US air strikes in Somalia will only encourage terrorism
Published: 11 January 2007
With the shadow of Black Hawk Down yet to fade, America has fashioned another
spectre in Somalia which will come back to haunt it in years to come. This
week's bombing will not only fail to eradicate the al-Qa'ida suspects but will
further jeopardise the international community's reputation in the Horn of
Africa in the long run.
Granted, there is a terrorist threat in Somalia. And America also has selfish
interests in increasing its influence in this newly oil-rich area. But far more
concerning than the terrorist threat, or the inevitable absence of purely
altruistic humanitarian sentiment, is the international community's conceptual
failure to view Somalia other than through the lens of the "war on terror".
Somalia has its own troubled history of colonial occupation, Cold War
interference, regional instability, clan-based conflict and failed statehood-
and a present in which these fuse uniquely.
To ignore the complexities of Somali identity, and to fail to address the
situation on its own terms, will encourage exactly the angry, destructive
terrorism that we allegedly desire to erase. Rather than conduct
counter-productive bombing campaigns, we must focus our efforts on bringing all
parties to the negotiating table. We must actively strive for stability and
security - for that of Somalia and the international community is
interconnected like never before.
LAURA KYRKE-SMITH
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS
Arif, uk
___________________________________________________________
New Yahoo! Mail is the ultimate force in competitive emailing. Find out more at
the Yahoo! Mail Championships. Plus: play games and win prizes.
http://uk.rd.yahoo.com/evt=44106/*http://mail.yahoo.net/uk
