Friday, August 17, 2007

Operation Prester John

Not that one needed the evidence, but today brings confirmation that the US "sponsors of terrorism" designation is just for any country with whom the US has geopolitical policy disagreements --

The United States is mulling putting Eritrea on the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list, which would impose some U.S. sanctions, for its permitting arms to flow into Somalia, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.

"We are looking into it," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer told reporters, saying the United States had been collecting data on whether Eritrea should be on the list. "Frankly, the information so far that we have collected is fairly convincing about their activities ... in Somalia."


Those "activities" in Somalia consist of, at most, supporting one of many clans battling for power in the instability left by an Ethiopian alliance with one grouping, an operation which achieved swift initial success but then failed to impose lasting order. Sound familiar? They're making Eritrea into the Iran of eastern Africa, the scapegoat for their own policy failures in the region.

UPDATE: More here, via Atrios.

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