Where other people's works have been used, this has been acknowledged in the text. And to all the clergy of the Diocese who were there for us, I owe gratitude.
Statement of the problem
It is in light of US policy and the expectation of "global difference" that an assessment of US counter-terrorism meetings in Somalia is X-rayed, including: its decision to extract and finance the coalition of discredited warlords Somalis such as the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT), charged with the surveillance and arrest of suspected terrorists; its support and use of direct Ethiopian military involvement within Somalia; and its eventual use of direct force. This is important to appreciate the complexity of Somalia's failed state environment in order to understand why the antidotes applied failed to improve the regional and global security that supposedly informed engagement in the first place.
Objectives of the research
Scope of the study
Also of note is the rise of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), whose activities are believed to have made an unprecedented fundamental imprint on Somalia's politics that may continue for many years to come. It seeks to evaluate these counter-terrorism initiatives, including those of IGAD, from the standpoint of the extent to which they have (so far) achieved their touted motives for venturing into Somalia, namely to rid Somalia of domestic terrorists and suspected international terrorists hiding in Somalia. there and to prevent Somalia from sliding into a more complex security environment.
The significance of the study
Besides the danger of direct cross-border attacks on neighboring states, there is also the fallout of the conflict and the worsening humanitarian situation in Somalia, such as the influx of refugees into neighboring states, which has a tendency to trigger internal discontent in Somalia. host state. The analyzes of the complex US anti-terrorist maneuvers in Somalia are an interesting tool for policy evaluation by the US government and policy makers.
Theoretical framework
In this case, realism is used to analyze the state's domestic organization, which shapes and equips this state to participate in international power politics. Realism as a theory of international relations helps us understand the behavior of the United States in its counterterrorism activities in the Horn of Africa and Somalia.
Methodology
The research question on the failed state of Somalia and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism will lead to an analysis of a wide range of writings, discussions and debates on the history of Islamism in Somalia and the dynamics of its development, how it played out after cause of the collapse of the state and their consequences. An analysis of the US national strategy for terrorism, the reports and testimonies to the US Congress on the various counter-terrorism initiatives in Africa will be undertaken in order.
Structure of the study
This chapter takes an overview of the US counterterrorism initiatives in the different regions in Africa. The various US and Ethiopian counterterrorism efforts in Somalia are analyzed as they affect the Somali conflict in general and the growing Islamist insurgency in particular.
The definitional issues with terrorism
This explains why the use of the above saying "one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter" is very common. But most of the definitions include the aim (motive), method and the target as the characteristic definition content of terrorism.
Nature of terrorism
The use of the word "terrorism" dates back to 1793-1794 when the French Revolution was called "the Reign of Terror". Hubschle (2006: 9) quoted Yassir Arafat, the former chairman of the PLO, who argued: “The difference between the revolutionaries and the terrorists lies in the reason for which each is fighting.
An overview of contemporary terrorism
The Iraqi conflict therefore gave new impetus to galvanizing fundamentalist Islamists' challenge to the West's role in the Middle East and its implications for Islam. With terrorism on the rise in the Horn of Africa and the reality of the failure of the Somali state, there is growing concern that the Somali environment is supporting terrorist activities in the region.
Introduction
Rotberg links state failure to "the collapse of the local justice system and the criminalization of the security services". The failure of the Somali state has not led to debate about its level of collapse and the possible security implications of the territory as a cozy haven for terrorists. Fundamentalist Islamist organizations operate in Somalia without any internal security oversight following the collapse of law and order institutions.
The porous borders
Exploitation of the porous nature of these borders for illegal activities and smuggling of prohibited foreign products has existed for a very long time in the region (Little Laitin and Samatar 1987: 54; International Crisis Group 2005a: 24). Corruption of officials across the Kenyan and Ethiopian borders with Somalia has also been revealed as a contributing factor to the porous nature of the border. This new dimension of the Somali conflict, in light of the international terrorist connections of the Islamic Courts, raises the fear of a return to.
The lingering conflict
The population was tired of the lifestyle of the politicians who were called to account by the new administration (WSP 2001: 8). The severity of the conflict, and the damage and loss caused to Somali society, was magnified by the factionalization of most groups at sub-clan levels. It also saw massive covert support of the TFG from the United States and the full-scale involvement of Ethiopian forces in the conflict.
The Collapse of the institutions of governance
Mogadishu, the Somali capital, is categorized as one of the most heavily armed cities in the world. The amount of weapons inside Somalia is one of the major problems in finding a solution to the Somali conflict and the war on terror. A bleak picture is painted of the events unfolding in Somalia when one considers the observations of the UN monitoring group that "the sheer number of weapons currently in Somalia (especially central and southern Somalia) exceeds those in the country since the early 1990s" (UN Monitoring Group 2007: 28).
Introduction
The discussion of the terrorist threat posed by Somalia hinges on the continued rise of fundamentalist Islamism and the increase in the number of jihadist elements on Somali territory following the collapse of the state, as well as the established links of these domestic elements to the wider global jihadist network. This will be the starting point for this chapter as it seeks to trace the trend of growth and development of fundamentalist Islam in Somalia and the extent to which this has affected Somalia's terrorist profile and its regional and global security implications.
Islamist Organizations inside Somalia
Organizations in this group oppose ideological and political extremism and prefer to be content with missionary activism with the sole aim of returning Muslim apostates to the "right path of their faith". Another group of organizations consists of Harakaat al-Islah and Majma' 'Ulimadda Islama ee Soomaaliya. This has led to disagreements between the two over the years over the nature of the future Somali state, with Harakaat accused of being influenced by the imperialist West.
The Islamic Courts Union (ICU)
In February 2006, the ICU mobilized and began a final push to take control of the capital and other major cities of Somalia. The emergence of the ICU on the Somali national political scene affected the crisis landscape in three major ways. Therefore, the ICU supposedly offered a platform through which the ideal dreams of the whole of Somalia could be realized.
Terrorist and al-Qaeda activities inside Somalia
Hassan Turki and Hassan Dahir Aweys, both leaders of al-Itihaad, are believed to be involved in the al-Qaeda attacks on the US embassies, and coordinated the preparations on the ground leading up to the attack (International Crisis Group 2005b: 6). Most recently, in the December 2006 battle between the Islamic Courts Union and the Transitional Federal Government, supported by Ethiopian forces, it is reported that a large number of foreign Islamist fighters fought on the side of the Islamic Courts (International Crisis Group: 2007: 4). The overt involvement of the Ethiopian forces and the circulation in the public domain of America's covert involvement was enough to mobilize both domestic and foreign fighters behind the Islamic courts.
US Counterterrorism programmes in Africa
National Counter-Terrorism Strategy that the "paradigm of counter-terrorism" currently "involves the application of all elements of our national power". The aim was to develop among the participants the capacity and willingness for information sharing and cooperation in planning and carrying out operations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs assisted financially and through the provision of expertise in the establishment of the AU's African Center for the Study and Research of Terrorism, which was located in Algiers, the Algerian capital, in 2004 (Wycoff 2004: i.d).
Counterterrorism in the Horn of Africa
This program was primarily “designed to strengthen the capabilities of [US] partners in the region to combat terrorism and promote cooperation between these governments” (International Crisis Group 2005: 9; Wycoff 2004: i.d). The US interagency Terrorist Finance Working Group (TFWG) in the Office of the Associate Coordinator for Counterterrorism collaborated with Kenya to develop Kenya's Anti-Money Laundering/Counterterrorism Financing System. Reflecting the same political shift in the United States, CJTF-HOA has initiated some human security involvement in the region that focuses on certain peculiar problems that people face.
IGAD and counterterrorism
The outcome of this conference was the “Draft Implementation Plan for Combating Terrorism in the IGAD Region,” which was approved and adopted at the 10th IGAD Summit on October 24, 2003 (Institute for Security Studies 2003: i.d). ICPAT, in collaboration with the East African Police Chiefs Coordination Organization (EAPCCO), has developed a counter-terrorism training program for selected law enforcement officers in Member States. This can be understood in the light of the divergent positions of some Member States.
Counterterrorism in Somalia
Ethiopia’s involvements in Somalia
Significantly, Ethiopia's counterterrorism efforts have benefited from the fallout from the attacks on the United States. The rise to prominence and popularity and military power of the Federation of Islamic Courts in Somalia, which it controls. When Ethiopia viewed the Islamic courts from a security perspective, it had to be distrustful of the organization's external agenda.
US Counterterrorism in Somalia
In view of the above, the security alert and the concern and involvement of the United States in the events in Somalia are not without apparently sufficient reason. Terrorism in East Africa and the Horn: An Overview”, The Journal for Conflict Studies, Fall. Interview by Robert McMahon, "The Capital Interview: Envoy Seeks Support for Ethiopia, Aid for Somalia" Council for Foreign Relations, available at http://www.cfr.org/publication/14839/ (accessed 06 December 2007).
