Somalia, Again

It's now painfully clear why the United States was wrong to abandon nation-building.

A DOZEN years ago the Clinton administration abruptly quit a U.S. effort at nation-building in Somalia, withdrawing American troops under a hail of criticism from Republicans who said the United States had no business attempting to impose order on a failed state in the Horn of Africa. Now the Bush administration is reaping the baleful consequences of that retreat. Somalia's capital has been taken over by an Islamic movement with connections to al-Qaeda. Like the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Islamists defeated feuding warlords -- some of whom apparently received U.S. support -- and were welcomed by people desperate for a restoration of order.

What remains to be seen is whether the Islamic Courts Union, which yesterday was moving to extend its control from the Somali capital to other parts of the country, will impose a Taliban-style regime or protect al-Qaeda militants believed to be based in Mogadishu. The union's leader, Sharif Ahmed, promised an "Islamic state" at a victory rally Tuesday, but his movement may not be strong enough to impose that model on a country where Islamic fundamentalism is uncommon. One of the courts' militia commanders has been linked to the murders of several foreign aid workers and is believed to be protecting three al-Qaeda leaders indicted in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. But the Somalis' ties to al-Qaeda are more tenuous than those of the Taliban.

Bush administration officials have not ruled out talks with the Islamists; they point to a conciliatory letter released by Mr. Ahmed, which denied support for terrorists and said the courts did not wish to be an enemy of the United States. Somalia's fragile transitional government, which is based in the city of Baidoa, also expressed interest in negotiating with Mogadishu's new rulers. That may offer the United States and African nations the opportunity to promote a political process that, over time, could secure the country while eliminating foreign terrorists; Western aid for reconstruction would need to be part of the package. But the Islamists, too, should be reminded of the Afghan example: In addition to offering dialogue and renewed U.S. engagement, President Bush should make clear that his administration won't tolerate a regime that harbors al-Qaeda.

Somalia demonstrates, once again, that rebuilding failed states -- especially in the Muslim world -- must be a central U.S. interest in a global war on terrorism. Nation-building is difficult, costly and often painful -- as in the loss of 18 U.S. lives in the 1993 "Black Hawk Down" firefight that led to the withdrawal from Somalia, or the ongoing American casualties in Iraq. But success is possible, as the international missions in the Balkans have demonstrated. Remarkably, the Bush administration still hasn't absorbed this lesson: Rather than try to build up a Somali government, it backed Mogadishu's warlords. Such cut-rate tactics sooner or later lead to a more troubling and dangerous situation -- like the one the Bush administration now must face in Mogadishu.