Somalia and the U.S.: We helped break it, Arabs say they'll help buy it

Arguably the most important event last week was the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia. Anyone who's anyone (politically) in the Middle East was there, including the Lebanese, Iraqi and Turkish prime ministers, the Pakistani and Egyptian presidents, the Iranian foreign minister and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

Perhaps prophetically, the leader whose comments guided the group most was King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The king's words eloquently recounted the simultaneous crisis unfolding across the Middle East.

"In wounded Palestine, the mighty people suffer from oppression and occupation. In beloved Iraq, blood is flowing between brothers, in the shadow of an illegitimate foreign occupation and abhorrent sectarianism threatens a civil war. Lebanon is virtually paralyzed. In Sudan, the weakness of the Arabs has led to foreign intervention, and in Somalia, one civil war is ending, but only so that the next one can begin," he said.

The final nation cited by Abdullah was Somalia: a country that epitomizes Iraq and the war on terror.

Somalia was recently unified after almost two decades of civil war by an Islamist militia that governed for six peaceful months under the code of Muslim law known as Sharia.

In December of 2006, American-backed Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia and established a government along with rebel Somali factions. But without popular support, their government almost immediately became the target of an insurgency similar to the one in Iraq.

Last weekend, a ferocious battle erupted in Mogadishu, the capitol of Somalia. At least 400 people have been killed and hundreds more injured. The bodies of dead and decaying corpses still litter the city's streets because the fighting has never waned enough for the dead to be collected. Tens of thousands of Mogadishu residents have become refugees and are likely to flee the country.

These refugees are the tool the ousted Islamic government is most likely to use to exact its revenge against the United States and its allies. One of the most peaceful countries in Africa is Kenya, and its Somalian border has become the site of huge refugee cities. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis already live in this area, but it is certain the new civil war will bring more refugees and Islamists into Kenya.

The United States made a huge mistake by backing the relatively small number of Ethiopian forces who invaded Somalia in December. The Bush administration's actions have put American citizens living in East Africa at greater risk and endangered our allies in Kenya.

The U.S. government must demand an African Union (A.U.) or U.N. peacekeeping force of at least 40,000 soldiers be sent to Somalia while fair and free elections can be held to create a new mixed Islamist and pro-western government. Somalia has been broken for 20 years and no one but Islamist terrorists are benefiting for the current return to anarchy.

The United States did not attend last week's Arab League summit, but, ironically, it was the main topic of conversation. Rather than not responding to Abdullah's criticism, President Bush should request Arabs stand by what they said and work with the West to ensure Somalia becomes a safe and democratic country. The Arab League summit shows that everyone hopes to see a peaceful Somalia and no one wants anti-western extremists controlling the country either. Now it's time to pay for what has been broken and fund the A.U. or U.N. peacekeepers while a new Somalia is built.