Al Shabaab & Somalia

[rowan]

According to award-winning Australian journalist John Pilger the so-called 'Al Shabaab' terrorist organization is no more than a ragtag group of a few thousand members. Of course, they were blamed for the Westgate Shopping Mall massacre in Kenya two years ago, in which 67 lives were lost, and probably they were responsible too. America had backed the removal of a stable Islamic government in favour of Hasan Seyh Mahmud, who has since become involved in corruption scandals and this year cancelled elections. Also, two years before the Westgate massacre Kenya had invaded Somalia - with American backing. During European imperialism Somalia was divided into four groups - English-speaking, French-speaking, Italian-speaking and Ethiopian-speaking - under a divide and rule policy, and this has been the basis of their problems in the post-colonial era. The US backed an anti-communist dictatorship in the country from the late 60s till the early 90s, during which devastating wars with Ethiopia were waged. This brought about famine in the early 90s, followed by a military coup and finally civil war. Somalia, located on the African Horn, is strategically important and American oil companies had been operating there during the dictatorship. Therefore, in 1993, America invaded, leading to between 7000 & 10,000 Somali deaths, many of them civilians, and 18 American casualties. Of course, the Western media focused on the American casualties and the film 'Black Hawk Down' was made for propaganda purposes.

[Vengeful Glutton]

Interesting.

Uncle Sam, the Jimmy Savile of geopolitics.

PS: Pilger's last documentary Utopia is worth a look.

[UGagain]

According to award-winning Australian journalist John Pilger the so-called 'Al Shabaab' terrorist organization is no more than a ragtag group of a few thousand members. Of course, they were blamed for the Westgate Shopping Mall massacre in Kenya two years ago, in which 67 lives were lost, and probably they were responsible too. America had backed the removal of a stable Islamic government in favour of Hasan Seyh Mahmud, who has since become involved in corruption scandals and this year cancelled elections. Also, two years before the Westgate massacre Kenya had invaded Somalia - with American backing. During European imperialism Somalia was divided into four groups - English-speaking, French-speaking, Italian-speaking and Ethiopian-speaking - under a divide and rule policy, and this has been the basis of their problems in the post-colonial era. The US backed an anti-communist dictatorship in the country from the late 60s till the early 90s, during which devastating wars with Ethiopia were waged. This brought about famine in the early 90s, followed by a military coup and finally civil war. Somalia, located on the African Horn, is strategically important and American oil companies had been operating there during the dictatorship. Therefore, in 1993, America invaded, leading to between 7000 & 10,000 Somali deaths, many of them civilians, and 18 American casualties. Of course, the Western media focused on the American casualties and the film 'Black Hawk Down' was made for propaganda purposes.

The US' bought and paid for invasion of Somalia to overthrow the Islamic Courts Union was an act of sheer bastardry.

The origins, leadership, funding and motives of Al Shabaab, like a lot of these super-duper terrorists, are murky to say the least.

[rowan]

Interesting.

Uncle Sam, the Jimmy Savile of geopolitics.

PS: Pilger's last documentary Utopia is worth a look.

Utopia's excellent. I've watched about every documentary this guy has made; at least so far as they're available on the net. Best include Utopia (about Aborigines), The War You don't See & War by Others Means (US foreign policy), Stealing a Nation (Chagos Is/Diego Garcia), Palestine is Still the Issue & Breaking the Silence (Palestine), Year Zero (Cambodia), Death of a Nation (Timor) & Apartheid did Not Die (SA).

For anybody not familiar with this guy's work, here's his website: http://johnpilger.com

[Vengeful Glutton]

Cheers. I didn't know he had his own website.

Outstanding documentaries (albeit deeply depressing).

[rowan]

This horrific attack in Congo last night is suspected to have been carried out by the Ugandan rebel group Alliance Democratic Forces, which is believed to be aligned with Al Shabaab. Founded way back in 1989 by converted Catholic Shaykh Jamil Mukulu, who apparently became a personal friend of Osama bin Laden at one time, the ADF have been trying to set up shop in northeastern Congo since being driven out of their homeland. This appears to be the basis of their conflict with Beni:

At least 64 people have been killed in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in an attack carried out by suspected rebels.

Nyonyi Bwanakawa, the mayor of Beni in North Kivu, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that the attack happened on Saturday night in the town's Rwangoma district.

DRC troops and local officials recovered 64 bodies, but the number could rise as the search was still going on, Bwanakawa said.

DRC army spokesman Mak Hazukay also confirmed to AFP news agency that bodies have been recovered in Rwangoma.

Reports said the victims were "hacked to death".

The DRC troops blamed the attack on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan rebel group known to operate bases inside neighbouring DRC.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/08/s ... 50565.html

[rowan]

Breaking news out of Somalia:

Islamist militants rammed a car bomb into the gate of a hotel and stormed inside, killing at least 13 people in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, police said.

Gunfire rang out as fighters entered Dayah Hotel, which is popular with politicians. A second blast shook the area shortly afterwards, injuring several people nearby.

Colonel Abdiqadir Hussein, a police officer, told Reuters security forces later managed to secure the building.

"We have rescued the people and concluded the operation at Dayah hotel. The security forces are now inside the hotel and we shall give further details of casualty later," he said.

Another police officer, Major Mohamed Ahmed, said a dozen people had been wounded, in addition to the 13 killed who included members of the security forces and civilians. "The death toll may rise," he added.

Duniye Mohamed, a doctor at Madina hospital where some casualties were taken, said the injured included people with "very serious" wounds.

Islamist group Al Shabaab, which until 2011 controlled Mogadishu and much of Somalia, claimed responsibility for the attack.

"Well-armed mujahideen (fighters) attacked the hotel, and now they are fighting inside the hotel," reported Somalia's Andalus radio, which is linked to al Shabaab.

The insurgents often launch bomb and gun attacks in the capital, saying they want to topple the Western-backed government and impose their strict interpretation of Islam on the nation.

In the past two years, a campaign by African Union troops and Somali forces has driven the group out of key urban strongholds, but it remains active from bases in rural areas.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-somal ... SKBN1590HB

[rowan]

Abdullahi Mohammed Farmaajo is the new president of Somalia: http://www.africanews.com/2017/02/08/so ... president/

[Lord Lucan]

I was watching a program about Al Shabaab the other night, I only watched for about 10 minutes, until a young Somali woman explained that her husband told her he was joining this radical group, she tried to persuade him not too, his response was to cut both her hands off at the wrists, she then held up her arms, both hands missing, I immediately switched channels.
What savage animal does that? Hopefully his jihadi days have been cut short, hopefully he will have met his demise at the hands of someone even more sadistic than himself.

[rowan]

I was watching a program about Al Shabaab the other night, I only watched for about 10 minutes, until a young Somali woman explained that her husband told her he was joining this radical group, she tried to persuade him not too, his response was to cut both her hands off at the wrists, she then held up her arms, both hands missing, I immediately switched channels.
What savage animal does that? Hopefully his jihadi days have been cut short, hopefully he will have met his demise at the hands of someone even more sadistic than himself.

What channel was that on?

The recent history of Somalia is very similar to that of other currently war-torn nations in the region with a heavy dose of American interference, brutality and exploitation, as you will have read at the top of the thread. Therefore the propaganda industry will have played its customary role. But I can't make any comment on the documentary you saw, obviously, without having seen it myself.

[Lord Lucan]

I was watching a program about Al Shabaab the other night, I only watched for about 10 minutes, until a young Somali woman explained that her husband told her he was joining this radical group, she tried to persuade him not too, his response was to cut both her hands off at the wrists, she then held up her arms, both hands missing, I immediately switched channels.
What savage animal does that? Hopefully his jihadi days have been cut short, hopefully he will have met his demise at the hands of someone even more sadistic than himself.

What channel was that on?

The recent history of Somalia is very similar to that of other currently war-torn nations in the region with a heavy dose of American interference, brutality and exploitation, as you will have read at the top of the thread. Therefore the propaganda industry will have played its customary role. But I can't make any comment on the documentary you saw, obviously, without having seen it myself.

It was on a cable channel here in North America, I didn't take a note of it, the sight of someone with no hands put the horrors in me, I quickly switched channels and tried to erase the image from my mind.

[rowan]

Somalia on the point of famine, 6 million at risk: http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20170215-onu- ... 2017-02-15

[rowan]

Western media hailed the recent election of US-educated Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed as a 'New Dawn' for Somalia

A car bomb attack on a market in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, left dozens dead and injured on Sunday.

The vehicle was driven by a suicide bomber, according to Ahmed Abdulle Afrax, the mayor of Wadajir district where the bombing happened.

There are conflicting reports about how many people were killed.

Some put the death toll at 39, with around 50 more hurt.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the clear suspect is Al Shabaab, the Islamist insurgent group fighting the UN-backed Somali government.

The bombing comes just days after the country elected a new president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a former prime minister and dual US-Somali citizen.



http://www.euronews.com/2017/02/19/soma ... shu-market