Somalia Caught in the Middle

I am going to admit something that I am not so proud of. When I analyzed the situation in Somalia in the past, I mostly did so from a Global War On Terror perspective. Granted, in part it was driven by a desire to show how President Bush was wasting time in Iraq, where there was not real threat for terrorism, and ignoring places like Somalia where terrorism was thriving. What I often overlooked was the very real humanitarian crisis that has persisted there for at least a decade. And in fact, one of the main reasons for the crisis is / was the way that outside forces used the country for their own interests and only when they were interested (USSR and US during the Cold War, and now US / Ethiopia and Islamic extremists).

There have been two recent articles about Somalia recently. One on MSNBC's World News and the other on the NY Times. The New York Times article says that Somalia is currently the worst humanitarian crisis - worse than Darfur - with higher malnutrition rates and less aid (in terms of workers and funding).

What makes me feel extra guilty is that there was apparently (according to the article) a short time of stability during the six months last year that the Islamic government was in control. This is obviously relative, considering the extremist Islamic government, as I understand the situation, would likely have instituted Sharia - Islamic laws that are not friendly to human rights, especially the rights of women. But to know that I was happy that Ethiopia was supporting military operations that would cause so much devastation (something I didn't think about) gives me no satisfaction.