Read the following article for an account for a rare victory in the war against Islamism. Somalia Forces Retake Capital From Islamists - New York Times .Ruthless military action, while seemingly inhumane at the moment, can be more humane in the long run by avoiding massive suffering (see: Iraq) and yields results in Somalia. Congratulations to the Ethiopians and Somalians. Let's now see if a combination of force and outreach can be maintained to keep the Islamists down in Somalia.
Excerpt from the Times article:
"All that changed on Sunday when Ethiopia, with tacit approval from the United States, carried out an aggressive counterattack against the Islamist forces. Ethiopia sided with the government because the Islamists had vowed to invade Somali-speaking areas of Ethiopia and wage a holy war against it.
By Wednesday, the Islamist military had been decimated by Ethiopian airstrikes and mass desertions. Clan elders, traditionally the pillars of Somali society, pulled their troops and firepower out of the Union of Islamic Courts, or U.I.C., after a string of back-to-back military loses in which more than 1,000 fighters, mostly teenage boys, were quickly mowed down by the better-trained and equipped Ethiopian-backed forces.
“Our children were getting annihilated,” said Abdi Hulow, an elder with the powerful Hawiye clan. “We couldn’t sustain it.”"
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