Is Somalia Doomed to Repeat History?

"Look, these people, they have no jobs, no food, no education, no future. I just figure that we have two things we can do. Help, or we can sit back and watch a country destroy itself on CNN." --Sgt. Matt Eversmann in "Blackhawk Down."

Pity the poor Somalis, or the millions of them that have not yet found sanctuary in Europe, Canada or the United States. Recent events seem to have sucked them back into the cycle of violence and destruction that ruined the country in the 1990s, and made Somalia the poster-child for the concept of the failed state -- a country without institutions or basic services, where malnutrition is commonplace. Now, the possibility of reconciliation among competing groups may be evaporating as clans once again squabble over the spoils of victory and the vanquished melt away, only to plot their return.

In the final days of 2006, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) was swept out of Somalia's capital -- six months after their equally sudden seizure of Mogadishu. In between, the ICU had spread its authority through Mogadishu and beyond to much of central and southern Somalia, bringing a rare sense of security and even reopening Mogadishu's airport for the first time in 13 years. The demise of the Islamic Courts was inflicted not by their opponents in the transitional government but by an invasion of Ethiopian troops and armor. Its defeat exposed suspected al-Qaida operatives that had taken shelter in Mogadishu -- and suddenly brought the United States into Somalia's nightmare in the most visible way for a decade.