http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2007/January/theworld_January141.xml§ion=theworld&col=
US general do not see American troops in Somalia (Reuters) 6 January 2007 WASHINGTON - A US general seen by some as a contender to lead the Pentagon's Africa operations said on Friday he does not expect American troops to go into Somalia, where Al Qaeda has urged defeated Islamists to start an Iraq-style insurgency. 'Situations change but I do not see it now, and there's nothing that I've heard that implies that at all,' said Gen. William Ward, deputy commander of US European Command and a former brigade commander in Somalia. Ward told reporters in Washington that the State Department was playing the lead role in US efforts in Somalia and that the assistant secretary of state for African affairs was meeting with Ethiopian and Ugandan officials on how the United States might assist Somalia and neighboring countries. 'I don't know the results of all of those discussions yet but I think that those are positive to the degree that the neighbors of Somalia are assisting,' he said. Islamists who controlled much of southern Somalia were ousted by Ethiopian forces defending Somalia's interim government after two weeks of war. Western and African diplomats have called for peacekeepers as an Al Qaeda leader on Thursday urged Islamists to start an insurgency against Ethiopian forces. A US defence official suggested any American assistance to a peacekeeping force might involve logistics support but was unlikely to go beyond that. Somalia raises dark memories for the US military after the 1993 Mogadishu battle with Somali militias that killed 18 US Army Rangers, an event depicted in the book and film 'Black Hawk Down.' 'I think we need to be very careful on US involvement, not because we don't want to be helpful but because we have baggage in Somalia and Somalis perceive us as having baggage,' the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. The official noted that the United States had provided some logistical help for the African Union peacekeeping mission in the Darfur region of Sudan -- airlifting troops into the area and providing a contractor to build bases. 'In general, in many of these African operations and elsewhere in the world, our support tends to be focused in the logistics area,' the official said. 'I would imagine that whatever we might do (in Somalia) would probably be in that area.' Pentagon officials have repeatedly said the US military is not assisting or advising Ethiopian or Somali forces. The US Navy said British-led coalition ships have been parked off the east coast of Africa to 'show a presence.' Some defence officials have said Ward would be considered for the position of commander for the Pentagon's planned Africa Command. +++ -------------------------- 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/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> 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/
