Thousands in Somalia rally for holy war

[ECH1969]

More than 2,000 people gathered after Friday prayers for a pro-Lebanon rally organized by Mogadishu's new fundamentalist rulers, calling for holy war and chanting "Down with the enemies of Islam, wherever they are!"

"We must sympathize with our brothers in Lebanon," Siad told The Associated Press. "It is compulsory to join the holy war."

The demonstrators also shouted slogans against the United States and neighboring Ethiopia, which is Somalia's longtime enemy.

The Islamists have been imposing strict religious courts, raising fears of an emerging Taliban-style regime. The United States accuses the group of harboring al Qaeda leaders responsible for deadly bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/08/11/somalia.islamists.ap/

[Igel]

1. T'is Friday.

Just like Old Faithful.

If not for these reports, I'd lose track of what day of the week it is.

[adriennui]

2. yeah, somalia has it so together

they have nothing better to do than demonstrate against israel.

no probs in mogadishu, no starving children, no diseases, no sectarian violence. ignorance can be so easily manipulated.

morons.

[Fredda Weinberg]

3. Islamofascists? Never heard of 'em

Seriously, it would help us to understand the sense of justice behind Islamic law - and why its adherents feel so strongly about imposing it, even on the unwilling.

[jgmiller]

5. It's like any harsh set of laws

It's designed to control the masses by putting them in fear. It simply uses a twisted religous angle in order to convince the masses that it must be followed and not questioned. Every religion has these things to one degree or another it's when it's combined with a government that it becomes dangerous.

I love how since they are natural enemies of Etheopia they include them with the US as "evil". It works well in that setting because you're appealing to peoples local prejudice.

Frankly I don't get why we don't just take over part of Somalia as a refuge area and tell the warlords to go on killing each other but if they come near the people who actually want to build a nation and not kill each other they're in for a world of hurt. This has been going on for over 20 years and it's not going to stop anytime soon unless you get radical about it.

[Fredda Weinberg]

7. The religious angle is not twisted ... the conditions are

different. Islam arose out of scarcity ... Somalia could use some of that equality right now. But if we don't understand the forces we confront, we condemn ourselves to an endless cycle of bloodletting, which is unfortunately, a natural condition.

Do we have the intellectual capacity to see the humanity in our opponents?

[hogwyld]

8. We tried that already

Your Quote "Frankly I don't get why we don't just take over part of Somalia as a refuge area " was a failed policy of the last Bush admin. It didn't work then, and it won't work now.

[CJCRANE]

4. Oh, I'm so scared...

yeah right.

[Boojatta]

6. Are any Somalians shouting, "DOWN WITH ME!" ??

"Down with the enemies of Islam, wherever they are!"

(...)

The demonstrators also shouted slogans against the United States and neighboring Ethiopia, which is Somalia's longtime enemy.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Islam is the most popular religion in Ethiopia. So, shouldn't Somalians who shout slogans against Ethiopia also shout "Down with me"? After all, as enemies of Ethiopia, aren't they enemies of Islam?

[happyslug]

10. I had to check that out, and 45-50% is Moslem

With 30-40% Ethiopian Orthodox.

Traditionally Ethiopia was Christian Orthodox, surrounded by Moslems. Given that the eastern quarter of the Country is Somalian, I suspect that is where most of the Moslem live.

CIA fact Book on Ethiopia:
http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcethiopia.htm

Through this source says it si 50% Christian and only 40% Moslem:
http://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/

Which supported by this link:
http://www.imperialethiopia.org/religions.htm

Part of the problem is the area in question has porous borders and getting a true count may be impossible. Thus the difference may be more of how and who to count than any real difference in actual numbers.

[Bretttido]

9. Thank god invading Iraq has made the middle east safer!

:eyes: