Another Somalia Thread

Some recent interesting links on Somalia

The Associated Press reports that the U.S. is sending more weapons into Mogadishu

U.S. officials say the Obama administration plans to go ahead with additional weapons supplies to double an initial provision of 40 tons of arms. The U.S. also has begun a low-profile mission to help train Somali security forces in neighboring Djibouti, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivities surrounding U.S. involvement in the program.

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..officials said a second batch of up to 40 tons of new weaponry, added to 40 tons that arrived over the past several months, will come from stockpiles held by African militaries. The United States would pay for it, officials said.

One senior official said the Pentagon, which has a base at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, is providing facilities such as tents for the training and is assisting with logistics.

Officials say the U.S. military is not conducting the training and will not put any forces in Somalia. The administration is making a concerted effort to avoid putting any American footprint in Somalia, which would risk alienating allies and add to charges by Islamic extremists of a Western takeover.

Uganda's Daily Monitor reports that UPDF troops prepare to attack Somali militants

The United Nations has begun preparing for combat between Somali insurgents and African peacekeepers led by Ugandan troops, Daily Monitor has learnt.

In an interview last week, the Uganda army Land Forces Commander, Lt. Gen. Katumba Wamala, told Daily Monitor they were waiting for a green light from the United Nations and the African Union to launch attacks against the Al Shabab, a group linked to Al Qaeda.

When contacted on Wednesday, however, outgoing Security Council president Ruhakana Rugunda said the proposal to attack the militants—a mandate outside the peacekeeping mission—was yet to be adopted on the Council’s agenda.

“They are still ideas emerging within member states. Formally, it’s not on the agenda yet. But reviewing the mandate African Union mission will be discussed,” Dr Rugunda said in a phone interview from Uganda’s Mission in New York. Gen. Katumba Wamala said more action is necessary but would have to wait for the UN’s permission. “We are yet to get permission from AU and the UN to strike those insurgents. That is the only way we can contain the conflict,” he said, adding: “We don’t want to lose Somalia to those terrorists.”

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Last week, Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga told Daily Monitor that the UN is building another base for military supplies in Mombasa in addition to the existing one in Entebbe. The boost in logistics support will also be supplemented with the United Nations Trust Fund.

According to the Kampala government, the recent donors’ conference in Brussels raised pledges as high as $213m (Shs450b) towards the Trust Fund, a clear indication of international support towards the Mission.

Initially, the Trust Fund was not applied to supporting Amisom because funding was needed elsewhere to meet requirements not supported by major bilateral contributors. The United Nations Security Council recently approved a UN logistical support package to Amisom including equipment and services amounting to $72m (Shs152b).

Dr Rugunda said all the efforts by the UN and the UN Security Council are signals for a major assault against the Al Shabab fighters. He also reported that the UPDF and Burundian troops would only attack the Somalis after the mission is taken by the UN.

But the chairman of the Defence and Internal Affairs committee of Parliament, MP Mathias Kasamba (Kakuuto, NRM), has said such an operation would have to be approved by Parliament. “Once those international bodies agree, UPDF will have to get our approval before they can go ahead,” he said.

Meanwhile, FDC wants UPDF out of Somalia

The opposition Forum for Democratic Change party is demanding for the immediate return of the UPDF soldiers who are on a peace keeping mission in the troubled state of Somalia.

The FDC leader Rtd Colonel Dr. Kiiza Besigye says that soldiers are no longer involved in peace keeping but are now part of a dubious civil war.

The party's demands come after reports that over 30 UPDF soldiers who are part of the peace keeping mission were last week attacked by a strange disease and flown to Nairobi for emergency treatment. The disease was later identified as a bacterial infection known as leptospirosis caused by rat’s urine.

The African Union Peace Keeping Mission (Amisom) dismissed claims that the soldiers had been poisoned by the Islamists fundamentalists, Al Shabaab who are opposed to the interim government in Somalia and the peace-keeping mission. Other peacekeepers from Burundi, four of whom died were also infected.

Besigye while addressing journalists today at the party headquarters in Najjanankumbi says the UPDF is now locked up in the conflict and being used by foreign countries to serve selfish interests. He says the government needs to refocus its interests on peace keeping and not serving foreign interests.

The New Vision coverage adds some actual quotes from Besigye:

“As FDC, we opposed the deployment of UPDF in Somalia. There was no way they were going to keep peace when there is no peace in Somalia,” he said at the party’s weekly press briefing at Najjanankumbi yesterday.

“Rather than keeping peace they were sucked into civil war. There is ample evidence that the UPDF supplied arms to one of the warring factions and that is why we are saying they should return home.”

New Vision also reports on Monday 23 more UPDF flown to Kenya

TWENTY-THREE more Ugandan soldiers serving on the African Union mission in Somalia have been evacuated to Nairobi for treatment after they got infected by a waterborne disease that hit the peacekeepers’ camp in Mogadishu last week.

This brings to 40 the number of Ugandans airlifted to Kenya following the outbreak of the disease that has so far killed one UPDF soldier and four Burundians.

According to the Army spokesman, Lt. Col Felix Kulayigye, the 23 soldiers were evacuated on Friday morning to a hospital in Nairobi. However, he said, 11 of the earlier group had been discharged and flown back to Mogadishu.

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Over 50 Burundians have also been affected. By last week, four had died.

Biyokulule Online republishes a report from the Indian Ocean Newsletter last month under the title American spies to learn Tigrinya

The proposed budget that the American intelligence services have put to Congress includes provision for learning African languages.

The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, which brings the estimated budgetary needs of the American intelligence community before the US Congress, includes a particularly original element. Indeed, clause 314 of the bill asks the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Dennis C. Blair, who is the security advisor to President Barack Obama, to devise a pilot project for learning five new African languages, with a budget of € 2 million. This programme will use intensive immersion instruction in both the USA and the African countries where the respective languages are spoken. The intent of the programme is “to begin building capability in African languages spoken in areas where US national security interests may be affected, but where insufficient instructional capability exists in the United States”.

Two of the languages covered in this programme concern countries in Western and Central Africa: Haussa, mostly found in the north of Nigeria and the south of Niger; and Kituba, spoken in the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The other three languages concern East African countries: Somali, Amharic and Tigrinya. Somali is mainly spoken in Somalia, but also in part of north-eastern Kenya, south-eastern Ethiopia and Djibouti. Amharic is the official working language in Ethiopia. Finally, Tigrinya is spoken in the northern region (Tigray) and the peoples living in the high plateaux in Eritirea. A dangerous region!

And, how long before the Disney ride?

Boat in Maersk Alabama Somali piracy case to be displayed in Florida

FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- A St. Lucie County museum is getting an artifact at the center of one of the year's biggest stories.

The National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce says it will permanently display the 28-foot lifeboat used in the hijacking of the cargo ship Maersk Alabama in April.

That ship was taken hostage off the coast of Somalia. The captain of the ship was held in the lifeboat until nearby Navy SEALs pulled off a heroic rescue.

The lifeboat is scheduled to be unveiled Aug. 14.

Lifeboat used in April hijacking of cargo ship off Somali coast to be part of National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum

“I think it is dynamite for this community,” said Vero Beach resident and retired Navy SEAL Jim Watson.

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“It is not often that we get something this timely and relevant to current events around the world,” museum curator Ruth McSween said in a news release.

Getting the lifeboat had been on the mind of museum executive director Michael Howard shortly after Phillips was rescued.

In April, Howard said he wanted the vessel or other mementos of the historic event.

“This is a treasure, and not only does it drive home what the SEALs are about, it puts thing is a modern context, which makes it more culturally relevant to our younger visitors,” Howard said in a news release.

Lifeboat involved in Somali pirate attack to visit Norfolk

A lifeboat that made international headlines in a high-profile pirate attack will be on exhibit at Nauticus this fall.

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Rolf Johnson, deputy director of Nauticus, said it was a no-brainer to add the story to “Real Pirates,” an exhibit being planned.

“This was front page news around the world,” he said. He negotiated with Maersk officials to bring the boat to Nauticus, where John Reinhart, president and CEO of Maersk Line, happens to serve on the board of directors.

Originally, the exhibit was going to focus on the Whydah – a pirate ship that sank off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass., nearly 300 years ago. Now, the two stories will be incorporated to give the exhibit a blend of historic and modern piracy.

It’s not clear how the lifeboat will fit into the exhibit, Johnson said, but the most important thing is that people understand who pirates are and what they do.

“We want people to know that piracy is still occurring today, and it is a criminal offense,” he said. “People’s families are in harm’s way every day, patrolling the waters looking for pirates.”

The lifeboat already has a permanent home at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Florida. Nauticus must return the boat there next year when the exhibit is over.

The boat will arrive in Norfolk complete with the bullet holes and other remnants of the attack, Johnson said. When the exhibit opens Nov. 21, visitors will be able to walk up to the boat and peek inside, but no one will be allowed in.

“This is a marvelous way to engage people in Hampton Roads about real pirates,” Johnson said. “It’s beyond Johnny Depp and Disney – this is not a fairy tale.”

Sure. As documented previously, the media & official narratives were full of fantasy and deception, which the exhibits will likely continue to advance. After thwarting negotiations with local elders and family members, the U.S. Navy actually had to tow the lifeboat back toward open sea in order to make the opportunity to fulfill their plan to kill those three.

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from the august 06 DoS press briefing transcript

QUESTION: During the campaign, both Secretary Clinton and President Obama criticized the previous administration’s Somalia policy, and I’m trying to see what the difference is now. She’s been talking about more support for the transitional government. She hasn’t been specific enough. There were things done in terms of peacekeeping, in terms of Eritrea and Ethiopia in the past several years. Former Assistant Secretary Jendayi Frazer has been criticized for what – some of the things that she did, some of the comments she made. So what is new about U.S. policy on Somalia that’s different from what it was in the previous administration?

MR. WOOD: Well, this Administration has made extremely clear that the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia is really the best hope that we have right now for restoring stability to not only Somalia, but to the Horn region. Much of the instability from the Horn – in the Horn region is because of what’s going on in Somalia. We’re providing the Transitional Federal Government with ammunition and weapons to support the efforts of the government to try to provide security.

I hate to get into comparing one government with the other, but this government has demonstrated by the Secretary’s meeting with President Sheikh Ahmed that the United States is committed to trying to improve the situation on the ground in Somalia, not just for the purpose of improving the life of Somalis in the region, but we’re very concerned about a number of problems that are flowing from Somalia, including the issue of piracy. And the Somali people have been without stable government, peace, and security for way too long, and so we and others in the international community are going to try to work to do what we can to support the government in Somalia.

It really is right now the best hope for Somalia, and we all need to give it as much support as we can.

QUESTION: Can you – can you update us on any efforts of the UN in terms of sanctions or any penalties for Eritrea if it continues to support the terrorist group there?

MR. WOOD: Yeah. I don’t have any update for you in terms of what may or may not be happening at the UN, but we have said over and again that we want to see the Eritrean Government stop providing support, weapons to al-Shabaab. And we’re going to continue to call on the Government of Eritrea to do that, and we encourage other governments to do that as well. Feeding weapons to al-Shabaab just furthers instability in the region, it furthers terrorism, and it’s important that we – that they cut off the supply of weapons to al-Shabaab.

QUESTION: Do you feel that other countries in the region have not been as helpful as they could be to – you can’t resolve this easily, but to address this issue? Because it seems that you’ve been saying all these things for months, if not years, and except for the Eritrea-Ethiopia involvement and the peacekeepers who are not authorized to do much in Somalia, not many African countries are involved in this.

MR. WOOD: Well, let me just say, Nick, I think certainly there is a lot more that countries can do, including the United States. And I think we’re going to try to see what more we can do. We’re providing a certain amount, as I said, of weapons and ammunition. We may decide we may try to increase that number – that amount – at some point.

But look, it’s – the problems in Somalia are problematic for not just the region, but for the globe, frankly. And it’s incumbent upon all of us to reach down and see what more we can do.

QUESTION: On the ammunition and the arms –

QUESTION: Do you have anything – on the same change subject?

QUESTION: Just on the ammunition and the arms, real quick. The Secretary talked about increasing it today, and there was a line in an AP story saying that that’s going to be doubled from what an official told us a couple months ago was 40 tons – 40 million tons. Was it 40 tons? 40 tons.

MR. WOOD: Yeah, 40 tons.

QUESTION: 40 tons – I mixed up dollars and tons there.

MR. WOOD: That’s all right.

QUESTION: Forty tons to about 80 or so. Is that your understanding of what’s going to happen?

MR. WOOD: Well, look, we’re in the process of trying to make sure that we can get the 40 tons of equipment to the TFG. Obviously, should we feel the need, and we may indeed do that – but I don’t want to get ahead of where we are right now. We’re in the process of delivering that 40 million – excuse me, 40 million – 40 tons to the government.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

MR. WOOD: (Inaudible.)

QUESTION: (Inaudible) million tons, and before you know it, you have a lot of tons.

MR. WOOD: Right, exactly.

QUESTION: Can you flesh out at all her threat on the trip to seek sanctions against Eritrea for supporting that group?

MR. WOOD: Well, I mean --

QUESTION: Who’s doing it? What are they doing wrong with this –

MR. WOOD: Well, they’re funneling weapons and giving support to al-Shabaab. And we’ve said we want that to stop. And the Secretary is frustrated, as all of us in the government are, with what Eritrea’s been doing, and we want to see them stop and we’ll continue to push them to stop. Because it’s not only – as I said, not only in the interests of Somalia, but for the region. And we just don’t want to see terrorism spread further. We need to deal with the root causes of what’s going on in Somalia so that these issues like piracy and terrorism don’t continue. And Eritrea can contribute to stability by cutting off funds, weapons, et cetera, to al-Shabaab.

QUESTION: Do you have any -- well, that’s an answer, of course. Do you have any –

MR. WOOD: Thanks, Barry. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: No, can you provide any particulars?

MR. WOOD: Not beyond what I said.

QUESTION: -- of the assistance?

MR. WOOD: Not beyond what I’ve just said.

Let me – someone else.

QUESTION: On Somalia?

MR. WOOD: Still on Somalia? Please.

QUESTION: There was a report this week that Washington hosted a conference for former Somali generals to discuss the military situation there. Are you aware of this? Do you have a readout?

MR. WOOD: I heard reports about that, but you probably should check over at the Pentagon. The Pentagon might have had something to do with that. I’m not familiar.

Yes, sir.

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QUESTION: One more --

MR. WOOD: Sure.

QUESTION: That same article that talked about doubling the aid, it also discusses that the U.S., which I assume would go through the State Department, has been quietly training some Somali forces near Djibouti. Is that true as well?

MR. WOOD: I don’t want to get into the actual details beyond what I’ve said about the type of support we’re providing to Somalia. But we are obviously going to look for ways that we can help support that government to eventually bring stability to that region, which is an important U.S. foreign policy goal.

QUESTION: Should we take that as a yes?

MR. WOOD: I gave you the answer that I have. Sorry.

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latest analysis from prof. weinstein

The Armed Opposition vs. AMISOM

Both sides – AMISOM and the armed opposition – are frozen in place; it is not the T.F.G. that the armed opposition wants to defeat but its protectors. The T.F.G. has already been defeated.

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What is to become of AMISOM? The armed opposition expects it to be worn down and weakened so as to become vulnerable to attack. The international coalition is unlikely either to back up its rhetoric with muscle or to pull the plug on the T.F.G., thereby prolonging a stop-gap measure until AMISOM cannot or will not take it anymore.