For some time now, close observers of Somali affairs have been attempting to draw attention to American involvement in illegal mercenary operations, and warning of possible military intervention. These fears were dramatically borne out on January 11 and 12, when US armed forces conducted air-strikes on Somalia, in the wild countryside surrounding Ras Kamboni.

According to the State Department, the target was ‘a terrorist cell’ allegedly responsible for bombing US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. However, Oxfam reports that 70 nomadic herdsmen were killed in the air strikes, with a further 100 wounded, none of them combatants. The air strikes were widely reported by Western news networks, but there was no reference to any civilian casualties.
The bombings appear to have been motivated by a desire to prevent radical Islamists from gaining power. Since the outbreak of civil war in 1991, Somalia has lacked any recognised central government, or indeed any of the other features associated with a sovereign independent state. The northern portion of the country declared independence as Somaliland in 1991; it has yet to be recognised by any foreign government. Another region, Puntland in the north-east, seceded in 1998. The remainder of the national territory has, since May 2006, been subject to a vicious civil war between the Ethiopian-backed regime of President Abdullahi Yusuf, and a radical Muslim militia named the Supreme Islamic Courts Council.
Last June 5, the Islamists took control of the capital Mogadishu, promising to unite the country and institute Shari’a law. They established control over much of southern Somalia (generally through negotiation with local clan chiefs, rather than the use of force) and accused the US of funding the Yusuf regime through the CIA in an attempt to preclude Islamists from power. The US State Department has not confirmed or denied the accusation.
The Islamists also claim that neighbouring Ethiopia, which has an extensive history of recurring war with Somalia, seeks to either occupy the country or rule it by proxy. On October 9 of last year, the Islamist miilitia issued a jihad (holy war) against Ethiopia. Their leader, Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, proclaimed “Somalia is in a state of war, and all Somalis should take part in this struggle against Ethiopia.”
According to Ahmed Gadar, a Somali national currently resident in Ireland, “We need a government, a settlement, and peace. We need to establish a government of some sort.
“Ethiopia and Somalia have a long history of enmity. They have been at war many times, in 1964 and again in 1977. I don’t think any good can come of their involvement. Always the air strikes will hurt poor people, older people and children. The man with a rifle, he can defend himself. But the ordinary people will suffer from these USA and Ethiopian air strikes.”
However bloody the whole affair, it also represents an undoubtedly lucrative business opportunity for Western private military companies. A leaked email (dated last June 16) from Michele Ballarin – the chief executive of Select Armor, a US military firm based in Virginia – sheds light on the situation. Ballarin said: “Boys: Successful meeting with President Abdullay Yussef (sic) and his chief staff personnel in Nairobi Kenya on Tuesday, where he invited us to his private hotel suite flanked by security detail.”
Ballarin went on to claim that she had been given carte blanche to use three bases in Somalia, “and the air access to reach them”. She also mentioned that “a number of Brit security firms” were keen to be involved, and suggested that the CIA were fully informed of the plans.
‘My contact whom we discussed from the agency requested an in-person meeting with me. I arrived in New York at 23:40 last night and was driven to Virginia, arriving at 02:00 today.’
Ahmed Gadar, despite the turmoil, longs to revisit his homeland: “As soon as possible. I spoke to my mum in Mogadishu, she says everything will be OK. We wait until they make a new government. I will go back as soon as there is peace. But it is not safe now, especially in the south.”