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| Fifth Column |
| NY Times in bed with Mogadishu Islamists |
| 2006-09-25 |
| MOGADISHU, Somalia, Sept. 23 — As the sun begins to sink over this broken city, work crews swing their axes over their shoulders and head home. Young couples take to the waterfront, mingling openly in the salty breeze. Thousands of children flock to soccer fields in the city center, with a backdrop of beautifully crumbled ruins from battles now over. It is hard to imagine that this is Mogadishu, the same Mogadishu of “Black Hawk Down,” and clan against clan and 15 years of anarchy. But over the past three months, the Islamists in control here have defied international expectations — in many ways. Not only have they pacified one of the most dangerous cities in the world, they also seem to have moderated their message. Instead of acting like the Taliban and ruthlessly imposing a harsh religious orthodoxy, as many feared, the Islamists seem to be trying to increase public support by softening their views, at least officially, delivering social services and pushing for democratic elections. Islamic leaders are operating almost in campaign mode, organizing street cleanups, visiting hospitals, overseeing a mini building boom and recruiting elderly policemen to don faded uniforms they have not worn for years and return to work. Beyond that, they sent a letter this week to the United Nations Security Council pledging to support democratic rule. Maybe this is just smooth talk. Or premature signs that could prove misleading. Hard-core elements still operate here, including militiamen who drive around with black scarves and black flags and shoot people for watching Hollywood movies. Young men like them were believed to have killed an Italian nun at a Mogadishu hospital last Sunday, apparently in retaliation for Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks on Islam. A sampling of their tolerance and moderation: -A prominent Somali cleric has called for Pope Benedict to be hunted down and killed by the nearest Muslim. -An Islamic militia leader whose forces control the capital called for a holy war Friday against Ethiopian troops protecting Somalia’s weak U.N.-backed government. -The Islamic militiamen controlling the Somali capital broke up a wedding celebration because a band was playing and women and men were socializing together. -Somali Muslims who fail to perform daily prayers will be killed in accordance with Qur’anic law under a new edict -Radical Islamic militia fighters in Somalia shot and killed two people who were watching a banned World Cup soccer broadcast -A Somali teenager publicly hacked his father’s killer to death in a punishment sanctioned under Islamic law today. - But the Islamist leaders say they are rogue elements who will be punished, and they have reopened some movie theaters and issued decrees emphasizing tolerance. Whether they live up to those promises seems to hinge on whether they can, or even want to, rein in the militant groups that helped propel them to power. “The world was so quick to label us,” said Ibrahim Hassan Addou, the foreign minister for the Islamic administration in Mogadishu. “All we are asking is to be judged on our deeds.” Again, see above sampling. The United States continues to assert that the Islamists are sheltering Al Qaeda terrorists. The suicide attack against the United Nations-backed transitional government in Baidoa on Monday only reinforced that suspicion, though the Islamists deny any involvement. But the darkest fears of a draconian Islam on Africa’s east coast have not come true, at least not yet. Boys are allowed to play soccer, and girls are allowed to go to school, despite rumors to the contrary. And businesses are not forced to close during prayer time, as has been widely reported outside of Mogadishu. In fact, people were selling bread, biscuits and watermelon right in front of the Islamic forces’ headquarters during the noon prayer earlier this week. The teenage militia members standing guard regressed to the boys that they were, giggling over giant slices of watermelon and spitting seeds at each other, the juice running down their chins and dripping onto their guns. Oh, aren't the little killers so cute! Really, the article gets even more sickening. I can't bring myself to post anymore about it. |
| Posted by:growler |
| #11 Walter Duranty. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2006-09-25 23:50 |
| #10 Thousands of children flock to soccer fields in the city center, with a backdrop of beautifully crumbled ruins from battles now over. It is hard to imagine that this is Mogadishu, the same Mogadishu of “Black Hawk Down,” and clan against clan and 15 years of anarchy. Is this fuckwit reporter brain-dead? "It is hard to imagine that this is Mogadishu", a city that an intensely corrupt third world government and its Islamic usurpers have managed to leave the nation's capital in ruins for over FIFTEEN YEARS? "[B]eautifully crumbled ruins", WTF? What is this asshole, some sort of humans-must-be-eradicated anti-technologist? Mogadishu sounds like the same place it's ever been, the usual African cesspit. Morons! |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-09-25 20:00 |
| #9 NY Times in bed with There - fixed that for ya' Accurate reporting is so important. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-09-25 19:43 |
| #8 Did they intentionally insert this bit of racist drivel into the piece to elicit knowing nods from their white upper west-side readership or did they just do it because they are idiots? yes. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-09-25 18:42 |
| #7 #5 The teenage militia members standing guard regressed to the boys that they were, giggling over giant slices of watermelon and spitting seeds at each other, the juice running down their chins and dripping onto their guns. Oh lawzy buh di sho is a happy day! We'se even gots wadahmelon! /sarcasm Did they intentionally insert this bit of racist drivel into the piece to elicit knowing nods from their white upper west-side readership or did they just do it because they are idiots? Posted by remoteman 2006-09-25 13:55|| Front Page|| ||Comments Top Edited for PC: #5 The |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-09-25 18:19 |
| #6 And can you imagine the howling that would ensue if a writer from the Washington Times so much as mentioned watermelons and Africans in the same article? Hypocrites. |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2006-09-25 18:07 |
| #5 The teenage militia members standing guard regressed to the boys that they were, giggling over giant slices of watermelon and spitting seeds at each other, the juice running down their chins and dripping onto their guns. Oh lawzy buh di sho is a happy day! We'se even gots wadahmelon! /sarcasm Did they intentionally insert this bit of racist drivel into the piece to elicit knowing nods from their white upper west-side readership or did they just do it because they are idiots? |
| Posted by: remoteman 2006-09-25 13:55 |
| #4 Correct. |
| Posted by: john 2006-09-25 12:49 |
| #3 So, the only way to keep the NYT from writing a glowing, rose-colored piece about a pack of thugs is for those thugs to declare their alignment with the US? |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2006-09-25 11:57 |
| #2 The problem with gettin in bed with slime is you always get some on ya. Good luck gettin it off. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-09-25 11:11 |
| #1 Jeez. Call my travel agent... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-09-25 10:31 |