The Somalian Taliban: It Begins...

Not too long ago, I discussed the fall of Mogadishu as another sign that Islamic extremists are winning and that the United States under Bush has failed to successfully combat al-Qaeda and it's related groups. One such diary got attention from BBC Radio, which had me on one of their live call-in shows.

Some responses to my fears that Bush's failures are enabling a new, extremist Caliphate in the Muslim world criticized me for being too quick to judge Islam harshly. I take such criticism to heart because my beef is with religious extremists of all kinds and those fools, like Bush, who aid and abet their oppressive, terrorist agendas. I have no beef with any religion in particular or religion in general. It is extremism and terrorism that I object to.

I am sorry to say that my characterization of the Somali Islamic fundamentalist regime as being akin to the Taliban was not unfair. It seems dead on accurate. From Salon.com:

July 05,2006 | MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Radical Islamic militia fighters in Somalia shot and killed two people who were watching a banned World Cup soccer broadcast, a radio station reported Wednesday.

The hard-line Muslim fighters, who have banned watching television, opened fire after a crowd of teenagers defied their orders to leave a hall where a businessman was showing Tuesday's Germany-Italy match on satellite television, according to Shabelle Radio, an independent local station. It said the businessman and a teenage girl were killed.

Hard-line Muslim fighters, who wrested control of the Somali capital from warlords in June, have forbidden people from watching television or movies in line with their strict interpretation of Islam.

The militants of the Supreme Islamic Courts Council, who have established control in much of the south, have recently moved into parts of central Somalia, including the Mudug region where Tuesday's shooting occurred.

The leader of their group, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, has spent the past weeks in central Somalia recruiting fighters in his clan's native region.

Remember, President Clinton had stabilized most of Somalia. The loss of a single helicoptor broke the resolve of the American people and, led by right-wing Republicans, we cut and run before the job was done. Bush neglected Somalia and continues to do so, allowing a chaotic situation which is precisely the right environment for the rise of groups like the Taliban. Instead of dealing with the Somali extremists, who HAVE been linked to al-Qaeda, Bush chose to abandon the war against al-Qaeda and focus on his illegal invasion of Iraq. And now, we have Somalia falling into the hands of the very al-Qaeda linked extremists that we should have dealt with years ago. The Taliban are still strong in Pakistan and Afghanistan. And now an equivalent group is taking control of Somalia.

Thank you Bush and Cheney. Thanks for NOTHING!

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