ETHIOPIANS ATTACK CIVILIANS IN SOMALIA, GEORGE BUSH APPROVES

The BBC reports heavy fighting in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. And who is doing this fighting? Ethiopians. These are invaders and occupiers of Somalia, much like the United States is in Iraq.

The result is heavy casualties for residents of Mogadishu. Writes the BBC:

"Some of the heaviest fighting in months has broken out between Ethiopian forces and local insurgents in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. Residents said that at least 10 people had been killed amid shell and machine-gun fire as the Ethiopian forces launched an offensive. Somalia has seen a surge in violence since Ethiopian-backed government troops ousted Islamists last December."

Ethiopians need to get out of Somalia. They need to stop firing upon civilians. They need to hold their fire and spare lives of Somalians.

And George Bush needs to stop inciting the Christian Ethiopians from attacking and killing Somalians. Since the Somalians are mainly muslim and the Ethiopians christian, Bush thinks it is morally justified to encourage the Ethiopians, notwithstanding the destruction and loss of innocent life the Ethiopians are causing.

US WARSHIP SHELLS REMOTE SOMALI VILLAGE

Now the United States is shelling a remote village in Somalia because it suspects jihadists are making a camp there. The BBC reports:

"A US Navy warship has carried out a missile attack on a Somali village where Islamist militants are reported to have set up a base.

"Somali officials said a remote village in the Puntland region was bombarded, days after foreign militants arrived."

I want to know who ordered this strike on a "remote village?" Was it Bush, or was it Bob Gates, Secretary of Defense, or was it Dick Cheney? I doubt it was Gates. As former president of Texas A&M University, Gates would surely know that shelling from a war ship would cause catastrophic loss of life to the whole village, women, children, babies, old people, to everyone in that village.

An attack like this shows how morally bankrupt Bush & Co. are. They solve all problems with missiles and bombs. Even if it means killing everyone in some Somali village.

This news story should be all over American newspapers and TV. Where is PBS on this story? And NPR? Has anyone, other than BBC, mentioned it? I do note that NPR wesite carries a story from AP, quoting a Pentagon spokesman:

"CNN International, quoting a Pentagon official, also reported the U.S. warship's involvement. A Pentagon spokesman told The Associated Press he had no information about the incident.

""This is a global war on terror and the U.S. remains committed to reducing terrorist capabilities when and where we find them," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. "

Whitman's statement is ridiculous and morally deficient for its lack of awareness about who is on the receiving end of the high velocity shelling in the Somali village. So the U.S. "remains committed to reducing terrorist capabilities" even if it means destroying a whole village and all its occupants?

And where is the moral outrage over killing civilians in this quixotic quest to wipe out all Jihadis? Such indiscriminate shelling creates 10 jihadis intent on destroying America for ever person the U.S. mindlessly kills with its fire bombs.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ACCUSES KENYA OF TURNING AWAY SOMALI REFUGEES

Carly Petesch writes for the Associated Press today that Amnesty International is accusing Kenya of turning away Somali refugees seeking safe haven from the fighting in Mogadishu and in other parts of Somalia.

"It's very dangerous for civilians in Somalia right now," said Ann Corbett, a Kenya specialist for Amnesty International. "Kenya's action in closing its border is deplorable and a violation of a fundamental right enshrined in international law _ the right to seek sanctuary from persecution.""

And how did this chaotic humanitarian crisis come to overwhelm innocent civilians of Somalia? I wrote in a previous post on April 25, 2007, that:

"The real heart of the story is that the Bush administration could not bear to see peace and tranquillity take hold in Somalia and in its capital Mogadishu after 16 years of chaos and warlord violence. The problem was that the first stable Somali government was Islamic. So the U.S. sent in its warplanes last December to bomb and kill members of the ruling Council of Islamic Courts and then the U.S. incited Ethiopia to violate international law and invade Somalia."

AMERICAN NEWS PROGRAMS NEED TO REPORT ON U.S. MEDDLING IN SOMALIA

The BBC reports that aid agencies say that there is a looming humanitarian crisis in Somalia as thousands of families flee the Ethiopian shelling in Mogadishu. And today BBC.com reports that the interim puppet government set up by the United States and Ethiopia is preventing international emergency aid from reaching the refugees.

Why don't we see this story prominently reported on The NewsHour or on other major networks? The real heart of the story is that the Bush administration could not bear to see peace and tranquillity take hold in Somalia and in its capital Mogadishu after 16 years of chaos and warlord violence. The problem was that the first stable Somali government was Islamic. So the U.S. sent in its warplanes last December to bomb and kill members of the ruling Council of Islamic Courts and then the U.S. incited Ethiopia to violate international law and invade Somalia.

BUSH'S DISASTROUS MEDDLING IN SOMALIA

Today the BBC reports that the latest violence in Somalia between Ethiopian forces and Somalia's Islamists has left more than 60 people dead.

"Somalia's Elman Human Rights Organisation described the violence as the worst in recent years.
"I call on the both sides to stop the fighting and shelling without any condition," chairman Sudan Ali Ahmed said to Associated Press news agency.
One resident, Ali Haji, said: "Ethiopians are trying to kill me because I am Somali, and insurgents are not happy because I am not picking up a gun and fighting with them. I have lost all hope." "

In June 2006, the Union of Islamic Courts took over Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, and for the first time in about 16 years, there was relative peace and calm. According to a BBC report,

"Local Islamic courts were set up by businessmen who wanted someone to catch and punish thieves and people who do not respect their contracts.
Some of these courts joined to form the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and their small groups of gunmen became Somalia's strongest fighting force. "

"After years of lawlessness, many Somalis are happy to have some kind of law and order. The prices of many basic foods have fallen because gunmen no longer extort money from lorries taking goods to markets."

Then this past December, Ethiopia invaded Somalia with its tanks and war planes. Ethiopia is mainly a Christian nation. Somalia is entirely Sunni Islamic. Washington and Bush secretly backed the Ethiopians and their push into Mogadishu. Since then, Mogadishu's peace and tranquillity have given way to street fighting, mayhem and civilian slaughter.

Bush obviously prefers this societal chaos to peaceful Islamic rule.

The United States, through Bush, has caused civilian casualties and civilian upheaval by its meddling, all because Bush sees everything through his simplistic "War on Terror" glasses.

INTERVIEW WITH TED KOPPEL ON MORNING EDITION NPR

I listened to Steve Inskeep interview Tedd Koppel this morning on NPR, discussing the presence of U.S. Special Forces in Ethiopia, and their participation in the invasion of Somalia this past December. I think the important part of this story should have been the ongoing militarism of the United States. Over the past 100 years, the U.S. it seems has been in a foreign war about once every 10 years. Why should the U.S. have forces in countries overseas? Why does the U.S. think it can invade sovereign countries anytime it wants? Can any American really believe the U.S. can successfully pursue its foreign policy by way of tanks, planes and bombs? This is the story that I wish Steve Inskeep would have pursued.