Formation of Islamic Court Union

On December 25, 2006, the Ethiopian Peoples' Defense Force (EPDF)accompanied by troops from the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), andenabled by U.S. Special Forces, invaded southern Somalia intent on destroying the Union

of Islamic Courts (UIC). 2 The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, declared,"Ethiopian defense forces were forced to enter into war to protect the sovereignty of[Ethiopia]... we are not trying to set up a government for Somalia, nor do we have anintention to meddle in Somalia's internal affairs. We have only been forced by thecircumstances."3 The goal of the invasion was to destroy terrorist base camps in Somaliaas well as liberate Somalia from what they described as the "Taliban of Somalia,"4 and toensure the TFG was installed as the sovereign of Somalia, following the age old Clausewitzian adage that "war is a continuation of politics by other means."5 However, the invasion also threw Somalia back into chaos, and the peacekeeping forces actingunder an African Union (AU) mandate maintains tenuous control over Mogadishu to this

day