Confessions of a News Junkie

Among the transitioning governments in Africa, Somalia continues its internal struggles to facilitate international aid for two main reasons: Somalia has been without a central government since 1991 and pledged peacekeepers and donations and democracy building programs yield little progress. Although Ethiopian forces have attempted to kill insurgent Islamic forces since December 2006, their goals don't extend beyond expelling a radical Islamic government and they are withdrawing their troops from the capital, Mogadishu. Unfortunately the government consists of Islamic clan leaders and an interim president which demonstrated few, if any initiatives to create democratic elections.
Although the government has had success convincing disarmament of some Islamic clans, the African Union peacekeepers and international financial assistance have not arrived to build and maintain human security initiatives.
The United States is involved in the state's affairs through military movements to contain and expel Al-Qaeda radicals and it is currently operating from bases in Ethiopia.

More info:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/world/africa/21somaliaq.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/23/world/africa/23somalia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin