Somalia: Democracy Wins Again?

by Dr. Robert D. Crane

  Democracy wins again in a long-forgotten corner of the world!  More than a decade ago the Islamists were on the verge of liberating Somalia from despotic rule, so the U.S. government invented the excuse of war-lord induced famine to intervene.  The famine ended shortly before the U.S. Marines landed, but this was conveniently ignored by the press.  Recently we started backing an interim government to represent the warlords, since we seem to like interim governments as ultimate solutions, and now the Islamists have routed this make-believe government.  At least this analysis is one legitimate take on recent events.

  Back in 1991, as I wrote in my articles at the time and then in my book, Shaping the Future: Challenge and Response, the Neo-Cons warned that the Red Sea was turning into a Green Sea, and that this must be stopped at all costs in order to preserve the government of Saudi Arabia (shades of dominos in Vietnam).  The result was the same as in Afghanistan and Iraq, except that in these latter two countries the U.S. government has refused to leave. 

  Now, events of the past weekend in Mogadishu have created another occasion for ugly Americans to practice their trade and create the exact opposite of what the policy-makers hope to achieve.  If we don’t wake up to changing global realities, terrorism will continue to grow, and this time we will have no allies to join us in sham coalitions.

  Perhaps we must eventually face up to the fact that Islamists generally are the solution not the problem, because Islamists are the only force with the legitimacy to form democratic governments.  If we turn them into a problem and drive them into alliance with the terrorists, there will be no way out.