^^I doubt it! The capture of Koojaar, if true, is certainly gonna make the stakes even higher! Don’t get surprised if you see Ethiopian tanks in the city again.

Waxaa la yiri nin cad naagtaada uga baq, nin madoobana naftaada ! Here Bishaaro & Abraar waxay ku leeyihiin niman quraysh u ekeyn lalama hadlo! War illeen ibtilo, hadday tooda ahaan lahayd aniga iyo raggaan ku jiro lalama kalaameen oo godkoodaa kuttaan ku cunni lahayd . Laakiin Allah baan leenahay. On a serious note though this talk about qurux is just meaningless for if we were only marrying for qurux we would all be marrying other races. There is a lot more than that to establishing family...

Castro, I don’t know which one is the bigger fool here: America & Israel who blind themselves from the reality that’s Hamas, or the European Union & Canada who follow America’s failed policies in this region. Hamas and Hezbollah are popular because they stand something that’s tangible and oppose something that’s real. They stand for justice and oppose oppression and occupation. No initiative, not matter how well funded, can beat that. That’s really it.

^^When you dont know what you are doing, Just Dont Do It! Indeed. In most cases though people do know what they doing but succumb to their lowly desires. They understand their acts contradict Allah’s directives but in the false hope of repenting it later, a deadly delusion itself, they proceed with it anyway. [edit]One approach is what Ibnu Qayim suggested in his a-Daa wa Dawaa: fight the wicked thought in its most delicate stage (inception) and before it materializes and becomes a regrettable act. You see people don’t just commit crimes and indulge sinful activities; there is a thought process that precedes it. That’s where you need to focus your efforts, resisting the thought itself in weighing its consequences, worldly or otherwise. It does really work, and it’s intellectually stimulating in many ways. I recommend that book for every Muslim who’s able to read Arabic (is it available in English?) You see where ever you go in NA you are exposed to enticing goods. In swimming pools, at lakes, in shopping malls, and even at the coffee shops, summer in the west somehow creates an environment where we could easily be tempted. Most places become laden with landmines of fitnah. You can’t just avoid it. Instead you need to learn how to dismantle it and pass through it unharmed. That’s an intellectual level: debating with your low self and reasoning with it before you give in to its probable unwise choices. Of course Haddaad celin weydo fikirkaaga xun ooy naftu kaa adkaato all is not lost. You can still salvage yourself and, by following a set of steps, come to your senses again. But that’s another topic, now the good brother is talking about prevention strategies. Thanks much yaa Nur. We do have a real need for such topics like this one. It’s timely and it will IA benefit us all.

When every thing else fails, they resort shutting the city down miyyaa?

^^Duke, why your tfg is quite about this adeer? Is it a strategy, or a sign of hesitation to avoid stirring things up and consequently causing more unrest in the region? Afgaduud was demoted by some media accounts yet he seems to be present there. The admin was dead silent since it was expelled. What went wrong? I am just wondering why the tfg and its Ethiopian helpers could not persuade these boys to quit fighting instead of subjecting an all out war to Kismayo's populace, as it seems to be! I some how assumed that they wanted this region to be quite so they can concentrate more pressing issues in Xamar. ps--last time I checked you was an insider, so fill us in! I think they put Emperror in the doghouse for good .

^^Daqarka kugu dhacay buu ka naxay yaa jb ! lol@Castro. You see, jbs of SOL are not adequately equipped to understand Ethiopia’s game with Somalis. Emotion is getting in the way. He's arguing for Ethiopia’s friendship while others admit Ethiopia's recent behavior was quite humiliating and embarrassing to Somaliland leaders. I think boys on the top of this project understand where their cooperation with Ethiopia led them--- to a dead-end. A mere public awkward incident, however embarrassing, could not fully explain the hostile pronouncements Somaliland government issued against Ethiopia’s national Airline. The misgivings are much deeper than this, and I am glad some significant leaders in Somaliland’s circle of power are beginning to recognize it. It’s a good first step; one needs to firstly identify the problem before devising a solution for it.

Somalia is a well funded project, and Ethiopia is milking it to the fullest extent it can.

Blame the Courts. Always.

This should not come as a surprise to anyone!

Bishaaro, on women, Ali Sugule, i believe it was him, said: Dumarku waa boqol jaadoo Basarida aan dharka mayrin iyo Baalidaa u wanaagsan I dont know what he siad about men, but he said the following on thier friend , the qaad. Qaadku waa boqol noocoo Midka baarka la goostay Iyo bayrixaaga u wanaagsan And if i were to compose a gabay on this matter i would said the following: Raggu waa boqol noocoo Midka beesada haysta iyo biid iska yeelka Dhoorre aan basar layn Iyo badowgaa u wanaagsan ! Bal ka taliya yaa Jamaacah!

^^I dont know him. But apparently he's a full time tfger who happily rode on one of Ethiopia's tanks to Kismayo in last war!

^^It’s really silly is it not yaa Che to take contradictory stances. That’s exactly what this particular team did. On a one hand it says it supports the tfg with its Ethiopian package, and calls itself G-3aad. On the other hand, it voids all the things this entity did in Kismayo and challenges it. That’s confusion in the first order adeer.

So we-are-for-the-tfg-if-Kismayo-is-given-to-us team is beginning to rock miyyaa ?

ThePoint, I thought that was the only point worth commenting. Whether Geedi orders his cabinet to observe certain protocols is irrelevant.

Tfg is a weak entity. Structurally, it’s based on clan loyalty. Militarily, it’s completely reliant on Ethiopia’s presence. Financially, it’s bankrupt---it has no source of revenue other than the occasional handouts from some donors. Add that to the utter incompetence its top dogs have shown, and you are left with a desperate entity that could collapse anytime. Internal conflict is the default order for weak groupings---and Tfg is no exception here. But if you are just interested in the survival of a specific man within this group, you really don’t care what internal conflict is there as long that person survives. You will have to just praise the new team, and present credible critique (if you’re capable that is) for the ones that fell out of favor with your man to justify their absence.

Originally posted by Jacaylbaro: it is not going to upset the relationship as you wish but it is just to tighten it more ,,,, one step backward to take two steps forward Where does this fiasco stand now yaa JB? Did it tighten the said relationship or loosen it?

A great vedeo indeed! Allow u hiili~~

Inkastoo hungo jirto, oo rag badan oo waqti badan ka galay sidii Amxaarada dalka loo keeni lahaa ay maanta wixii ay rabeen waayeen, haddana runtu waxay tahay in cidda wax ka ba’een aysan ahayn reer qura iyo warlordyadood (waa sida ninka maqaalkan qoray uu rabo inuu wax u dhigo e) ee ay soomaali tahay. What A. Yusuf, Geedi, Gacmadheere, M Dheere, Aydiid, and other visible members of this entity share in common is not qabiil, rather it’s the greed of being in power regardless of how and at what cost! Fahamka saxdaa waa kaa. Wixii kasoo haraa waa talac-talac!

^^And the source is?

GG, really? You are not credible adeer. I mean I don’t believe you are abstaining to participate in this thread for the reasons you stated. NG was quite duplicitous too there. Here is a great article on one of America's premier News paperes detailing Ethiopia’s brutalities in that region. It could be the case that most of the things maintioned were known to you, or to NG, before. But one would think the fact that American people are exposed to such a blatant cruelty funded by their admin should be good enough for one to share his/her take on it, and at least discuss the potential congressional oversight it could unravel on DoB’s spendings!

Originally posted by Jacaylbaro: Does it hurt to say we have a good relationship with Ethiopia ??? Depends who’s saying it. Somaliland, as many Somali regions are, is squarely in Ethiopia’s sphere of influence. Thusly the relationship between the two can’t be characterized as friendly or mutual for they are no equals. To say Somaliland is Ethiopia’s friend, though not a crime unto itself, comes across as a bit gullible---to say the least. Don’t be so naïve saaxiib in believing a few desperate secessionist activists will use Ethiopia to attain their independence goal. The ban, regardless of whoever initiated it, is a good move to upset this (friendly ) relationship!

^^Unity is the key word here yaa peacenow!

June 18, 2007 In Ethiopia, Fear and Cries of Army Brutality By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN IN THE ****** DESERT, Ethiopia — The rebels march 300 strong across the crunchy earth, young men with dreadlocks and AK-47s slung over their shoulders. Often when they pass through a village, the entire village lines up, one sunken cheekbone to the next, to squint at them. “May God bring you victory,” one woman whispered. This is the ******, a spindle-legged corner of Ethiopia that the urbane officials in Addis Ababa, the capital, would rather outsiders never see. It is the epicenter of a separatist war pitting impoverished nomads against one of the biggest armies in Africa. What goes on here seems to be starkly different from the carefully constructed up-and-coming image that Ethiopia — a country that the United States increasingly relies on to fight militant Islam in the Horn of Africa — tries to project. In village after village, people said they had been brutalized by government troops. They described a widespread and longstanding reign of terror, with Ethiopian soldiers gang-raping women, burning down huts and killing civilians at will. It is the same military that the American government helps train and equip — and provides with prized intelligence. The two nations have been allies for years, but recently they have grown especially close, teaming up last winter to oust an Islamic movement that controlled much of Somalia and rid the region of a potential terrorist threat. The Bush administration, particularly the military, considers Ethiopia its best bet in the volatile Horn — which, with Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea, is fast becoming intensely violent, virulently anti-American and an incubator for terrorism. But an emerging concern for American officials is the way that the Ethiopian military operates inside its own borders, especially in war zones like the ******. Anab, a 40-year-old camel herder who was too frightened, like many others, to give her last name, said soldiers took her to a police station, put her in a cell and twisted her nipples with pliers. She said government security forces routinely rounded up young women under the pretext that they were rebel supporters so they could bring them to jail and rape them. “Me, I am old,” she said, “but they raped me, too.” Moualin, a rheumy-eyed elder, said Ethiopian troops stormed his village, Sasabene, in January looking for rebels and burned much of it down. “They hit us in the face with the hardest part of their guns,” he said. The villagers said the abuses had intensified since April, when the rebels attacked a Chinese-run oil field, killing nine Chinese workers and more than 60 Ethiopian soldiers and employees. The Ethiopian government has vowed to crush the rebels but rejects all claims that it abuses civilians. “Our soldiers are not allowed to do these kinds of things,” said Nur Abdi Mohammed, a government spokesman. “This is only propaganda and cannot be justified. If a government soldier did this type of thing they would be brought before the courts.” Even so, the State Department, the European Parliament and many human rights groups, mostly outside Ethiopia, have cited thousands of cases of torture, arbitrary detention and extrajudicial killings — enough to raise questions in Congress about American support of the Ethiopian government. “This is a country that is abusing its own people and has no respect for democracy,” said Representative Donald M. Payne, Democrat of New Jersey and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa and global health. “We’ve not only looked the other way but we’ve pushed them to intrude in other sovereign nations,” he added, referring to the satellite images and other strategic help the American military gave Ethiopia in December, when thousands of Ethiopian troops poured into Somalia and overthrew the Islamist leadership. According to Georgette Gagnon, deputy director for the Africa division of Human Rights Watch, Ethiopia is one of the most repressive countries in Africa. “What the Ethiopian security forces are doing,” she said, “may amount to crimes against humanity.” Human Rights Watch issued a report in 2005 that documented a rampage by government troops against members of the Anuak, a minority tribe in western Ethiopia, in which soldiers ransacked homes, beat villagers to death with iron bars and in one case, according to a witness, tied up a prisoner and ran over him with a military truck. After the report came out, the researcher who wrote it was banned by the Ethiopian government from returning to the country. Similarly, three New York Times journalists who visited the ****** to cover this story were imprisoned for five days and had all their equipment confiscated before being released without charges. Ethiopia’s Tiananmen Square In many ways, Ethiopia has a lot going for it these days: new buildings, new roads, low crime and a booming trade in cut flowers and coffee. It is the second most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa, behind Nigeria, with 77 million people. Its leaders, many whom were once rebels themselves, from a neglected patch of northern Ethiopia, are widely known as some of the savviest officials on the continent. They had promised to let some air into a very stultified political system during the national elections of 2005, which were billed as a milestone on the road to democracy. Instead, they turned into Ethiopia’s version of Tiananmen Square. With the opposition poised to win a record number of seats in Parliament, the government cracked down brutally, opening fire on demonstrators, rounding up tens of thousands of opposition supporters and students and leveling charges of treason and even attempted to kill top opposition leaders, including the man elected mayor of Addis Ababa. Many opposition members are now in jail or in exile. The rest seem demoralized. “There are no real steps toward democracy,” said Merera Gudina, vice president of the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces, a leading opposition party. “No real steps toward opening up space, no real steps toward ending repression.” Ethiopian officials have routinely dismissed such complaints, accusing political protesters of stoking civil unrest and poking their finger into a well-known sore spot. Ethiopia has always had an authoritarian streak. This is a country, after all, where until the 1970s rulers claimed to be direct descendants of King Solomon. It is big, poor, famine-stricken, about half-Christian and half-Muslim, surrounded by hostile enemies and full of heavily armed separatist factions. As one high-ranking Ethiopian official put it, “This country has never been easy to rule.” That has certainly been true for the ****** desert, a huge, dagger-shaped chunk of territory between the highlands of Ethiopia and the border of Somalia. The people here are mostly ethnic Somalis, and they have been chafing against Ethiopian rule since 1897, when the British ceded their claims to the area. The colonial officials did not think the ****** was worth much. They saw thorny hills and thirsty people. Even today, it is still like that. What passes for a town is a huddle of bubble-shaped huts, the movable homes of camel-thwacking nomads who somehow survive out here. For roads, picture Tonka truck tracks running through a sandbox. The primary elements in this world are skin and bone and sun and rock. And guns. Loads of them. Camel herders carry rifles to protect their animals. Young women carry pistols to protect their bodies. And then there is the ****** National Liberation Front, the machine-gun-toting rebels fighting for control of this desiccated wasteland. Rebels Live Off the Land Lion. Radio. Fearless. Peacock. Most of the men have nicknames that conceal their real identities. Peacock, who spoke some English, served as a guide. He shared the bitter little plums the soldiers pick from thorn bushes — “****** chocolate,” he called them. He showed the way to gently skim water from the top of a mud puddle to minimize the amount of dirt that ends up in your stomach — even in the rainy season this is all there is to drink. He pointed out the anthills, the coming storm clouds, the especially ruthless thorn trees and even a graveyard that stood incongruously in the middle of the desert. The graves — crude pyramids of stones — were from the war in 1977-78, when Somalia tried, disastrously, to pry the ****** out of Ethiopia’s hands and lost thousands of men. “It’s up to us now,” Peacock said. Peacock was typical of the rebels. He was driven by anger. He said Ethiopian soldiers hanged his mother, raped his sister and beat his father. “I know, it’s hard to believe,” he said. “But it’s true.” He had the hunch of a broken man and a voice that seemed far too tired for his 28 years. “It’s not that I like living in the bush,” he said. “But I have nowhere else to go.” The armed resistance began in 1994, after the ****** National Liberation Front, then a political organization, broached the idea of splitting off from Ethiopia. The central government responded by imprisoning ******i leaders, and according to academics and human rights groups, assassinating others. The ****** is part of the Somali National Regional State, one of nine ethnic-based states within Ethiopia’s unusual ethnic-based federal system. On paper, all states have the right to secede, if they follow the proper procedures. But it seemed that the government feared that if the Somalis broke away, so too would the Oromos, the Afar and many other ethnic groups pining for a country of their own. The Ethiopian government calls the ****** rebels terrorists and says they are armed and trained by Eritrea, Ethiopia’s neighbor and bitter enemy. One of the reasons Ethiopia decided to invade Somalia was to prevent the rebels from using it as a base. The government blames them for a string of recent bombings and assassinations and says they often single out rival clan members. Ethiopian officials have been pressuring the State Department to add the ****** National Liberation Front to its list of designated foreign terrorist organizations. Until recently, American officials refused, saying the rebels had not threatened civilians or American interests. “But after the oil field attack in April,” said one American official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, “we are reassessing that.” American policy toward Ethiopia seems to be in flux. Administration officials are trying to increase the amount of nonhumanitarian aid to Ethiopia to $481 million next year, from $284 million this year. But key Democrats in Congress, including Mr. Payne, are questioning this, saying that because of Ethiopia’s human rights record, it is time to stop writing the country a blank check. In April, European Commission officials began investigating Ethiopia for war crimes in connection to hundreds of Somali civilians killed by Ethiopian troops during heavy fighting in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital. Women Are Suffering the Most In the ******, it is not clear how many people are dying. The vast area is essentially a no-go zone for most human rights workers and journalists and where the Ethiopian military, by its own admission, is waging an intense counterinsurgency campaign. The violence has been particularly acute against women, villagers said, and many have recently fled. Asma, 19, who now lives in neighboring Somaliland, said she was stuck in an underground cell for more than six months last year, raped and tortured. “They beat me on the feet and breasts,” she said. She was freed only after her father paid the soldiers ransom, she said, though she did not know how much. Ambaro, 25, now living in Addis Ababa, said she was gang-raped by five Ethiopian soldiers in January near the town of Fik. She said troops came to her village every night to pluck another young woman. “I’m in pain now, all over my body,” she said. “ I’m worried that I’ll become crazy because of what happened.” Many ****** villagers said that when they tried to bring up abuses with clan chiefs or local authorities, they were told it was better to keep quiet. The rebels said thats was precisely why they attacked the Chinese oil field: to get publicity for their cause and the plight of their region (and to discourage foreign companies from exploiting local resources). According to them, they strike freely in the ****** all the time, ambushing military convoys and raiding police stations. Mr. Mohammed, the government spokesman, denied that, saying the rebels “will not confront Ethiopian military forces because they are not well trained.” Expert or not, they are determined. They march for hours powered by a few handfuls of rice. They travel extremely light, carrying only their guns, two clips of bullets, a grenade and a tarp. They brag about how many Ethiopians they have killed, and every piece of their camouflage, they say, is pulled off dead soldiers. They joke about slaughtering Ethiopian troops the same way they slaughter goats. Their morale seems high, especially for men who sleep in the dirt every night. Their throats are constantly dry, but they like to sing. “A camel is delivering a baby today and the milk of the camel is coming,” goes one campfire song. “Who is the owner of this land?” Will Connors contributed reporting from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

^^^Those qad merchants were loud in their protests and quite violent at times, yet small in numbers they were. They did not represent Kismayo’s silent majority. The city has in fact begun to flourish in that short period. And as the article above described, people generally welcomed Court’s men. Business men who were burdened by the heavy and unfair baad imposed by the moryaanis felt relieved. Even Kismayo’s men started to enlist with the Courts when the fateful days of Ethiopia’s invasion started to unfold… So pictures of a minority group, nostalgic of the warlord era, does indeed fail to capture the cheerful feelings of the general public in Court’s days in Kismayo. Ku dur-duri...