Apparently profiting from the population's weariness with bloody and greedy warlords, an Islamic fundamentalist movement has quickly spread like the plague across most of this poor African country. According to the US govt at least one leader of this Islamic group has ties to Al Queda and international terrorists (never mind the simple fact that Islamic fundamentalism is in fact equivalent to terrorism...after all they wouldn't be true to their core beliefs and the words of the Koran if they didn't murder infidels...)

Allegedly the Bush administration had been covertly assisting some Somalian warlords in an effort to prevent this very occurrence. Not in a very competent manner, apparently. Gee what a big surprise.

Now Osama bin Laden is gloating and warning foreign govts to stay out of Somalia. Of course he said nothing of foreign terrorists going to Somalia to join their Islamic brethern.

My prediction: within two years Somalia will become infested with terrorist training camps and Al Queda workshops, a springboard for bloody terrorist attacks throughout the world, and the civilized nations led by the US will have no choice but to launch an invasion to clean up the mess.

We'd better wake up to the fact that we're in a World War against Islamic extremism, and the war has only just begun...

We'd be wise to get more competent leadership at the next opportunity, too.