Interventionalism in Somalia

To:

House Appropriations Committee
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

Subject:

Ending America's support for the Ethiopian presence in Somalia and the current Somali Government as well as all American intervention in Somalia

After the failures of "Black Hawk Down" the United States stayed out of Somalia for most of the 1990s. However, after 9-11, justifying its actions with the claim that several terrorist suspects were hiding within Somalia (a claim that was never justified to the American People) the United States government began aiding several warlords in their effort to maintain control of Mogadishu, Somalia's capital city. Reacting to this, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which had previously provided the only semblance of law and public administration in the country, formed a militia to fight against the warlords, who used such brutal tactics as bombing hospitals to forward their goals. By the summer of 2006, the UIC, preaching a moderately islamist ideology gained control of much of the country and began restoring order after decades of anarchy. Ethiopia, Somalia's neighbor, at this point threatened to intervene, to which the UIC reacted by mobilizing for war. In December, Ethiopia, with the approval and support of the United States invaded and occupied Somalia, where, in spite of promises to hand over their positions to international peacekeepers, they remain. They are resisted by an Islamist insurgency derived from the IUC militia, who claim that the government that they back is illegitimate and sectarian. The current Somali government has survived only because of Ethiopian and American support, and the Ethiopian occupation is being enabled by America's continued "non-humanitarian" assistance to Ethiopia.

The Undersigned urge America's congress to cut off all funding for non-humanitarian aid to Ethiopia and the government of Somalia, demand an immediate exit of Ethiopian troops from Somalia, and forbid any further military action by the United States on Somali soil or in Somali waters or airspace. The Undersigned further encourage America's congress to appoint either a congressional delegation or a special envoy to Somalia to begin the process of finding a diplomatic solution to conflict between the former UIC and the Somali Government.