The grip of the Islamist group Al Shabab tightens on Somalia. Most radio stations in Somalia have stopped playing music, on the orders of Islamist Hizbul-Islam insurgents who say that songs are un-Islamic. The stations said they had to comply with the ban as if they did not, they would be putting their lives at…

The total deterioration of Somalia continues – with plowshares turned into swords: Their shrines were being destroyed. Their imams were being murdered. Their tolerant beliefs were under withering attack. So the moderate Sufi scholars recently did what so many other men have chosen to do in anarchic Somalia: they picked up guns and entered the…

Everyone is talking about pirates, and it’s not even September 19th yet! Last Sunday’s dramatic rescue of the captain of the Maersk Alabama was just the latest chapter in a saga that as far as the public attention span is concerned, really began in November when those scrappy entrepreneurs hit the motherlode – a Saudi supertanker carrying $100…

Guest post by G. Willow Wilson. Over at TalkIslam, we’ve been having an ongoing debate about the merits of liberal military intervention around the world. The debate was sparked by an entry about the Shabab Islamist group, which is growing in power and influence in Somalia. A condensed version follows: Tariq Nelson: I hope that…

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