On another front . .

The Observer | World | Somalia inches towards war:

Ethiopian troops take over towns in challenge to Islamic militia who have occupied the capital

Paul Harris
Sunday July 23, 2006
The Observer

Somalia was edging closer to full-scale war last night as Ethiopian troops moved into a second Somali town, potentially bringing them into conflict with an Islamic militia that has taken over the capital, Mogadishu, and is seeking to spread its influence over the rest of the country.

Eyewitnesses in Waajid said that about 200 Ethiopian troops had taken over the airstrip in the town yesterday morning. That follows moves last Thursday which saw Ethiopian troops take up positions in the town of Baidoa to back up Somalia's beleaguered interim government, which is based there.

The move of fresh Ethiopian troops into the anarchic country raises the prospect of renewed war in Somalia. Ethiopia strongly backs the UN-supported government of President Abdullahi Yusuf and has vowed to prevent the country from slipping into the hands of Islamic extremists. However, Yusuf's writ does not extend much beyond Baidoa's borders while the Union of Islamic Courts has achieved startling military success in recent weeks. The UIC militia now controls Mogadishu and other areas of the country after defeating several local warlords who have held Somalia in the grip of terror since the collapse of central rule in 1991"

Pete's Points:

It is amazing to me to read this story from the Observer as published on line in the Guardian

Apparently this war has been on going since 1991. Lord only knows about the number of people who have been killed and whose homes have been destroyed and who have been forced to live in terror for over a decade and a half.

The coverage of this event in our news media is non existent! Why?

Well for one thing, there are unlikely to be Australian tourists, citizens or residents in this war torn area.

Does this mean that the lives of the 'innocent civilians' are any less important?

Does this mean that the invasion of one country by another should receive less attention?

I have no idea!

All that I can say is that once again the news media concentrate their attention on one trouble spot at a time in the world and cry out to the UN to call for a ceasefire and peacekeeping forces in one area of the world while in another there appears to be very little media attention on the death and destruction that has been taking place for over a decade and a half.

The Channel 9/MSN production "Sunday" initiated an on line questionnaire yesterday which aimed at finding out from its viewers whether they felt the coverage of events in the Middle East was balanced or not. At present the results so far seem to be running at 17% saying "Yes" while 83% are saying "No"

Even though I have serious doubts about on line polls where you can vote as many times as you can press a button, that result seems about right to me!

Let me reiterate, I abhor the violence that is going on everywhere in the world today, violence that causes terror, death, wounds, destruction of homes and lives for millions each year. I also abhor the hypocrisy that seems to accompany official reactions to all of the death and destruction.

The reality for millions, possibly billions around the world is that they live in war zones where the political ambitions of a few people - however disguised by religious references or other noble sounding rhetoric is permitted to hold sway while they suffer death and destruction and become refugees who really are innocent civilians.

I have a dream, in which the leaders of these political and religious forces who seem to want to dominate their environments and call on poor hapless innocents to do their fighting for them were actually required to front each other and 'duke it out', one on one, "mano a mano", on international TV while all the rest of the world got on with the job of earning a living and trying to survive.

I suspect that after an initial flurry of interest, it would become the least watched reality TV show in the world.

As I said in another posting - The world has gone nuts!