There are tens of thousands of media stories and blogs about the post-9/11 wars we entered into in Afghanistan & Iraq, but I never see a mention of our destabilization of the ICU in Somalia and its aftermath. Now thousands are fleeing again as it looks like Kenya is gearing up for an invasion as the TFG warlords intensify fighting the Islamists around the capitol.
Anyone remember how we inserted Dyncorp mercs into Somalia, bribed Ethiopia to invade Mogadishu in 2006, set up the same warlords we loved before as the "transitional" government, constructed CIA rendition camps on Kenya's border and illegally detained Somali refugees as the fled the violence so the CIA could decide who was al Qaeda and who got to cross to safety? Sure been a whole slew of stories over that adventure, huh?
Seriously, are there many other "countries" besides Somalia that functionally have no national government? Western Sahara and maybe the Congo? The TFG is a joke and controls less than 10% of Somalia's territory, the rest considers itself autonomous or at war with the hand-picked US leadership.
I know the US has tossed aside quaint ideas of sovereignty, declaring war through Congress and following international laws on jus in bello, but are we so ADHD we can't even remember we re-opened some pretty brutal wounds in that country just to catch a few al Qaeda operatives?
Oh yeah, they have pirates. Arrrgggh!