The situation in Somalia is very dire, with Islamic militants controlling Mogadishu and much of the country. Ehiopia has now joined the fighting:

Fighting escalated in Somalia Sunday as Ethiopian planes and helicopter gun ships attacked Islamist targets in several central provinces. One area that came under heavy attack was the town of Baledweyn, 220 miles south of the capital Mogadishu...

In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's information minister said his country had launched "self-defensive measures" against the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia, known as the UIC. On Saturday, the UIC issued a worldwide call for Islamist fighters to join the jihad, or holy war, in Somalia.

Ethiopian ground forces supporting the government also reportedly engaged Islamist fighters near Baidoa and Bandiradley in central Somalia, Shabelle Media said.

My instinct would be to view this as a positive development, but this interesting analysis sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations suggests otherwise.

In any event, I don't think it's coincidental that the Pentagon has recently recommended formation of a new "U.S. AFRICOM," a command that would be responsible for operations in Africa.

Via Power Line News.

SCOTT adds: Daveed Gartenstein-Ross reports that the radical Islamic Courts Union has begun its final push to eliminate the secular transitional federal government from its safe haven, the south-central Somali city of Baidoa. Daveed's Pajamas Media report is "Afghanistan again: Somalia falling to al Qaeda."

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Posted by John at 08:57 AM  |    |