What is relevant to Tariq’s comments is that is strange and misleading how whichever group seems to serve American interests is then painted by our gov and media as the “good” guys while others as the “bad” guys.

See this article for a similar discussion on painting ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ in Kosovo.

It would have been better if the US and Ethiopia had never intervened militarily.

I agree

What is relevant to Tariq’s comments is that is strange and misleading how whichever group seems to serve American interests is then painted by our gov and media as the “good” guys while others as the “bad” guys. The true falsity of such labels can be seen easily when one looks deeper and sees that the same leaders or groups can be “good” one day and “bad” the next and that the “good” and “bad” groups both engage in some of the same bad activities.

including backing and participating in the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia which attempted to prop up an ineffective warlord based puppet regime

You are correct and that was misbegotten adventure too. But I am talking about a direct US military invasion such as in Iraq. But I was/am equally against what happened a couple of years ago. This only bolsters my point.

Whatever Somalia wants to do is fine by me…as long as they don’t try to export it. I feel that we should do likewise

Chris Hedges, who is my favorite journalist/commentator on war in general and especially in the Middle East, had this to say about Gaza but it applies here too:

Radical Islamic groups, such as al-Qaida, far more violent and irrational, stand poised to replace Hamas. And Israel will one day look wistfully at Hamas just as it does now at Fatah.

Unfortunately, there seems to be almost no one in the US government who can properly differentiate between an Islamist government they can live in peace with and one that is going to export violence in the cause of global jihad. Instead, the government is salted with neocon-like analysts ready to fear-monger and bully our leaders into all sorts of unnecessary conflicts.

Your interchange is bizarre to me because you seem to be talking as if the U.S. has not been involved militarily in Somalia for many years, including backing and participating in the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia which attempted to prop up an ineffective warlord based puppet regime. Such foreign invasions and occupations will always eventually lose and the result is that groups like AlShabab only become stronger and more radicalized.

Here is an article with some background:talk

Let’s also remember that the “Northern Alliance” were not angels themselves. Stories like the ones with the Shabaab were present amongst them as well such as taking little boys as sex slaves. That is how the Taliban got started.

So that we don’t go in circles, what do you suggest short of invasion?