Why do you need to know my age?

I think the Americans don't really care at this point. But we could witness a "fall of Saigon" moment in Afghanistan if the Taliban besiege the capital Kabul.

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From my analysis of the Somali conflict from 1977-1991 only one group are truly responsible for the destruction of the country that was formed on 1st July 1960 called Somalia. The one clan that had total power and exercised all power against those that raised opposition against the military government was the *** clan. Had they stood up and said what Muhammed Said Barre was doing is wrong and as a result should be removed from power I believe Somalia would exist today. The *** clan's actions told other Somali clans that it is ok to support your clan at all cost .In fact this message goes even deeper by saying there is no other way for you to live other than living in a clan enclave and not a nation state. I believe everything that happened from 1977 onwards was a reaction to this governments human right abuses and the *** refusal to condemn and oppose such evil. This decision brought about the destruction of the Somali state and its cultural fabric (what little it had to begin with) and explains why we as Somalis cannot work together in the 21st century today. Which also explains why there was such hostiles to the *** during the rebel wars and why the USC turned on the *** citizens in Mogadishu after the fall of Barre in 1991. This was not simply a fight between rebel groups but a deeper and more sinister conflict that Somalis were not ready for and I don't believe even the *** realised how huge their error was and misjudge the anger towards them. This lack of character doomed the Somali people and the nation called Somalia. I don't hate any clan but from my research the *** clan had the power and means to save Somalia from total destruction. Farmaajo is another leader linked to the kacaan era leaders who resided in Washington when the civil war was raging back home. Somalia needs leaders who can speak the truth to the people as the citizens are suffering from many types of traumas. The healing cannot begin until this topic is discussed out in the open and analysed by the people. Note: I do not mean to break forum rules by mentioning clan names but I had no choice but to, in order to make sense.

Somaliland is ruled by one sub clan allied with another of the same clan. Power is shared between the various sub clans of the main clan head. The political parties are just window dressing for the obvious clan supremacy within Somaliland. Even in this state Somalis are unable to coexist without conflict.

The Art of Logic by Eugenia Cheng is a very good book. If you have 50 minutes to spare her google talk goes into detail how clear thinking can change outcomes.

Somalis need a new culture and a better way of life. A functioning state would come but not before cleaning up the mess called Somali culture.

This Xeer system was not strong enough to withstand the crises Somalis faced. If a system requires the good will of its participants then it is not a system at all. Somalis need a strict code that works in every situation including when in the west otherwise people will do what they want without concern. There also has to be a penalty with those that break the code not capital punishment but a societal shunning of said individual as people recognise this is not Somali behaviour. This would keep Somali character clean and free from poison that tends to destroy trust. Our values have to be best on logic or otherwise we will fall into muddled thinking and emotional blackmail...clan kin asking you to join a fight because it is "right" but who can say if it is going to lead to a constructive outcome...only logic can determine that fact and not emotions. Imagine if Aideed's clan rallied against him and Ali Mehdi's clan did the same. The clan elders spoke with one voice and told the young men to save Mogadishu and refuse to fight in the Warlord wars? You can see these warlords would lose power and the city would be saved. This also gives rational voices an opportunity to think up constructive means of political solutions rather than emotional rhetoric. Somalis would have saved themselves from doom. Do you see how integrity is rewarded? How fruitful logic can be and aid a culture in making the "right" choices. With the success of logical thinking over a time period your confidence grows and you stop making the wrong choices. If emotions take over then anything can happen including "shocking" and inhumane atrocities that will make its citizens unable to stop ruminating over the deaths of clan kin and repeat the cycle of revenge over & over. This is Somalia current problem because of the actions of the past warlords Somalis cannot stop ruminating over the past which prevents meaningful discussion on matters that are important to the nation. With logic we have the benefit of clear thinking; free from emotions and a plan of how to better the nation even in the face of oceans of problems.

The culture need to be updated, Somalis are in desperate need of new ideas. He cannot move forward until we acknowledge our current culture is too crude and does not work. Its like a machine that is broken, we can replace the parts or we can build a new machine that will not break down so easily. When I say Somalis are not good people I do mean the product we call Somali culture does not produce good people but very bad people pretending to be good. This is why when a crises hits the best people who can solve the problem for the collective as pushed aside for emotional & irrational voices calling for war. Why? This point has to be studied and unearth to find out. We have no code system of what a Somali does and does not do. Clans are not much of a challenge if Somali culture produces a code system where we understand what it means to be Somalis. I propose that this code be based on logic and not emotions. Again I believe these are symptoms of a much larger issue. Poverty, tribalism, narcissism, religious intolerance are all products of a failed culture. We do not have clean people who can stand up with integrity and speak the truth without being killed for it. Our culture does not produce clean people I am sure they may exist but they did not get their integrity from a Somali culture they would most likely have learnt it in the west via work or study. I do not claim to have all the answers but I do now if we has Somali people are going to move forward form this episode then we are going to have to come to terms with our backward culture. There is no sugar coating this reality, and honest good people ask questions until an answer is found. And we need to know why.

I include myself in this equation because I am a product of a culture that has failed. My transformation only occurred once I came to the U.K as a small child because my parents could not face the horrors of 1991; in fact we left much sooner once the North started getting bombed by SNA troops in 1988. I do not fundamentally share much in common with Somalis other than ethnicity which I cannot change. But my values and temperament are not what you would call a product of a Somali culture. Somalis to me are not logical but hyper emotional and this makes them dangerous to any civilised person. Group think is something that comes naturally to humans where a charismatic leader can pull his people in a certain direction. While this maybe productive in a logical society like the west, it can be very destructive in an emotional one free from the constrains of a conscience. In the west if this episode had happened to them they would be writing books about it, making documentaries, and trying to find out why something like this happened to begin with. They would not be satisfied until an answer was found. Of course the west would not allow the episode to reach such a boiling point to begin with. As each step of the way allows for an opportunity to fix the issue at hand. And Somalis as a whole failed to fix the issues at hand at every step of the way. So what is at the root of this problem that cannot seem to find a solution? I believe Somalis at their fundamental core are not good decent people who fear Allah. This is why most of them fled not to a Muslim country (their fellow Muslims refused to take them in) but to the infidel west and became beggars asking for handouts because it was the easy answer. Brave honest people fight for the betterment of their nation and not run away like cowards. This is who we are and all the clan talk and false pride is not going to change this simple truth. We have failed beyond anything a normal crises could produce, how is this possible? Simple we are not good people and I will even go as far to say that we were never really a good people with common sense to begin with. Our culture produces bad people pretending to be good, which explains the shit show called Somalia today. If Somalia has another civil war it will be because the culture is trying to update itself and throw off the useless primitive and unproductive mentality that currently exist in Somalia. If not then the country already belongs to Al-shabaab just like Afghanistan already belongs to the Taliban.

Turkey is banking on the possibility that Somalia has oil/natural gas along with other strategic minerals. Of course the useless Somali government will sell it all for peanuts.

The Taliban are smart and they know how to hide from those menacing spy satellites that can see through thick concrete. Taliban tunnels underneath the Afghan soil have save them numerous times. United States even dropped the mother of all bombs in an attempt to weaken their hideouts. Cleary it did not work and the Taliban are as strong as ever.

I did not mean the innocent people that are victim of the criminal class. I mean the people that put up with the evil criminals because they are from the same clan. This is what destroyed Somalia totally. No ethnical standards to adhere too.

From your article I would have to conclude that Somalis are not Muslims and do not fear Allah. All their "piety" is for show and means nothing. So much chaos and destruction thrown onto the nation and these criminals open hotels while the masses weep for safe and peaceful country? Where is the shame? Where is the conscience? Yaab!

No Somalis are not truly savage not in the evil way you mean. Somalis need an honest leader that would tell them the truth. Somalis will resist if anyone tries to force a "solution" onto them. This is why I believe the country needs a dialogue between the leaders and the educated people. Power cannot be truly shared but it can be understood as why it is being used to govern. This is what's missing for the Somali people. We need an honest dialogue.

I know that Somaliland's reluctant to rejoin Somalia is rooted in its belief that they will lose power and cannot make effective change in a Somalia government. Barre has sowed the seeds of mistrust but I do believe this mistrust has existed for a long time even before Barre. It will be difficult to get people who are use to getting their way to learn to share. Somalis need to have an honest conversation about the mess we find ourselves in. A Somali government that works for the people is what we want but we are scared about who rules from Mogadishu as this can once again lead to civil war. Somalia is a mess and the Mogadishu people need to get their act together in order for us to speak to the Somalilanders and form an honest union. This is all basic but what makes it difficult is emotions, which will mislead Somalis each and every time.

There is nothing really to celebrate regarding Somalia's current situation. We should look at our country in a logical manner. Our situation will not really improve until we try to rebuild trust with one another again. The first step is writing a constitution with Somaliland and Puntland involved. Our country will remain hopeless until we take a logical approach towards our challenges. All we have now is emotions. Bitterness, sadness, hate, confusion and narcissism.

Somalis should pour their efforts into changing the current insecurity and terror within its own borders. No need to talk about Ethiopia or Kenya. Fix Somalia as a country first before we engage in international disputes.

Unfortunately Mogadishu is infested with iffy types and the local people have no will to separate themselves from terrorist ideology. The bad guys can simply hide in plain sight. One way to change this is to reintroduce basic Islamic teachings that are not funded by gulf oil money.