Moqadishu did fall to the courts, and so did nearly all of the south apart from
border towns manned by Ethiopian troops.
They reached Puntlands border as well and this was red line for Ethiopia as Puntland was a client, all of Ethiopias clients were defeated by the courts.
The situation was so dire that Puntlands leadership were playing both sides to survive. Sending a delegation to the courts promising to join them.( Several Puntland clans opened their own courts were allied to the courts)
Puntland also send a delegation to the Ethiopians begging for an intervention.
Somaliland remained aloof and confident in its millitary superiorty, having more men under arms and heavier equipment like T-55's and APC's/IFV's.
The problem was that Burco, Somalilands second city was the spiritual home of Somalias islamists, and was already under shariah law, and 2/3 of Somalilands
armed forces and the most heavily armed clans have islamist sympathies,
so it would not have come to a war, but a quick victory for the courts as large parts of the country joined willingly.
We all know what happened the courts rhetoric spooked the US, and they gave the green light for the Ethiopian invasion, and an estimated $200-$400 million alloted for food aid, that was spent on Chinese and North Korean weapons.
The courts were defeated and a fringe faction, that was suppressed by the courts called alshabab came to the fore.
Now the courts with their traditional islam and anarchistic loose organization were ideal for somalis, and most somalis took to them like fish to water.
But alshabab are so creepy, they freakout most somalis who see them us unnatural and foriegn.
These are the guys that Ayman alzawahiri, tried to stop from joining alqaeda, and then later after they joined, he publicly admonished them for being too extreme, and told them be more gentle.
No kidding videos are available on Youtube.
Thank you Ethiopia, and Thanks to the lowly bureaucrat in the US state department that authorized this.