as they took the country. They were seen as being the only faction capable of bringing peace and order. Then the US decided to let its proxy Ethipia ( the traditional enemy of the Somalis) go in and restore a governmetn wothout one iota of support bar the Ethiopian military and a few thugs. A doomed policy if evere there was one.
Maybe the Islamic Courts were not to our taste although there was a large moderate wing but the locals wanted them. Sometimes when talking of peace the locals know a lot more about what will bring it than a bunch of neo-cons many a mile away and completley out of touch with reality.