With the latest invasion by Ethiopian forces, the US has yet another proxy force on the ground in Somalia, fighting against the al-Shabaab militant faction, which itself exists primarily in response to foreign invasions.

Between the US-subsidized “transitional” government. the African Union forces, Ethiopia and the Kenyan invasion force, the US has several proxies in this fight, and has pumped more than half a billion dollars into funding the assorted armies since 2007.

That cost is likely to rise considerably, and the Obama Administration is also intensifying its direct involvement in the nation, with more drones deployed in the campaign and additional air strikes likely.

US meddling in Somalia is a tradition which dates back for decades, but with ever increasing numbers of foreign troops in the nation, all of them at least partially on the US dime, it seems that meddling is getting worse by the year, and accomplishing very little.