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Africa Horn
20 die in battle for Mogadishu
2011-02-27
[Iran Press TV] The latest round of fighting for control of neighborhoods in the Somali capital Mogadishu has left at least twenty people dead.
How could they tell?
Dr. Quincy happened to be in the neighborhood. He wanted a change of scene.
Those are the ones whose pockets haven't been gone through for loose change - yet.
Three Somali soldiers bit the dust in festivities between al-Shaboobs and transitional government troops on 30th Street in Mogadishu on Saturday.

Ten government soldiers also sustained injuries, the Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu reported.

Also, two non-combatants were killed and four others suffered injuries as the two sides exchanged heavy fire with assault weapons and barrages of mortar shells were fired.

In a separate incident, 15 people bit the dust and 20 others were maimed on Saturday when al-Shaboobs turned on members of the rival Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a group and clashed with them in northern Mogadishu.

Boilerplate follows...
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Over the past two decades, up to one million people have bit the dust in the fighting between rival factions and due to famine and disease. There are more than 1.4 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Somalia. More than 300,000 IDPs are sheltering in Mogadishu alone.

Most of the displaced live in poor and degrading conditions on makeshift sites in southern and central Somalia, according to the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society High Commissioner for Refugees.
Posted by:Fred

#9  You haven't been here long, then.

mom has poked her head in for years, as have at least two of her now-adult offspring. All three have made useful and informative comments. As I recall, mom's daughter spent some time working in the part of the world in question, and made good friends there.

The thing is, there are good people everywhere. But when the culture is poisonous, the goodness of the good ones is overwhelmed by the poisonous environment. Ethiopia isn't poisonous, but just next door, Eritrea is, despite being pretty much the same people. Likewise, there are good Saudis -- honest and true and open-hearted despite the brainwashing in school and in the mosque. But Saudi Arabia is a snakepit for everyone there, whether native or foreign, and the good ones have no impact beyond their immediate circle.
Posted by: trailing wife   2011-02-27 23:23  

#8  ...peed on Fred's carpet...

Ouch! We do have the occasional accident. But if I think long enough about Bill Clinton's sorry adventure into Somalia I can understand some people getting a little upset. And then there's the piracy thing. A little napalm on some of those Somali ports might actually slow that down a bit, especially in light of the recent murders of American yachtsmen.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2011-02-27 21:48  

#7  This is a loss to the site; and indicates a general deterioration in the content of the comments.

You haven't been here long, then.
Posted by: Pappy   2011-02-27 21:14  

#6  What part do you disagree with, Mom? The savages part, the napalm part, or the part where we do nothing and continue to let them kill one-another? And how exactly would your daughter be in a position to judge the situation than those who have decades of connections in the U.S. military? I read your statement and all I can think of is a professor on a campus talking down to students.

People have been trying to solve Somalia for years, but they don't want to do what's required to save themselves. Worse, they now expect us to roll over when they start preying on ships. The recent bumbling by Obama made it obvious they have no problem killing Missionaries.

So while the "Napalm" might have been crude, it wouldn't make a damn bit of difference if they were. Nobody would care. And don't think for a second they just need "guidance", or "help", or even "are good people". Ethiopia is right next door and doesn't do this. Face it, Mogadishu is the Detroit of Africa. And I might be insulting Detroit, which is amazing.
Posted by: Charles   2011-02-27 21:12  

#5  Fuck em. I say napalm the whole place. Fucking savages.

This kind of bile is beneath your dignity, OS. I expect better from a gentleman as intelligent as yourself.

The daughter who is our family's source for the Africa news I share here periodically quit reading this site because of statements like this, and for being called a troll when she expressed a request for sweet reason. This is a loss to the site; and indicates a general deterioration in the content of the comments. When your invective discourages reasonable people who know a little more about the topic than you do, you've peed on Fred's carpet.
Posted by: mom   2011-02-27 19:50  

#4  Somalia is currently lost cause The Somali piracy business is doing just great.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2011-02-27 19:33  

#3  I'm with OS, Pappy. I've been reading about this sh$$ for twenty years, and nothing has changed. We see tribal wars fought with modern weapons, with the majority of the dead being non-combatants. I'd say give the whole mess back to the Italians, but I don't hate the Italians that much.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2011-02-27 15:22  

#2  Bad night, OS?

Somalia is currently lost cause, except for the usual vulture-elites. The only beneficial things I can think of to do are providing support to both Somalialand and the African Union (whose robust ROE would cause the vapors among 'human rights' groups were they not of the correct demographics). The first might act as an oil-drop, the second would both tie up the Islamists and perhaps allow the Africans to handle security on their continent.
Posted by: Pappy   2011-02-27 09:09  

#1  IN all honesty, I would not give a dman if they managed to killed everyone there including themselves. We tried to help, and got the back of the hand, lost some fine operators whose corpses were dragged through the streets, and thanks to a president who was more concerned with oral sex than doing the right thing, they suffered no consequences.

Fuck em. I say napalm the whole place. Fucking savages.
Posted by: OldSpook   2011-02-27 02:39  

00:01