Urael

Nearly two-thirds of Somalia’s land to prospect and exploit oil reserves was allocated to the American oil giants Conoco, Amoco, Chevron and Phillips in the final years before the, at that time, Somalia's pro-U.S. President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown and the nation plunged into chaos in January, 1991. Conoco inc. even kept an office in the capital the next years. This would later become the American Embassy when Bush sr. tried to secure American interests under the pretext of an humanitarian mission.
We wrote about American involvement before and also here the old wise adagio ‘follow the money’ is applicable.

The Conoco firm has explored Somalia in three major phases beginning in 1952, had achieved "very good oil shows", an industry terminology for an exploration phase that often precedes a major discovery, just before anarchy took over. They know what they are talking about.

It is starting to look like the son has started on the second unfinished job of his father.
After Black Hawk Down political support for the Somalia adventure of the old man Bush faded and the United States suffered another little Vietnam trauma.

Just like the, never found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq offered them a motif to invade, the never found (officially 3 only!! )suspects of the bombing of the United States Embassies in Dar As Salaam and Nairobi, who supposedly were in Somalia, are used to justify their actions.

So although exploitation of the black gold is still a couple of steps away, the Islamic Courts, who could bring law and order within weeks in the country, were not supposed to be the ideal caretakers of this treasure. They rather have some quibbling warlords who won’t be able to organize any exploitation because they are divided about almost everything. The Islamic Courts could have had the discipline to achieve exploitation to benefit the impoverished population. And they would not feel committed to contracts that Siad Barre signed a couple of decades ago. Probably to the contrary.

Because a new invasion by American Marines was politically unacceptable, the United States used an old proved method; they supported a next-door tyrant who without their backing would have been ousted after he stole successive elections.

Al Qaida, the threat of Islamic radicals, the so called involvement of Eritrea in terrorism, are just a pretext to secure what the Americans think is theirs. The African oil. In Legesse ‘the name thief’ Zenawi, Crime Minister of Ethiopia they found the ideal puppet who they think they can control. But that is what they once thought of Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden also. For years both received their training and instructions from this Superpower.