Kenya War: Counting the cost of the Somalia conflict
Kenya faces high costs in order to keep troops in Somalia. Here, militia allied with the Federal Government of Somalia and Kenyan Defense Force soldiers walk through a charcoal loading area in Burgabo, Southern Somalia on December 14, 2011. Burgabo is a Somalian port village which has been secured by Kenyan forces as they advance further up the Somali coastline in search of Al Shabaab fighters.
NAIROBI, Kenya — War is a costly business, especially if you don't have a booming arms industry of your own, and Kenya chose to invade Somalia as the shilling was plummeting and the cost of daily life was soaring.
So how to continue funding this military foray into Somalia's seemingly endless conflict? The smart answer is to "re-hat" as African Union soldiers under the banner of AMISOM, the AU Mission in Somalia, because that way the cost of Kenya's invasion will be carried by the UN and Western donors who fund the Ugandan, Burundian and Djiboutian troops currently in Mogadishu.