The recent air strikes demonstrate an attempt to deal with the people responsible for the attacks on our embassy. However, the strikes have also, unfortunately, resulted in several dozen civilian Somali deaths, while we are still unsure as to whether we have actually succeeded in hitting our targets.

Winter Break was too long, and I found myself struggling to choose a topic for this month's article. Despite the drama surrounding Saddam Hussein's hanging, and the new excitement over reconciliation in Ireland, I chose to focus on Somalia, but please check out the other important stories as well!