With the Islamofascists overthrown and the bloodshed intensifying, America has added yet another success to its long list of accomplishments in spreading freedom and democracy. Somalis may yet throw candy to the U.S.-backed Ethiopian troops, but there’s just one hitch: the Islamist forces overthrown last year by the U.S.-backed Ethiopian army are regaining their strength and are likely to reassert their power if Ethiopia’s own domestic rebellion intensifies.

A military analyst and a western diplomat to Somalia, neither of whom wished to be named, warned that the angry mood and conditions that allowed an Islamist movement to defeat a gang of warlords and take power in Mogadishu last year were returning. "We are on a merry-go-round and it’s back to 2006," said the analyst. "The insurgents are gaining not only in physical strength, but in moral strength too." <<< more

While America wages this proxy war in Somalia, the unrest seems likely to spill across Ethiopia’s borders, potentially escalating the already growing rebellion in the country’s easternmost province. Already, some have accused the Ethiopian army of pillaging villages in the East of the country, leaving trails of rape and destruction across the Ethiopian/Somali border as part of a terror campaign against domestic rebels and Somali Islamists.

The United States of course, is encouraging these unhinged actions with direct financial and ideological support to the Ethiopian regime, all perfectly in line with the Bush doctrine. It may also be useful to recall that it was the United States’ long support for Somalia’s warlords (among other factors) which aided the Islamists’ rise to power to begin with.

Meanwhile the situation is dire:

The people [in Somalia] are hungry, exposed, sick and dying. And the few aid organizations willing to brave a lawless, notoriously dangerous environment cannot keep up with their needs, like providing milk to the thousands of babies with fading heartbeats and bulging eyes. "Many of these kids are going to die," said Eric Laroche, the head of United Nations humanitarian operations in Somalia. "We don’t have the capacity to reach them."

He added: "If this were happening in Darfur, there would be a big fuss. But Somalia has been a forgotten emergency for years." <<< more

Despite the Darfur comparison, I don’t expect to hear George Clooney or Matt Damon demanding a ceasefire anytime soon.

Predictions may yet be premature, but one thing is clear: In Somalia as elsewhere, the United States has no plans to support democracy; indeed, there is not likely to be any deviation from this most basic tenet of U.S. policy in the developing world since (at least) the Cold War.