We're At War With Somalia?

[RestoreGore]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070602/ap_on_re_af/somalia_us

Report: U.S. hits militants' Somali base
By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer

MOGADISHU, Somalia - At least one U.S. warship bombarded a remote, mountainous village in Somalia where Islamic militants had set up a base, officials in the northern region of Puntland said Saturday.

The attack from a U.S. destroyer took place late Friday, said Muse Gelle, the regional governor. The extremists had arrived Wednesday by speedboat at the port town of Bargal.

Gelle said the area is a dense thicket, making it difficult for security forces from the semiautonomous republic of Puntland to intervene on their own.

A local radio station quoted Puntland's leader, Ade Muse, as saying that his forces had battled with the extremists for hours before U.S. ships arrived and used their cannons. Muse said five of his troops were wounded, but that he had no information about casualties among the extremists.

snip

"This is a global war on terror and the U.S. remains committed to reducing terrorist capabilities when and where we find them," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

"We recognize the importance of working closely with allies to seek out, identify, locate, capture, and if necessary, kill terrorists and those who would provide them safe haven," Whitman said. "The very nature of some of our operations, as well as the success of those operations is often predicated on our ability to work quietly with our partners and allies."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And who gave them that power and who gets to say who a "terrorist" is in these cases? What other clandestine operations are going on that we do not know about? What propaganda!

[LynnTheDem]

1. Waging war on the people of Somalia.

Just in case there are any people left in the world who don't hate us. For our "freedoms", of course.

[RestoreGore]

2. I can't stand it anymore

[malaise]

22. Bingo

Bush wants oil. It's uncomplicated.

[slackmaster]

38. I'm afraid you've got it right

What's left? South Africa? Vanuatu?

[whistle]

3. Amerika's 100 Years War, it will never end

[RestoreGore]

9. Water, Oil, and Minerals

They all fetch a good price for those with the might and resources to steal them.

[whistle]

16. It isn't profits unless it is stolen!

[rodeodance]

4. Gates says "Frankly, I don't know exactly what was going on.!!

A task force of coalition ships, called CTF-150, is permanently based in the northern Indian Ocean and patrols the Somali coast in hopes of intercepting international terrorists. U.S. destroyers are normally assigned to the task force and patrol in pairs.

CNN International, quoting a Pentagon official, also reported the U.S. warship's involvement. A Pentagon spokesman told The Associated Press he had no information about the incident.

"This is a global war on terror and the U.S. remains committed to reducing terrorist capabilities when and where we find them," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

"We recognize the importance of working closely with allies to seek out, identify, locate, capture, and if necessary, kill terrorists and those who would provide them safe haven," Whitman said. "The very nature of some of our operations, as well as the success of those operations is often predicated on our ability to work quietly with our partners and allies."

At an international conference in Singapore, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters who asked about the Somalia reports on Saturday, "Frankly, I don't know exactly what was going on. I've been on the road. And I wouldn't be commenting on operational activities anyway."

[RestoreGore]

6. Oh yes, he's "been on the road," you know

They all SICKEN me.

[rodeodance]

7. good god! He is the Sec of State!

[MonkeyFunk]

20. No

Condoleezza Rice is.

[RestoreGore]

21. He's Secretary of Defense

Even more reason to know what the hell is going on.

[rodeodance]

36. thanks for the correction. yes.

[Sparkly]

23. OMG-- Who's in charge here?!? nt

[rodeodance]

5. Rec

[liberal N proud]

8. And we all expected bu$h to bomb Iran next

Who would have thought the Somolian people were so dangerous as to preemt Iran on the PNAC list of countries to dominate.

[Bucky]

13. Predictions that Bush would attack Iran were always ignorant of Bush's psychology

Bushes never attack countries with viable military deterrents. Granada, Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iraq.... They specialize in kicking dogs when they're down. In the cases of Panama, Iraq, and Afghanistan, they were also invading countries run by their former employees. Somolia I don't know about, but never expect a neocon to walk in to a fair fight. At heart, they are bullies.

[liberal N proud]

15. True they are bullies

Cowards as well, sending others to fight when they wouldn't.

[RestoreGore]

17. Good point

And in the case of Iran they would only do it if they could use a nuke to obliterate it all. Sure sign of a coward and bully.

[Karenina]

43. Anyone remember HAITI?

[rodeodance]

10. k

RECOMMEND THIS STORY
Your Recommendation:

Average (368 votes)
Email Story IM Story Printable View RECOMMEND THIS STORY

[rodeodance]

11. "They had their own small boats and guns. We do not know exactly where they came from

Puntland's minister of information, Mohamed Abdulrahman Banga, told the AP that the extremists arrived heavily armed in two fishing boats from southern Somalia, which they controlled for six months last year before being routed by Ethiopian troops sent to prop up a faltering Somali government.

"They had their own small boats and guns. We do not know exactly where they came from — maybe from Ras Kamboni, where they were cornered in January," he said.

Local fishermen, contacted by telephone, said about a dozen fighters arrived Wednesday, but Puntland officials said the number could be as high as 35

[Bucky]

12. What part of "We have to fight them over there" do you not understand?

If we pull out of Somalia, they'll be hopping onto the first camel they can find to swim over here and invade our shores!

[madrchsod]

14. this,along with other measures, is what we should have done

in the first place..but that was`t the goal. to fight a perpetual war you have to create an perpetual enemy.

[RestoreGore]

18. This article says it was a "mistake"

http://www.centralchronicle.com/20070601/0106302.htm

Somalia has caught the attention of the international community as more than 70 innocent nomadic herdsmen were killed when a US gunship hunting Al-Qaeda suspects 'mistakenly' attacked a village in Southern Somalia. The US found, no "wanted" Al-Qaeda terrorists, dead or alive in the village though the attack was in line with the speculation that after Afghanistan and Iraq, it would be Somalia's turn to face the US fury. For the last few years, Washington's Somalia policy has hinged on the hunt for Al-Qaeda terrorists, and particularly the men wanted for killing 225 people in the 1998 attacks on US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam and the 2002 attack on Israelis in Mombasa. The US January 2007 air strikes on Somalia were specifically aimed at three men - Fazul Abdallah Mohamed, Abu Taha al-Sudani, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan.

[bananas]

25. oops... nt

[rodeodance]

34. thanks, some History here:

Before we proceed o examine the latest crisis situation in Somalia it would be better to understand the historical background of the developments that had led to the American and Ethiopian military attack on Somalia and its occupation by Ethiopians recently. A Republic in the Horn of Africa, Somali Democratic Republic was formed by the British Somaliland on July I, 1960. It is essentially a pastoral country, with 80% of the people dependent on livestock. Half of its population is nomadic.

In 1963, Somalia severed diplomatic relations with Britain, when it failed to induce Britain to grant separate independence to the largely Somali populated Northern Frontier district of Kenya. In 1964 hostilities broke out with Ethiopia over migration of nomadic Somali's into that country, but a ceasefire was arranged. As a 100 percent Muslim population in the East African Continent, Somalia under President Aden Abdullah Osman was chosen as a venue for the Sixth World Muslim Conference. In 1967, Dr. Abdi Rashid Ali Simarke was elected the President. Nine years of democracy in Somalia came to an end when President

Rashid was assassinated by one of his bodyguards on October 15, 1969. Six days later (October 21, 1969) Major General Mohamed Siad Barre took over power. He immediately suspended the constitution and declared Somalia as Somalia Democratic Republic. The country witnessed a bloody counter coup in 1991.

The year 1992 saw one of the worst famines in Somalia's history. Ravaged by civil war, the country was in a state of anarchy. Starvation threatened the majority of the population. More than 800,000 people moved into Kenya and other neighbouring countries. Relief efforts by the international organizations were hampered by battles between rival clan factions. Neighbouring Djibouti tried to end the uncertainty but failed. A new coalition government under the General Muhammed Farah Aidid, however, agreed to UN military presence to back up relief efforts to help famine victims.

On December 2, 1992, the US launched "Operation Restore Hope" ............

[LynnTheDem]

37. USA yet again uses "WMD" to slaughter 70 innocent people.

But it's ok when we do it. We're the superior race.

[RestoreGore]

19. gas and oil

http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/nta53713.htm

And China is part of this equation as well.

[MadHound]

24. We're at war with Oceania, we've always been at war with Oceania

Why are you questioning official doctrine?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

26. It was reported on The Today Show, this AM that they went after an Al Qaeda

"mastermind" who is on the FBIs most wanted list. Of course I've never heard of this guy before.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18993264/

Report: U.S. fires at terror suspects in Somalia
Navy ship targets alleged al-Qaida mastermind of '98 Africa embassy blasts



NBC News correspondents and producers around the globe share their insight on news events.
NBC, MSNBC and news services
Updated: 50 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The destroyer USS Chafee fired her deck guns at two or three suspected "high-value terrorist targets" in the Puntland area along the northern coast of Somalia on Saturday, U.S. officials told NBC News. The suspects are accused of taking part in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

According to the officials, the U.S. had "actionable intelligence” gathered by U.S. Special Operations Forces and local tribal leaders that the suspects were in the area.

The suspects reportedly include Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who is believed to be the mastermind of the 1998 attacks on U.S. Embassies in Africa that killed more than 200, and the 2002 Kenya attack on an Israeli hotel and simultaneous attempt to bring down an Israeli plane.

Continued at link above

[RestoreGore]

27. But yet the Secretary of Defense doesn't know anything about this

OK. And of course we just blow them to oblivion instead of apprehending them and putting them on trial so the people can SEE who they are talking about. Don't believe this for one second.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

32. Done in typical Wild West Style by Mr.Decider. And it really is weird that Gates was out of

the loop. He probably would have put the brakes on this.

The Sheriff, Mr. Decider wanted another notch on his belt to show his fleeing base that he's tough on terra! Meanwhile, how many more innocents died?

[seemslikeadream]

28. Efforts by C.I.A. Fail in Somalia, Officials Charge

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=3084254

Go back to previous topic
Forum Name General Discussion (01/01/06 through 01/22/2007)
Topic subject Efforts by C.I.A. Fail in Somalia, Officials Charge
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x3084254#3084254
3084254, Efforts by C.I.A. Fail in Somalia, Officials Charge
Posted by seemslikeadream on Wed Jan-10-07 01:33 PM

Would some one with a Times sub post a bit of this article?


http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/08/world/africa/08intel.html&OQ=_rQ3D1Q26exQ3D1167973200Q26enQ3D0f4c08c9ea9ba94aQ26eiQ3D5070&OP=5605e038Q2FQ7Dh@Q5BQ7DT5Q22Q26Q2B55-JQ7DJLLQ7EQ7DLQ7EQ7DLQ2AQ7Dh5Q2B3TQ7DVQ3BQ2BSQ22VQ7DLQ2AS,-@3Q234-q3

By MARK MAZZETTI
Published: June 8, 2006
A covert C.I.A. effort to finance Somali warlords has empowered the Islamic groups it was intended to marginalize, critics say.

oops found it here

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/08/news/somalia.php
WASHINGTON The covert effort by the CIA to finance warlords in Somalia has drawn sharp criticism from U.S. government officials who say the campaign thwarted counterterrorism efforts inside the country and empowered the same Islamic groups it was intended to marginalize.

The criticism, expressed privately, flared even before the apparent victory this week by Islamist militias dealt a sharp setback to U.S. policy in the region, U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the debate said.

The officials said the CIA effort, run from the agency's station in Nairobi, channeled hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past year to secular warlords inside Somalia with the aim, among other things, of capturing or killing a handful of suspected members of Al Qaeda who are believed to be hiding there.

The officials said the decision to use proxies was born in part from fears of committing large numbers of U.S. personnel to counterterrorism efforts in Somalia, a country that the United States hastily left in 1994.

Then, attempts to capture the warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid and his aides ended in disaster and the death of 18 U.S. soldiers.

The U.S. effort of the past year occasionally included trips to Somalia from Nairobi by CIA case officers, who landed on warlord-controlled airstrips in the capital, Mogadishu, with large amounts of money for distribution to militias, said experts outside the U.S. government and American officials involved in policy making.

84308, Somalia: CIA blowback weakens East Africa

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article18301

Somalia: CIA blowback weakens East Africa
Monday 23 October 2006 23:25. Printer-Friendly version

By William Church *

Director, Great Lakes Centre for Strategic Studies

October 23, 2006 — Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda may suffer significant collateral damage from the United States War on Terrorism in the Horn of Africa. The Somalia conflict and the US War on Terrorism have increased the flow of weapons into Kenya and Uganda, spawned a regional polio epidemic, destabilized the relationship between Kenya and Somalia, increased tension within Kenya’s Muslim community, and created the possibility of an expanded regional conflict.

While the United Nations Security Council remains transfixed on pushing United Nations peacekeepers into Darfur, Ethiopia and Eritrea have extended their conflict by proxy in Somalia. Ethiopia, in an effort to support Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) against the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), pushed into Somalia to retake the town of Bur Haquba near Baidoa. This sparked calls by the ICU for a Jihad against Ethiopia. To support Ethiopia, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer at week’s end then accused Eritrea of supporting the ICU.

The US accusation against Eritrea is not unexpected. According to a wide range of sources, the United States has been supporting the anti-ICU warlords of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-terrorism (ARPCT) with between $100,000 and $150,000 a month. In addition, there have been other reports of direct military equipment support through Select Armor, a Private Military Company (PMC) based in Virginia.

The US government’s military backing also extends to direct weapons shipments and loans to its proxy, Ethiopia. It has shipped nearly $19 million in weapons in 2005 and 2006, and it is scheduled to ship an estimated $10 million in weapons in 2007, which includes sales by USA-based PMCs.

Regardless of significant US military support to anti-ICU forces, the ICU consolidated their control over much of southern Somalia this week after they took the key port city of Kismayo, near the Kenya border. This recent push by the ICU has increased the Somalia refugee flow into northeast Kenya, which adds to the risk of destabilizing Kenya.



http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/01/us_special_forc.html

U.S. Special Forces Engaged in Operations on the Ground in Somalia
January 09, 2007 1:59 PM

Alexis Debat Reports:

U.S. special forces are working with Ethiopian troops on the ground in operations inside Somalia today, senior U.S. and French military sources tell ABC News.

The sources declined to describe details of today's mission but said U.S. special forces, including a significant CIA presence, have been involved in numerous such missions, operating from a large American base camp known as "Camp Le Monier," established in the French protectorate of Djibouti following 9/11.

There are approximately 3,000 American special forces and U.S. military soldiers based at "Camp Le Monier," which has become a major reconnaissance and staging base in the fight against al Qaeda in the region.

3084340, US accused of covert operations in Somalia
Posted by seemslikeadream on Wed Jan-10-07 01:44 PM

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1868920,00.html



Emails suggest that the CIA knew of plans by private military companies to breach UN rules

Antony Barnett and Patrick Smith
Sunday September 10, 2006
The Observer


Dramatic evidence that America is involved in illegal mercenary operations in east Africa has emerged in a string of confidential emails seen by The Observer. The leaked communications between US private military companies suggest the CIA had knowledge of the plans to run covert military operations inside Somalia - against UN rulings - and they hint at involvement of British security firms.
The emails, dated June this year, reveal how US firms have been planning undercover missions in support of President Abdullahi Yusuf's transitional federal government - founded with UN backing in 2004 - against the Supreme Islamic Courts Council - a radical Muslim militia which took control of Mogadishu, the country's capital, also in June promising national unity under Sharia law.


Evidence of foreign involvement in the conflict would not only breach the UN arms embargo but could destabilise the entire region.
One email dated Friday, 16 June, is from Michele Ballarin, chief executive of Select Armor - a US military firm based in Virginia. Ballarin's email was sent to a number of individuals including Chris Farina of the Florida-based military company ATS Worldwide.

Ballarin said: 'Boys: Successful meeting with President Abdullay Yussef and his chief staff personnel in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday ... where he invited us to his private hotel suite flacked by security detail ... He has appointed is chief of presidential protocol as our go to during this phase.'

She refers to one 'closed-door meeting' with a senior UN figure and mentions there are 'a number of Brit security firms' also looking to get involved.


http://quebec.indymedia.org/en/node/26375?PHPSESSID=2373c17b48c4cbf74a5f522fec0447f4
CIA with Ethiopia vs Somalia: another U.S. proxy war


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=3086524


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011000979_2.html

The U.S. attack was greeted with rage in Mogadishu, where many Somalis see the transitional government as a pawn of the Ethiopians and the United States, and where many fighters loyal to the Islamic Courts are thought to have gone underground.

The Islamic Courts movement was widely popular for the security it brought to the capital, even if ordinary Somalis, who tend to adhere to a moderate version of Islam, were uncomfortable with the harsh social restrictions that the Courts imposed. The movement frowned upon singing, for instance.


"I am angry," Ahmed Weli Mohamed, 37, a biology teacher, said on Tuesday. "I am very, very angry . . . Even if there are terrorists, there are maybe two or three people, but hundreds of people are killed. Is this logical? It's inhumanity. We feel we are not considered human beings. Americans don't respect us as humans."

Several European diplomats have expressed concern that the U.S. airstrikes would only destabilize Somalia further. In a statement on Wednesday, African Union Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare joined in the criticism, saying he is "concerned" and urging "all actors to refrain from any action likely to complicate the current situation."




http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/01/us_spe ...

U.S. Special Forces Engaged in Operations on the Ground in Somalia
January 09, 2007 1:59 PM

Alexis Debat Reports:

U.S. special forces are working with Ethiopian troops on the ground in operations inside Somalia today, senior U.S. and French military sources tell ABC News.

The sources declined to describe details of today's mission but said U.S. special forces, including a significant CIA presence, have been involved in numerous such missions, operating from a large American base camp known as "Camp Le Monier," established in the French protectorate of Djibouti following 9/11.

There are approximately 3,000 American special forces and U.S. military soldiers based at "Camp Le Monier," which has become a major reconnaissance and staging base in the fight against al Qaeda in the region.


It is from this base the CIA flies predators over Yemen and Somalia and from which recent air attacks over Somalia were launched.

Alexis Debat is an ABC News consultant.


http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article18301

Somalia: CIA blowback weakens East Africa

By William Church *

Director, Great Lakes Centre for Strategic Studies

October 23, 2006 — Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda may suffer significant collateral damage from the United States War on Terrorism in the Horn of Africa. The Somalia conflict and the US War on Terrorism have increased the flow of weapons into Kenya and Uganda, spawned a regional polio epidemic, destabilized the relationship between Kenya and Somalia, increased tension within Kenya’s Muslim community, and created the possibility of an expanded regional conflict.

While the United Nations Security Council remains transfixed on pushing United Nations peacekeepers into Darfur, Ethiopia and Eritrea have extended their conflict by proxy in Somalia. Ethiopia, in an effort to support Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) against the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), pushed into Somalia to retake the town of Bur Haquba near Baidoa. This sparked calls by the ICU for a Jihad against Ethiopia. To support Ethiopia, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer at week’s end then accused Eritrea of supporting the ICU.

The US accusation against Eritrea is not unexpected. According to a wide range of sources, the United States has been supporting the anti-ICU warlords of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-terrorism (ARPCT) with between $100,000 and $150,000 a month. In addition, there have been other reports of direct military equipment support through Select Armor, a Private Military Company (PMC) based in Virginia.

The US government’s military backing also extends to direct weapons shipments and loans to its proxy, Ethiopia. It has shipped nearly $19 million in weapons in 2005 and 2006, and it is scheduled to ship an estimated $10 million in weapons in 2007, which includes sales by USA-based PMCs.

Regardless of significant US military support to anti-ICU forces, the ICU consolidated their control over much of southern Somalia this week after they took the key port city of Kismayo, near the Kenya border. This recent push by the ICU has increased the Somalia refugee flow into northeast Kenya, which adds to the risk of destabilizing Kenya.




US firm to fight Somali pirates

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4471536.stm


A US company has been given a two-year contract to help fight piracy off the Somalia coast - seen as among the world's most dangerous waters.
The $50m contract has been awarded by Somalia's transitional government.

Topcat Marine Security will target the "mother ship" launching pirate ships from the open sea, said the firm's Peter Casini.

Earlier this month, pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades at a US-based luxury cruise liner.

There have been 32 pirate attacks off the Somali coast since March this year, according to the International Maritime Board.

Government dismayed

"The agreement signed today will defend Somalia's territorial waters, defeat the pirates and put an end to the illegal fishing and poaching of our precious natural marine resources," Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Gedi said.


http://www.kathryncramer.com/kathryn_cramer/2005/11/topcat_marine_s.html

Topcat Marine Security: A Very Crowded Office Space, a Shell Corporation, or Just a Scam?
Who could resist the tale, not long ago, of a cruise ship fending off Somalian pirates with its handy sonic blaster? Well, someone somewhere just had to do something about those blasted pirates!

Today the BBC announced that the American firm Topcat Marine Security, of 545 8th Ave. Suite 401, New York, NY 10018, had gotten the job! Now you might think that chasing pirates would be too scary, but these guys at Topcat (or Top Cat, depending on which bit of their web site you look at) have strong motivation: a VERY crowded Manhattan office! Wouldn't you rather go chase pirates if you had to share an office with The Center for Risk Communication, a magazine called "Animal Fair", and a bank, Liechetensteinische-Amerikanische Union Bank Corp. (which apparently conducted unauthorized banking activities in the state of NY in 1999), a "home income" business called Maychic, a web site called NY Club Scene, MyHealingPrayer.com, HotDynamite.com, an online video store (not PTA safe, so I won't post a link), The Law Office of Gary Ruff “Defending Consumers Against Electronic Piracy Claims”TM, and much more! What a racket they must make! If I shared that office, I'd go to sea to fight pirates, too!


http://www.somalilandtimes.net/202/10.shtml

By Donna Somala

On Friday 24 November, the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) has signed a two-year contract worth of US$ 55 million with Topcat Marine Security Inc. a company registered in Egg Harbor, New Jersey (NJ) USA. Topcat’s current address is unknown. Court documents states that “Mr. Casini has a foreclosure judgment against his residence and is behind in child support and taxes”.

See page 2 of the Court report: http://www.njb.uscourts.gov/chambers2/lyons/04rl003p_97-39420_Casini.pdf#search= \'peter%20casini\'

The deal is that Topcat will advance the aforesaid money in exchange for access to fishing and marine resources of Somalia to pay back its’ creditors.

However, the misleading story given to the world media is that the company will assist the TFG to end the piracy. Prior to March 2005 there were no ORGANIZED CRIME OF PIRACY IN SOMALIA. One needs to ask why is there a rise of piracy after Mr. Yusuf was elected as president of TFG? There also questions regarding this upsurge of piracy in Somalia and the way in which the white speedboats used in the piracy were obtained.

This deal is between two insolvent parties: Mr. Peter J. Casini, the manager of the private firm, Topcat and Mr. Hassan Abshir, an appointed Minister of Fishery of a non functioning transitional government.

However, some key questions yet to be answered:

Was a "cease and desist" actually issued, assuming that is the appropriate legal remedy in this case? If not, will it be? Will it be a paper tiger?

http://www.mountainrunner.us/2005/12/update_has_topcat_marine_secur.html

Does this mean the dissolution of TopCat Marine Security for either the purpose of protecting Somalia's coast or for good?
Will those involved with TopCat regroup, if the haven't already, and continue on their planned path?

If this was a clandestine operation, will USG do a better job next time? (Based on the participants in this fiasco I highly doubt this was a USG-sponsored adventure. If it was, somebody should be demoted or fired.)
Lastly, will there be similar fanfare in the media over the termination of this coast protection solution? I doubt it because I doubt the validity and legitimacy of the whole TopCat endeavor.
Will there be another public attempt at a private or public solution? Will the EU, AU, UN be more involved the next go'round, especially as a result of the publicity?
OR was this all a complete shame by a criminal (see Kathryn Cramer's post on Casini & TopCat, the "man" behind TopCat Marine Security) and Somalia is no closer to security or will good things result from the publicity? Based on certain rumors and suggestions, I question the likelihood of this path... it seems like a lot of mobilizing went in behind the scenes to stop a scam artist and a lot interest from people other than District Attorney's (lawyers working for municipalities in the United States) and Attorney's General (lawyers working for states in the United States).

http://purpleslurple.net/ps.php?theurl=http://www.heritage.org/Research/HomelandDefense/BG1526.cfm#purp581


http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:27WosbPjmjQJ:szamko.gnn.tv/blogs/10859/from_Somalia_with_Love%3Fr%3D1+peter+Casini&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=17

Topcat marine security, Somali’s will be grateful to know, have zero experience catching pirates or policing African coasts. Their expertise has been honed in gaining contracts from the Department of Homeland Security, not impoverished governments and they have no experience actually running security operations. No, they make boats, fast, open top, fibreglass hulled power boats. They do not train non-english speaking coastguards in areas where a working government is absent, but they do sell powerful leisure craft to shallow water fishermen off the eastern seaboard. Interestingly too, and the paper trail is sparse (but revealing), their driving force, a man named Peter J Casini, has a long history of failed business ventures, stretching throughout the 1990s when he appears to have made a few fine boats, but constructed an even finer mess of a business. Even his own cousin agreed

that “from what I could see and from what I was told, it was, like, pathetic, horrible mismanagement.”
Casini appeared in court in New Jersey on one occasion to fight the (valid) claims of a customer but managed to squirm out of a fraud charge (his accuser claimed that Casini had deliberately run down one business and transferred assets to another, whilst denying any claims from customers of his prior business. It seems that the court could find no evidence of this actually occurring.) . Either way, Peter J Casini has run through 7 (mostly failed) companies since 1992, and must have generous friends and/or a very thick skin. I wonder whether the Somali government were appraised of his history during the bidding process (if there was one). Despite all of his failures, Peter J Casini has come out a winner in the maritime security/anti-terrorism game.
Into this strange story of a failed state, a remarkably well funded yet nonexistent government, enterprising, but incompetent pirates, impervious cruise ships, FBI agents on submarines and CIA psychologists, steps Peter J Casini, bow-tie round his neck and a magnum in his hand. As he says, he’s on a mission; “We will end the piracy very quickly, there is no question about that” he says “There is a ship that is launching small ships 75 to 100 miles from the shore, our goal is to take the mother ship.” . What on earth is going on? The USA would certainly not hand over powers to a company with absolutely no expertise in such a critical region – and as a company with extremely close ties to Homeland Security, it can be expected that personnel from areas of government/intelligence have links with Topcat, who have profited immensely from the boom in homeland security “industries” since 9/11. As mentioned above, sidelining African governments is also good for US interests, up to a point, in that the US forces based in Djibouti need to be friendly with Ethiopia, Kenya and Yemen. It is a worrying, if bizarre situation. What, for example, will be the rules of engagement for a private company in such waters? What if an international terrorist just happened to turn up in “Topcat custody”? And what the hell is this mother-ship anyway?


http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:n50Z6lRjzhEJ:www.answers.com/topic/private-military-company+Top+Cat+Marine+Security&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=25




The 1949, Third Geneva Convention (GCIII) does not recognize the difference between defense contractors and PMCs; it defines a category called supply contractors. If the supply contractor has been issued with a valid identity card from the armed forces which they accompany, they are entitled to be treated as prisoners of war upon capture (GCIII Article 4.1.4). If, however, the contractor engages in combat, he/she can be classified as a mercenary by the captors under the 1997 Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions (Protocol I) Article 47.c, unless falling under an exemption to this clause in Article 47. If captured contractors are found to be mercenaries, they are an unlawful combatant and lose the right to prisoner of war status.



http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:oyt9XYIFex0J:www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2006/64696.htm+Top+Cat+Marine+Security&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=29

QUESTION: Apparently, the Somali Government has given the U.S. Navy permission to patrol its waters for pirates. I just wondered whether you had any details on this. There seemed to be kind of conflicting reports coming out of the region. There was also this story last November where a U.S. company, Bobcats -- was it Bobcats? Or Top Cat, sorry. Top Cat Marine Security was given this big contract to fight piracy. I just wondered where the U.S. Navy fitted in with this and was the embassy involved in trying to negotiate a deal.


MR. MCCORMACK: I'll look into it for you, Sue. Anything else on --


QUESTION: Can I just -- so was that -- so you can't confirm the fact that the U.S. has made a deal to --


MR. MCCORMACK: With respect to piracy, our military forces are very active in that region around the Horn of Africa and the Department of Defense has talked many times about the operations, counterterrorism operations that they've had as well as meeting whatever international obligations they may have with respect to preventing piracy.


Now, on the discrete question of has the United States been in contact with the Government of Somalia on this particular issue, I'm happy to look into it for you. I don't have the particular information for you on that. I can speak in general about the fact that our military is very active in that region for a variety of different reasons.


QUESTION: But just to make that slightly more specific there, according to the copy that we have out of Nairobi, transitional Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi has said that they secured a "milestone" agreement, which is a very specific agreement, to undertake these patrols there. So we need a sort of confirmation or a yes or no --


MR. MCCORMACK: I'm happy to look into that for you, Peter. I don't have the information up here and it's not an issue that I discussed with people before I came out.


QUESTION: Okay.

Senator Lindsey Graham gives "Thumps Up" to Top Cat

http://www.topcatmarinesecurity.com/news-press%20releases/Sen.%20Lindsay%20Graham.pdf

http://images.google.com/images?q=Peter%20Casini&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&tab=wi


Check out the videos

http://www.topcatmarinesecurity.com/vids.htm

Somali Brits are not al-Qaeda

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2540336,00.html

Daniel McGrory of The Times



They are all in their early 20’s and regard themselves as British, but in recent weeks a group of men have left their families in the UK to go to Somalia to fight for that country’s Islamic leaders.



These men insist they are not terrorists. They have not gone to join up with al-Qaeda or its many affiliates operating in East Africa, but have given up their jobs and studies to support the militia loyal to the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) which, until last month, controlled the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The Foreign Office concedes that it does not know how many of these young Britons went to sign up with an international brigade drawn from expatriate families across Europe.

They come from families who sought asylum from the interminable wars to blight their homeland.

Any Somali reaching Britain is almost always given automatic leave to remain here by the immigration authorities. They know that they could never be deported back to a country riven by violence.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0110/p01s02-woaf.html?s=t5

"If the attacks have managed to kill or capture some of the top East Africa people in Al Qaeda then it vindicates the actions of the US and Ethiopia, and it shows the ICU has been deceiving everyone," says Matt Bryden, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group in Nairobi.

"But if they haven't, then it compounds what has in the past been a strategy of errors, and makes the US look like it's been sold a lemon by transitional federal government."

Somalia’s deputy PM: US ground forces needed to flush terrorism

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article19697

A Defense Ministry official described the helicopters as American, but local witnesses told the AP they could not make out identification markings on the craft. U.S. officials had no comment on the helicopter strike.

No American troops are yet believed to be in Somalia, Aideed said, but covert operations on the ground may be under way. "As far as we are aware they are not on the ground yet, but it is only a matter of time," he said.

Somalia's deputy defense minister described it as a "cowardly attack."
Posted by seemslikeadream on Wed Jan-10-07 05:47 PM

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6762125


Dozens of people have reportedly been killed. The Pentagon is not saying yet whether or not the attacks have been a success.



http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6759436

What's Behind the U.S. Strike in Somalia?


Bu$h shut down Somalia's internet in 2001 ...
Posted by cosmicdot on Wed Jan-10-07 08:11 PM

... I'm sure they weren't too pleased about that either ...


Friday, 23 November, 2001, 13:02 GMT

US shuts down Somalia internet


Somalia's only internet company and a key telecoms business have been forced to close because the United States suspects them of terrorist links.

~snip~

Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Somalis depend on it to transfer money throughout the world.

Somalis living abroad use it to send money to their relatives back home as there are no other banking systems in Somalia since the downfall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991.

~snip~


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1672220.stm


Haven't seen anything relating that it's now operational.

[RestoreGore]

31. Thank you for posting this

Great sources. And just like with Iraq it blows up in their faces. And of course, these aren't impeachable offenses.

[seemslikeadream]

29. war is already opened on four fronts: Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Iran.

war is already opened on four fronts: Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Iran.
http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts01082007.html

....

Neoconservatives have called for World War IV against Islam. In Commentary magazine Norman Podhoretz called for the cultural genocide of Islamic peoples. The war is already opened on four fronts: Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Iran.

The Bush administration has used its Ethiopian proxies to overthrow the Somalian Muslims who overthrew the warlords who drove the US from Somalia. The US Navy and US intelligence are actively engaged with the Ethiopian troops in efforts to hunt down and capture or kill the Somalian Muslims. US Embasy spokesman Robert Kerr in Nairobi said that the US has the right to pursue Somalia's Islamists as part of the war on terror.

For at least a year the Bush administration has been fomenting and financing terrorist groups within Iran. Seymour Hersh and former CIA officials have exposed the Bush administration's support of ethnic-minority groups within Iran that are on the US State Department's list of terrorist organizations. Last April US Representative Dennis Kucinich wrote a detailed letter to President Bush about US interference in Iran's internal affairs. He received no reply.

[leftofthedial]

30. make no mistake

the bush-repuke regime is at war with the entire planet

[RestoreGore]

33. Well come on, they have to get the "evildoers"

Who all hate us for our freedom. I'm sorry if people are offended by this, but they are Nazis as far as I am concerned. They are following the same tactics as the Nazis and also the Romans... and we know what happened to both of those supposed "empires." The problem with empires falling however is that they bring the people down with them.

[leftofthedial]

35. they are literally THE nazis

the ideological (and in some cases the biological) progeny of the Third Reich.

[dave123williams]

39. "Those who would provide them safe haven"

And yet, Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan gets a billion or two a year (plus whatever he gets from black ops budgets) to harbor Bin Laden. Then, he's lauded as a 'key partner in the war on terror'.

Does that stink on ice to anyone else, or is it just me?

[seemslikeadream]

40. kick

[Disturbed]

42. The Sec. of Defense is not informed of Military Ops?

Is he lying about that? If not, why wasn't he informed? Obviously, the Busholini Regime cannot be trusted in any manner.

[sanskritwarrior]

41. That power existed long before Bush became President

it has existed since Eisenhower at least.......

[RestoreGore]

44. Well, it is time it is revoked