[ZenGum]

The thing I am most torn about is that the group the Ethiopians knocked over was the Union of Islamic Courts.
Just like the Talliban in Afghanistan, the UIC had finally brought something resembling order to a country that had had violent anarchy for over a decade. The worst fighting had eased, food aid was able to move, they even managed to largely suppress piracy. These gains have since been lost.
On the other hand they are a bunch of religious fundamentalist whackos who believe that the answers to everything are in (their extreme interpretation of) one book, who made ordinary people's lives miserable (although - at least they had lives) and would probably have tolerated, if not sponsored, terrorists.