____________________________________________________________________________ Comprehensive Regional Strategy on Somalia: A Strategy for U. S. Engagement Report to Congress February 2007 Report on U. S. Strategy Towards Somalia This report is submitted consistent with the requirement in the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2007 (P.L.109-364), that the President will submit a report on a comprehensive regional strategy toward Somalia within the context of United States policy and activities in the countries in the Horn of Africa and other relevant countries in the Arabian Peninsula. U.S. Policy towards Somalia For the first time in more than a dozen years, Somalis may have a real opportunity to rebuild their country and restore effective and representative central institutions of governance. The United States is actively and purposefully working to help Somalis seize this opportunity. In January 2007, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jendayi E. Frazer, and other U.S. officials held consultations with Somalis and other regional leaders in Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Yemen in support of broader efforts to achieve lasting stability in Somalia. A key theme to emerge from these consultations was that Somalis are tired of war and ready for peace. The international community has signaled its support for the Somali people through the work of the International Contact Group on Somalia, the African Union, and the United Nations to assist in achieving a peaceful, stable, and inclusive Somalia. Although the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), the components of which are known as the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFls), are not yet ready to stand entirely on their own, they offer a promising, though nascent way forward for Somalia. U.S. foreign policy objectives in Somalia are to eliminate the terrorist threat and promote political stability by supporting the establishment of a functioning central government, and to address the...