you are being disingenious on a number of counts.

You only mention Al-Shabaab, but ignore the Mah’aakim islaamiyya (Islamic Courts). While the former indeed are mostly a post-intervention phenomenon, the former were there before the Ethiopian army ever crossed into Somalia. Moreover, the IC boasted very publicly that they intended to march into Ethiopia (with the ultimate goal of turning it into an Islamic country even); and they were highly violent at that time already.

The IC don’t fit your narrative matrix — large-scale violent Somali Islamism (and there never is a collectively non-violent one; or can you name an example?) only as a reaction to outside intervention — so you have conveniently chosen to ignore them.

Islamic totalitarianism a response to “Democratic totalitarianism”? Ah, sure, that’s why, for instance, Numayri, Turabi and al-Bashiir (until recently) opted for culturally exterminating the Southern Sudanese, those powerful agents of “DT”. Now I see the light. The enslaved and impregnated Dinka women should simply not have adopted the cause of the US and its nefarious allies.

And of course it makes sense to stone adulterers and adulteresses to death as a tool of resistance to DT. For the same reason, kill Muslims who convert to another or no religion; and artists who (mildly) mock Islam. It’s just what they do in the “DT” states of the West with their converts our of Christianity and with artists who mock Christianity.

Your ideological blindness and moral equivalency indeed make you a worthy representative of what frequently today passes for social science. I am virtually certain that you have a great future in academia ahead of you.

Finally, I am greatly encouraged to learn that Iran is now increasingly aligned with the “DT” camp.

These groups discussed the significance of the Charter particularly now that the resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government has been witnessed in Africa in recent years. The meeting also focused on civil society strategies for popularize the Charter among various stakeholders and identify targets for the ratification process. In addition to Ethiopia and Mauritania, two countries – Sierra Leone and Bukina Faso – recently ratified the Charter.

During the meeting, it was announced by South Africa’s Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ms. Sue van der Merwe, that South African President Jacob Zuma recently signed the Charter and asked the Parliament to ratify. In order for the Charter to come to effect, at least 15 countries need to ratify. The meeting was organized by IDASA and the African Democracy Forum (ADF). Please see the Declaration issued by the meeting participants.

However, the primary actors responsible for Islamic totalitarianism and terrorism running rampant in Somalia are not the Ethiopians and Americans, but the Somalis. Somali Islamic totalitarainism and terrorism was there before the Ethiopian intervention — in fact it triggered it — and American missile attacks.

Moreover, why react to Ethiopian / American actions with Islamic militancy? Why not with other ideologies and actions of resistance? There is no fully deterministic nexus between Ethiopian / American interference and Islamic militancy. The latter is only chosen by people who are already highly prone to such totalitarian thinking and the violent path of action it prescribes.

There are hierarchies of responsibility and blame which the author conveniently neglects. He focuses exclusively on the secondary, tertiary, quarternary, whatever responsibility/culpability of outsiders, while ignoring the primary responsibility of the local Somali actors. Ultimately, it amounts to little less than a piece of clever Euro social scientist US bashing.

And what exactly, by the way, is the contribution of stoning “adulterers” or “adulturesses” to resistance against (now absent) Ethiopians or Americans?

I am sure it makes sense to say the International Criminal Court is a court for the poor and developing countries

There is need for consistancy is the ICC is to maintain its status and global legitimancy as a ‘gift of hope’ like former UN Security General once said.

With double hope

” In the U.S., President Obama is in no rush to prosecute members of the previous Administration for what he recognizes correctly as torture and surely will not allow the ICC to do the job that the U.S. courts are unwilling to do.”

This is why we need the ICC to do what the US refuses to do, not only that, but hopefully have the US join the ICC one day. If the ICC can be this force of international justice and harness enough power, then other countries will follow suit. There have been many positive things that the ICC has done as well, especially in the case in Sudan. IJCentral believes that ICC’s indictment of Omar al Bashir is indeed helping the Sudan.

Visit http://www.ijcentral.org to find out more up to date information about the activities of the ICC. IJCentral is a resource of articles, blogs, discussions, and videos about the ICC. It would be another place to hold open discussions about Sudan and other activities of the ICC.

Any background materials and readings you can suggest on this topic would be very helpful, as it could be featured on the web.

Please feel free to email me directly on skohn@justiceinitiative.org