Somalia: not piracy catch all thread

[Mark O'Neill]

FMF to Ethiopia has been declining recently with IMET increasingly slightly. I think you hit the nail on the head--there are four things that generate extensive security assistance from the United States: 1) having a significant AQ presence; 2) having nukes; 3) producing narcotics; 4) being Israel or a threat to Israel.

From Ethiopia's perspective, that's 0 for 4. But maybe the creation of AFRICOM will help.

Target Round, out.

[Tom Odom]

Target Round, out.

Repeat, over.

[JJackson]

Islamist spokesman Sheikh Mukhtar Robow said the US was trying to hit Islamist hideouts in the area.

"The Americans bombed the town and hit civilians targets thinking that they were Islamist hideouts. They used an AC-130 plane," he told the AFP news agency.

Local official Ali Hussein told the BBC that many people were fleeing the town.

The border with Kenya has been closed for the past year.

Full story http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7274462.stm