Posted on 12/28/2006 6:28:18 AM PST by meg88
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Triumphant Somali government forces marched into Mogadishu on Thursday after Islamist rivals abandoned the war-scarred city they held for six months before an Ethiopian-backed advance.
The flight of the Islamists was a dramatic turn-around in the volatile Horn of Africa nation after they took Mogadishu in June and spread across the south imposing sharia rule.
Terrified of yet more violence in a city that has become a byword for chaos, some Mogadishu residents greeted the arriving government troops, while others hid. Photo
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"People are cheering as they wave flowers to the troops," said resident Abdikadar Abdulle, adding scores of government military vehicles had passed the Somalia National University west of the city center.
Parts of Mogadishu shook with the sound of gunfire and there were outbreaks of looting after leaders of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) fled its base early in the morning. Some fighters ditched their uniforms to avoid reprisals.
"We have been defeated. I have removed my uniform. Most of my comrades have also changed into civilian clothes," one former SICC fighter told Reuters. "Most of our leaders have fled."
The fall of Mogadishu came about 10 days after the Islamists sought to march on the government base of Baidoa. That prompted Ethiopia to come openly into the war, proving the decisive factor in saving the government and pushing back the Islamists.
Annan is unhappy.
Sounds like Ethiopia should just take over somalia and run it as a colony.
Apples and oranges comparison.
Notice you say "Ethiopia" for that end of your equation and "Bush" for the other. Makes me bust a gut laughing.
The situation in the countries of Somalia and Ethiopia is just as much not equal in the slightest to that in Iraq.
But it's what I expect from a hit and run, thread hijacking, typewriter warrioring, cowardly Bush basher.
Uh, look here moron.
Islamics warriors, aka insurgents, aka nuts, always run away when facing superior forces...so that they can melt into the general population and bring out their IEDs and grenade launchers to carry on their brand of terror.
Of course, you knew that and probably just took another opportunity to insult our President.
Terrified of yet more violence in a city that has become a byword for chaos, some Mogadishu residents greeted the arriving government troops, while others hid.
Get that? The Mogadishu residents only greeted the government troops because they were terrified. Not because they had a problem with the Islamists. No sir.
And then they had to point out that only "some" of the residents greeted the government troops, "while others hid." Of course, you could say this about any liberation of any city in history. I imagine that during the liberation of Paris in 1944, there were Parisians who "hid." But was that the story?
Freakin' Reuters.
Do you really think so?
it's not an insult at all. it's a hope that maybe Bush will realize that his Iraq into Switzerland dream is folly and we'll concentrate on killing and and doing whats neccessary. not doing nothing while Iran and Syria laugh in our faces, while Sadr's thugs blow us up and we go on patrol day after day like sitting ducks.
It's difficult for me to debate or converse with a person who refers to President Bush as "Bush"...in THIS forum.
Yeeeee Haaaaa!
Yes and it took a 3rd world army to do in 10 days what Bill Clinton and Les Aspin could not do.
That's because we were not trying to conquer the country. For what happens when we do see, OEF & OIF.
I've reffered to him as President Bush many times and I meant it as no sign of disrespect.
If you go through posts and threads, you'll see Bush used without the President prefix many times.
(from another thread)
It appears that you like others here don't seem to understand the why, how, and time frame of Iraq.
Why To establish a freely elected liberal government in Iraq. To provide an alternative to the dicatatorships that exist, or the jihadist ideology. You will recall that shortly after 9-11 the usual suspects started barking Root Causes Root Causes Root causes, of course by that they meant it's all our fault, but the President actually looked at what has being said by those in the area, one of their major complaints was lack of freedom. So he decided to address this....hence OIF. We didn't go in there just to kill a bunch of ragheads.
How to give the Iraqi people shot at freedom, and at this point given the history and culture they're not doing too bad. Now you may disagree but if you go to the Iraqi blogs & the milblogs you'll see a different story than the one we see everyday in the DBM.
Time Frame How many times has the Persident and others dsaid this is a generational war? You think they're kidding? They're not. As I've said before this is the cold war and it's 1952.
......What makes you say that? ....
He views the world situation as totality rather then piecemeal.
I think he has guys there because he is on top of things.
People should cease thinking in quarterly or two year horizons. The historical phenomena must be considered in 25 or 50 year timelines.
Ethiopia can do this because their troops don't have to worry about an army of lawyers micro-examining every action they take, like our troops do. US troops are more afraid of the lawyers than of fighting the enemy. The problem is exacerbated by Congress tying their hands with ridiculous rules of engagement that favor the enemy.
Good for Ethiopia.
I salute them.
Wonderful news -- but nothing on the ABCBSNBCMSNBC networks. Nor on Fox.
Seems to me that they'd have figured out by now that He ain't listening, or if He is, He ain't willing to participate in their particular brand of crap. If he was, I'd expect our skill, technology etc. would have been disabled by now, instead of getting better by the day.
Looks to me like they haven't gotten their way in about 1000 years, except in small ways and in pissant countries on a temporary basis.
You think they'd get a clue, but apparently not. I guess they like being stupid.
Their god does two things. He commands and he wills. He might command something but not will it in which case the one commanded is doomed. Why their god would command something he does not will is one of those little mysteries.
You would think. But, the diplomats and the UN are really, really, really, super duper smart and they say we need to negotiate. I mean really the Ethiopians are like, African tribesmen, what do they know about the psychology and the root causes of terrorism and islamists.
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