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Somali on Rye


GovernmentWarSome interesting chatter on the wires today. It seems the AP ran a story indicating the US government was doing business with Somali warlords. A subsequent article on the wire (but not yet online anywhere that I can find) indicates Tony Snow ducked, dodged, dipped and dived his way around an answer to attempts to verify we’re in bed with Somalia’s rogue element.

Asked Wednesday whether the United States was working with warlords, Snow said he had to speak carefully.

“You’ve got instability in Somalia right now, and there is concern about the presence of foreign terrorists, particularly al-Qaida, within Somalia right now,” he said.

“In an environment of instability, as we’ve seen in the past, al-Qaida may take root, and we want to make sure that al-Qaida does not in fact establish a beachhead in Somalia.”

Snow said the United States “will continue to work with regional and international partners wherever we can to crack down on terrorism and also to try to prevent its rising.”

I’ve been pretty critical of the administration lately, but I have to say, at first blush, I’m ok with this. There has not been a functioning government in Somalia for about 15 years now, and I’d rather take sides with warlords if the other option means we ignore Al-Qaeda operations in the country.

Of course, as with many things that slowly leak out, I reserve the right to withdraw my support if it turns out we’re doing something stupid.



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Written by Michael Turk