US backs Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia

Ethiopia is waging a proxy war on behalf of the United States. In the space of a week it has routed forces loyal to the United Islamic Courts and advanced to within 55 miles of the capital Mogadishu.

Ethiopian jets have attacked the international airport in Mogadishu and Balidogle military airfield in southern Somalia. The Red Cross has reported hundreds of casualties.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi stated that as many as 1,000 people died and 3,000 were wounded in fighting outside the town of Baidoa.

On December 26, US State Department spokeswoman Janelle Hironimus described Ethiopia’s illegal attack as a response to “aggression” by Islamists and an attempt to stem the flow of outside arms shipments to them. Washington was also concerned about reports that the Islamists were using child soldiers and abusing Ethiopian prisoners of war, she added.

Ethiopia could not have carried out such an extensive assault without a green light from the Bush administration. The United States has a military base in nearby Djibouti and is able to monitor troop movements in the area by satellite. It would have known about the build-up of Ethiopian forces. The former US State Department official John Pendergast admitted, “We are now giving a yellow-slash-green light to Ethiopia’s policy of containment by intervention.”

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/dec2006/soma-d28.shtml