U.S. Won't Say if It Aids Somali Warlords

My Way News - U.S. Won't Say if It Aids Somali Warlords:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. is working with regional and international partners to keep al-Qaida from establishing itself in northeastern Africa, White House press secretary Tony Snow said Wednesday. He would not say whether that included warlords in Somalia.

Snow cited Somalia's lack of a functioning government and said Osama bin Laden's network uses such chaotic situations to establish terrorist training centers and bases. Somalia is just across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen and the Saudi Peninsula.

Two weeks ago, Somalia's transitional president said he believed the United States was bankrolling an alliance of warlords, the same people whose armed gangs are keeping Somalia ungovernable.

Ah! Just like the old days in Southeast Asia! Then it was the Communists and the domino theory. Now it's Al Qaeda and, well, the domino theory. After all, that's progress. You see, we backed the warlords in Vietnam and Laos, and those people later became, er, the Communists. So then we backed the warlords of Afghanistan against the other Communists (Russia), and now those people are Al Qaeda and, well, you can see where this is qoing, right?"You've got instability in Somalia right now, and there is concern about the presence of foreign terrorists, particularly al-Qaida, within Somalia right now," he said.

"In an environment of instability, as we've seen in the past, al-Qaida may take root, and we want to make sure that al-Qaida does not in fact establish a beachhead in Somalia."Because, you know, we already did that in Iraq, and it's so yesterday!