Salahuddin
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Turkey: Column Claims US/Chinese Energy Rivalry Behind Fighting in Somalia
uploaded 14 Jan 2007
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom
Published: Dec 29, 2006
Text of report by Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak website on 28 December
[Column by Ibrahim Karagul: "Abizaid Sparks Dirty War With One Visit!"]
A third front has been opened in addition to Central Asia and the Middle East. After Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine this fifth conflict has been sparked off in Somalia in East Africa, known as the Horn of Africa, a land at least as important as Yemen or the Gulf of Basra or the Eastern Mediterranean. Immediately after 9/11 the United States turned Djibouti into a military base and put the Red Sea under blockade. It is now occupying another country again citing Islamists, terrorism and Al-Qa'idah. But this time it is not doing this directly but with the soldiers of Somalia's neighbour Ethiopia. Ethiopian soldiers, trained, armed and financed by the United States, have been occupying Somalia for several days now and bombing it from the air while the US Navy has laid a sea blockade. How much does Somalia concern us? As much as Afghanistan? As much as Iraq? As much as Lebanon? Believe me it concerns us as much as all of them. The war in Somalia is so very connected to the Lebanon and Iraq crises.
Somalia is a poor country devastated by civil war. But that does not concern anybody. Again it is energy, again energy! After the civil war in 1993 and the US intervention fighting again broke out this summer. The Islamist groups were able to take control of a large part of the country despite the war lords and their terrorist organizations. During the fighting in June the United States openly gave financing and weapons to the terrorist groups fighting the Islamist groups, and took part in the fighting through clandestine operations. But, it failed. The Islamists took Mogadishu.
I wrote back then, "Somalia is being turned into a new target for the United States." Now it is coming true. The Ethiopian army has been attacking Somalia for a few days now. It is occupying Somalia lands and bombing everywhere. The United States, which earlier supported the anti-Islamist groups, is now occupying Somalia using the 15,000-strong Ethiopian army, which it has trained, financed and armed. So, what is the reason for this war? I wrote it once before. Let me repeat:
The United States conducted a bloody operation into Somalia using thousands of soldiers in 1993. But there was a terrible disaster. It was a complete fiasco. There was even a movie made about the operation, "Black Hawk Down." The aim, as always, was humanitarian intervention! Yet five US companies had all but closed off two thirds of Somalia in order to carry out soundings for oil and gas. This operation was conducted in order to provide security for these companies' interests. The plan failed and these companies' interests were still in jeopardy.
In recent years Sudan has emerged as a very important oil country. China, which is opening up across all of Africa and which is forming a balance to offset the United States, made $3 billion of energy investments in Sudan. Sudan was going to meet a significant amount of Beijing's energy needs. Furthermore, it was going to lay an oil pipeline from the south to the Red Sea. China and other Asian oil companies took control of energy investments in many African countries. Furthermore, they started to rebuild the countries they were cooperating with in order to save them from the West's technological and economic pressure. The United States responded to Asia's ventures into Sudan with oil-and gas-rich Darfur. Bringing the UN to its side the United States began a humanitarian intervention project in Darfur because Darfur was emerging as another energy resource. China announced it would veto the UN's resolutions on Darfur and Sudan. They were using Darfur to make Sudan pay the price of collaboration with China. Now, they are making Somalia pay.
Just like Yemen, Somalia is a critical country for energy security. If it falls into the hands of others the United States' corridor between Africa and the Middle East will collapse. The United States and its allies, who have been laying siege to the Horn of Africa militarily since 9/11, have all but occupied the Red Sea in the name of fighting Al-Qa'idah and terrorism. Whatever the United States' reason is for invading Afghanistan, whatever its reason is for taking Yemen under control; that is the same reason it has for controlling Somalia.
Somalia is not an oil-rich country. Its known reserves are some 200 billion cubic meters of natural gas. But it is known that the country harbours very rich oil and natural gas resources, and that it provides a new opportunity for the United States both by virtue of its own resources and the fact that it straddles the transit route for Middle East oil. US oil companies such as Conoco, Amoco, Chevron and Philips wanted the country to be made secure and for soundings to begin immediately. As a result of this the United States began to offer financial and military support to the warlords in the country. The "International Crisis Group" established by George Soros took its place on the stage.
The operation in 1993 was restarted in a different shape. The way ahead for these companies was going to open up. Civil war again erupted as the result of clandestine operations. This was a new front in the great energy war and the geopolitical game. But the calculations did not stick. The anti-US forces won. They took the capital after four months of fighting. This was the United States' second defeat in Somalia. But less than six months later the United States went in again but this time via Ethiopia. It placed a naval blockade on Somalia. They had been gearing up for this fight since 2001 in order to open the way for the oil companies. Now they have begun. This conflict could spread to East Africa. The whole region could go up in flames all for the sake of controlling the Red Sea.
Another note to the cautious: General John Abizaid, who is in charge of the US armies in Iraq, was in Ethiopia this month. A few days later the Ethiopian army acting with the United States switched to the attack. Interesting, is it not? Immediately after China's Head of State Hu Jintao went to Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia and made energy agreements. We have a new Afghanistan, a new Iraq, anew Lebanon. Somalia, the fifth Muslim country to be drenched in blood as the giants fight, might be along way from you but it is very close to the United States and China.
Source: Yeni Safak website, Istanbul, in Turkish 28 Dec 06
http://www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=14136&TagID=2
uploaded 14 Jan 2007
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom
Published: Dec 29, 2006
Text of report by Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak website on 28 December
[Column by Ibrahim Karagul: "Abizaid Sparks Dirty War With One Visit!"]
A third front has been opened in addition to Central Asia and the Middle East. After Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine this fifth conflict has been sparked off in Somalia in East Africa, known as the Horn of Africa, a land at least as important as Yemen or the Gulf of Basra or the Eastern Mediterranean. Immediately after 9/11 the United States turned Djibouti into a military base and put the Red Sea under blockade. It is now occupying another country again citing Islamists, terrorism and Al-Qa'idah. But this time it is not doing this directly but with the soldiers of Somalia's neighbour Ethiopia. Ethiopian soldiers, trained, armed and financed by the United States, have been occupying Somalia for several days now and bombing it from the air while the US Navy has laid a sea blockade. How much does Somalia concern us? As much as Afghanistan? As much as Iraq? As much as Lebanon? Believe me it concerns us as much as all of them. The war in Somalia is so very connected to the Lebanon and Iraq crises.
Somalia is a poor country devastated by civil war. But that does not concern anybody. Again it is energy, again energy! After the civil war in 1993 and the US intervention fighting again broke out this summer. The Islamist groups were able to take control of a large part of the country despite the war lords and their terrorist organizations. During the fighting in June the United States openly gave financing and weapons to the terrorist groups fighting the Islamist groups, and took part in the fighting through clandestine operations. But, it failed. The Islamists took Mogadishu.
I wrote back then, "Somalia is being turned into a new target for the United States." Now it is coming true. The Ethiopian army has been attacking Somalia for a few days now. It is occupying Somalia lands and bombing everywhere. The United States, which earlier supported the anti-Islamist groups, is now occupying Somalia using the 15,000-strong Ethiopian army, which it has trained, financed and armed. So, what is the reason for this war? I wrote it once before. Let me repeat:
The United States conducted a bloody operation into Somalia using thousands of soldiers in 1993. But there was a terrible disaster. It was a complete fiasco. There was even a movie made about the operation, "Black Hawk Down." The aim, as always, was humanitarian intervention! Yet five US companies had all but closed off two thirds of Somalia in order to carry out soundings for oil and gas. This operation was conducted in order to provide security for these companies' interests. The plan failed and these companies' interests were still in jeopardy.
In recent years Sudan has emerged as a very important oil country. China, which is opening up across all of Africa and which is forming a balance to offset the United States, made $3 billion of energy investments in Sudan. Sudan was going to meet a significant amount of Beijing's energy needs. Furthermore, it was going to lay an oil pipeline from the south to the Red Sea. China and other Asian oil companies took control of energy investments in many African countries. Furthermore, they started to rebuild the countries they were cooperating with in order to save them from the West's technological and economic pressure. The United States responded to Asia's ventures into Sudan with oil-and gas-rich Darfur. Bringing the UN to its side the United States began a humanitarian intervention project in Darfur because Darfur was emerging as another energy resource. China announced it would veto the UN's resolutions on Darfur and Sudan. They were using Darfur to make Sudan pay the price of collaboration with China. Now, they are making Somalia pay.
Just like Yemen, Somalia is a critical country for energy security. If it falls into the hands of others the United States' corridor between Africa and the Middle East will collapse. The United States and its allies, who have been laying siege to the Horn of Africa militarily since 9/11, have all but occupied the Red Sea in the name of fighting Al-Qa'idah and terrorism. Whatever the United States' reason is for invading Afghanistan, whatever its reason is for taking Yemen under control; that is the same reason it has for controlling Somalia.
Somalia is not an oil-rich country. Its known reserves are some 200 billion cubic meters of natural gas. But it is known that the country harbours very rich oil and natural gas resources, and that it provides a new opportunity for the United States both by virtue of its own resources and the fact that it straddles the transit route for Middle East oil. US oil companies such as Conoco, Amoco, Chevron and Philips wanted the country to be made secure and for soundings to begin immediately. As a result of this the United States began to offer financial and military support to the warlords in the country. The "International Crisis Group" established by George Soros took its place on the stage.
The operation in 1993 was restarted in a different shape. The way ahead for these companies was going to open up. Civil war again erupted as the result of clandestine operations. This was a new front in the great energy war and the geopolitical game. But the calculations did not stick. The anti-US forces won. They took the capital after four months of fighting. This was the United States' second defeat in Somalia. But less than six months later the United States went in again but this time via Ethiopia. It placed a naval blockade on Somalia. They had been gearing up for this fight since 2001 in order to open the way for the oil companies. Now they have begun. This conflict could spread to East Africa. The whole region could go up in flames all for the sake of controlling the Red Sea.
Another note to the cautious: General John Abizaid, who is in charge of the US armies in Iraq, was in Ethiopia this month. A few days later the Ethiopian army acting with the United States switched to the attack. Interesting, is it not? Immediately after China's Head of State Hu Jintao went to Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia and made energy agreements. We have a new Afghanistan, a new Iraq, anew Lebanon. Somalia, the fifth Muslim country to be drenched in blood as the giants fight, might be along way from you but it is very close to the United States and China.
Source: Yeni Safak website, Istanbul, in Turkish 28 Dec 06
http://www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=14136&TagID=2
