Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed told the Associated Press last month that the U.S. is aiding warlords in his country, and that the U.S. backing of these faction leaders is undermining his government’s authority.

Yusuf stated that the backing of The Alliance, by the U.S. is intended to prevent Al Qaeda militants from using the country as a safe haven.

The Alliance for Peace and the Fight against International Terrorism or The Alliance is made up of warlords and government ministers, many of whom hold positions in the Somali transitional government, was formed in February to fight against the control and ideologies of the Islamic courts, which are gaining more and more control of the region.

Yusuf said in his statement, “These groups, they really do not want Somalia to become a stabilized country. They do not want the government to function,” he also added “The Americans should cooperate with his government rather than with warlord factions in fighting terrorism.”

The U.S. administration admits that it is concerned that Mogadishu’s Islamic Courts could help harbor Islamic militants; however it denies any direct support of faction leaders.

Sean McCormack, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said, “Our other operating principal is to work with responsible individuals, and certainly members of the transitional [Somali] government, in fighting terror. It’s a real concern of ours, terror taking root in the Horn of Africa. We don’t want to see another safe haven for terrorists created.”

However sources, both in the Kenyan Security Agencies and the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, said that in February, the same month that The Alliance was formed, former CIA director Porter Goss was in Kenya strategizing on how to fight Al Qaeda in Somalia.

These sources also stated that the director’s visit was followed by CIA and FBI agents visiting Mogadishu, where selected warlords were given over 1 million dollars to help in identifying and arresting suspected Al Qaeda operatives.

If true, this is in direct opposition to the Bush administration’s own stated policy of promoting stability in the country, since not only is the U.S. funding of The Alliance hindering the government’s efforts to bring peace to the region, it is inadvertently bolstering the Islamic Courts popularity.

This is because the courts have earned some respect locally for bringing a semblance of order in areas under their control, something that the faction leaders were unable or unwilling to do in the past. Those being the same faction leaders the U.S. is now suspected of financing.

On May 7, 2006 fighting broke out in the Somali Capital of Mogadishu, the culmination of months of violence. The fighting is taking a heavy toll on the Mogadishu residents. Many have stated that the past three months of violence has been the worst they have seen for over 10 years. More than 200 people have died and over 1070 have been wounded. The majority of these victims are civilians.

Many place blame for the mounting casualties on The Alliance’s use of questionable tactics, such as the random mortar shelling of populated areas. There have also been cases of stealing and looting by Alliance troops.

This is not helping the Alliance garner local support in its battle against the courts and is furthering negative views towards the U.S. for suspicions of backing them.

Despite the denials, it does seems to follow a long U.S. tradition of undermining foreign governments for its own selfish goals and is certainly not the first time the U.S. has funded a destructive and single minded rebel faction to do its dirty work.

History will tell! However in the meantime the Somali people are the ones to bare the suffering.