Austin Bay Blog

The BBC reports Somali Islamists have declared a holy war.

VOA says witness reports “Thursday said Ethiopian forces had entered the town of Baidoa, where the interim government is based.”

And we are not surprised.

Not surprised in the least. 

The Islamic Courts Union (Somali Islamists) will find that the Ethiopians are far tougher than their Somali warlord enemies. (Fair bet that fullscale Ethiopian ops in Somalia, however, are still a month to six weeks away–unless the ICU tries a preemptive strike and the Ethiopians move without full logistical preparation.)

This is also useful background.