Somali Warlords supported by the US have lost control of Mogadishu to the Islamic Courts Faction, and it is only a matter of time I think before we see a theocracy established in Somalia
Without much western attention, the Islamic Courts faction have been quietly building a powerbase in Mogadishu, offering the war-tron city something which it has not had since 1991 – peace and order. To a city torn apart by war for 15 years, this has to be attractive, although it is bound to have a long-term cost.
Having messed up in the 1990s in Somalia, the US has been trying to pull the countries contending warlords together into some sort of government, but it has been a slow and difficult process. Politic abhors a vacuum, and now the Islamic Courts have moved in to fill a lcear need in the city. It is hard to blame peopel who cannot saefly walk the street, and who have no secure access to food or water, for supporting a group that offers some law and order. Equally, it is not surprising that the Warlords ‘armies’ are failing when theny come up against the Courts fighters- money never matches motivation. However, I can’t help wondering how long it will be before we see all the trappings of fundementalist theocracy in Somalia?
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