Reply With QuoteChina's Black Hawk Down starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li coming to theater near you.
Originally Posted by [RNZE]Sapper
You're imagining things. The Chinese economy is export driven and over time - they've found that their strategic interests regarding global supply of natural resources and free sea lines of communications should basically mirror the United States and Western Europe.
Besides, all traffic that sails through the Suez can be monitored by land right along the Suez. China also has good relations with Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea - and electronic surveillance in the Gulf of Suez can be easily accomplished in either - or on *gasp* a surveillance vessel at a fraction of the cost of setting up an operations in backward logistically challenged Somalia.
China's Black Hawk Down starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li coming to theater near you.
It's gonna be weird seeing all thos antagonist countries working together to kick the pirates... Joint NATO-Seals-Spetznaz-Chinese SpecOps ? Everyone's booking a ticket to Somalia lately.
That's what I am afraid of , it is counterproductive in the larger picture in my opinion . Let's not forget there are terrorists in Somalia too who are currently losing on the ground and in the popular discourse . If the sentiment of a free for all foreign "invasion" is propagated , Somalia and its international sponsors will be losing a couple of years of hard work . What the US , Great Britain and the world community is currently invested in { top dollars} is building Somalia from the ground up . A little mistake in Somalia can have repercussions in Ethiopia for the Chinese who extract oil in the somali region of Ethiopia and ultimately make things more difficult for everybody
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6588055.stm
The chinese have already been mingling in Somali affairs for their own interest
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/10/wo...pagewanted=allProfessor Gandhi’s and Sheik Madobe’s forces, working simultaneously though not quite together, recently pushed the Shabab out of a few towns along the Kenyan border. The Kenyan military has been backing them up, and according to American diplomatic cables, the Chinese government gave Kenya weapons and uniforms for the Somali militiamen, possibly because there is oil in southern Somalia that the Chinese covet.
If the Chinese are really serious about it , they can find the head of the snake along with the rest of its body in Damascus Syria , not in Somalia .
Well that may be a little problem as Damascus is on the friend list
Are you talking about ground or naval operations? Or are we talking about cooperation of AU/TFG mission to crush al-Shabaab in south or coalition naval mission to secure naval trade routes from attacks of pirates? Because establishing cooperation between both naval and ground forces of so many nations, unions etc. is probably impossible. Also as far I am aware pirates operate outside al-Shabaab chain of command although they are ignoring this issue (what is frankly pretty strange given ICU stance on this issue) combating them alone wouldn´t make pirates disappear. However I have been wondering for years why no navy won´t strenghten their presence and close ports which are known to be pirates bases like Hobyo (where I believe several hijacked boats are still present), it is not like pirates have anti-ship missiles or anything that could even remotly endanger any warship.
I am talking about ground operations , chinese soldiers on the ground looking for the " head of the snake " ,
whomever they find on the high seas is none of my concern .
I wonder, when it comes to Somalia, why has the US not fully committed to the fight? Al Shabab is clearly a gigantic threat, and the pirate problem is not unrelated to this. Plenty of US immigrants and citizens sadly have gone to fight for them.
I understand recognizing Somaliland as independent is country would do much harm to the cause of Somali unity, but would not sucha move help in the fight against piracy? And the same for Puntland? They are taking already active steps to combat piracy as best they can withb military power - what with a non-existent federal government and a still strong jihadist army close by, its a very laudable move.
Perhaps the best course of action would be to try to find a clan to reunify the country around? What about the old Habergedir clan? You could best help shed some light on this Ayub - are clan links still very powerful and influential in Somali society, or are they starting to die out due to things like the ICU/Shabaab wars and the general anarchy for decades now? And what happened to Hussein Farrah Aidid? Is he still around (from what I could gather, he is). Why isnt the US taking more of an interest in him? He's one of our own after all, and a reminder of the days of Somali-American unity. He could join the ranks of others like Sun Yat-sen, et al. He himself said "Once a Marine, always a Marine".
Would you mind qualifying your statement about Al Shabaab being a "gigantic" threat?
Well its an active AQ insurgency, one that has nearly gained control over most of the country more than once
Letting AQ anywhere near the reins of power of a state is a threat in and of itself.
Granted, they are starting to lose power and their grip, but they are still strong, seeing as how they have defied the leftover Somali government, various warlords, Ethiopia, and now Kenya.
The US is commited , in the background , which is probably the best spot .As for Somaliland , I am from there , argued as much as I could for our secession , but if it is not happening then so be it .About the habargedir , I first of all do not know where Aidid jr is and I do not have any problem with his pepople , but that's not the case for every one . Tribal links are very influental to this day and will stay that way for the foreseable futureThe best course of action is to let every clan { depending on how fragmented they are } get their little piece of territory until they realise how much they need the rest of their somali counterparts { which is what is happening right now}About AQ , they are dumb in the sense where they cannot seem to arrange for or anticipate a future, a peaceful one , that could include them .{ they're willing to die but not ready to talk or reason , very strange}
Thanks for the info Ayub, and as for AQ, well they are fanatics, zealots. Talking or reason isn't their thing.
While were on Somali regions, whats going on with the Ogaden? Djibouti?
(I must admit, I've always liked Somali flags for some reason)
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