Horny Islamic Rules

Following up on this post from August, an alleged al Qaeda leader has vowed to establish Islamic rule in Somalia.

NAIROBI, Kenya — An influential religious leader and alleged Al Qaeda collaborator vowed in an interview Wednesday to establish an Islamic state in Somalia, a lawless Horn of Africa nation the United States fears could grow into a major base for Islamic terrorists.

"The Western world should respect our own ideas in choosing the way we want to govern our country, the way we want to go about our own business. That is our right," said Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, a key figure in a growing religious camp vying with secular factions for control of Somalia.

Despite peace talks and the formation last year of a transitional government, Somalia remains a patchwork of heavily armed clan fiefdoms — with no government to provide such basics as schools, hospitals, phone service, even traffic lights.

At the risk of having a fatwa declared against me or something, I have a sinking suspicion that Islamic law and religious leadership isn't going to do much to help or secure Somalia; and even if it did, it wouldn't lead to a peaceful, reliable state that could be trusted to respect the rights of its citizens and its neighbors. The Somalis may have a right to choose the way they want to govern their country, but they also have a responsibility to demonstrate some semblance of control over the situation. Unless Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys can implement Sharia law in such a manner as to turn Somalia, the most colossal failure in the world, into some sort of utopia, the rest of the civilized world has an obligation to keep a close eye on things and intervene if necessary.