Somalia’s powerful Islamic council has vowed a "holy war" against neighbouring Ethiopia, which has moved troops into its lawless neighbouring state to protect its weak transitional government from a feared Islamist advance."The Ethiopians have invaded our country and we must force them out of the country and this will be a holy war of Jihad," – the supreme leader of Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS).
Ethiopia, which is dominantly Christian, along with some western countries fears the rise of a fundamentalist Islamic state in Somalia, which has been without a functioning central government for the past 16 years.
Hmmm. Islamists versus non-Islamic peoples. Sound familiar? I know… we need some Democratic leadership in this instance. Some diplomacy… some talk. We must earn our allies respect. That’s it! Let’s demand "restraint" and a "balanced" response from the non-Islamists and their Ethiopian allies. We must demand a truce. "Peace in our times!" Well, not really I guess- Again from the AFP story:
The Islamists pulled back on Thursday but not before Somali prime minister Ali Mohamed Gedi accused them of plotting to attack Baidoa and the transitional government in violation of a truce and mutual recognition deal. The Islamists have repeatedly denied they were planning or are planning to attack Baidoa, but their success in taking Mogadishu and asserting control elsewhere is a challenge to the largely powerless government headed by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.
Whether we like it or not, the clash is coming. Calling for peace talks, truces, or ceasefires does no good. Each becomes a pause in which the Islamofascist enemy regroups, reloads, and rests for the next attack. Japan, faced with total defeat and annihilation, unconditionally surrendered in WWII. The Korean War, on the other hand, ended in stalemate with a ceasefire- left unfinished for another day, which seems close at hand. At some point, "cutting and running" is no longer an option when the enemy chases you as you try to get away.
