[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13841-13842]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                SOMALIA

  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise in support of S. Res. 541, 
adopted on May 21, which is a resolution designed to support 
humanitarian assistance in Somalia. As you know, Somalia has seen one 
government after another fail to deliver for the Somali people for the 
better part of two decades. At the same time, the situation in Somalia 
and the broader Horn of Africa is of great strategic importance to the 
United States and of deep concern to me personally, having traveled to 
the region on several occasions.
  I do not think that we can overestimate the scale of the humanitarian 
challenges facing Somalia. At least a million people were uprooted 
during fighting between the Transitional Federal Government and Islamic 
insurgents last year, and their plight has become graver because of 
record food prices, drought, and hyperinflation. The 250,000 Somalis in 
a small corridor outside Mogadishu is now considered the largest camp 
of internally displaced persons in the world.
  The goal of the international community has been to support the 
formation of a viable government of national unity in Somalia to help 
stabilize the situation on the ground, and this resolution is designed 
to support this goal. Nevertheless, we should recall that the country 
recently faced the terrible prospect of rule by Islamic extremists and 
that without Ethiopia's intervention, the TFG would not have had this 
opportunity to bring some measure of stability to the country.
  For its part, Ethiopia eliminated the threat of a Taliban-like state 
taking root on its eastern border and scored a major victory in the war 
on terrorism. And for our part, this accomplishment furthered U.S. 
interests by helping ensure that the Somali government did not threaten 
or seek to destabilize its neighbors or provide protection for 
terrorists that threaten the United States and its allies.
  While I support the broad goal of stability for Somalia and a 
sustainable peace, let me be clear on an important point. No Somali 
government should include factions with ties to al-Qaida or al-Shabaab.
  Both groups seek to undermine the stability of the TFG, which is the 
internationally recognized government of Somalia, through violence and 
intimidation. While al-Qaida's status and animosity towards the United 
States has been clear for a long time, we should also not underestimate 
the threat that al-Shabaab also poses to stability in Somalia and the 
entire region. Indeed, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice designated 
the group as a foreign terrorist organization and as a specially 
designated global terrorist on February 29.
  In its assessment of the group's activities, the State Department 
explains the organization scattered leaflets on the streets of 
Mogadishu warning participants in last year's reconciliation conference 
that they intended to bomb the conference venue. Al-Shabaab promised to 
shoot anyone planning to attend the conference and to blow up 
delegates' cars and hotels. The group has claimed responsibility for 
shooting deputy district administrators, as well as several bombings 
and shootings in Mogadishu targeting Ethiopian troops and Somali 
government officials. In short, terrorist organizations such as al-
Qaida and al-Shabaab seek to undermine the hard-fought and tenuous 
peace that has been achieved and their influence in Somalia must be 
curbed.
  In addition, while I support the resolution's call for Ethiopia to 
develop a timeline for the ``responsible'' withdrawal of its troops 
from Somalia, it is important to emphasize that this resolution does 
not call for either an immediate withdrawal or a rigid timeline 
irrespective of the availability of replacement peacekeeping forces. 
Any such inflexible approach would be counterproductive, undermine the 
TFG, and threaten the important gains that have already been achieved.
  Just as the presence of Ethiopian troops in Somalia derives, in part, 
from the intra-party Somali conflict, their departure should not occur 
until African Union or other international troops have arrived to keep 
the peace secure. To date, unfortunately, only 2,500 of 8,000 pledged 
AU peacekeepers have arrived. While some have claimed the presence of 
Ethiopian troops itself is destabilizing, there is no doubt in my mind 
that the alternative would be far worse.
  Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not comment on the impact that 
Eritrea has had in terms of making the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops 
more challenging. According to the United Nations, Eritrea is 
supporting insurgent groups to undermine the TFG. Under these 
circumstances, not only would it leave a vacuum for the Ethiopian 
troops to be withdrawn early, but such a withdrawal would be seized 
upon by Eritrean-backed insurgents to destabilize the situation in 
Somalia. This is why this resolution calls on Eritrea to play a 
productive--and not a destructive--role in Somalia.
  The United States has a deep and profound interest in securing the 
peace in Somalia and the broader Horn of Africa. There is no doubt that 
serious challenges remain. Nevertheless, I look forward to our 
continuing to work with our friend and ally Ethiopia, as well as the 
African Union, United Nations, and other countries in the region to 
secure a brighter future for all those people in

[[Page 13842]]

Somalia who yearn to live their lives in peace and with the opportunity 
to provide for their families.

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