The Somalia Syndrome (Page 2 of 2)

The Ethiopian invasion, with U.S. backing and direct participation, took place immediately after the U.N. Security Council, at U.S. initiative, passed Resolution 1725 for Somalia, which called upon all states "to refrain from action that could provoke or perpetuate violence and violations of human rights, contribute to unnecessary tension and mistrust, endanger the ceasefire and political process, or further damage the humanitarian situation."

The invasion by Somalia's historical enemy, Christian Ethiopia, soon elicited a bitter resistance, leading to the present crisis.

The official reason for U.S. participation in Ethiopia's overthrow of the Islamist regime is the "war on terror" -- which itself has engendered terror, quite apart from its own atrocities. Furthermore, the roots of the Islamic fundamentalist regime trace back to earlier stages of the "war on terror."

Immediately after Sept. 11, the United States spearheaded an international effort to close down Al-Barakaat -- a Dubai-based Somali remittance network that also runs major businesses in Somalia -- on grounds that it was financing terror. This move was hailed by government and media as one of the great successes of the "war on terror." In contrast, Washington's withdrawal of its charges as without merit a year later aroused little interest.

The greatest impact of the closing of Al-Barakaat was in Somalia. According to the United Nations, in 2001 the enterprise was responsible for about half the $500 million remittances to Somalia, "more than it earns from any other economic sector and 10 times the amount of foreign aid (Somalia) receives."

Al-Barakat also played a major role in the economy, Ibrahim Warde observes in "The Price of Fear," his devastating study of Bush's "financial war on terror." The frivolous attack on a very fragile society "may have played a role in the rise ... of Islamic fundamentalists," Warde concludes -- another familiar consequence of the "war on terror."

The renewed torture of Somalia falls within the context of U.S. efforts to gain firm control over the Horn of Africa, where the United States is launching a new Africa command and extending naval operations in crucial shipping lanes, part of the broader campaign to ensure its domination of the world's primary energy resources in the Gulf region and in Africa as well.

Just after World War II, when State Department planners were assigning each part of the world its "function" within the overall system of U.S. domination, Africa was considered unimportant. George Kennan, head of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff, advised that Africa should be handed over to Europe to "exploit" for its reconstruction. No longer. The resources of Africa are too valuable to be left to others, particularly with China extending its commercial reach.

If poor Somalia collapses in starvation and misery, that is merely a sideshow of grand geopolitical designs, and of little moment.

Noam Chomsky's most recent book is "What We Say Goes: Conversations on U.S. Power in a Changing World." Chomsky is emeritus professor of linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.