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Post by franko on Jul 20, 2006 12:29:39 GMT -5
Somali Islamists vow holy war on Ethiopia troopsMOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's Islamists vowed a "holy war" on Thursday against Ethiopian troops crossing into the Horn of Africa nation, while Addis Ababa threatened to "crush" any attack on the interim government it supports.
The aggressive rhetoric -- combined with this week's military moves on both sides -- have heightened fears of a new war in Somalia, plagued by violence and without central rule since the 1991 ouster of a military dictator.
"The risk of full scale war increases by the day," said John Prendergast, of the International Crisis Group think-tank. linkWar is not limited to the MIddle East. Whenever and wherever there is someone that wants power there will be conflict. Human nature to want more?
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Post by insomnius on Aug 2, 2006 8:11:29 GMT -5
Is it just me or does every armed conflict currently going on involve Muslims?
My Muslim friends say it is evidence of a global push to "marginalize" their (choose your concept here ) faith / religion / culture / history - evidence,they say, of prejudice.
Others I have spoken to see the opposite - that Muslims are aggressively trying to dominate the world - Taliban / Chechen rebels / Somali militias / Arab "Freedom Fighters" - even in the Phllipines - all military organisations with no governement to answer to...
I personally tend to see a mix of the two - there does seem to be a trend to isolate Islam in its more radical form (there is a much lower level of attention to other radical religious group but they may have something to do with young men willing to blow themselves up with civilians in range) but there also apears to be a concerted effort by radical Islam to challenge the powers of the world militarily - currently Islamic rebels are engaged against both Russia and the US - the two strongest military powers on the planet -
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Post by Cranky on Aug 2, 2006 9:19:07 GMT -5
Is it just me or does every armed conflict currently going on involve Muslims? My Muslim friends say it is evidence of a global push to "marginalize" their (choose your concept here ) faith / religion / culture / history - evidence,they say, of prejudice. Others I have spoken to see the opposite - that Muslims are aggressively trying to dominate the world - Taliban / Chechen rebels / Somali militias / Arab "Freedom Fighters" - even in the Philippines - all military organizations with no government to answer to... I personally tend to see a mix of the two - there does seem to be a trend to isolate Islam in its more radical form (there is a much lower level of attention to other radical religious group but they may have something to do with young men willing to blow themselves up with civilians in range) but there also appears to be a concerted effort by radical Islam to challenge the powers of the world militarily - currently Islamic rebels are engaged against both Russia and the US - the two strongest military powers on the planet - There, I gave my simplistic answer!  Most of the Middle East people are living in poverty. While oil money flows like water, it either goes to a few elite or the populations are too large to enjoy the oil bonanza. Iran has billions coming in but it also has millions of unemployed. No matter what the government does for health and education, it can't provide for a "comfortable" living. Of course, it gets even WORSE in some of the others like Syria and Egypt. That is why the Hez and their "services" are popular. Unfortunately, buying into the Hez and Hamas is also buying into the benefactors ulterior motives. Iranians are NOT Arabs but their current government certainly an expert on controlling and benefiting from events. How do you help the Arab, actually the Islamic world? By becoming a better solution then the Hezbollah. Easier said then done. There is absolutely NO WAY to provide jobs for them because the "cheap and cheerfully" low wage industrial labour is already spoken for by the Chinese and India. Secondly, the educated youth want far more then just "cheap jobs". They want BMW's and a GOOD life. Not only do you have to deal with the poverty, you also need to deal with demands of "comfortable living" by the educated. There is NO WAY to do that by the West. There is simply not enough resources even if the West wanted to.....and it doesn't want to. As for my Friends, the Iranian government, they see this and know this and are exploiting this. After all, if Iran can initiate Hezbollah type governments throughout the region, it effectively controls the region. Control the region and you control the oil. Control the oil and you control the world. It sounds simplistic but there is precedent and proof. Iran tried to split the Western world by demanding Euro's instead of dollars for their oil. It didn't work but it wasn't for their lack of trying. Iran is using their gas to force India into anti Western policies. In fact, anytime India does not bend toi Iranian policy, the Iranian government stops and "studies" the Iran-India gas line. The US and other Arab governments are NOT blind to any of this. They see it and they are doing something about it. When Saudi Arabia announced 1.5 billion dollar aid, it wasn't because they love the Shiia, it's because they want to choke off the Iranian attempt for regional hegemony with MONEY. Egypt, Jordan are doing their part by denouncing the Hezbollah. The Emirates are scarred Saperlipopetteless and financing the US behind the scenes. Kuwait it the biggest example of this. That is why I am a friend of Israel THIS month. The enemy of my enemy is a the lesser evil. Israel needs to quash the Hezbollah success and we need to replace it by more Western friendly help IMMEDIATELY after. The Lebanese government needs to be flooded with money and create the equivalent of the Marchall plan Unfortunately, the government most equipped to do this had the least respect in the region. Bottom line....... Islam is not the problem. The problem is that there are significant problems in parts of the world where Islam is the dominant religion. Worse still, there are some governments that are trying to use Islam for their own advantage. The West is somewhat willing to help from a humanitarian level but ultimately because of the sheer magnitude and complexity, they will lose out and resort to war hard line solutions. The time of the Oil Wars are upon us......and it's going to need a lot of very smart people to navigate through it rather then bomb through it. . |
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Post by Skilly on Aug 2, 2006 9:33:31 GMT -5
There are alternative energy sources out there .... if governments worked together to make them a) affordable and b) reliable then the world would not need to rely on this region for energy. Simple solution, but one that no one will explore.
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Post by Cranky on Aug 2, 2006 9:57:16 GMT -5
There are alternative energy sources out there .... if governments worked together to make them a) affordable and b) reliable then the world would not need to rely on this region for energy. Simple solution, but one that no one will explore. Bahhh....just make me World Emperor and I will solve everything.  ....... Emperor Cranky[/b] has a nice ring to it! |
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Post by Skilly on Aug 2, 2006 10:36:03 GMT -5
[/i][/b] has a nice ring to it! [/quote] So does second in command "General Cube-n-hater"!  |
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