Comment is free: Confronting the playground bully
Comment is free: Confronting the playground bully
-- fotdmikeOnce upon a time, George Bush said: “All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: The United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.” Somalia was probably the last place he had in mind when he made this announcement.
It was only a matter of time before the mask slipped and the US played its hand. Only a matter of time before the Ethiopians refused to abide by the status quo and carry out deeds hatched and plotted in Washington.
The president of Somalia, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, made his loyalty clear by laying his cards face up on his marble table. A spokesman said the air strike was based on “credible intelligence”, which in human speak means, was flawed beyond measure and obtained through nefarious means. Not seeming to care whether there have been civilian fatalities, Mr Ahmed spoke of his support of the American AC 130 bombing from his presidential palace in Mogadishu, claiming “America has the right to hunt down and air bombard wherever those who were responsible for bombing its embassies in East Africa are staying or hiding.”
And of those who are dead? Have they been identified as an al-Qaida cell? Rest assured that this is a message, coming through loud and clear: do as we say, not as we do. Anyone guilty of not toeing the line will be dealt with precisely and without discrimination. And that is what the US has done. The employment of air strikes by American forces that are employed to kill or maim hundreds has again signalled a complete lack of value for human life. And above all, has anybody mentioned that another fantastic recruiting ground has just been created, courtesy of Washington? Unless matters cease, this will most certainly turn into another Iraq.
