|
|
Article: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.(International)
- Article from:
- Newsweek
- Article date:
- October 12, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved. Any reuse, distribution or alteration without express written permission of Newsweek is prohibited. For permission: www.newsweek.com. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
How Somalia's legendary 'Mad Mullah' prefigured the rise of Osama bin Laden--and the 'forever war' between Islam and the West.
At Dul Madoba, which means black Hill in Somali, a jihadist known to his enemies as the Mad Mullah enjoyed a great victory in 1913. It is a place and a moment of legend in these parts, but the site remains as it was, a wilderness of thorn bushes and termite mounds. No heroic memorial marks the spot. No restored ruin, no sturdy plinth holding up a statue. The place is venerated in other ways.
Every Somali with an education knows what happened here, back when the area was a protectorate ruled by British authorities. Some have ...