Ethiopians Continue Rout of Islamists in Somalia

Ethiopian forces continue push on Mogadishu and the Islamic courts forces are calling it a strategic retreat (I'd call it a rout). They've been forced from yet another town as the Ethiopian forces continue to swiftly move on the Somali capital city. They're within 18 miles of the capital.

Some don't like that the Islamists are losing and see the US behind the conflict.

The Islamists for their part are warning of a quagmire and long conflict. Actually, it appears that they're hoping that there's a quagmire because they figure that Ethiopia will lose the will to fight and pull out leaving Somalia in the hands of the remnants of the Islamic courts. The UN wants to help that process along by calling for a ceasefire. Hot Air concurs and wonders what they've been smoking in the diplomatic corps that makes the notion of a powersharing arrangement between the Islamists in Somalia and the legitimate transitional government even a possibility especially when the Islamists have sided with al Qaeda and have openly called for the jihadis to come join their fight.

One has seriously wonder about this kind of analysis:

Though allowing the Islamists to take power is hardly a good option, it is probably the best one. Islamists have already shown themselves able to bring stability to Mogadishu. It seems likely that they could do the same for the rest of Somalia, ending the anarchy that has plagued the country for a decade and a half.

Furthermore, since the dominance of the Islamists in Somalia is looking increasingly inevitable, the Bush administration should make the best of it. Even with direct American aid to the anti-Islamist forces, it seems unlikely that the Somali government will ever regain control of the country. While the Bush administration has pursued a strategy of "anyone but the Islamists," (first through aid to warlords and now through tacit support for Somali and Ethiopian forces) this is the wrong approach. The US, along with its European allies, should realize that the war is unwinnable and try instead to reach a power-sharing deal between members of Somalia's Baidoa-based government and the Islamists. By using our influence to negotiate a peace agreement between the two sides, we could encourage the formation of a more moderate government that respects human rights.

Calling the Islamists a stabilizing influence is like calling Mussolini a success because he made the trains run on time or Hitler was successful because he built the Autobahn. The Islamists are imposing their form of law and order by killing all those who oppose their version of Islamic law. They've simply managed to be more efficient at killing and cowing the public than the other groups that have sought control over Somalia.

With the Ethiopians now involved, the calculus has changed. The Islamists are on the run and there's no amount of pressure that would force moderation on a group whose core beliefs are religious in nature short of unconditional defeat. They aren't going to moderate their religious beliefs based on a package of economic aid.

Technorati: somalia, ethiopia, eritrea, african union, council of islamic courts, genocide, crimes against humanity, jihad, failure, and united nations