Somalis, Ethiopians Observe A Faraway War as Neighbors

Immigrants Turn Two Cafes Into Hubs of Political Discourse

As Ethiopian invaders rolled into Mogadishu yesterday, the debate in a pair of Northern Virginia coffeehouses turned on the fate of that beleaguered capital in the Horn of Africa.

Was this liberation from Islamic extremists? Or foreign intervention at its worst?

Views on the conflict diverged at the Baileys Crossroads Starbucks, where dozens of Somali men gather each day to chat, and at the Dama Ethiopian cafe, where Ethiopian immigrants drop in to sip coffee and talk politics. Although their nations are historically enemies, the opinions split not by country or religion -- but from one person to the next.

"I'm very happy . . . people are crying for [Somali] government," said Abdul Kadir Sair, 40, a small-business owner who stopped at Starbucks yesterday. "If Bush can go over there and make stability, I'll support it 100 percent. Anybody, I don't care. Anybody who can make my country stable, I support 100 percent."

But he won't find agreement from a fellow Somali, Basto Osmond, who plunked down in a Starbucks chair and denounced Ethiopia's move and the United States' tacit support of it. When the Islamic Courts wrested control of the Somali capital from various warlords, it "liberated" the nation by imposing order, he said.

"The Courts came in with the will of the people," said Osmond, 50, an engineer. "If they had done wrong, the people would have gotten rid of them."

When war broke out last week, it came as no great surprise to the crowds at these two shops. They had been monitoring the escalating conflict for months, hearing the worries of family members still in their homelands. And they had brought those worries to their coffee shops, where cafe tables turn into political round tables and details are dissected over Earl Grey and lattes.

For some, Ethiopia is meddling in the affairs of its neighbor or fighting against the only leaders -- even if unofficial ones -- who have restored order to Mogadishu, Somalia's capital. To others, the Somali Islamic movement threatens to bring extremism, even terrorism, to the two countries and the entire Horn of Africa.

Despite the differences of opinion, nearly all of those who discussed the conflict expressed fear that the fighting would spread bloodshed across the Horn of Africa. And many spoke with a tone of weary fatalism, lamenting that such fighting is so routine, yet still so disappointing and that international aid to alleviate poverty and support development seems remote.

But at the coffee shops, the differences of opinion are the point.

Yesterday, as the Islamic Courts fighters abandoned Mogadishu and Ethiopian forces advanced, some Ethiopian immigrants sipped hot drinks at Dama, a cozy Arlington cafe where Christmas garland graced shelves holding tea. At one table, a taxi driver, a college student and a lawyer took turns opining, jabbing their fingers on the table as they debated.

"It's probably a good idea to strike now, in the infancy," before Somalia's Islamic movement can threaten Ethiopia, said Binyam Yinesu, a soft-spoken cab driver. "Any extremism, be it Christian or Islam, is not a good idea."