How is it that Ethiopia “gets it” and America does not?
When New York is under the thumb of Sharia law will we finally put the key in the ignition?

Yeah, sure. Like a terrorist animal icehole really ever gave a rats butt about bloodshed. This is a HUGE LOL.

Now, what the heck couldn’t we do a few months ago that the Opian’s now appear to be doing? Political no doubt.

If Su-27s are shooting down Mig-29s, here or there or anywhere, that’s some damn fine shootin’. If so, it should be reported by the MSM ( fat chance ) to dispell the cliched image that this war consists of Primitives blasting away at each other with Ak-47s and are-pee-gees

Well, that was back in the 1998-2000 war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Present-day Somalia doesn’t have any kind of air force that I’m aware of; not even functioning helicopters (a decade or so of anarchy doesn’t do much for aircraft maintenance). However, it does seem to be a common assumption that Ethiopian armed forces would be purely backwater stuff. Compared to the US, Britain, France or even Iran that’s no doubt true, but regionally speaking they seem to be surprisingly well-equipped and relatively potent.

I’ll be looking forward to tomorrow’s news on Kismayo. Looks like the Kenyans are pretty serious about keeping the border shut, so the islamic supremacists could be in serious trouble.

Keep praying for Ethiopia.

Ethiopians have been taking Somali prisoners, just not “foreign” prisoners. Foreigners have been summarily executed.

crosspatch on December 30, 2006 at 4:43 PM

Thank you for the clarification crosspatch. It’s still something the ‘civilized elitists’ will condemn and analyze at length. Not on the front burner, yet.

calls for insurgent attacks by Islamic leader.

Go Ethiopia go……….

http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_189.shtml

MiGs have been mentioned in articles, but MiG what? MiG 21’s maybe?

Never trust the media when it comes to aircraft references. “MiG” is generally just a word for “Russian-built aircraft,” just as “F-15″, “F/A-18″, “F-14″, etc. are used interchangeably and without any real interest towards accuracy when refering to or even showing video images of American aircraft. Odds are the people reporting on these matters have never even heard the word “Sukhoi,” and if they have assume it was something Japanese.

In addition to the usual smattering of Mig-21’s and -23’s, Ethiopia has some relatively modern Russian equipment, including Su-27’s and several late-mark Su-25’s, albeit in small numbers. Also, it’s been rumored that they and others in the region have relied in the past on eastern bloc mercenaries to fly their more expensive equipment (in fact, I seem to recall some years ago that mercenary-flown Su-27’s in somebody’s employ–Ethiopia, possible–downed some MiG-29’s in somebody else’s–possibly Eritrea’s? Good subject for some web searching).

I’ve no idea how any of these aircraft have been used against Somalia, but I’d wager that at least the Su-25’s (essentially a somewhat less specialized Soviet/Russian answer to the A-10) have seen some action. And there’s a chance the pilots were not Ethiopians at all, but Russian/Ukrainian/etc. freelancers (I wonder if the word “Honcho”–used to refer to Soviet ringers in the Korean War–would still apply?).

See previous: Jihadis crumble as Ethiopians advance (Updated and bumped, again — jihadis abandon Mogadishu) Ethiopians Take On Last Somali Islamist StrongholdSee-Dubya NYT says they’re chugging along toward the city of Kismayo, where the Islamists s…

The sooner the world realizes that, the better.

Sure, I’ll admit this is a coldly Conservative, Capitalist view. But it’s the truth. Nation-States always act in their own best interests. In this case, I hope, the governments and the people of both Somalia and Ethiopia have similar interests..
Which doesn’t include religious psychos.

I hope the IC gets their read ends kicked. Ethiopians have been taking Somali prisoners, just not “foreign” prisoners. Foreigners have been summarily executed.

BTW, any chance of Ethiopia annexing Somalia? Wouldn’t hurt my feelings one wit to see that country “disappear” from 21st century cartography.

CyberCipher on December 30, 2006 at 3:11 PM

Sorry Cipher, Ethiopia barely has a Christian majority within its own borders. A shame, but Somalia will likely be a source of more problems in the future…

Anyway, I’d like to hear more about the gear that Ethiopia is using. I think it’s mostly Soviet stuff from the 60’s – 80’s. MiGs have been mentioned in articles, but MiG what? MiG 21’s maybe? I also saw some video of the Ethiopians firing a very big anti-tank gun the other day – at least a 100mm – direct fire.

I wonder what that would do to a Toyota pick-up full of jihadists?

The Ethiopians don’t do dialogue.

JammieWearingFool on December 30, 2006 at 2:36 PM

Nope – and, they don’t take POWs either. All are executed.

But hooray for the Ethiopians!

Oooops…nursey here, time for another pill…………the perfect compliment to all the beer in my gut.

Have no fear. Faith-bashing to the rescue. They’ll be able to save themselves by telling everyone that the Ethiopians are evil because they are predominantly CHRISTIANS. Oh, those wicked people. Whew! That was a close one.

/sarcasm off