same patterns of early democratic Western Europe and colonial North America, where state-building relied upon courts, and judges invoking will of God. He also notes that, "In using religion to build stability, the Shari‘a courts bear striking parallels to those courts that played an influential role in the early development of democratic states." While many Somalis voiced disapproval of the more fundamentalist ways of the original Shari'a courts, most felt that they were well organized and effective civil administrators. Top UN officials have referred to this period as a 'Golden era''' in the history of Somali politics. The courts would go on to create a coast guard to combat the growing phenomena of piracy in Somalia, and were able to successfully curb its rise during their rule. When the Transitional National Government of Somalia was established in Djibouti during the spring of 2000 the momentum of the ICU was slowed. It would not return until it was revived in 2004 by Sharif Sheikh Ahmed who was subsequently elected as chairman of the ICU. Rise of the Transitional Federal Government Following the failure of the Transitional National Government of Somalia established in 2000, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) led by Abdullahi Yusuf was formed in 2004. Yusuf was a previous close ally of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian government in return strongly backed his leadership. Its backing of Yusuf reported to be instrumental in his victory for the TFG leadership during the election held in Kenya. The TFG operated entirely outside of Somalia due to instability in Mogadishu and consequently was criticized by Somali citizens and international community. At the time the TFG was only recognized by Kenya and Ethiopia, as the European Union, the United States and other members of the international community refused to fully recognize the TFG's legitimacy until it operated from Mogadishu. To counter this, the TFG moved into Somalia for the first time in 2005, eventually setting up its headquarters south west of Mogadishu in Baidoa. The ICU becomes a target of the War on Terror The Bush administration had become increasingly concerned with the growing power of the Islamic Courts Union, and feared that they would make Somalia a haven for Al-Qaeda to plan attacks from, like in Afghanistan. The Americans would go on to approve funding for the Somali warlords and actively encourage them to counter the ICU, a decision made by top officials in