"I think the U.S. panicked..."

The U.S.'s funding of Somali warlords to counter local Islamists has always struck me as unwise. Now, I'm starting to think I was wrong: The support wasn't just unwise, it was dumber than mud. It looks like another case of scoring one on our own goal.

It turns out, the warlords are (surprise surprise)  much-hated, while the "Islamists" have lots of popular  support and oh, Somalia  has a history of practicing moderate Islam and experts are skeptical the "Islamists" hang out with AQ-types.

Last night PBS interviewed a Somali scholar as well as a former assistant secretary of State under the first President Bush. Here's what they  said:

HERMAN COHEN, Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs: Well, when the government disappeared in 1991, there was anarchy, so local clans in Mogadishu essentially said, "We've got to do something to protect our security and give us some basis for public health and what have you."

So each clan formed their own Islamist court to provide justice and a little bit of security. And over the years, they've become stronger and stronger, because people felt, "This is all we have."

And, lately, they've formed a union and started to work against the warlords. And happily they've kicked most of the warlords out. That is a wonderful piece of news, that the...

MARGARET WARNER: Why is it a wonderful piece of news?

HERMAN COHEN: Because the warlords have caused tremendous hardship. They have roadblocks, shoot-outs, exactions. People were permanently insecure under the warlords, and it's very important to keep those warlords from coming back into Mogadishu.

MARGARET WARNER: What would you add to that, Professor? Do you see it that way? And how did the Islamic Alliance get strong enough to take on these warlords, who I gather are fairly heavily armed?

ABDI SAMATAR: I think Herman Cohen is absolutely right. It's great news, not only for Somalis, but for the international community, that the warlords are out and hopefully will remain outside of the city and the country....

MARGARET WARNER: Now, could you explain, Professor, why the business community in Somalia is supporting the Islamists? That might seem to, you know, outside observers a contradiction.

ABDI SAMATAR: I would like to call these people Islamic practitioners, rather than Islamists. Islamists has the connotation that they are incredibly politicized and of the kind that you can expect from the Taliban's.

These folks, in my estimation, are far away from that and quite different. The reason why the businesspeople have decided to join forces with this is because the businesspeople have to protect their businesses and their property, and so they literally have to have their own security systems....

MARGARET WARNER: So if all of this is the case, Secretary Cohen, then why is the U.S. government apparently -- though they've never confirmed that the U.S. has been supporting the warlords financially -- why is the U.S. so concerned about this Islamic group?

HERMAN COHEN: I think the U.S. government panicked. They saw Islamic group; they said, "Taliban is coming."

Also, there are friends in the region, like the Ethiopians, who probably are feeding false intelligence about terrorists being hidden and that sort of thing.

In another words, just another example of the administration's proven skill at thinking small. Combine a preference for "tactical"  gains (i.e. killing a few suspected terrorists)  over  long-term ones with an utter lack of cultural knowledge and no surprise what you end up with.
 

Comments

[Randy Paul]

This is what passes for critical thinking in the Bush administration:

"My onetime enemy who hasn't cleaned up his act and is still pretty awful is now my friend because his enemy is now my enemy even though his enemy used to be my friend in Afghanistan in the 1980's when his enemy was my enemy."

[Dont you look dumb]

It is now quite easy to see who is thinking small.

I hope you guys had fun celebrating this short-term Islamist victory.