Xoogsade, bro, as suldaanka said Dacar buluq is on the highway between Hargeisa and Berbera. It is the first "city" you see before you come to Alcazar prison (Mandheera). Af barwaaqo is the city of sheep and it is located south east of Galkacyo. The city of buryoqab is also located in Galkacyo. Dacar qurun is near DHAAN dhejiye between filito and boqol maanyo. Dacar is a kind of tree- the ripe fruits of this tree are used to cure some diseases - and it is bitter-hence the term dacar (bitter). Xoogsade government in the somali sense is defined as"more landcruisers, more raaxo for particular tribes, more gaajo for others, more xabsi for some tribes, more qax etc". Unless, we somalis leave the notion of government=barwaaqo we are doomed to fail. One aspect that is hardly discussed by somalis is how we are going to finance á "government". Somalis are not good at paying taxes, somalia is (at the moment at least" a poor nation that lacks endowements and competitive factors. Somalis are aware of their rights but not their obligations on running a nation. I have said many times , I don't think a government is a prude move. We should instead create small self-evolving-self running enclaves or return to basics (nomadism, agriculturalism). The concept of "government" is too tempting as an instrument of opression and injustices.

I can't decide but my mind revolves around the following CITIES. 1) Af Barwaaqo 2) Dacar buluq 3) Buryo qab 4) Dacar qurun

Baashi and Msword, Please read the below article by a good friend of Mine (Ducaale who has lived in denmark since 1967). Insha allah, I am going to respond to both articles later on in the week. Danish citizens of Somali origin, Somali immigrants and Somali refugees, statistically 15-20.000 individuals but in reality much less, in the kingdom of Denmark have, for the last 6 years, been subject to a rather peculiar form of discrimination. Danish politicians competing for popular votes found the ethnic Somalis to be an easy target for all kinds of horrendous and collective dehumanizing accusations. As disorganized as they are, the Somalis, and with no national diplomatic services nor international humanitarian organisations willing or interested in giving their case due serious consideration, they have become prey of summary ill treatments such as unwarranted police house searches, smear campaigns in the national press etc. Their situation is so bad that an ever increasing exodus of Somali refugees out of Denmark has been taking place for the last couple of Years. It is reasonable to say that, the Danish political agenda of gassing the Somalis out of Denmark has been successful. Some members of parliament had in 1996-97 even threatened, should the Somali refugees be unwilling to leave Denmark voluntarily, then we (the Danish authorities) will wrap a parachute on their (the Somali refugees) backs, load them forcefully on cargo planes and drop them over the african deserts!!. The means of dehumanising witch-hunt Of all the immoral and false accusations, circumcision of women has been and still is the most dehumanizing tool, it is in fact this totally baseless and insane false accusation, that our politicians have used preparing this new apartheid legislature. To justify this apartheid law, our politicians have used…(misused?) among others, a greedy Somali woman, Mrs. Samya Yusuf Ali, a notorious liar, who for the sake few Danish crowns in pocket money, air ticket and hotel accommodation at a conference in Addis-Ababa, has sold her soul, national pride and committed an act of defamation against all somalis. She was used as rubberstamp, giving the impression that she represents the Somali women in Denmark, by a so called inter-ministerial committee which fabricated a false report on the matter. In this and on several seminars, conferences and published newspaper articles, she consistently declared that more than 98% of all Somali girls of 4 - 14 years of age are this day today subject to genital mutilation performed or sanctioned by their Somali parents due to their primitive and barbaric culture and heritage!!!. As she kept being used to spread this politically and racially motivated false propaganda on Tv, radio and news papers, confirming time and again that she in fact knew of specific Somali girls who have been circumcised, and that this practice is taking place here in Denmark, and as the Danish law specifically requires that any positive knowledge by any civil servant of cases of circumcision, to notify the authorities, I requested her to share this knowledge with the responsible authorities. Mrs. Samya Yusuf Ali refused to do so, and at this point I had no other choice but to file a complaint with the criminal police for investigation of these false accusations. When summoned for interrogation by the criminal investigation division of the Danish police, she suddenly got a memory blackout! She declared that she knew no cases of genital mutilation and that she in fact had never seen any!. As the criminal investigators pointed out her previous statements on radio and tv, she explained that all her statements were based exclusively on RUMORS she had heard in Somalia more than 10 years ago!!! ( See the copy of the police report and her statement to the newspaper ). The fact that I have irrevocably proved that the inter-ministerial report was based on a falsum did not matter for our legislative assembly the “Folketinget†after all, the case had very little to do with right or wrong, it was a politically motivated agenda and it had the support of all major political parties including The Danish Social democratic Party!. The Fatamorgana 10 years of systematic and meticulous secret gynaecological examinations of all Somali girls at the primary school age in Denmark, by the national medical officers, published in march 2003 has documented ZERO (0) occurrence of women circumcision among all the examined, furthermore, not less than 27 somali girls aged between 3 and 14 years have been brutalized by so called physicians and social workers, forcefully and shamefully undressed and put them on top of a dining table in their private home, and in front of their father and mother, helplessly looking on unable to defend the dignity and honour of their child, spread their legs examined with their fingers perversely and mercilessly deep inside the innocent child’s most intimae parts, just moments later to retrieve their perverted fingers and exclaim: strange! Nothing is missing ! all parts are there … for now but, addressing the parents, remember do not try anything because we will keep watching You and Your children and in case you get wrong ideas, we will be back!. The ugliest of them all took place in the municipality of Aalborg on January 30th 2003, when a swine butcher turned social democratic local politician, now chairman of the municipality’s young-and children’s committee ordered a 6 year old Somali girl, forcefully be put on a table her parents helplessly looking on, be undressed while crying for help and get her most intimate genitals fondled by three intruding strangers, Mr. Ib Rasmussen’s gang of 4 from the Aalborg municipality, who forced themselves entry to the family’s apartment. Once the perverse rape of the child was complete and the gang was gone, the family packed whatever belongings they could pack and fled the country to seek refuge in another European country where state sanctioned paedophilia does not take place. They had no choice but to go in hiding because they couldn’t face the shame!!!. All of these and certainly many others which we do not know about, have with no single exception proven to be based on false accusations received, at times from anonymous informers. Am I wrong when I call this perverse and legalized paedophilia ?? or state sanctioned rape? I let it remain for the decent readers to judge and give their verdict. In spite of the fact that all accusations have been nothing less than malicious lies, our present parliament is just about to pass this new apartheid law. All denials by the government and the other parties behind this shameful law, that this law is not specifically intended for a specific group is just another lie! That is because among many other factors, the minister of justice, answering my question handed over in writing to the parliament, said: this law will enable all Danish institutions and educators of different classifications and individuals, to keep an open eye on all educational institutions where Somali children are tended, to take swift and proper action, whenever anyone feels anything suspicious. And what can rise suspicion? Travelling to the United Kingdom for holydays by a Somali family among others! That was what hit the above mentioned molested child and her family, word came out that the family had been in the United kingdom for a holiday last year and that they were planning to go there again for same!!! In other words, brutalizing and dishonouring a Somali child in Denmark, once this law is passed, will soon be legal according to Danish laws!. Why this inhumane law and why now? This apartheid law is due to be passed by a clear majority consisting of the parties forming the present Government, the Conservative party and the liberal party (Venstre) together with their protégé’ The neo………. Danish popular party of Mrs. Pia Kjærsgaard, the architect of the whole misery. The social Democrats or what remains of it, in its near panic search for popularity, has also embarked a doubtful and racially motivated anti immigrant political programme, in the hope of overtaking the notorious Mrs. Pia Kjærsgaards danske Folkeparti. Once by far the largest Danish political party, the party of the working class, The Danish Social democratic party, with deep rooted principles humanism and respect for the honour and dignity of the individual, is now reduced to a caricature of itself and of its glorious days by Mrs. Pia Kjærsgaard, unfortunately the leaders of this once glorious party still do not understand it as yet and are still dancing and will be dancing for the foreseeable future to her tune!!!. The Somalis, immigrants, refugees or else Cynically one could say that they do in fact deserve what they are getting! That is because when all comes to all, they themselves with the help of no one else from outside, have destroyed their nation! And 13 years after their meaningless and foolish civil war they are still killing and rampaging each other. And for what? They do not even know, apart from the fact that they all want to be a president! That, they do in fact all know, that is they all want be presidents!!! Look at the conference at Nairobi, Kenya, and look at the candidates running for president. The more blood stain on their hands the more it looks likely they will be elected. Brothers and sisters at Nairobi or elsewhere, I sincerely hope You will take time and read the above. I hope You all will take time and look at Yourselves every morning at the mirror, when dressing for that days palaver at the conference hall, and ask Yourselves these simple questions: What went wrong since my brothers and sisters are living under the above humiliation? Knowingly or not, did I play any part in the making of the destruction of my Somalia? If positive, do I really regret that I did what I did or what I, tacitly, accepted be done? Do I really want to be the next president of Somalia, or do I have any worthy candidate ? What did I do or what am I able/willing to do for my people to deserve their trust and acceptance ? Who is my people? My family?, my clan?, my tribe? Or the Somalis? Can I define? Many nations, including Denmark, came to the rescue and to help the Somalis initially, they accepted them to come into their countries as guest for a while, hoping things would be sorted out back home, so these “guests†would go home again, but then the guests overstayed and grew in numbers, things went sour, racism and hatred surfaced, racist anti immigration political parties flourished, and as a result we came to the point of page 1! The ill treatments of all kinds. But then we have a Somali roughly saying: Prolonged begging and prolonged illness make one undesirable!!!. Brothers and sisters, people tend usually to exclaim: god help us!, but God will not help us, unless we take the spoon on the other hand and take the road for a real and genuine change, not any change but a change to a better society built on respect for the individual, his/her dignity and property, and then make things change to the better for all, only then will it be fair and possible to ask for and expect Gods help. Nothing is impossible, so give a try!. A.F. Dualeh

Horn, the nation known as somalia is so weak that even little Djibouti could invade it within a week. The reality is that most of the warlords command a few tanks, a few qaad addicts and a dozen armoured vehicles and they are so powerful that they are holding millions hostages. Ethiopian politicians have the will to kill off somalia (they have already crippled it by providing small arms to various warlords). It has the power to invade somalia by proxy; Strategically, they could support only one warlord. Give him an extra donation of tanks, a few helicopters and logistics and before you know it the warlord and his soldiers are dancing on bonfire in afgooye. Zaylaci, we have the bush telegraph (and unfortunately, suffocated on the newsfront before, our people love stories of kutiri-kuteen! An emprical illustration is this board where people copy and paste every move of the president, every move of the parliament, every word of sick warlords, every lie said by a tribal chieftain without digesting the contents. The same applies to how we percieve success; Small villages that are hardly inhabited are portrayed as metropols; Thugs are called presidents, ministers, generals, doctors etc. Tribal militias are refered to as "ciidamo". Skirmishes based on tribal fights are termed as WARS. The story of "abdullahi sheikh" illustrates my above points: On the one hand, on several mogadishu based websites, this dude was reported to have been arrested: He was targeted because he belonged to the wrong tribe. On the other hand in several puntland based websites, the story was given another dimension: The most funny one was : Ciidamada nabadsugida (wardoonka) ayaa xabsiga u taxaabey nin aay ugu shakiyeen jaajusnimo. Two things: Firstly, it is questionable whether the guy was part of a fact finding mission.Secondly, the notion of ciidamo "wardoon2 nabadsugid is a blatant lie. There exists no such thing as ciidamada wardoonka.

Assalamu calaykum, Allow me to share with you this paper which deals with the issue of humiliation of somalis in Norway. The author is a sociologist and for those of you writing anything on somali issues, you may find some references. http://www.humiliationstudies.org/documents/FangenSomalia.pdf

Mohamed-Khadar S. Farah (from Wardheernews) It sometimes occurs to one to ask himself what deserves to be written. To get an answer for this question, one asks himself another question that is: for what audience? And yet another question is: for what purpose? Answers to these questions form the skeleton and the vanishing points upon which the article's content is drawn. As we can categorize everything, we can put a piece of a written work into different categories, such as news, report, propaganda, fiction, analysis, narrative and numerous other classes. And every one has its audience to whom the work appeals. I would be very much interested to know what generally appeals to Somali audience—a piece that sells to them. However, when I choose to write, I write my own soliloquy. That is the answer of the question I formulate and pose to myself. My questions usually come from my internal dissatisfaction with my own environment, and why, I, as a Somali, occupy in the lowest strata of the family of nations' pyramid. What have the Somalis been doing for the last 6000 years of the recorded history of mankind? What has arrested their learning process? And why are their modern day studies are null and void that does not have an impact in their collective life-style? Why the aim of education to many is to learn the language of instruction but not the substance of the faculty? Why the learning process has become disruptive of the mode of life of Somali culture and tradition? Often and times the following comes to my mind: Somalis have been processing their own leather and they used the hides of their live-stock one time as a material to sleep on, another time as a utensil to keep their milk “Sibraarâ€, or to use it as a bowl “wadaan†or as a piece of attire “dhuu†or as a nice quality home processed prayer rug, shoe and many other uses. So what has the modern learning given them to improve what they already had, instead of disrupting that whole industry? They had known to separate butter and milk by way of simple form of gyration and had nice smelling “sixinâ€. That is no more. So what has become the role of the educated in this important area? You can count yourself numerous low-tech techniques that have been abandoned without a domestic substitute. Of all those things, I have come to the conclusion that this has been a process of unlearning. In abstract manners, there has also been another process of unlearning how Somalis dealt with conflict resolutions, how they have managed to live side by side while at the same time they were fighting over the scanty water resources. So, it has become an easy process for the system of education to introduce a systematic unlearning of important concrete and abstract qualities that could have been enhanced. My findings then become, well in the remote past Somalis have been slow learners, but that is not a major problem, since most of human achievements were results in the past few centuries. However, in modern times education and modernity has brought more harm than good. My quest for a solution will be long and longer than I could live. It needs the participation of much more energy than I could expand acting alone in a virtual solitude. And the energies that were spent on the question of Samsam alone could have been directed into more soul searching depths that free millions of Samsam-like issues from the grip of relentless times. I see the solution to be derived from the same process that has catapulted this nation into this turmoil. It is the process of unlearning. Somalis need to learn to unlearn what they have wrongfully absorbed from schools and from wigwams. And I have emphasized so far what has been wrongfully learned? But not every thing is inclusive. The process of unlearning could be constructively used. And at different stages in the school you learn and unlearn. As a child you are taught (2-3) two minus three is impossible, but you later unlearn and find out the answer is (-1). You learn that all numbers are real, but you later learn that complex numbers exist. And as you go further in your studies unlearning becomes necessary to stretch a theory to other spaces. Just as every thing has advantage and disadvantage, the process of unlearning has not worked to our advantage to this date I thought. So if you happen to be the narrow audience that could read to this point, I thank you for your time. I hope you find out that our life as Somalis is an un-examined life. It is said that “un-examined life is not worth livingâ€. To make our lives worth living, we need to find out what are the major and important things that Somalis need to unlearn. I have not listed any particular one in this writing, but I leave that question open to all Somalis. Internet is a revolutionary vehicle that gives every body what he wants. With it you can disseminate knowledge and healthy ideas or you can disseminate hate and dirty ideas; with it you can make friend and foes for your self; it could be an invisible university or it could be a time hog and sucking vortex of useless browsing. But I wonder; with the countless sites, how it could help the Somalis get out of the maze, unravel the tangled net of affairs and unlearn the wartime lectures. Conquer your minds, and your minds will turn hell to heaven. Fail to do so, and your heaven becomes your hell. Mohamed-Khadar S. Farah

Wiilo, I feel so angry, so powerless, so enraged at the paradise we lost. There was an article on Hiiranonline where the author attempts to compare xamar and LA (a wrong comparison). I have some memories of Mogadishu in the late eighties when I visited it for the first time. I left Xamar before hell broke. The way I see it, buildings can be rebuilt, roads could be reconstructed, law and order could be reinvented...but somalism has suffered a blow that is hard to repair. Who is responsible for our plight????? Yes, you guessed it right! The same people who are meeting in Nairobi and who are expected to lead us! child-killers, war mongers, col, generals who have killed Somalis. Ethiopian and Gaalo lackeys who we dreaded in the past but because of tribal/regional affiliations we glorify! On the question of if somalia would be the same : ALLAHU ACLAM..but the signs are that we are not going to relive the glorius past. We meed an evolution on the way we think, a shift in how we view nation building, a healing process that shouldn't discard previous atrocities. We need brave men to say NO to Tribalism. We need brave people to stand up and think individually instead of collective tribalism. We need religious leaders who are willing to question the validity of somali clanism. We need a rethinking of whether or not nation building/statehood ala western systems is the ideal.

Wager, oo kelmada CAAQIL ma luqada carabiga ayaay ka timid? oo maxaay noo yiraahdeen waa kelmad soomali ah.? Nuurow, doofaareey waxaa iskugu yimid dad caqliga ilaahey ka qaaday, gaalo-jecel ah oo dhiig islaan daadintiisa ku qaraabto kuna bahoobay. Kuwaasi caqligooda waxaay ku bedesheen qabiil, qurun, qarbudaad iyo qaran dumis. Waxaan ku weydinayaa Nuurow, diinta maxaay ka qabtaa dadka magacyada bedesho? Maadaama ummadda soomaliyeed ay u soo qulqultay dibadaha, carli gaalana la joogo, waxaan arkay dad badan oo doonayo inaay bedelaan magacyadoodi, sababtoo ah waxaay doonayaa magacyo soomaliyeed. Markii aan weydiyey sababta waxaay ii sheegeen inaysan naceeb carbeed ka ahayn, oo aay tahay inaay soo nooleyaan magacyada somaliyeed sida:sida Qowdhan, Jilicow, Fiidow, Jimcaale, geedi, Guleed, warsame.

Caaqil waxaa laga wadaa qof wadaad u dhalay (dhal awliyo) waranlena wax aay u galeen. Runtii ma aqaani, laakin waxaan u maleeynayaa ruux caqli badan.. Compare with Cilmi (who is someone who has acquired knowledge). Caaqil is not neccessarily someone who acquires it. He is born with a brain!

Nuurow, aniga ma i iloowday saaxib? Just kidding! I agree Alle(a)-U baahane is a symobolic name. Nur is not bad either. Caaqil iskaba daa!

Farah, Swedish radio had an item on this issue earlier today. Somalia is the worst affected country in terms of diseases. Lead, mercury (Cadmium!) and radio active materials were swept to the somali coast from the other 11 countries. According to the report, cases of severe respiratory difficulties, nose bleeding and spiting blood have been reported from somalia. The long-term affect is not yet assessed. According to the radio bulletin, we are looking at birth deformities, miscarriages and a decrease of life expectancy.

Ngonge, the "my existence is absurd" phrase wasn't meant as a philosophical rant. From my perspective, somalia exists in a dichotomy: On the one hand, somalia exists in a state of abstraction (nationhood). On the other hand it is an artifact (people, flag,language). To me too, my somalia is I. However,there are times though when the meaninglessness of its existence (because of wars, killings, tribalism, destitution etc) fills me with anxiety and despair. The life of modern day somalia is one of despair which brings deep depression to those of us who depart from MY SOMALIA. You asked whether the "context" is one I constructed and whether I could be able to influence it. A tough question and one that requires some pondering! For the moment let us just say I am revolting against existing political/social structures to keep my sanity; to continue upholding the I=somalia equation.

My cousin Ngonge, One paradox of one our time and one that could be applicable to somalis is the one articulated by a somali songwriter (Hasha laba geel jecel). The lures of living outside somali inhabited territories is a tempting one. When we succeed in this endeavour which some might say has replaced the strategies of our forefathers (accumulated hard earned wealth), our moral discourse becomes centred on Somali issues. Unknowingly and spontaneously we are consumed by anger, revenge (targeted at others) and bragging (to enhance our self-steem). The internet and other ICT developments have facilitated communication. Somalis have many sources of information that have some diseconomies. It is dither geography wither monopoly of information- dither truths enter speculations. The diseconomies of the internet are a lure to the unsuspecting mind or to the mind that is receptive to propaganda. In this jungle, websites are created not to cater to info needs, but to diffuse and generate a context based discourse. Some of them have the prefix somali to lure, others have a regional/local connotations with the tribe as a positioning strategy to drive it. I think that and a language gap that exists in our society is the central theme pursued by the author. I could say “to hell with Somalia†but it is not that easy. It is as Kierkegaard once wrote “ My existence is absurd!), yet I exist in a context.

Msword, You are right. We can't cure the disease unless we give it proper diagnosis. we need an article an article entitled "the road once taken- the present path and the future journey".

Truth is a bitter notion. The author is 100% right. We are a nation of fadhi ku dirir, the Internet is becoming a tribal arena, we tend to exaggerate the success of our tribal enclaves, belittle somalis who do not belong to our elusive tribe, write a few lines of hatred with the aim of hurting the same somalis we could defend from our common enemies. On somali owned websites, somalism dies to be replaced by tribalism. Warlords become democratically elected presidents, ministers. Success is failure if it does not involve our tribe. Failure is a mega success when it involves our leaders. Destitution becomes booming, villages become cities, progress is measured in terms of how our warlords are faring.

Macalimu, the way things have been faring lately following the doofareey congress of warlords, the talk about foreign troops, the notion of using force etc leaves me in a pessimistic mood. During the latest few weeks we have witnessed (tribal) exchanges reminiscent of the dark days of somali civil war when thousands perished. Let us pray this so called peace process does not turn into a civil war process.

Assalamu calaykum, The last time I was in Buuloxaawo(2002), I was surprised at the political strides made, the spirit of entrepreneurship, cross border trading and a general yearning for a functioning somalia; not to mention the many taxi cars that take people from mandera to Luuq. The problem, I see is the tribal based discource that is redifining the politics of Gedo. On the one hand, Gedo is made of Bardheere/Luuq,Garbahareey, B/xaawo/Doolow and Ceelwak. I think an adminstration confined to these towns would work. On the other hand, however, lately some warmongerers are expanding the parameters of Gedo to include J/hoose. this is going to show a futile move in the long-run because such move is based on elusive tribalism than regionalism. By the way,when will they create an airfield in B/xaawo that caters to flight from somalia to B/xawo so that I could visit my mom?

Amiin Caamir is surely a funny dude!!! I like the drawings and have them as wallpapers. ` He needs venture capitalists to market his work of arts overseases- to a larger audiance. I am sure, there are newspapers willing to pay for his services not to mention Disney! Imagine the second cartoon with the words: WMD instead of IGAD- and where the ethiopian flag is "christian fundamentalism"

There is a plethora of articles and websites in the internet all concerning Somali matters. These websites are busting in the seems, loaded with articles that are tailored for particular group of people. Every site has his own clients and posts fine-tuned news aimed at advancing the agenda and philosophy of one of the many competing tribal sects in Somalia. They are shy of speaking their conscience. Their contents are predictable and there is no uncertainty in what to expect from each one if you know who runs them. I see that these sites produced a result that is antipodal to what the internet has brought to the most of the communities in the world. The net has defied all geo-political boundaries and ushered an era where spatial, racial, temporal and social divisions gave way to global socio-economic integration. But for the Somalis it has brought more hate and division among them along clan and regional lines. It is seldom to see an article with a grand theory that is void from the lethal venom of local hostilities. But there is one thing I am glad of. It is that most of the users of those sites are people who live outside Somalia and Somaliland. And mostly articles are written in English and hence not accessible to the majority of Somalis in the domestic towns and villages of Somalia. I liked to participate in cyber debates and contribute articles to local papers, but after spending a relatively long time in Somaliland, I have decided not to. What I have unfortunately learned is that I belong to a nation where people are pre-tuned, tribally-steered, regionally-programmed and intellectually confined. A nation that is under siege by the spell of evil influence. If you are not writing what is expected of you as a priori by your pre-tuned bunch that surround you either physically or influentially, then you must be silent. This reminds me one of the sayings of Ludwig Wittgenstein where he said “ whereof one can not speak, thereof one must be silentâ€. To me it seems that Somalis every where has no hope. They are stuck. And very few are making fortunes in the status quoi of Somalia-- be it Somaliland, Somalia or Puntland. These powerful few batten in extreme comfort whereas the rest are on the edge of subsistence. I suspect that all those who are critics are not clean hearted as well, but are willing to take their turn of pillaging the public. Change in direction, change of thinking, change of leadership and change, change, change is the only thing that changes a society. But where every one is afraid of change and wants to be inert there will come no change. And that is exactly where Somalis stand today. No one wants to change his believe or change his policy or changes his tribe. And the last thing is the mother of all, you can not change your tribe and every thing hinges on tribe, then every thing remains stuck. I wish, we could come up of new formulation of mobility. Something that is less harmful than the inert clan allegiance that forms and shapes our thinking whose style always comes across our way of writing articles. I wish I could have experimented what it feels to be Habar_X one day and Habar_Y the other day, the D.i.R the D,a,r,o,o,d, H,a,w,i,ye and so on. You can not say that is bad, because we do not have any one to ask how it feels. It like death. What a comparison I made. You all fear death, but do not know if it is sweat, for you have never seen some one who have tasted it. But it is like death again for you can not do it. The educated Somali class is wretched and crippled. To this, education is a temporary dye but true color is the clan color. The Aqils, Sultan and local warlords have sway over them. Their role is minimal. And it the unlikely event of making a contribution they do harm than help. For the evil monster in them takes control. And greed is always there. Cheap! This is mad. I have seen an incredible lunacy in Somaliland. Religion is lip-service. It does not bind no more than few matters such as marriages, funeral services, inheritance and the likes. Prayers and fasting do not bind from committing the most grave acts against humanity and religion. I am sure, that other regions are either the same or worse. You can not teach, you can not preach. Your value and the weight of your words hinges on the judgment of this pre-tuned audience. Even my current writing is an exercise in futility. The situation of Somalis including myself is a fly that is trapped in a bottle. But unlike the fly, we know that we are in a bottle and we are satisfied to be in the bottle. People in Somaliland prefer to stay in their bottle and are seeking a recognition in the bottle. People in Puntland want to be in their own bottle. So are the southerners. So let us wait till the day we run out of oxygen and die for our self-inflicted wounds. Mohamed-Khadar S. Farah (wardheenews.com)

Windtalker, it is not about amxaaros or ethiopians. It is undoing 5-6 years of a peace process. If you answer the following questions, I might reconsider my position: 1) Did any "warlord" in Xamar or anywhere reject the authority of the "government"? 2) Is there a war going on in mogadishu, kismayo, bay etc which needs to be stopped? 3) Wasn't the members of parliament given a red carpet treatment? 4) Why is the arrival of peacekeepers eminent? 5) What would say to the people of Mogadishu, beledweyne, Baydhabo, Kismayo etc who feel the new government is bent on revenging past atrocities? 6)Do you think Ethiopian troops are going to look for warlords? 7) Isn't islamist/terrorist the keyword used as a pretext for invasion? 8) What are the chances of a new civil war based on tribalism? 9)If the parliament and most ministers can go to xamar, what is keeping the president from doing so? 10)What kind of government is this? It is seeking the help of foreign troops to rule its own people. What is behind the issue of FT? Tribalism? revenge? Good faith? An invisible hand? 11) What is the next, suppose the foreign troops succeed in taming "the south"? Somaliland perhaps? Yet another blood shed? Another blow to the dying somaliweyn?

Whatever happened to the spirit of reconciliation? some would ask: was the Nairobi debacle about retaliation? Why the farce about peacekeepers when there is no peace to keep? Is this some kind of invasion? Whatever happened to the members of SOL who were hailing the "peace process"? Why are they turning to stooges of the government? What would FT troops accomplish? Could their presence lead somalia into yet another nasty war? is the FT issue turning into a tribal/regional discourse instead of a genuine process? why the sudden negative portrayal of mogadishu as a place to be tamed by FT? Why are other alternatives like relocation not explored? Is there a "warlord" in Somalia who has said NO to disarmament? Suppose, so called peacekeepers arrive in mogadishu and a nasty warlords uses it to his advantage-and hell breaks, who would be the victims? Somali women, children men etc. Is history repeating itself given 1991/1992 when an american led force invaded somalia in good faith- but was forced out by somalis? As the old saying goes "Taladaan la ruugin waa lagu rafaada". Some questions to be pondered before we applaud moves that could endangour the fragile reconciliation process. A move that is likely to turn the clock back to the days of the civil war.

Alla u baahane, Saaxib xageen iska diiwaan gelinaa si aan xabashada iyo xulafadeeda aan wadanka ugu waabino? Wixii dhiig lahow kac! As said by several respondents above, I think an Ethiopian invasion of somalia would result in a unified resistance by somalis. I have never contempleted on taking on arms to resolve a conflict, but the sight of amxaaros and their lackeys on the streets of somali towns is a frightening one and one which calls for action. If you beleive these stinking gaalos would be peacemakers, hospitable and act as if somalis are their brethren, you are mistaken. The moment they walk into Beledweyne, Baidoba, Garowe, Mogadisho and other somali cities, their henchmen would call every somali who opposes them "terrorist", Alqaida and warlord- and before you know it our diin and values are undermined.

Maskin Macruuf Akhyaar, I agree 100% with all you said above. The same thugs who are responsible for death and destruction of somalia are either a) part of this doofaarey group 2) oppose the doofaarey because they want to maintain their power base. But, there is also a growing opposition by grassroots somalis from every clan/region to Amxaaros and the marionette regime formed in Doofaarey. I do hope, we find a leader who is going to lead the people when the Ethiopians, the madaxkorankor invade somalia. If anyone thinks the "peackeepers" would come in a convey of mercy/peace to the streets of somali cities, you need to seek medical help. Does any of you want the blood of a fellow somali muslim spilled?

Gumeeysi iyo gobanimo ma laba la is garab dhigaa? 2 things; 1) A few days back we witnessed how "parliamentarians" were given a red carpet treatment by the people of mogadishu. Many of us sceptics were "moved" by the pictures of the somalis yearning for the return of rule. 2) The Ethiopian agenda in somalia is well known; It wants a somalia that is weak and a leader that it can control. With Ethiopian blessing, it wouldn't surprise me if anyone who opposes the doofarey regime is labelled "Islamist", Wahabist, terrorist and all the neo-words that have become common in the third world. These developments are derailing the process of reconciliation.' Why should we need foreign troops to guard a president, a parliament and cabinet from the people they intend to serve and represent? The problem with those who oppose the deployment is the lack of a fair and honest leader! Many are the same leadership that made somalia what it is today. What we need is a somali leader who is going to unite grassroots somalis to oppose the madaxkorankor and gaalo-amxaras and save somalia. Save us the nonsense of Ethiopian being a friend of somalia. It is a neo-colonial nation. Save us the nonsense of Geedi, Yusuf and the other so called leaders. To attain positions of power these thugs are willing to negotiate our religious values and to sacrifice our religion. Don't be surprised if they call people who oppose them as belonging to an alqaida cell that is endangouring western interests! These are the same thugs who handed eEthiopia religious leaders who opposed them. These are the same people who fought religious leaders in luuq and other somali towns.

Help me understand this somalis. I was watching SKY news earlier this morning and their africa correspondent filed a report from Mogadishu. The people were upbeat, the parliamentarians were well received. Most of the warlords turned ministers have agreed they will cooperate with the government- and even sceptics like me were seeing positive developments. So, why the change of heart in regards to abandoning xamar? Is there a hiding hand at work? Baydhabo is a somali city, so is xamar, and I don't care where the capital city should be- but I see this move as promoting division. As it stands today, only the "president" is afraid of mogadishu- and that would not be a reason enough not to relocate from Doofaarey!