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Somalia may come next in wider war on terrorism (REVENGE FOR THE SLAIN)
The Daily Telegraph ^ | November 26, 2001 | Adrian Blomfield

Posted on 11/25/2001 3:30:06 PM PST by MadIvan

AS THE Taliban crumble, speculation is again rife that American sights could be turned on another of the world's most chaotic countries: Somalia.

President Bush has already given clear warnings. Shortly after the September 11 attacks he placed the Somali militant group al-Itihaad al-Islamiya on a list of outlawed terrorist organisations.

This month he froze the assets of al-Barakat, Somalia's biggest business conglomerate, described by the US as "quartermasters of terror". Intelligence and diplomatic sources say al-Qa'eda has been operating training camps alongside its colleagues in al-Itihaad.

They have pooled resources, observers say, since 1992 when al-Itihaad leaders met Osama bin Laden in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. Intelligence sources say that in 1998 bin Laden congratulated his operators on the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

There have been persistent rumours that bin Laden could flee to Somalia. Some reports say he is already there. Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, said last week that he could have fled via Pakistan to Somalia, Sudan or Yemen, which are also on Washington's potential hit list.

Al-Qa'eda is reported to have training camps in Yemen's northern mountains, where several thousand guerrillas are believed to be awaiting orders. Eight British Arabs convicted in Yemen of murdering four tourists in 1998 identified Islamic army camps in Aden. These could be targets.

Sanctions against Sudan, which remains on Washington's list of countries that sponsor terrorism, were dropped in September after President Omar al-Bashir declared himself a member of the coalition against terrorism.

But Hassan al-Turabi, the leading opposition figure, was bin Laden's closest associate in Sudan, where he lived between 1992 and 1996. There is speculation that followers of Turabi, who is married to bin Laden's niece, could be pursued by the Americans.

Somalia could be the easiest of the three countries to strike. It has been an open secret for months that al-Itihaad's main training base is near the coastal town of Ras Kamboni, on the Kenyan border.

According to Somalis in the area, members of al-Qa'eda began to infiltrate the south of the country in 1996 posing as Islamic missionaries. They built training camps and took control of several towns.

Locals tell of Arab recruits training in the camps and imposing a terrifying, Taliban-style sharia law. "These people have a kind of poison in them," said Muhammed, a cattle trader who fled the area this year. "They did terrible things to people they suspected of being opposed to them and their teachings. They would rip out their eyes and chop off their hands.

"They would beat people and cut the body to allow the wounds to become infested with maggots. Others they tied their hands and feet and drowned them in the river." Smoking was forbidden. Caught once, a guilty man would receive 40 lashes. Caught again, he would be executed.

Yet it remains unclear how the Americans could eradicate the terrorism threat in Somalia. Many accounts say the terrorists fled after September 11. Boats were seen leaving Ras Kamboni night after night, sailing out into the Indian Ocean.

"If there was a war to be fought against terrorism in Somalia then I think the Americans have missed the boat," said one diplomat.

There are also doubts over whether America has the stomach for a war in Somalia. In late 1992 Mr Bush's father sent troops there on a peacekeeping operation. It was a disaster, with at least 17 Americans killed in a single incident, and they soon pulled out.


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To: MadIvan
a dozen 'daisy cutters' oughta clean up mogadishu quite nicely i would think, ey guv?
61 posted on 11/25/2001 8:47:23 PM PST by rockfish59
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To: Victoria Delsoul
What a bunch of savages!

Peaceful savages.


62 posted on 11/25/2001 8:47:28 PM PST by Sabertooth
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"Many accounts say the terrorists fled after September 11. Boats were seen leaving Ras Kamboni night after night, sailing out into the Indian Ocean."

Onward brave islamofascist warriors! LOL, what cowards!

Justice for the Blackhawk downed. Justice for the dead soldiers betrayed by Clintoon. I say drop tactical neutron-bombs on terrorists hiding in urban areas, hose em' down, and give them to decent folk.

63 posted on 11/25/2001 9:11:45 PM PST by Frances_Marion
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To: Amerigomag
...Somalis to evolve into a campaign to introduce democracy where there was nothing but clan warfare.

You can bet that 43 won't make that same mistake in Afghanistan.

Really. I remember talking to an Afghanistaner ( or what ever they like to be called) in Washington D.C. last January.

He told us that he had rocket lauchers and rockets, and his neighbors had a tank.

That is how they kept the peace...being each well armed.

He stressed the clan warfare being very real over there.

Democracy... LOL, where ever it is instituted, it is just the road to socializm...onward to communizm...

Thank goodness they aren't ready to hoe that row...

64 posted on 11/25/2001 9:12:47 PM PST by Syncro
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To: 4ConservativeJustices; MadIvan
Thankfully, neither does MadIvan

Ain't that the truth...some of the most patriotic people to the USA either don't live here or are not American citizens...Thanks MadIvan and those others...you know who you are.

65 posted on 11/25/2001 9:17:12 PM PST by Syncro
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To: Amerigomag; denydenydeny
..... allowing an effort to feed starving Somalis to evolve into a campaign to introduce democracy where there was nothing but clan warfare.

You can bet that 43 won't make that same mistake in Afghanistan.

Hence the easing out of the ground forces of that Cli'ton-cloned Socialworker Soldier Syndrome-suffering British fellow.

Whatshisname.

66 posted on 11/25/2001 10:38:48 PM PST by Brian Allen
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To: Ciexyz
Spies are a pretty harsh word, but thats what they were. They were members of the UN who were part of the "hate America crowd". So everytime we go through the chain of command these people knew what we were doing and tipped off the appropriate channels. Even more sickening was that to get anything going on the ground took hours and sometimes days to pull off because of all the bureacracy Klinton caused.
67 posted on 11/25/2001 10:41:27 PM PST by KC_Conspirator
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To: 4ConservativeJustices
We should have then, but what's a few years? Let them know that America never forgets.

I thought Mogadishu should be flattened and the earth plowed up with salt as a warning in response to that (not that Weird Bill was going to do any such thing). If Western governments do not make it clear that any threat to their citizens will be severely punished, we debase our safety, security and respect in the world. Find the little bastards who did it, and string them up at the very least.

Regards, Ivan
68 posted on 11/26/2001 2:26:31 AM PST by MadIvan
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To: Brian Allen; MadIvan
Thank you for pointing out some of the more egregious BS in this piece from the street of journalistic whores, home of the morally and intellectually bankrupt -- and in which the "well-founded rumor" [Picked up on the way in to the "newsroom" from the early-opening pub on the corner] -- is an oft-used News source!

When is John Robinson going to introduce an IGNORE function into the software?
69 posted on 11/26/2001 2:51:16 AM PST by jjbrouwer
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To: MadIvan; Syncro
I agree, some of the most patriotic supporters have been from non-Americans, or those living abroad. I am glad that we have support in other parts of the world.

We'd have more respect in the world if we did stick up for our military / citizens. The vast majority of nations have a tribal mentality, and a lack of response is a sign of weakness. OBL and cohorts prodded and prodded with no retaliation, and either instigated 9/11 thinking they were safe, or in an attempt to create a "holy" war.

"There can be no real peace while one American is dying some place in the world for the rest of us. We are at war with the most dangerous enemy that has ever faced mankind in his long climb from the swamp to the stars, and it has been said if we lose that war, and in doing so lose this way of freedom of ours, history will record with the greatest astonishment that those who had the most to lose did the least to prevent its happening. Well, I think it's time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers."
Ronald W. Reagan, ("The Speech"), 27 October 1964
At least one American President understood.
70 posted on 11/26/2001 5:00:23 AM PST by 4CJ
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To: gonzo
You may remember my saying something like this right after 9/11...

FReegards!

71 posted on 11/26/2001 5:19:23 AM PST by B Ireland
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To: OK
protég&etilde
72 posted on 11/26/2001 7:50:09 AM PST by wideawake
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To: MadIvan
If it is to be Somalia next, I some how doubt that this time the TV cameras and lights will herald the arrival of the US forces.

FRegards,

73 posted on 11/26/2001 8:40:42 AM PST by Churchillspirit
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To: MadIvan
I thought Mogadishu should be flattened and the earth plowed up with salt as a warning in response to that (not that Weird Bill was going to do any such thing). If Western governments do not make it clear that any threat to their citizens will be severely punished, we debase our safety, security and respect in the world. Find the little bastards who did it, and string them up at the very least.

Exactly. however, after October, 1993, we ran like a scared cur. Not our GI's, but our political leaders. Mogidishu was the first giant step to 9/11/2001.

Thanks for this thread. Extremely illuminating.

74 posted on 11/26/2001 9:28:07 AM PST by Alas Babylon!
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To: MadIvan
Somalia would suit me fine, we got a little unfinished business over there anyhow.
75 posted on 11/27/2001 1:17:24 AM PST by StoneColdGOP
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To: B Ireland; 4ConservativeJustices; Brian Allen; A Marine; MadIvan; jjbrouwer
"...You may remember my saying something like this right after 9/11..."

Yes I do, my friend. The old scores will be settled, and with our new leadership, the Marines will teach the lesson long-needed for eight years!

You might also remember that I predicted USAF-Base-Kandahar after 9/11!

Who knew that the damned Marines would be tasked for that?

It's nice to be winning, FINALLY, in case some klintoonites are still hanging around here. Stay well and vigilant, pal....FRegards

76 posted on 11/27/2001 10:17:46 PM PST by gonzo
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To: gonzo
A, "Thank you, gonzo," bump.
77 posted on 11/27/2001 10:37:00 PM PST by Brian Allen
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To: gonzo
***It's nice to be winning, FINALLY***

Maybe we could appoint a delegation to notify Sens Leahy and Daschle of that truth...

...bleedin' traitors!

78 posted on 11/29/2001 6:02:41 AM PST by B Ireland
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