Somalia: US to double arms, ammunition aid to region

While I'm kind of happy to see the Obama administration taking this action.   (If only they could do something about that nasty Somali Sharia law.  Just saying.)   But can you imagine the hue and cry that would be raised by the moonbats if this had happened during the Bush administration?  Now that Obama is in charge?  There's nary a peep. 

From The Vancouver Sun:

The United States plans to double the amount of arms and ammunition it is providing Somalia's transitional government, a State Department official said Thursday, signalling deeper U. S. involvement in the conflict there.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the plan was to double supplies of arms and ammunition to 80 tonnes from 40.

The official also said Somalis were receiving military training in Djibouti, where the U. S. military has a base covering the Horn of Africa.

Earlier, in Nairobi, U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged "very strong support" for Somalia's transition federal government in a meeting with its president, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

Clinton also warned Eritrea to stop supporting Al-Shebab, an al-Qaida inspired Islamic militant group fighting the transitional government for control of the impoverished east African country.

Separately, U. S. President Barack Obama's chief counter-terrorism adviser expressed concern about the group's "tentacles" outside the region, including the United States, noting that some Somalis with U. S. citizenship have returned there to fight.

o rly?

More on Eritrea's role in the conflict...

As it boosts aid to Somalia's weak interim government to fight an al-Qaida-linked Islamist militia, the Obama administration is grasping for ways to cut off what it says is one of the militant group's main supply lines: the tiny Red Sea state of Eritrea.

The enigmatic and authorization nation has emerged as a principle player in the conflict in lawless Somalia, where the enfeebled government is struggling for survival against the extremist al-Shabab faction.

U.S., U.N. and other investigators say the Eritrean government is funneling money, weapons and other supplies to al-Shabab, which Western intelligence agencies regard as a growing regional and international threat.

More fun facts about Eritrea...