Tuesday, May 09, 2006

BLOWBACK MOUNTAIN:
So... Has Anybody in the State Department Watched Black Hawk Down?

US Support of Factions Fuels Resentment in Somalia
By Alisha Ryu
Voice of America, May 9,2006

NAIROBI - In recent months, Mogadishu, Somalia, has become a deadly battleground between militias loyal to Islamic courts and a newly formed anti-terror coalition that is believed to have the support of the United States. The violence is renewing anti-American sentiment in the Somali capital.

Last Thursday, a reporter asked a spokesman for the State Department, Sean McCormack, if the United States was funding and supporting a coalition of Mogadishu-based factional leaders who recently formed a group called the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism. "

"We are working with individual members of the transitional government to try to create a better situation in Somalia," he answered. "Our other operating principle is to work with responsible individuals and certainly members of the transitional government in fighting terror..."


- READ THE REST HERE -

So...let me get this straight...

In Iraq, we're supposedly encouraging government officials to unify.

In Afghanistan, we're doing the same thing...

But Somalia?

Nah.

Let's try that ol' thing we did during the Cold War.

You know... the tactic we used to turn the Afghan Mujahideen into ... what did Reagan call them... oh, yes, "freedom fighters"... against the Soviet occupation.

According to legend, this one cat, some dude named Osama bin Laden, trained with those same U.S. supported Afghan "freedom fighters." The Taliban? Yup. They were freedom fighters too.

C'mon. Who doesn't love the 80s? I mean, who would've thought a group of religious zealots bent on setting civilization back a millennium would've turned on us?

Hmmm...

Yeah.

You know, in the intelligence community, the term blowback is often used to describe the unforeseen consequences of covert operations. Hope Condi and Co. took notes during the Carter and Reagan Administrations...


TECHNORATI TAGS:
, , , ,

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Afghanistan,

Somalia

I know so little in regard to these ...

soI posted another comment below. lol

The ZenFo Pro said...

Let:
Hehehe...yeah, a good pair of heels is obviously much more important to the Sec. of State than actually doing her job. I soooo miss Madeleine Albright...


Cooper:
Lol.

The ZenFo Pro said...

Cowgirl:
Oh yeah. One of my personal faves.

LMAO. The question is this...

Does he use the big box of Crayolas, the one with the sharpener ... or the simple eight-pack?

;)

Unknown said...

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

Douglas Adams

Says it all, I think

Miz BoheMia said...

Well, after Wombat there is not much I can say but DITTO! Oooh! How deep of me!

I am so happy to see you are back and that the news with regards to your grandma is so good! 90% recovery is great and hey, they always tend to do better than what the docs say so YAY! Keep us updated on how she is doing!

Boho kisses coming your way!

Anonymous said...

Hey Jason!

I just wanted to say thanks for chatting last night. I really thought you'd deleted the blog because of my talking to you sounds silly I know. Just finished catching up with posts and undrsand why you moved to cincinnati. i think you should definitely be back in oxford however. you are like the most adorable thing in town!!!

anyway~

in one of my classes we talked about diplomatic failures and blowbacks. i didn't know about somalia but i've watched blackhawk down.

The ZenFo Pro said...

Wombat:
Awesome quote!!!

And very true...


MizB:
Hey, thanks! Haven't heard any updates on Grandma in a few days...I think she may be starting to get her groove back. Either that, or her boyfriend is still smothering her with flowers from his garden...

And thanks for the kisses :) Gosh...

Kate:
Hey, no problem. Glad I could help ease your nerves lol. Nope, just changed the location as it's listed in the Blogger directory. It's not that I don't appreciate student traffic; I do and it does occassionally allow me to meet some really awesome Miami folks. It's the expectation that I mix business with pleasure at work that was getting to me. It was flattering at first to have patrons hit at work, but, yeah, I have a good job and the last thing I need is yet another rumor following me around to meetings. I also had this lingering fear that students might start treating my blog (and me) like they treat the police blotter in the Miami Student, i.e. doing stupid shit to see if I'd write about it.

Talking to you, actually, reminded me that most MU readers aren't, and pardon my un-PC-ness here, retarded.

Like I said, still in Oxford...real world Jason. I don't know about adorable, but, well, I appreciate the compliment :)