… where militias organized around the Islamic Sharia courts have apparently routed the loose alliance warlords (which was said to have had the silent backing of the U.S.). The New York Times has the details. With all eyes on Iraq, Iran and the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, Somalia has slipped through the cracks of public attention. But, as we know from experience, al Qaeda is much more effective when it has safe haven in an official Sunni Muslim state (see, e.g., Sudan and Afghanistan). Now, once again, it may very well have one. To say this is a worrisome development is to vastly underestimate what a peril this could be.