"UN reports Somalia food aid being waylaid" by Associated Press | March 11, 2010
UNITED NATIONS — Up to half the food aid intended for the millions of hungry people in Somalia is being diverted to corrupt contractors, radical Islamic militants, and local UN workers, according to a UN Security Council report.
Well, maybe it will only be one plate.
The report blames the problem on improper food distribution by the UN World Food Program in the African nation, which has been plagued by fighting and humanitarian suffering for nearly two decades, according to a UN diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Ever notice that wherever the UN goes things get worse?
It calls on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to authorize an independent investigation of the Rome-based food agency’s operation in Somalia.
Haven't heard anything on that yet -- as Somalis starve.
Because of Somalia’s instability, transporters must truck food through roadblocks manned by an array of militias, insurgents, and bandits.
And that is the way the U.S. likes it!
Kidnappings and executions are common, and the insecurity makes it difficult for senior UN officials to travel to the country to check on procedures.
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Also see: The Slow and Silent Starvation of Somalia
If you are "lucky," I guess.
"Militants bring fight to Mogadishu, killing 43" by Associated Press | March 12, 2010
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Heavy fighting between Somali insurgents and progovernment troops has killed at least 43 people over two days, as African Union peacekeepers used tanks to help the beleaguered government beat back an insurgent attack, officials said yesterday.
Related: The Silent Civilian Slaughter in Somalia
I think I just lost my appetite.
Militants attacking from the north Wednesday reached to within a mile of the presidential palace in the heart of Mogadishu before African Union peacekeepers in tanks reinforced government troops, residents said.
Ali Muse, the head of Mogadishu’s ambulance service, said he saw 40 bodies lying in the streets over the two days of fighting Wednesday and yesterday. Nearly 150 were wounded, mostly civilians, he said.
“The fighting was heavier than that of yesterday,’’ Muse said. “Our ambulances are sometimes caught in the crossfire. Our ambulance crews use dangerous streets, and they have to dodge mortars and bullets. Sometimes it takes us hours to reach injured civilians, and because of that they bleed to death.’’
Three of the wounded brought in Wednesday died overnight, said Abdi Mahad, a doctor at Medina Hospital.
“A mortar shell has just fallen into the house next to me. We can hear neighbors crying and can see smoke over their building, but I do not know if there is a casualty,’’ Sahra Haji Abdulle said by phone from her home in northern Mogadishu. “We could hardly sleep last night. The sky was lit up by shelling all night. We have nowhere to escape.’’
More than half of those living in Somalia’s seaside capital have fled.Which means there is a MAJOR REFUGEE CRISIS that goes UNMENTIONED in the AmeriKan MSM.
Those remaining are mostly too poor to move or fear being attacked as they leave.
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So who are these "militants," huh?
"Militants join Somali government" by Associated Press | March 16, 2010
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s government signed an agreement with a powerful militia yesterday that offers high-level militants senior government positions in return for their support during a long-planned offensive against an Islamist insurgency.
The agreement gave the Ahlu-sunah Wal-jamea militia five ministries as well as diplomatic posts and senior positions within the police and intelligence services.
The militia holds several towns and districts in central Somalia. The weak UN-backed government barely clings to a few blocks of the capital of Mogadishu with the help of more than 6,000 African Union peacekeepers.
The government came under attack by insurgents again yesterday as both sides traded mortar and machine gun fire after the president returned from Dubai. Casualty figures were not immediately available. Scores were killed in fighting last week.
Sheikh Mohamed Dahir Hefow, the militia’s head, signed the deal with Somali Finance Minister Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden at a ceremony held at the African Union’s headquarters in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
Related: Slow Saturday Special: Ethiopia Reinvades Somalia
They still there, MSM?
Somalia’s Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke said at the signing ceremony that the deal was part of a larger reconciliation plan.
So how are the CIA and U.S. going to blow that up?
“With this agreement, the government of Somalia and Ahlu-sunah Wal-jamea have taken an essential step in the strategy toward restoring peace and stability to our beloved country,’’ he said. “It is a victory for peace and a cursed defeat for spoilers and extremist groups.’’
Analysts say Ahlu-sunah Wal-jamea militants have long enjoyed Ethiopian support, receiving money and weapons in return for trying to stop Somali Islamists from crossing the long, porous border into Ethiopia, where ethnically Somali rebels are fighting against Ethiopia’s government.Translation: They are U.S. AGENTS and ASSETS!!!
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Related: "Al-CIA-Duh" School in Somalia
Yeah, WE are TRAINING the TERRORISTS!!!
Or turning them into pirates!
"Warships use new strategy against pirates" by Associated Press | March 19, 2010
NAIROBI — An international fleet of warships is attacking and destroying Somali pirate vessels closer to the shores of East Africa, and the new strategy, combined with more aggressive confrontations farther out to sea, has dealt the thieves a setback, officials and specialists said yesterday.
The European Union Naval Force attacked 12 groups of pirate vessels this month — more than last year. Half of those attacks were close to shore, reflecting the new strategy to intercept pirates before they reach deep water and international shipping lanes.
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And rather than deal with the daily violence and killing, the BG brings you this weeks later:
"Rescued captain writes book about his hostage ordeal" by John Curran, Associated Press | April 1, 2010
MONTPELIER — The cargo ship captain who spent five days as a hostage of Somali pirates says in a new book it was a high-seas double-cross that led to his brutal ordeal in a sweltering lifeboat....
Oh, it is an AGENDA-PUSHING BOOK PROMOTION posing as "news."
Related: Agenda-Pushing Pirates Surface Again in Somalia
U.S. Navy Seals Murder Somali Assets
Somalia Agenda Exposed: Obama is Butch!
Somalia Agenda Exposed: MSM Admits Blogs Told the Truth
The Somalia Set-Up: Hero Captain Was a Hoax
Sigh.
“Don’t make deals with pirates,’’ Richard Phillips writes in “A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea.’’
******************
Phillips, 55, who lives in Underhill, Vt., was hailed as a hero after crewmembers and his family said he volunteered himself as a hostage to get the hijackers off the ship.
The 286-page book is being released Tuesday, two days before the anniversary of the attack. Ghostwritten by Stephan Talty, it breaks little new ground but offers a compelling blow-by-blow narrative of the aborted hijacking, beginning with a radioed warning, “Somali pirate, Somali pirate, coming to get you,’’ from the gunmen’s skiff as they chased down the Maersk Alabama.
And yet LOOK at all the INK this gets from the Boston Globe!
The cargo ship’s crew hid belowdecks once the pirates boarded “in a giant life-and-death game of hide-and-seek,’’ according to Phillips, then tricked the pirates into believing the ship’s satellite radio was broken, and faked a VHF radio transmission to make them believe the Navy was on the way before it was....
The book makes only passing mention of piracy warnings received by the ship before the April 8 attack, which some crew members now say could have been avoided entirely if Phillips had kept the freighter at least 600 miles off the African coast, as the advisories suggested....
(Blog editor holding his palms upward)
The day before his rescue, Phillips’s mental condition had deteriorated, and being forced to relieve himself in his pants — as his captors laughed — left him wanting to die....
Are we supposed to be feeling sorry for him after all the MSM and government bullshit falling on us, readers?
When the end finally did come, it was from the barrels of Navy guns: Sharpshooters on the fantail of the USS Bainbridge picked off the three pirates in a stunning nighttime operation, leaving Phillips untouched....
Yeah, AFTER the pirates had offered the captain up and the U.S. said NO!!!
But the rescue didn’t end his trauma. For three days aboard the Bainbridge, he suffered through sudden crying jags, an aftereffect of the psychological strain of what he’d been through...
Well, you should have LISTENED to the WARNINGS and STAYED OUT to SEA, shitter (literally!).
Phillips, who declined interview requests, has scheduled a nationwide book tour and sold his story rights to Columbia Pictures.
Great, another Hollywood fiction I'll be sure to miss.
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