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SA soldiers won't fix Somalia

Jul 30, 2010 12:30 PM | By Evans Mukhuthu

Military might is unlikely to solve the problem in war torn Somalia according to Institute for Global Dialogue analyst Emmanuel Kisiangani.

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Militants of al Shabaab train with weapons on a street in the outskirts of Mogadishu. File Picture
Militants of al Shabaab train with weapons on a street in the outskirts of Mogadishu. File Picture
Photograph by: Mowlid Abdi
Credit: Reuters
quote SA military involvement in Somalia could result in a terrorist attack in our country by the groups involved in Somalia quote

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Defence minister Lindiwe Sisulu announced yesterday that South Africa is looking at plans to send army and navy forces to assist the troubled African Union peacekeeping mission in the country’s capital Mogadishu.

Kisiangani says no army in the world will defeat al-Shabaab, as Islamic insurgency group, because it is not a formal military group.

Kisiangani says: “al-Shabaab consists of ordinary citizens of Somalia, they are everywhere, whether in the markets or any other place, and they attack from there which makes it more difficult to defeat them."

He says a military approach will not solve the plight of the Somali people.

Kisiangani suggests the only way to win this war is for the AU and UN to seek a political dialogue with al-Shabaab militants.

Leon Engelbrecht, editor of Defenceweb, a website that deals with news on defence and security issues in Africa says: "The decision might back fires on us; like we have witnessed with Uganda during the FIFA 2010 World Cup final.

"The mission will be dangerous to both our troops and million lives of our citizen, because we will be dealing with al-Shabaab and al-Qaeda militants who have a different view on life."

Democratic Alliance shadow defence minister David Maynier, says: “We are currently not aware of what is being contemplated by the defence minister, but I think if we were to proceed with the plan we will need careful planning.

Maynier says: "SA military involvement in Somalia could result in a terrorist attack in our country by the groups involved in Somalia.”

Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille says: “Although the cost of keeping the SANDF in Somalia would be very high, I think we should support this initiative of instilling peace and order in Somalia”.

de Lille says she has complete trust in SA soldiers who are highly trained and have been doing this kind of job since 1994.

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Jul 30 2010 12:36:20 PM
Heatseeker
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And thats news.

They cant fix themselves .
Jul 30 2010 12:47:46 PM
opzen
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please dont send our army there, those guy are dangerous suicide bombers will attack RSA we dont need that pls
Jul 30 2010 12:48:30 PM
Biko Lives
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De Lille should lead the new coallation if there is ever going to be between the DA and her party! She has the political clout and a voice of reason!
Jul 30 2010 12:54:13 PM
Laudmouth
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I side with Opzen. This will cause serious problems in our national security. These people have a different view on life. Sisulu please don't do it.
Jul 30 2010 01:14:32 PM
Seth Maverick
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We must curb the spread of suicide bombing tendencies in Africa.......why did Somalia let these people establish their bases there??.....Africa cannot be part of the War on Terror these people must be kicked out of Africa
Jul 30 2010 01:21:23 PM
skyboy
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De Lille is smoking socks. Does she really think that the SANDF is highly trained to challenge Al-Shabaab?
Except the poor quality of R4/5 assault rifle. SANDF is in no position to take on such a terror militant groups who are being supported by Al-Qaida and other Muslim groups in the world.
The poor quality of training and discipline that the new recruits are getting is so pathetic that they cannot even afford to stand the sound of an RPG-7 in a battlefield.
There are many factors to be considered in a situation like this. SADNF might have done well during their peacekeeping missions in Burundi and DRC, with the exception of Sudan mission which is under the combined auspices of the United Nations and African Union, who are failing dismally to bring the situation under control.
Somalia is totally different when compared to the above three due to the fact that, there is no governance in place to deal with. Majority of the country is being controlled by many factions of which Al-Shabaab is the notorious one. South Africa must not evaluate their performance based on those previous mission results. A totally different type of approach is required to achieve some results.
Jul 30 2010 01:34:56 PM
Veglaer
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SA "soldiers" are nothing but useless and incompetent girls with fat asses.

Somalian Jihadis would eat them for breakfast.
Jul 30 2010 01:40:21 PM
lessmo
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de Lille says she has complete trust in SA soldiers who are highly trained and have been doing this kind of job since 1994.

_____________________________________________

SA soldiers have been fighting terror(Al-shabaab) attacks since 1994?
I wish our leaders could try and apply some logic when dealing with such issues.This is not some service delivery attack or march
Jul 30 2010 01:46:05 PM
Kunta_Kinte
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They can send the MKVA, the ones that wanted to make my province ungovernable. They can make Somalia ungovarnable and show us how they brought revolution and freedom to this country.
Jul 30 2010 01:53:18 PM
skyboy
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@Kunta-Kinte
Somalia has been ungovernable for years now, you moron.


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