The AP headline says that Ethiopia is set to "invade" Somalia, but since the troops are going there at the request of the shaky Somalian interim government, that word doesn't apply. The Islamic "militia" that controls Southern Somalia is threatening to take the city that houses the interim government.
The militiamen, who hold most of southern Somalia, deployed hundreds of fighters outside the town where the largely powerless government is based and said they planned to seize it.
"We have the responsibility to defend the border and the Somali government. We will crush them," Ethiopia's Minister of Information, Berhan Hailu, told The Associated Press.
Seizing the town of Baidoa would give the Islamic militia — which the United States has linked to al-Qaida — the uncontested authority over most of Somalia.
Somali transitional President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed is allied with Ethiopia, and has asked for its support. Ethiopia has intervened militarily in Somalia in the past, and hundreds of Ethiopian troops have been spotted along the countries' border in recent weeks.
The Islamic "militia" has already shown the world what reasonable people they are by killing Somalis who watched World Cup soccer.
