More "Regime Change" as Bush Outs "Terrorists" in Somalia

The headlines from the Horn of Africa are grimmer than ever this week.

Machine gunfire, mortars, rape, disease and more are plaguing the African nation of Somalia, and civilians are taking the brunt of yet another mess created by the United States. The poor, the voiceless, the dispossessed are once again dying, with little or no debate on the issue. The Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without borders) reports that "columns of people," fleeing the violence in Mogadishu, are heading for makeshift refugee camps where health conditions are deteriorating due to lack of sanitation and water. Mainstream political analysis has largely ignored the fact that the Bush administration is involved with one of the most oppressive governments in Africa, trying to force yet another “regime change,” this time in Somalia. How often can Bush get away with it?

In 2002, George Bush squawked that there “would be no telling how many wars it will take” to defeat terrorism.  In June of 2006, the Associated Press reported that Bush was “expressing concern” that volatile conditions in Somalia could lead al-Qaeda to use it as a staging ground to plan attacks.   

"The first concern, of course, is to make sure that Somalia does not become an al-Qaeda safe haven - it doesn't become a place from which terrorists can plot and plan,” Bush warned.

In the same month, without offering any details, analysis or explanations, the State Department’s spokesman, Sian McCormack said the United States has “a strong interest in fighting foreign terrorists in the Horn of Africa.”