[Garowe] The United States of America now says it remains Somalia's biggest donor to matters security, stability, and humanitarian aid, adding that it is committed to pushing for the democratization of the Horn of Africa nation.
For decades, Somalia has been in shambles with little progress despite huge investments by various stakeholders, who have consistently helped in rebuilding the country. Most of the institutions in the country are dysfunctional.
US ambassador to Somalia Larry Andre told the Voice of America that Washington is committed to supporting Somalia’s revival as a stable, peaceful, and democratic country. The ambassador was deployed to the country recently. Wonder what f*ck-up that was punishment for...
"Through the provision of humanitarian, security, and development assistance, we remain Somalia’s biggest donor," he said, just amid ongoing local elections which are sponsored by the US but are yet to be concluded.
US embassy to Somalia also insisted that the US is committed to supporting the democratization of the country while condemning those who have been trying to silence critics due to divergent political views.
"We stand for the protection of political space and democratic gains in Somalia. Freedom of expression is fundamental to democracy. True political discourse must include a diversity of views. The United States condemns any attempts to silence those who advocate those principles," the embassy said.
Outgoing President Mohammed Abdullahi Farmaajo has often been accused of using security forces to silence critics. The Gorgor and Haramacad security forces have previously been linked to political violence in the country.
On press freedom in Somalia, Ambassador André said the United States is committed to supporting freedom of the press globally. Journalists have also been facing difficulties while covering functions in the country.
"Providing training for journalists and advocating for freedom of expression in Somalia are high priorities for us in Mogadishu," added the envoy, whose main task now is to ensure the country holds elections within the next few days.
#1
In assessing the Somali expat colonies in California in the early years of this century, we looked at a bit of the Somali government and connections to the state. Somalia is a tribal, multi generational kleptocracy, the tribal faction warlords were and are the only genuine power, despite the paper thin facade used to extort more graft from the US. The government controls about five square blocks around the Presidential Palace in the capital. Everything else is factional. In California, we learned that the families clustered in apartment complexes, at the time in San Diego and Hayward, to consolidate criminal activities under a strict Islamic tribal patriarchy, and a favorite business was taxicabs, a technique for rate theft and scouting for targets for theft opportunities at vacation homes. Tragic display of unending corruption and incompetence in giving these people a dime, but about what you would expect from State!
#4
Somalia on $5.00 a day: A Soldier's Story(2001) by Martin Stanton describes his military service there as part of the 10th Mountain Division. In one observation he asks how local sustainable agriculture can survive when foreigners randomly 'bomb the local economy with free food' -- so the local farmers grow khat instead.
[Garowe] General Stephen Townsend, the US Africa Command boss, says American troops are safer while operating from within Somalia than from Kenya, where they were repositioned to recently after withdrawal from the country.
Townsend, who appeared before the US Senate Committee on Armed Forces, said the withdrawal of US soldiers from Somalia by former President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... makes it difficult for them to effectively fight al-Qaeda linked group, the al-Shabaab ...... the personification of Somali state failure... He said the al-Shabaab, who control large swathes of rural central and southern Somalia, are among the "fastest-growing, wealthiest, and deadliest terrorist groups". The group has been in existence since 2007.
The top general further noted the withdrawal, which then reduced the US troops to commuters into the war-torn country putting Americans in neighboring countries at risk, and that the combat was insufficient.
"My view is that our periodic engagement, also referred to as commuting to work, has caused new challenges and risks for our troops," said Townsend, a frequent visitor to both Kenya and Somalia.
"My assessment is that it is not effective, it’s not efficient, and it puts our troops at greater risk," added the commander, who has been in charge of the troops in Africa since 2019.
Close to 700 US servicemen were withdrawn from Somalia in 2021 and repositioned in Kenya and Djibouti. The soldiers were responsible for training Special Forces commonly known as Danab besides providing aerial surveillance during operations against al-Shabaab.
The troops played a key role in laying ambush on al-Shabaab camps. The troops were moved to neighboring countries including Kenya and Djibouti and were expected to carry out targeted counterterrorism operations.
Reports by The Wall Street Journal indicate that the United States is considering sending more troops to Somalia to help battle the al-Shabaab militia. The move is supported by the US Senate and Pentagon.
"We’re seeing this play out on the ground in Somalia as things get worse and al-Shabaab gains strength," stated Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma who opposed Trump's directive.
Kenya has been on the receiving end from the al-Shabaab group with the attack at the Garissa University and Dusit D2 complex being the worst success of the group on Kenyan soil.
"My assessment is that it is not effective, it’s not efficient, and it puts our troops at greater risk," added the commander, who has been in charge of the troops in Africa since 2019.
Perhaps General Townsend is familiar with term...."African solutions for African problems" ?
#7
Goddammit why can't these generals just tell the truth? That the troops are out of their depth in this absolute shithole and there is no need to stay and train anybody.
#8
But Dron, since Trump pulled our guys out of Somalia, it's a point of honor for the current crew to send them back in.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/22/2022 11:43 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Harakat al-Islah [Moslem Brotherhood branch] in Somalia funded and closely supported the initial activities and legal protections to the Ḥarakat ash-Shabāb al-Mujāhidīn [Al-Shaboobs]. Al-islah was the pious, moderate law faring face of the shaboobs. They entered Somalia to 'further modern education and democratic values' back when George 'W' was mumbling 'Islam is Peace' in the islamic centre at DC. In 2006, al-Islah formed the Damul jadiid which began to aggressively convert and radicalize the population, seeking out the sociopaths and criminals and arming them. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's Peace and Development party [another Moslem brotherhood gift] had gained traction in local polls and many Jadiid lackeys were appointed to important positions in law enforcement, administration, justice, home policy. Meanwhile under the brigand clans, pirates and outliers of all sorts were incorporated into what became the Al-Shabab.
#10
* Meanwhile under the Jadiid's helpful eye, brigand clans, pirates and outliers of all sorts were incorporated into what became the Al-Shabab.
Just thought I'd share. Surely there's lessons there. We learned, for example, to not let words like 'islam' and 'education' or 'progress' or 'development' be juxtaposed for us by clever rascals. Keep the eye-slam to an emasculated, pitiable, scurrying minority and things will be fine.
[All Africa] The U.S. government has issued a bounty of up to U.S.$5 million for information on the whereabouts of Jehad Serwan Mostafa, alias Ahmed Gurey, believed be a high-ranking member of the Somalia-based bully boy group al-Shabaab ...... the personification of Somali state failure... The U.S. said that Mostafa, 41 who is on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List, lived and graduated from college in San Diego, Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, before moving to Somalia in 2005.
"With al-Shabaab, Mostafa has functioned in many critical capacities, including serving as a military instructor at the group's training camps, leading imported muscle, operating in the group's media wing, acting as an intermediary between al-Shabaab and other terrorist organizations, and leading the group's use of explosives in terrorist attacks," the U.S. State Department said.
The Pentagon is in the meantime considering sending more U.S. troops to Somalia, after a withdrawal was ordered by former president, Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... .
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2022 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)
[Dawn] British politician David Amess was "assassinated" while meeting constituents last year by a "fanatical, radicalised Islamist terrorist," a court heard on Monday as his accused killer went on trial.
Veteran Conservative MP Amess was stabbed to death at a Methodist church in Leigh-on-Sea in southeast England in October.
Ali Harbi Ali,
...Somali-Brit who first decided to kill a politician in the name of ISIS, then settled on Sir David....
26, from north London, was arrested at the scene and has pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." to murder and to preparing acts of terrorism.
On the opening day of his trial at the Old Bailey court in central London, prosecutor Tom Little told jurors that Ali was undoubtedly responsible for the "cold and calculated murder".
"This was nothing less than an liquidation for terrorist purposes," he said, noting it was "carried out because of a warped and twisted and violent mostly peaceful ideology.
"It was a murder carried out by that young man (Ali) who for many years had been planning just such an attack and who was, and is, a committed, fanatical, radicalised Islamist terrorist."
Little said Ali had been determined to carry out a terror attack "for a number of years", and had bought the knife allegedly used to kill the politician in 2016.
He had researched and planned potential attacks on the Houses of Parliament and other MPs, including targeting the higher profile senior minister Michael Gove, the prosecutor added.
The 26-year-old defendant appeared in the dock wearing a black robe and black-rimmed glasses.
The killing of Amess, the second of a British MP within five years, shocked the country and led to calls for better security for elected representatives.
In 2016, a right-wing krazed killer who shouted "Britannia first" shot and stabbed Labour MP Jo Cox to death in the febrile run-up to the Brexit referendum.
The Old Bailey jury was told that Ali had tricked his way into getting an appointment with Amess by claiming he was moving into the constituency.
The defendant had appeared "relaxed and chatty" moments before he "brutally" stabbed the MP in a "vicious and frenzied attack" shortly after midday on October 15, Little said.
Afterwards, Ali waved the bloody knife around and said "I killed him, I killed him" while threatening those present to stay away from him, he added.
"I want him dead. I want every parliament minister who signed up for the bombing of Syria, who agreed to the Iraqi war to die," he allegedly added.
And then he told the court he was innocent. Brilliant. Breitbart adds:
Ali was spotted outside other MPs’ constituency offices while mobile phone data placed him near parliament seven times between July and September 2021, he noted.
“He’s not a tourist… looking at Big Ben and taking some photographs,” Little told jurors. “This is terrorist planning.”
#Iraq's authorities say that they have exhumed the remains of 85 ISIS group fighters and their relatives from a mass grave in the northern city of Mosul.https://t.co/07erEmifSf
Inshallah, right. For his own reasons Allah wanted them all dead. Who are we to question it?
Iraqi authorities said Sunday that they had exhumed the remains of 85 ISIS group fighters and their relatives from a mass grave in the northern city of Mosul.
The remains of 35 people killed between 2016 and 2017 were dug up on Saturday while 50 were found on Sunday and “work is ongoing”, said Hassan Wathiq al-Anzi, head of forensics in northern Iraq's Nineveh province.
Workers unearthed bones and skulls, placing them in black bags for transportation to the forensic department, an AFP correspondent said.
It is the first announcement of a mass grave of ISIS fighters killed during the 2016-2017 battle to recapture Mosul, the extremist group's former stronghold. Read the rest at the link
[IsraelTimes] European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... aid to the Paleostinian Authority is being held up as EU officials discuss conditioning it on reforms to Paleostinian textbooks, PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki confirms to official PA radio.
The story was first reported by The Times of Israel in late February.
The EU is normally the PA’s largest single donor, helping to pay the salaries of Ramallah’s many civil servants. But little aid has been disbursed since 2020.
The aid’s disbursal was stymied when EU official Oliver Varhelyi sought to condition around $10 million in aid on textbooks meeting international standards, creating a bureaucratic quagmire.
In a February interview, a diplomat familiar with the discussions criticized the proposed conditionality.
"Should such substantive financial aid be linked to one element of the relationship between Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... and the Paleostinians?" the diplomat said at the time.
Paleostinian textbooks have long been a subject of controversy. Critics accuse them of containing incitement to violence and glorifying terror, while the PA defends them as simply reflecting the Paleostinian national narrative.
Thank you, President Trump, for moving the Overton Window so far that the Democrats can’t move it back despite obvious efforts.
[IsraelTimes] Singapore’s Foreign Minister announces the Asian country will open an embassy in Israel.
Vivian Balakrishnan, visiting from the city-state, breaks the news in a meeting with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.
"I welcome the government of Singapore’s decision to open an embassy in Israel for the first time since the establishment of relations. This represents another testament to the good and unique relations between the countries," says Lapid.
The two countries have had diplomatic relations since 1965, and have since developed close security and business ties.
[IsraelTimes] The US says a deal to return to the Iran ...The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both... nuclear pact is not imminent and the US is preparing for the option of no agreement being reached.
"There has been significant process in recent weeks. But I want to be clear an agreement is neither imminent nor is it certain," front man Ned Price says.
"In fact, we are preparing equally for scenarios with and without a return to full implementation of the JCPOA," he adds, noting President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S., father of Hunter, close friend of an imaginary negro named Corn Pop. He blames Trump for losing Afghanistan.... ’s commitment to keeping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
However, a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... he says the US is prepared to make concessions to come to terms with Tehran.
"We are prepared to make difficult decision to return Iran’s nuclear program to its JCPOA limits," he says.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/22/2022 02:06 ||
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[11126 views]
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#1
...someone getting a prescient feeling of a rope around their neck?
#2
Some common sense, internal demokrat polling or headfake? The State Department manipulation of NATO membership for Ukraine {private messaging, NATO membership will never happen, public messagine, the door is open with welsome mats waiting} gives proof that Blinken Winken and Nod are deceitful jerks who may well have enticed the Russins into acting by cluelessness rivaling MacArthur, the Chinese and the Yalu River warning!
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...... the personification of Somali state failure...
...... the personification of Somali state failure...
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
...The word 
