"Yeah. Too tense!"
For six months Somalia's Islamists used freelance warlord Mohamed Qanyare Afrah's home as one of their bases as they took over much of the country. They used his many battlewagons and held meetings in his living room. Last week, they fled an onslaught led by troops from neighboring Ethiopia with Somalian government forces. Mr. Qanyare is grateful but only up to a point. "What I say is Ethiopia should not interfere in Somalian politics," he says. "They can stay as long as they are fighting Al Qaeda - that is a problem for the entire region. But if they try to become involved in our politics then we will oppose them." I predict that'll meet with approximately the same degree of success the Powerful Islamic Courts™ met with. Remember, Moh, they kicked your tails before the Aethiops kicked theirs.
Ethiopia's preemptive offensive signals the opening of a new front in the global struggle against Islamist militants. And the speed of the Islamists' retreat is reminiscent of how insurgencies began in both Iraq and Afghanistan, say analysts. Now, victory may hinge upon whether warlords like Qanyare support occupying Ethiopian forces or the Islamists.