Well then Charlie, would you like a list of the various places round the world that I visited 40 years ago - that would make me as much of an "expert" in them as you claim to be on Somalia. The periods you mention would put you in the country about 5 years after its formation from the former Protectorates of British and Italian Somaliland and the year before the military coup that swept General Siad Barre into power in 1969.

The Ogaden War 1977-1978 - Let's take a look at the international players interested in this. The "war" between Somalia and Ethiopia was started unilaterally by Somalia in an attempt to take over the region, which had been parted from Somalia by the British in a peace treaty in the 1880's. In this dispute the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries refused to help Somalia, and instead, backed Communist Ethiopia. The Somali's did very well initially, winning in most of the Ogaden, but with Somali forces at the gates of Addis Ababa, Soviet weaponry and Cuban forces came to the aid of Ethiopia. The Somali Army was hammered and playing the old "Cold War" Game, Somalia sought the help of the United States. Unfortunate timing for the Somali's though as the man at the helm of the US of A at that time was none other than Peanut Carter himself and although the Carter Administration originally expressed interest in helping Somalia he later declined, as he did not feel up to confronting the Soviets, albeit by proxy, in this period of supposed détente. So sorry Charlie, CarolC, et al, no US involvement there.

Losing the war that he had started to retake the Ogaden didn't do Barre very much too good, things started to slip and resistance movements were set up and backed by - Guess who Chuck?? The Ethiopians aided and abetted by their pals of long standing - The Russians. Barre was finally ousted by a combined force of northern and southern based clans all of whom, as previously stated, were backed and armed by Ethiopia. And following a meeting of the Somali National Movement and northern clans' elders, the northern former British portion of the country declared its independence as Somaliland in May 1991; although de facto independent and relatively stable compared to the rest of the country it has no official recognition by the UN or any other foreign government.

After that everything basically fell apart none of the other tribal factions could agree on how the country (Somalia) was going to be ruled, or by whom. Things get so bad that by 1992 the UN steps in, they attain limited success in combating famine in the Southern part of Somalia, just sufficient to get all the Somalis who had been fighting fit enough to resume the bloodshed. A further UN Mandate is given for a US led UN force to make the South of the Country safe enough to allow humanitarian assistance work to be undertaken. Well that all goes to rats when instead of maintaining a balance this US-led force decides to take on the biggest "warlord" in the area on his own turf. Aidid won that one and the UN depart on 3rd March, 1995, fifteen months or so later Aidid gets killed, and once again chaos reigns supreme.

So far Charlie we've had outside interference from Russia, Cuba, Ethiopia and the United Nations - Note Charlie, the United Nations, not the USA.

Between Aidid's death in June 1996 and November 2004 things bimble along in Somalia with various provinces declaring themselves autonomous regions, and the Somali people generally having a pretty bloody time. In November 2004 a group of Somali leaders met in Kenya and drew up what they called a charter for the government of the nation - They called themselves the Transitional Federal Government. Over the next couple of years this crowd are making the right noises outside of Somalia and gain the backing of - Guess who Charlie??? - Ethiopia, after all that is exactly the same model that had been used by the Ethiopians themselves 13 years earlier.

Early in 2006 fighting breaks out between an alliance of Mogadishu warlords calling themselves the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (or "ARPCT") and the armed militia of another crowd calling themselves the Islamic Courts Union (or "I.C.U.") who are seeking to institute Sharia law in Somalia. Now note this Charlie, neither of these mobs actually controlled or ruled anything, so please stop referring to any peaceful and halcyon days enjoyed by the people of Somalia under the rule of Sharia Law and the ICU - never happened - stoning of a 13 year girl who had been gang-raped did.

In this fighting in Mogadishu, the ICU accused the CIA, of backing the ARPCT, this was reported in the UK by the Guardian, which more-or-less must guarantee it to be incorrect. The US State Department have not commented on it, which was probably the best course of action to take.

The ICU suceed in forcing the ARPCT out of Mogadishu and the Ethiopian-supported Transitional Federal Government then call for intervention by a regional East African peacekeeping force. The I.C.U. respond to this by making the claim that Ethiopia, with its long history as an imperial power including the occupation of Ogaden, seeks to occupy Somalia, or rule it by proxy.

In December 2006 TFG and Ethiopian troops took Mogadishu and drove the ICU into the South of the country, by January 2007 the ICU was largely defeated. Since then new Islamic militant groups organise, and continue to fight against TFG Somali and Ethiopian official troops. So far they've recovered effective control of large portions of the country, and continue to fight in Mogadishu. The Transitional Federal Government however, continues to control Mogadishu and Baidoa.

Now Charlie apart from one instance of being accused of backing ARPCT, which has not been proven one way or the other, US involvement in Somalia seems to have been restricted to UN Mandated operations in the early to mid 1990's. And the fact remains nobody is prospecting for any of the supposed "Oil Riches" of Somalia (The Ogaden Charlie, where those Chinese oilmen were killed, is located in Ethiopia).

Ethiopias close foreign ties lean more towards Russia, China and the EU. Between 1980 and 1992 the US did not even have an Ambassador in Ethiopia, since the fall of the Derg the US has provided Ethiopia with about $2.3 billion in aid, as to how that is spent the figures for the 2007 financial year indicate that out of $474 million given $264 million (56% of the total) went towards combating HIV/AIDS not Somalis.

Enough smoke for you Chuck??