U.S. Official In Somalia Re-Assigned After Speaking Up

This Administration really doesn't like people who have their own views. Just like we have seen here with officials that speak out, a U.S. official in Somalia has been re-assigned after speaking out against our policies. It appears that Michael Zorick, a Somali political affairs officer, was re-assigned to the Embassy in Chad after he criticized payments to warloads.

(Reuters)The move exposes a rift inside the U.S. government on how to handle Somalia -- whether efforts to build peace should come before counter-terrorism -- and the effect Washington's perceived role has had in inflaming fighting there.

Zorichk's main concern was in trying to establish a new government, in which he says paying warlords to fight a handful of terrorists undermines the new government.

WASHINGTON'S WARLORDS?

Analysts say Washington's widely believed links with the warlords have had the contrary effect of rallying Islamist groups and increasing support for them among Somalis, who are not usually strong supporters of radical Islam.

The analysts say it has also strengthened the influential Mogadishu Sharia courts -- which have brought a semblance of order to parts of the lawless country -- against the interim government.

The diplomats said Zorick opposed a U.S. intelligence plan to capture a handful of al Qaeda suspects believed to be in Somalia, by paying warlords there -- among them ministers in the government -- to hunt them down.