Nearly 50 civilians have reportedly been killed and 100 wounded in the two-day fighting spree between those loyal to the Islamic Courts Union and government forces and their Ethiopian allies. A report issued by Human Rights Watch chastised both Ethiopian troops and "insurgents" for the bloodletting. Peter Takirambudde, the watchdog's Africa director, was quoted as saying "The international community should condemn these attacks and hold combatants accountable for violations of humanitarian law -- including mutilating captured combatants and executing detainees."

Of course, one cannot realistically expect constructive involvement by the international community. Various members of this "community" have already played a destructive role in Somalia's 16-year-old civil war that fragmented a nation that had long struggled to achieve a sense of sovereignty and national cohesion.

To dismiss the war in Somalia as yet another protracted conflict between warlords and insurgents would be unjust because the country's history has consistently been marred by colonial greed and unwarranted foreign interventions. These gave rise to various proxy governments, militias and local middlemen, working in the interests of those obsessed with the geopolitical importance of the Horn of Africa.

Colonial powers came to appreciate the strategic location of Somalia after the Berlin Conference, which initiated the "Scramble for Africa". The arrival of Britain, France and Italy into Somali lands began in the late 19th century and quickly the area disintegrated into British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland. Both countries sought to expand their control, enlisting locals to fight the very wars aimed at their own subjugation.

World War II brought immense devastation to the Somali people who, out of desperation, coercion or promises of post-war independence, fought on behalf of the warring European powers. Somalia was mandated by the UN as an Italian protectorate in 1949 and achieved independence a decade later in 1960. However, the colonial powers never fully conceded their interests in the country and the Cold War actually invited new players to the scene, including the United States, the Soviet Union and Cuba.

One residue of the colonial legacy involved the Ogaden province of Somalia, which the British Empire had granted to the Ethiopian government. The region became the stage of two major wars between Ethiopia and Somalia between 1964 and 1977. Many Somalis still regard Ethiopia as an occupying power and view the policies of Addis Ababa as a continuation of the country's history of foreign intervention.

The civil war of 1991, largely a result of foreign intervention, clan and tribal loyalties, and lack of internal cohesion, further disfigured Somalia. As stranded civilians became deprived of aid, Somalia was hit by a devastating famine that yielded a humanitarian disaster. The famine served as a pretext for foreign intervention, this time as part of international "humanitarian" missions, starting in December 1992, which also included US troops. The endeavour came to a tragic end in October 1993 when more than 1,000 Somalis and 18 US troops were killed in Mogadishu. Following a hurried US withdrawal, the mainstream media rationalised that the West could not help those who refuse to help themselves; another disfiguration of the fact that the interest of the Somali people was hardly ever a concern for these colonial philanthropists. Since then, the importance of Somalia was relegated in international news media into just another mindless conflict with no rational context and no end in sight. The truth, however, is that colonial interest in the Horn of Africa has never waned.

The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 provided an impetus for US involvement in the strategic region; only one month after the attacks, Paul Wolfowitz met with various power players in Ethiopia and Somalia, alleging that Al-Qaeda terrorists might be using Ras Kamboni and other Somali territories as escape routes. A year later, the US established the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) to "monitor" developments and to train local militaries in "counterterrorism".

The US contingent was hardly neutral in the ongoing conflict. Reportedly, US troops were involved in aiding Ethiopian forces that entered Somalia in December 2006, citing efforts to track down Al-Qaeda suspects. The Ethiopian occupation was justified as a response to a call by Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG), whose legitimacy is questioned. The TFG, seen largely as a pro-Ethiopian entity, had been rapidly losing its control over parts of Somalia to the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) which came to prominence in January 2006, taking over the capital and eventually bringing long-sought stability to much of the country. ICU attempts to engage the US and other Western powers in dialogue failed as a US-backed Ethiopia moved into Somalia in December 2006. On 7 January 2007, the US directly entered the conflict, launching air strikes using AC-130 gunships. Civilian causalities were reported, but the US refused to accept responsibility for them.

The last intervention devastated the country's chances of unity. It now stands divided between the transitional government, Ethiopia (both backed by the UN, the US and the African Union) and the ICU (allegedly backed by Eritrea and some Arab Gulf governments). Recently, the UN ruled out any chances for an international peacekeeping force, and the few African countries who promised troops are yet to deliver, with the exception of Uganda.

This situation leaves Somalia once more at the mercy of foreign powers and self-serving internal forces, foreshadowing yet more bloodshed. Our informed support is essential now because the Somali people have suffered enough. Their plight is urgent and it deserves a much deeper understanding, alongside immediate action.

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