this would of been the perfect contract for Executive Outcomes...
Posted on 11/10/2006 6:29:45 PM PST by Flavius
Nov 10 (Reuters) - An unreleased U.N. report on violations to a widely flouted 1992 arms embargo on Somalia says militant groups and 11 nations are sending the government and rival Islamists a host of weapons and supplies.
Here are some highlights from the report, as given to Reuters by several security experts who recently saw the final version, which is due out next week:
WHO'S BEHIND WHOM?
* Syria, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia are giving support to the Islamists, the report says. The Islamists also have links with militant Muslim groups including Hezbollah, the report says.
The Islamists have always denied such links.
* Ethiopia, Uganda and Yemen are giving military support to the interim government. Experts say other elements in Yemen are backing the Islamists.
WHO'S INSIDE SOMALIA FOR THE GOVERNMENT?
* Roughly 5,000-10,000 Ethiopian soldiers.
* Around 100 Ugandan military personnel.
* Militias from the semi-autonomous enclave of Puntland.
* Militias reconstituted by warlords who had received backing from the CIA on counter-terrorism grounds and were ejected from Mogadishu by the Islamists in June.
WHO'S INSIDE SOMALIA FOR THE ISLAMISTS?
* About 2,500 Eritrean soldiers, whom security experts say include specialists in anti-aircraft combat.
* Roughly 1,000 foreign jihadists with combat experience or volunteers with training in bomb-making and assassination.
* An unknown number of fighters with Ethiopian rebel groups Ogaden National Liberation Front and Oromo Liberation Front.
* About 6,000 students recruited from Islamic universities for training in militant action, according to the experts.
WHAT WEAPONS ARE THERE?
* Iran has provided at least 250 anti-aircraft missiles to the Islamists, the report says.
* Ethiopia has given anti-aircraft missiles to the interim government as well, which the experts say suggests that Ethiopia believes the Islamists have aircraft too.
* Uganda flew anti-aircraft guns into the interim government's sole outpost in Baidoa, along with logistical supplies to build a compound, the report says.
* Somalia was already awash in assault rifles and heavy weapons, and more similar weaponry and ammunition has come in.
* A host of countries have supplied various logistical items to both sides, including uniforms, food, fuel and other necessary items for fighting a war, the report says.
The dark side of the force continues to grow....and our fine libs won't let us fight the war that needs to be fought to save our country from it....
ping.
I remember being back in Somalia back in 1986/87. Back then, there were all these thug kids running around with WW II era rifles, that were half rust and half string. They clearly were incapable of firing anything.
Then some "Mysterious Saudis" started providing money and weapons to the thugs, and every jerk kid in Mogadishu seemed to be running around with a bright shiny new AK 47 and ammunition to spare. Around then we figured it was a really good time to get out of Dodge, so we did.
The initial destablization of Somalia was ridiculously easy. For he cost of 10,000 AK 47s, the entire country was driven into chaos. Give the idiots weapons, and they'll take care of the rest.
"Syria, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia are giving support to the Islamists, the report says."
Great. Our so-called "allies in the war on terror," Egypt and Saudi Arabia, are backing this radical Islamist faction.
Big surprise?
Arm 'em all.
Let God sort 'em out!
this would of been the perfect contract for Executive Outcomes...
We should be dropping rifles out of airplanes over Iran. If the Mullahs want to be idiots, let them try to enforce their will over an armed population.
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