Those Ethiopian Allies
Ian Welsh at the Agonist uses the easily foreseeable quagmire the Ethiopians admitted to finding themselves in in Somalia to offer this piece of advice:
Really, what the US needs to do right now, is nothing. Don't talk to anyone. Don't invade anyone. Forbid anyone in government from talking to anyone in a foreign government about anything that isn't routine and technical until Bush is out of power. Because there is no situation so bad that the Bush administration cannot make it worse with their Rambo diplomacy, refusal to acknowledge the sovereignty of the people, and their belief that anyone who they think they can shove around, should be shoved around, just on general principles.
Just do nothing.
Unfortunately, the world can't afford an America that doesn't do anything, but its hard to argue that on the whole, not letting Bush and his buddies meddle in other countries in their ham-handed way wouldn't be the best course.
And in Africa, there's no question that the Bush administration's support for the Ethiopian tyrants have made things worse, and not just for Somalia.
Ethiopian soldiers have forcibly drafted hundreds of civilians to fight separatist rebels in the desolate, predominantly Muslim Ogaden region in a shadowy military campaign supported by the Bush administration, according to more than a dozen refugees and former recruits who've fled to neighboring Kenya.
The untrained and ill-equipped draftees — including students, camel herders and tribal leaders who've never fired weapons in combat — are being thrown into pitched battles with ethnic Somali guerrillas and often suffer heavy casualties, the refugees and ex-recruits said.
Men who resist joining these civilian militias — known as "dabaqodhi," or "puppets" of the government — are beaten, locked up in military prisons or killed, the refugees said in interviews. When recruits perform poorly in combat, as they often do, they're abused and accused of aiding the rebels, refugees said.
But no matter. As the story goes, Ethiopia is an ally in the "War on Terror", like those adorable Saudis and the friendly dictatorship of Musharraf, and so they will continue to get the unflinching support of the US to kill and suppress.
And yet, when the inevitable blowback comes, those most vocal in their support for these actions will be scratching their heads and wondering, "Why do they hate us?"
