http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jiaa/jiaa050224_1_n.shtml
Somalia: Forgotten terrorism base? By E Gearon Somalia aptly defines the term anarchy. The Muslim nation has been without an effective central government for 14 years. It barely functions, having no legal economy to speak of, no national armed forces or police force. It is the most failed of failed states on a continent where there is much competition for such a title. It must, therefore, seem the perfect place for terrorist activity to flourish. But has it? In February 2005, Porter Goss, head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), said that the war in Iraq had provided opportunities for the training of terrorists who may then take their new-found skills overseas. Referring specifically to attacks on US soil, he added: "Al-Qaeda is intent on finding ways of circumventing US security." But the danger is not limited to the US mainland and US interests are not the sole targets, as the attack in Istanbul, Bali, Madrid and Casablanca testify. On the same day in 2002, there were attacks on a tourist hotel in Kenya and a failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli charter flight. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were both struck by powerful bombs. Each of these four attacks had a link to Somalia. Since the 1990s, US officials have said that Al-Qaeda was active in Somalia, at the very least supporting local, radical Islamist groups and setting up training camps in the country. While the US does not claim that Al-Qaeda was directly involved in the 1993 attacks on US forces in Mogadishu, it points to the fact that Osama bin Laden did issue a fatwa (ruling) against the US mission to Somalia. The ruling described the United Nations' humanitarian mission as an act of aggression and declared that it was incumbent on good Muslims to attack and kill the soldiers of occupation where possible. With the deaths of 18 US special forces troops - and hundreds of Somalis - in October 1993, the Clinton administration removed US troops from the country as quickly as possible. In late 2001, following the 11 September attacks, US intelligence reports stated that they had identified at least 100 Al-Qaeda members in Somalia and added the Somali Islamist movements Al-Tabligh and Al-Ittihad al-Islami to a list of terrorist organisations. They have since been removed from this list. And, since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Somalia appears to have been ignored in the war on terrorism. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
