Feingold Faults Bush Policy On Somalia

[jefferson_dem]

Feingold Faults Bush Policy On Somalia
(AP) WASHINGTON

Returning from a trip to Africa, Sen. Russ Feingold faulted the Bush administration for what he called a failure to develop a policy on Somalia, even as the Wisconsin Democrat praised U.S. efforts to combat AIDS on the continent.

Feingold, who will chair the Senate Foreign Relations African Affairs subcommittee next year, visited Ethiopia and Kenya, two countries that neighbor Somalia, during his weeklong trip. An Islamic militia has taken over much of Somalia, including the capital, and the country's prime minister said this week his troops were bracing for war.

"The stakes are very high for us," Feingold said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

<SNIP>

"So this is just the kind of situation that we should be paying real attention to, instead of only obsessing about Iraq," Feingold said. "Our failure to have a policy in this area is a threat to the American people, and our government has a very serious responsibility to turn this around."

<SNIP>

"Somalis feel that the administration hasn't done anything on the Somali issue," Jamal said. "The administration's main focus was the war on terror, and right in front of our eyes, Somalia is run over by Taliban-style extremists. The administration hasn't done squat."

<SNIP>

http://wfrv.com/topstories/local_story_339175048.html