This afternoon, the Washington Institute published part 1 of a 2 part series by Professor Andre Lesage at the National Defense University discussing trends in Somalia. The first part focuses on the country's growing insurgency, while the second part will address peacebuilding efforts and Somalia's ties to terrorism.
Here is an excerpt:
During her recent tour of Africa, U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton held a press conference with Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, president of Somalia's transitional federal government (TFG). Her statements mark a major public commitment by the Obama administration to support Sharif's flagging government against the country's armed opposition groups, some of which are tied to al-Qaeda and threaten security across the greater Horn of Africa.
Transitional Federal Government
The TFG was created by an internationally supported peace process in Kenya in 2004. Before the TFG could negotiate its arrival in Mogadishu, a civil society-supported amalgam of various Islamic and tribal interests united to form the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). After fifteen years of rule by unpopular, clan-based warlords, the ICU temporarily brought security and hope to the war-ravaged capital city. The ICU, however, was an unwieldy creation. Under the influence of hardline Islamists, ICU militia extended control over most of southern Somalia, surrounded the TFG's rear base in Baidoa, and threatened to extend its holy war to Ethiopia. In response, Ethiopian forces invaded southern Somalia in December 2006, defeated the ICU, and installed the TFG in Mogadishu. This dispersed, but did not destroy, ICU forces across southern Somalia. They reemerged in many forms, notably the Hizb al-Islamiyah and Harakat al-Shabab groups, which slowly reinfiltrated Mogadishu in piecemeal fashion. The militias engaged in classic guerilla tactics to intimidate, harass, and wear down their opponents. Over time, they imported sophisticated attack methods into Somalia, including the use of improvised explosive devices and suicide bombings.
Even with Ethiopia's military support, the TFG was unable to defeat the insurgents and became hampered by leadership conflicts and clan-based schisms over power-sharing. In January 2009, the first TFG president, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, was replaced by Sheikh Sharif -- a more moderate Islamist leader of the ICU -- in a move to split opposition forces and dilute the armed opposition. Nonetheless, the TFG remains a paper tiger. The parliament rarely meets, and many of its members have fled Mogadishu out of fear for personal security. TFG is unable to deliver desperately needed social services and has no civil service to speak of -- cabinet ministers are often the only TFG ministry staff. Force protection for the TFG is provided primarily by 5,000 Ugandan and Burundian troops that are in Mogadishu as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
The TFG was almost pushed out of Mogadishu in June 2009 by a concerted insurgent offensive. The TFG controls only a fraction of the capital and has influence in other parts of southern Somalia through loose alliances with clan-based political leaders and militias. Even in Mogadishu, the TFG has extremely weak command and control over the militia forces that support it, including strongmen in the security services and Ahlu Sunna wa Jamaah, a Sufist movement that recently spawned several armed militias. These groups function with almost complete independence, are constituted by different and competing sub-clans, and control their own patches of Somali territory -- much as the country's warlord-based factions did in the 1990s.
The Marine Corps earned bragging rights during the 9th annual U.S. Army International Sniper Competition at Fort Benning, Ga., last week, when Leathernecks from the Corps' Scout Sniper School (West) in Camp Pendleton, Calif., claimed the title of top marksmen.
**BOUHAMMER NOTE**- We will have Mr. Tom Aiello from Sears Heroes at Home Program on You Served Radio this Thursday starting at 7PM EST. You can listen live Thursday night from 7-9PM EST at www.blogtalkradio.com/youserved
!!!MEDIA ADVISORY!!! MAKING EVEN MORE MILITARY WISHES COME TRUE Overwhelming interest inspires Sears to extend the Heroes at Home Wish Registry deadline
WHO: Sears is pleased to announce that due to overwhelming interest in the Heroes at Home(sm) Wish Registry they have extended the deadline for military families to participate so that even more wishes can be fulfilled this holiday season.
Eligible military members and their families can register for the Sears Heroes at Home Wish Registry by visiting www.sears.com/wish. To be eligible for the program, a member of the family must be serving on active duty.
WHAT: The Heroes at Home Wish Registry, one of a number of Sears Holdings’ programs supporting the military and their families, enables Sears’ customers to thank America’s military heroes for the sacrifices they make for our country. Through the Heroes at Home Wish Registry, Sears continues its long-standing tradition of support of the military, and especially their families, whose sacrifices also deserve much recognition and reward.
WHERE: Eligible military members and families can visit www.sears.com/wish and register for the program.
Registration is first come first serve, and opened at 6:00 a.m./CT on Thursday, Oct. 22.
Between Nov. 2 and Dec. 31, 2009, Sears will invite America to donate to the Heroes at Home Wish Registry which will provide military families with a Sears gift card.
WHY: The Heroes at Home program provides support to service members, veterans and their families. Sears Holdings spearheaded nationwide fundraising efforts over the past year and has raised more than $16 million through Heroes at Home for several military programs. Heroes at Home has helped hundreds of military families across America and the Wish Registry continues Sears Holdings’ support of the men and women who serve our country.
CONTACT: To find out more about Sears’ Heroes at Home Wish Registry, visit www.sears.com/wish. For more information on the Wish Registry please contact Carolyn Goldberg (carolyn.goldgber@eurorscg.com) or 212-367-6947.
Pakistani police arrested 11 Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers Monday for illegally entering the country, amid tensions over a recent suicide attack that Tehran alleges was carried out by militants backed by Pakistani intelligence officials.
With most of Swat back in the hands of the government after a successful military operation that drove the Taliban into hiding, thousands of Pakistanis in towns like Kanju have been banding together to form lashkars, tribal militias, to help keep trouble from coming back.
Two prominent retired generals -- Barry McCaffrey and David Barno, testifying before the HASC Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee on Thursday -- both said it was important the administration take some time on deciding whether to surge in Afghanistan.
About three dozen certified hypnotists spent a weekend conference recently, talking about the ways their profession could help veterans and their families.
I have mentioned Valour-IT on this blog several times before and it is no mystery that I am big fan of it. Valour-IT is a fundraising project by Soldiers’ Angels. Valour-IT’s big fundraising drive kicks off today, October 26th until Veteran’s Day, November 11th.
The purpose of Project Valour-IT, in memory of SFC William V. Ziegenfuss, helps provide voice-controlled/adaptive laptop computers and other technology to support Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand wounds and other severe injuries. Technology supplied includes:
Voice-controlled Laptops - Operated byspeakinginto a microphone or using other adaptive technologies, they allow the wounded to maintain connections with the rest of the world during recovery.
Wii Video Game Systems -Whole-body game systems increase motivation and speed recovery when used under the guidance of physical therapistsin therapy sessions (donated only to medical facilities).
Personal GPS - Handheld GPS devices build self-confidence and independence by compensating for short-term memory loss and organizational challenges related to severe TBI and severe PTSD.
The experience of Major Chuck Ziegenfuss, a partner in the project who suffered serious hand wounds while serving in Iraq, illustrates how important these laptops and other technologies can be to a wounded service member’s recovery.
Chuck Ziegenfuss is one hell of a soldier, milblogger and a friend. In fact last week while spending several days at Blog World Expo in Las Vegas, I hung out with Chuck quite a bit and even though I have known him for a couple of years, I really got to spend some quality time with him this year and know him even better. He is a walking testament of the influence and importance of these voice-controlled laptops on the troops.
I have given to Valour-IT for the last several years and I plan to again this year, however I am going to try and give a little more and want some of your help to do that. As you may or may not know, all the T-shirts in my Bouhammer Gear Store have the profits go directly to four great charities. However the hats and embroidered shirts that are in my store have their profits come to me to help off-set the costs of running this blog, web-space, Bouhammer Enterprises, LLC, etc.
But during the time of the Valour-IT fundraiser (10/26-11/11) any embroidered shirts or hats that are sold will have 100% of the profits go directly to the Valour-IT fundraiser. So I hope all my readers help out by donating just a little something to this great project that directly helps our wounded warriors. And if you were thinking about buying a Bouhammer polo, button-down or hat then hopefully this will motivate you to pull the trigger to get one and help these guys out.
Today started with some bad news out of Afghanistan. We lost 14 of our Americans in that country’s war today. Several were civilians and seeing that the Chinook that went down in Badghdis province was involved in a mission to target drug traffickers, I am assuming they were DEA agents or something similar. From the reports this morning, the Chinook was just leaving the area of operation as the mission was over.
Un-related, but on the same day was a mid-air collision between two helicopters in the southern area of the country. So far the military is saying that neither were as a result of enemy fire, but I suggest you wait and see. For I/O reasons, they (the military) should initially caution against assuming enemy fire brings down every helicopter that crashes. The reason is because the enemy will use that as an admission by the US military that the enemy was successful.
Either way, the facts will come out in the next few days, and by then these brave young souls will be back or close to being back to their families one last time.
The U.S. Army will make an exception to a decades-old rule and allow a Sikh doctor to serve without removing his turban and cutting his hair, an advocacy group said Friday.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s), myself included, and not intended as a directive or recommendation. Your ability to in turn express your opinions are just one of the rights I defended as a United States Army soldier. I respect and encourage that right. I ask only this; if you disagree with any of the material presented, either by the author or by posters, take a deep breath and think before you post. Be introspective. Be concise. Form a complete, well thought, and above all polite response before posting. The inability to communicate politely and succinctly on emotionally charged issues will do nothing to promote productive sharing of viewpoints. We must speak rationally and intelligently to each other as individuals before we can ever hope to do it as a country. To do anything less is to denigrate each other, hide away the truth, and perpetuate that which we seek to overcome.
