Hate to say I told you so, but...
I have been writing for some time [1] about the rising and increasingly unified fundamentalist Muslim theocracy that Bush is losing to. This theocracy seems closely linked to Saudi oil interests, al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Sunni fundamentalists around the world. They use all tactics, including terrorism, and their main targets are the West, Sunni moderates, and Shi'ites. Bush claims his "Forever War" is all about defeating these people, but far from defeating him, he is enabling them. They are winning and the history of Republican errors when it comes to the rise of Muslim extremists continues unabated.
This rising Sunni theocracy, which I refer to as a nascent, new Caliphate, has scored a victory it has been wanting for some time. To most Americans it means nothing, but just as al-Qaeda in Afghanistan managed to make a major attack on the US, al-Qaeda and a new Taliban-like government now has a new nation to use as a base of operations.
From BBC News [2]
Islamists claim Mogadishu victory
An Islamist militia says it has seized Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, after weeks of fighting against an alliance of warlords supported by the US.
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The violence began earlier this year when a group of warlords, who had divided Mogadishu into fiefdoms, united to form the Anti-Terrorism Alliance to tackle the Islamic Courts, who they accused of sheltering foreign al-Qaeda militants.
The Islamic Courts deny this. They were originally set up in Mogadishu as a grassroots movement by businessmen to establish some law and order in a city without any judicial system.
Their stated goal is to restore a system of Sharia law in the city. Last month in Mogadishu a teenager stabbed his father's killer to death before a large crowd, after a death sentence was passed.
The head of the BBC's Somali service described the rise of the Islamic Courts group as a popular uprising.
The Islamic Courts have long said the warlords in the Anti-Terror Alliance were being backed by the US.
Washington merely says it will support those trying to stop people it considers terrorists setting up in Somalia but stresses its commitment to the country's transitional government, which functions from Baidoa, 250km (155 miles) north-west of the capital.
Analysts say it is not entirely certain where the Islamic Courts militia has obtained its substantial weaponry and financing - some fingers have pointed towards Saudi Arabia, others to wealthy foreign supporters of Islamic militancy.
But they have also had the support of many Mogadishu citizens, desperate to back anybody able to re-establish order.
President Abdullahi Yusuf had urged the US to channel its campaign against Somalia's Islamists through his government, rather than the warlords and came under heavy pressure from some MPs to sack the warlords because of the fighting in Mogadishu.
Saudi-influenced, extremist Islamic theocracy...just like the Taliban. And it happened right under our noses. The link to al-Qaeda is being denied by the Islamists, but al-Qaeda has a long connection to the Islamists in Somalia. It is hard to believe that their connection to al-Qaeda is any less than it used to be or any less than the connection al-Qaeda has with the Taliban.
Afghanistan has never really ceased being al-Qaeda/Taliban controlled except in Kabul itself. And we don't seem to be doing so well in Kabul now either. [3] Pakistan is slipping. Iraq is becoming more amenable to al-Qaeda...in fact the real choice in the eyes of most Iraqis is al-Qaeda or Iran...not the US. Somalia, a palce I have said since our invasion of Afghanistan should be our next target of diplomatic or military attention because of the strong al-Qaeda presence, now is becoming dominated by a Taliban-like group.
Is this "Mission Accomplished" Mr. Bush? Is this what victory looks like to you? Looks to me like the enemy is stronger than ever.
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