Peacekeeping and Terrorism in Somalia

Somalia has been in a state of chaos for well over twenty years. The country is now in the throes of its second civil war, a fact that the Western media seem to ignore, save for sporadic articles about the deaths of aid workers. In fact, Mogadishu, according to the UN, is now the most dangerous city in the world for relief workers. My source, which is a very illuminating article about the current situation, is: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/world/africa/29somalia.html?scp=4&sq=somalia&st=nyt

The recent history of Somalia is a good example of failed peacekeeping operations. The combination of civil war and famine prompted the UN to send in UNISOM I in 1992, a peacekeeping operation doomed to failure as the soldiers were only allowed to use force in self-defense. This was a clear-cut case when in fact what the country needed was a peace enforcement operation, as peace had yet to be established between the warring factions. Peacekeeping forces are useless in a country which is in the midst of fighting, as there is no stability to work from in rebuilding basic infrastructure. The US task force of UNITAF stepped in to help later that year, and was quickly succeeded by UNISOM II (the second UN task force) after order was in place. However, this second peacekeeping operation also failed, and with the help of the US, all UN troops were pulled out of the country in 1995. Since then, Somalia has essentially been left to fend for itself. 

The most recent conflict has been between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) which has allied itself with Ethiopian forces, and Somali Islamists (the Islamic Courts Union). The Islamic militants controlled much of southern Somalia, including Mogadishu, before they were forced out by the TFG over a year ago. However, the ICU was recently declared a terrorist organization by the United States, a label the group welcomed. As we talked about in discussion section, one of the ways to undermine terrorist groups is to identify them as criminals, not terrorists. This recent declaration by the US might actually serve to legitimize the ICU more, now that the rest of the world sees them in this way. 

The Somali government is no longer able to pay its soldiers (who are increasingly becoming teenagers with AK-47s anyway). The militants, who could be classified as domestic terrorists, are now attracting greater numbers simply due to the fact that the people don't have any other options. This is the same phenomenon occurring in Gaza right now, with the numbers of Hamas growing. Desperate men (and women), trying to feed their families, sign up with these organizations purely for the money. Meanwhile, the TFG is on the brink of collapse, even allying itself with local warlords. While this is seen as a strategic move against the Islamists, it also enables the warlords to continue their own terrorization of the population. 

It would seem that the best solution, judging from the past, would be to send in US troops to utilize their overwhelming force. While using the UN might be more legitimate, the strength of force is not great enough to overpower all the different actors who are fighting each other. Plus, peacekeepers are bound to follow different rules of engagement, something which might slow the suppression of these factions. However, with the US fighting wars on two different fronts, it doesn't seem like Somalia will be receiving any kind of US military help in the near future.