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Africa Horn
Heavy Fighting Erupts in Central Somalia
2006-11-12
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Heavy fighting erupted in central Somalia Sunday, a day after the transitional government rejected a peace initiative with the country's Islamic movement, officials said.

Islamic militia captured the town of Bandiradley after claiming they came under attack from pro-government militia backed by Ethiopian troops near the border of the semiautonomous region of Puntland in the north, one of the few areas still outside their control.

"The fighting is continuing and we are pursuing Puntland troops," Mohamed Mahmud Agaweyne, spokesman for the Islamic group in central Somalia, told The Associated Press by telephone. Sa'id Abdirahman Dakaweyne, a colonel with the Puntland militia, also confirmed the fighting.

Neither side would comment on casualties or the sizes of forces involved. However Agaweyne said the Islamic fighters captured two tanks and 11 pickup trucks mounted with machine guns.
Posted by:Steve White

#11  Maybe so, Chuck, but I can't help but wonder how much weaponry that could buy a country like Ethiopia, or any other # of countries that are on the front lines against Arab jihadis in North/East Africa?
Posted by: BA   2006-11-12 22:25  

#10  Good point FOTs. Thought that myself. The Euro's sure would't be living with 6 weeks vac and 35 hr work weeks if they had to finance there own military's as much as they would need to without us.
Posted by: plainslow   2006-11-12 19:52  

#9  Foreign aid, as most of us think of it, is nearly inconsequential when compared to the overall Federal budget. If you're talking about military aid, you're talking Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan and Free China. Everyone else qualifies as diddly squat. If you're talking about non-military, non-disaster aid, the amounst are staggeringly small. Oh, I wouldn't mind having it in my bank account, but you don't buy much influence with thirty million dollars in today's world.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins   2006-11-12 19:28  

#8  The US will not help anyone after Jan 1. Maybe even before. I think that election lost us the next round of battles in the WoT.

You may be correct - but I'm not altogether certain that that would be a bad thing. It would certainly send a few wakeup calls around the world if the US simply were to say "Sorry, we're busy spending money on all our domestic issues and really can't be bothered with helping you out."

In the short-term, it would, of course, be disastrous and would have many longer-term implications - but it would also send a loud and clear signal to a great many parties about just how badly they need the US and our military presence and assistance around the world.

Of course, it would also engender a great deal of ill will towards us in the short and long-terms, but sometimes you have to slap a hysterical individual to get their attention (or use a baseball bat on a donkey to get its').

Honestly, at least half of our foreign aid probably needs to be cut off at the spigot anyway IMO.

Posted by: FOTSGreg   2006-11-12 19:17  

#7  The US will not help anyone after Jan 1. Maybe even before. I think that election lost us the next round of battles in the WoT.
Posted by: DarthVader   2006-11-12 18:00  

#6  " Ethiopia deserves aid."

Perhaps Speaker of the House Nan could send over a pan of brownies.
Posted by: Slomoter Whomble6501   2006-11-12 16:48  

#5  Including the US, 49Pan, including the US.
Posted by: RWV   2006-11-12 15:25  

#4  Every country should be concerned about the US support after Jan.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2006-11-12 12:27  

#3  The Ethiopians now need some assurances that they won't be left high and dry on January 1.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins   2006-11-12 11:58  

#2  Ethiopia deserves aid.
Posted by: closedanger@hotmail.com   2006-11-12 11:42  

#1  The Islamofascists are receiving huge Arab support while the fledgling government of Somalia and that of Ethiopia are without known resources. This fact has to sink in: any Islamofascist government will serve as a base for global Islamofascist terror. While Euros worry over Israel's security policies, the real enemy is on the march.
Posted by: Sneaze Shaiting3550   2006-11-12 11:04  

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