Musings of a modern guy

In a sign that it is wise to respect the words of some Governments as well as agree that not everyone sends troops just for conquering land, the Ethiopian Government has started withdrawing some of the troops that it sent in to overthrow the Islamic militia that had taken control of Somalia. This is good news. Refer the New York Times article.
At the same time, there is some disquiet that things could again go bad if a strong military presence is again missing.

The Ethiopian troops who helped install Somalia’s fledging government in Mogadishu, its capital, began to pull out Tuesday, officials from each country said.
Many Somalis say they now fear that a power vacuum will form and that the country will slip back into the lawlessness that has dominated it for much of the past 16 years.
“Why can’t they stay?” asked Muhammad Omar Ali, a milkman in Mogadishu, as he watched truckloads of Ethiopians chug away. “They’re leaving us to the bandits.”

That is indeed a major fear. No one really wants the Islamists to take control of Somalia. They threaten to have the same kind of repressive rule such as the Taliban did in Afghanistan and serve as another training ground for Al-Qaeda kind of groups. So it does seem good that there is an effort to bring in international troops and make sure that there is no vacuum in which the Islamists can come back in and take control.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS