Writing at Pajamas Media, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross has broken a major story revealing the extensive cooperation between American military personnel and the Ethiopian armed forces during that country's recent invasion of ICU-controlled areas of Somalia. According to Gartenstein-Ross, "U.S. ground forces have been active in Somalia from the start, a senior military intelligence officer confirmed. 'In fact,' he said, 'they were part of the first group in.”

Many observers were surprised by the rapid advance of Ethiopian troops, and the hasty retreat of the ICU, despite assurances by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi that the Islamists could be displaced in "one to two weeks." Gartenstein-Ross has now confirmed the involvment of American aircraft, including American-piloted helicopter gunships, in the assault, which largely explains the success of the campaign. From Gartenstein-Ross:

Pajamas Media previously reported that Ethiopia’s use of helicopter gunships capable of targeting the Islamic Courts Union’s ground forces was a decisive factor in the army-to-army fighting against the ICU. A senior military intelligence source says that some of the gunships earlier described as Ethiopian were in fact U.S. aircraft. This has been confirmed by Dahir Jibreel, the transitional government’s permanent secretary in charge of international cooperation, who said that U.S. planes and helicopters with their markings obscured have been striking targets since December 25.

My first impression of the ICU's collapse was to reflect on the advantages of fighting wars by proxy, but it now seems that American air power played an important role in removing the threat of a Taliban-style terrorist regime imposing itself on Africa's most chaotic state--not that the Bush administration will get any credit from the press for taking such bold action. No, instead the New York Times has seemed to lament the exit of Somalia's Islamists: "The Islamists, using Islam as a bridge, did a better job than any recent authority to unite warring clans. But their military was no match for the better-trained, better-equipped Ethiopian-led troops, and now that the Islamists are gone, many fear a return to clan mayhem."

PS--My favorite quote from the above referenced article comes from Abdullahi Jama Ali, who the Times describes as "once part of an underground Islamist group": "The Islamic religion is like an ocean, everyone can swim where he likes." Ah, yes...those Islamists are so progressive.