Deeqdii Waxbarasho ee Dowlada Turkey siisey Puntland, oo ey qeybsadeen reer Mudug iyo Reer Nugaaleed. Akhristayaal hadii aan nahey reer Puntland waxaan mar-waliba ka dagaalanaa cadaalad-xumo iyo in dowlada TFG-Somalia ey-ku tumato xuquuqda reer Puntland, Hadaba webkan Allsanaag ayaa horey uuga hadley deeqadii waxbarasho ee Dowlada, Turkey siisey Soomaaliya oo Mogadishu lagu qeybsadey ayaa nasiib-wanaag waxaa Puntland loo qoondeeyay 118 Ardey. Hadaba waxaa nasiib daro ah in,deeqdii Waxbarasho ee Puntland la siiyay 2,Gobol bal aan eegno qaabkii ey wax u dhaceen. Waxaa arin lagu qoslo ah Wasaarada-Waxbarashada Puntland warkii ey maanta sheegtay oo ahaa in Ardey 5.000 qof ah laga qaadey. Imtaxaan iyagoo laga wada keenay gobolada, kadibna Imtaxaankii lagu saxey muddo 2,saacadood. Aduunyada lama sheegin Imtaxaan sidaa u weyn oo ey ka qeyb galeen kumanaan dad ah oo lagu saxey 2,saacadood, hadaba marka la eegayo sixida imtaxaanaatka waxaa sameeya guddi madax-banaan waxana guddigaas qiimeeyaan oo ey si-qoto dheer uu eegaan natiijada Imtaxaanaadka, Aduunyada horor-u martey waxa aad ku arkeysaa sixida Imtaxaanaadka oo muddo qaadata si Ardey walba u helo xaqiisa. Hadaba waxaa maanta Puntland ka dhacdey Khiyaano iyo ceeb aan horey u dhicin, waxaa maanta Garowe lagu ansixiyay natiijadii Imtaxaanka oo been aheyd iyo qaabka wax loogu qeybshey ardeydii Imtaxaanka gashey. Hadaba hoos ka akhri shaxda ardeyda loo qeybshey. Gobolka Mudug 42,Xubnood Gobolka Nugaal 66,Xubnood Gobolka Bari 5,Xubnood. Gobolka Karkaar 1,Xubin Gobolka Sanaag 1,Xubin Gobolka Haylaand Waxba Gobolka Sool 5,Xubnood Gobolka Ceyn Waxba Hadaba Wasiirka Waxbarashada Cabdi-Faarax Juxa hadii ey cadalaadiisu sidan noqotey maxaa la gudboon dadka ka soo jeeda gobolada aan xaqooqdi lasiin. A) Waa iney u qoraan cabasho iyo codsi, Wasaarada Waxbarashada TFG-Soomaaliya iyo Dowlada Turkey iyagoo u cadeynaya musuq-maasuqa uu sameeyay wasiirka Waxbarashada Puntland Juxa iyo Dowlada Puntland. B) Ardeyda kasoo jeeda gobolada xaqoodi la-duud siiyay waa iney sameeyaan Banaanbaxyo nabad ah iyagoo muujinaya shucuurtooda iyo qaabka loo dhacey deeqdii Waxbarasho ee dowlada Puntland heshay. C) Ugu danbeyn dadka reer Puntland ee wanaaga iyo horomarka jecal waa iney arintaan ka hor-tagaan hadii kale Puntland waxa ey cagta saareysaa dhabad- burburka iyo kala taga. Fiiro-Gaar, Wasiirka Waxbarashada Puntland Mudane Juxa, hadii uu cadaalad moodey inuu Nugaal 66, Xubnood siiyo iyo Mudug 42, Gobolka ugu dhaqaalaha iyo dadkaba badan ee Bari uu helo 4, Xubnood waa arin lagu qoslo Taariikhdana meel ku qormeysa.

This is the whole SL dream in a nut shell it is not only a fight for ictiraaf, but a fight against simple beareacratic procedure as well as common sense, and when the reality on the ground is one hundred percent clear [Where you see photos call them doctored, where you see reports and receive calls on how nice the e-passport your inadheer got in mogadishu, wipe said convo from memory]simply deny reality. Tell me how can some of us take this fight for ictiraaf for anything more than entertainment value.

I agree with the gist of this article, how ever wrong its premise might be, Southern Somalis receive succor and support in Hargeisa, whilst the shameful actions of others are there for all to see, that is why I personally do not understand the hyper emotionalism of some on the issue of somaliland, Somalia is one but for the moment this b.s argumentation in the intreasts of some does not rock my boat. Only would like to clarify that very very few southerners are in the waagacusub camp so that particular tarring is too wide.

These animals are welcome to dig themselves deeper in the grave with such pronouncements

Sida ay inoo sheegeen saraakiil ku sugan aqalka madaxtooyada soomaaliya in xukuumada Turkiga ay u soo bandhigeen Madxweyne shariifka in dalka soomaaliya ay u soo dirayaan ciidamo gaaraya ilaa 6000kun oo askari kuwasoo ka koobnaan doona meleteri,Boolis iyo kuwa ciidamada Turkiga u qaalbisan dhinaca Logistikada. Madaxweyne Shariif oo lama filaan ku noqotay dalabka Ra'iisul Wasaaraha Turkiga Racep Tayyip Erdogan ayaa sida aan warka ku heleyno codsaday in waqti kooban laga siiyo kasoo fikirka dalbkaas,waloow uu markii hore aad ula dhacay dalabka xukuumada Turkiga balse wadatishiyo uu la sameeyey dalalka Ugandha iyo Itoobiya ay u sheegeen in Turkiga ku qanciyo dhinaca mucaawinooyinka loona daayo Midowga Afrika dhinaca howlgalada. Dhinaca kale Wakaaladda wararka AFb ayaa dhawaan sheegtay in Madaxweyne Sheekh shariif uu dalka Itoobiya ka codsaday in ciidamadeeda ay soo galaan xuuduuda soomaaliya gaar ahaan,Bay,Bakool,Gedo iyo gobolka hiiraan balse Itoobiya ay diiday dalabkii DFKMG ee ahaa in ciidamada Itoobiya soo galaan Soomaaliya si ay gacan uga siiyaan la dagaalanka haragii al shabaab. Itoobiya ayaa arrintaas shardi uga dhigtay in dalabku ka yimaado beesha caalamka, iyagoo xuseen insan fududeyn in markale ay dib ugu soo laabtaan dalka Soomaaliya. Ra'iisul Wasaaraha Turkiga Racep Tayyip Erdogan iyo wafdi ballaaran uu hagaaminayey oo dhawaan Muqdisho soo gaaray ayaa sheegay in xaaladda Soomaaliya ay tahay Imtixaan loo bahan yahay in lagu waano qaato, isagoo wax laga xumaado ku tilmaamay nolosha ay ku nool yihiin qoysas fara badan oo indhahiisa uu ku soo arkay. Ra'iisul Wasaare Erdogan Waxaa uu sheegay in Shacabka iyo dowladda Turkiga aysan marna ka seexan doonin walaalahooda Soomaaliyeed, dhowaana uu dib u howl geli doono safiirkooda, isagoo ku cel celiyay in qalbiga ay ku hayaan walaalahooda Soomaaliyed, marnana aysaniloobi doonin. Sidoo kale wuxuu ballan qaaday Erdogan in dowladdiisa ay gacan ka geysaneyso xaga Amaanka hadii loo baahdo, sidoo kale ka qeyb qaadan doonta dib u dhiska wadooyinka Muqdisho, xarumaha dowladda, goobaha caafimaadka iyo arrimaha waxbarashada. Shacabka Soomaaliyeed gudaha iyo dibada ayaa aad u soo dhaweeyey Tilaabada wax ku oolka ah ay qaadeen xukuumada Turkiga iyo shacabkooda,waana arin murugo galineysaa shacabka soomaaliyeed tilaabaadan uu shariifka uu ku diiday in ciidamo muslim ah ay u soo gurmadaad soomaaliya.

Yes it says so JB ,and I can see how that would excite a one word wonder such as yourself maantana waxad heeshey laba erey oo ingriisi aah. maybe you will not sleep at all tonight. but also it says: As RA approaches the two year mark of operating in Somalia the company plans on increasing the size of its operations in Mogadishu as well as actively pursuing opportunities in the country's northern areas. This conundrum is deep and profound

Hahaha did you include puntland under that catch all phrase?

Sometimes people personalize nd sink to new lows on SOL debates, two people died, two lives ended. Inshallah I hope that you will allow your name to be intimately linked with the deaths of some people, along some clan boundary at the hands of Somaliland/ clan militia in such an intimate way, in the near future. Just incase you choose to change the title The A&T's Love of Somali Unity Gets Another Stage Jacaylbaro;745663 wrote: Bali Gubadle (Somaliland.Org)-Laba ruux ayaa ku dhintay midkalena waxaa soo gaadhay dhaawac ka dib markii sida la sheegay duhurnimadii manta ay niman hubaysan oo ONLF ahi rasaas ku fureen xaafado xoolo dhaqato ah meesha la yidhaahdo Dacawalay oo ka tirsan deegaanka Abokor Axmed ee kililka shanaad ee Itoobiya. Sida ay noo xaqiijiyeen qaar ka mid ah odayaasha deegaanka gobolka Hawd, iska hor imaadkan ayaa ka dhacay Tuulada Dacawalay oo dhinaca galbeed kaga beegan Degmadda Abokor Axmed oo ka tirsan deegaanka is maamulka Soomaalida ee dlka Itoobiya. Wararka aanu ka helayno deegaankaasi waxaa kale oo ay sheegayaan in is rasaasayntaasi ay ku dhinteen laba nin oo magacyadoodu kala ahaayeen Marxuum Yuusuf Axmed Jees iyo marxuum Axmed Muxumed Sheekh Xuseen ayaa la cadeeyay in ay dhinteen, halka uu dhaawac halis ah soo gaadhay Yuusuf Qodax oo labadaasi marxuum la joogay, Maydka Labada marxuum iyo dhaawaca ninkaasi ayaa la sheegay in la soo gaadhsiiyay degmadda Laanqayta oo ka tirsan kililka shanaad ee Itoobiya halkaas maydka labadaasi nin lagu aasi doono. Ma jiro ilaa hadda wax war ah oo ka soo baxay dhinaca maamulka deeegaanka uu dilku ka dhacay iyo beelaha uu dilkani dhex maray. bilihii ugu dambeeyay ayaa waxa degaankaasi ka taagnaa cabsi iyada oo ay labada beelood ee ay ka soo jeedaan nimanka la dilay iyo kuwa dilka gaystay, uu dhawaan dhex maray dagaal fool ka fool ah dagaalkaasi oo ku dhex maray deegaanka Abokor Axmed, waxaana dagaalkaasi labada beelood ka soo gaadhay khasaare dhimasho iyo dhaawacba isugu jira.

Not particularly intreasted in any of this the number of such organisations in mogadishu and as the TFG expands the rest of somalia is a direct result of several factors - These organisations have the expertise, financial where withall and track record to carry out their assigned projects, there is little if no indegenious somali capacity either financially or otherwise to handle these projects, that is if the whole issues of clan calculations is left out of it (a case in point is that if something such as the SKA concession was given to a somali owned company the first consideration on the jahiil somali mind would be the clan composition of the owners and ,managers of the company, the only way that would have been avoided was to have the somali govermental capacity to manage such facilities an impossible immediate proposition post 1996.) Also do not forget the often intense pressure from western NGOs and financiers such as the great Wh"re of Babylon itself the UNDP, to enact such capacity building agreements. [i beleive this is the correct term any one is free to correct me as I am not versed in NGO speak]. - The unique post conflict situation of countries such as somalia, with no principled oversight (twhich means random parliamentarians who bring some heat on a certain agreement or other in some clan website or other and then promptly go quite when their envelop filled with dollars) or indeed no journalism to speak of, desicions are taken by a small inside group around certain administrative and political feifdoms with pen quickly put to paper after appropiate payments are made. - The fact that these organisations are specifically set up and designed to target organisations such as the TFG, goverments in post conflict extremely volatile situations with little to no legitamacy, bankrolled by organisations these companies often deal with directly, The only diffrence between somalia and afghanistan I would beleive is their is just (at this moment in time) much less money to be made. So expect more such agreements but in the end I prefer this to the alternative any one who used the mogadishu airport pre-SKA would attest to this. P.S Whilst looking thru the collection of websites I came across this nugget in the media section of RA international services 2011 Jul 13 RA International commences Somaliland registration RA International is pleased to announce that it has commenced the process of registering a corporate entity in the Republic of Somaliland. Members of RA management recently visited Hargeisa, the administrative capital of Somaliland and met with a number of high ranking government officials and local businesses. As RA approaches the two year mark of operating in Somalia the company plans on increasing the size of its operations in Mogadishu as well as actively pursuing opportunities in the country's northern areas. I hope that the following quotes by our freinds still apply and that things will not have changed to nation building e.t.c "Yamyam iyo Qadaadweyn baa isugu tagtay ,,,,, markaasaa rajo laga sugayaa " "There desperately needs to be a change in the psyche of these governments. The number of consultants and NGOs on the ground doing little to nothing is staggering. I doubt there are basic checks done at inception or any monitoring during their work. Are they required? What is the benefit? How will it be measured? It’s a free for all (and a few brown envelopes help). "

Afhayeenka ciidamada Midowga Afrika AMISOM Capt. Panddy Ankunda ayaa sheegay iney fashiliyeen qarax miino oo la doonayey in lala beegsado samafalayaal u dhashay dalka Turkiga oo howlo isugu jira quudin iyo daweyn ka wada kaamka RAJO oo ku yaala degmada Wadajir ee magaalada Muqdisho. Waxaa uu intaa ku daray afhayeenka AMISOM in miinadaas lagu xiray derbi ku yaala xeradaas xili habeenimo ah ayna soo sheegeen qaar ka mid ah dadka barakacayaasha ah ee xeradaas ku jira taasna ay keentay in laga hortago ka hor inta aysan geysan waxyeelo geysanin. “Miinadu waxay aheyd mid remuutka lagu hago, markiiba waxaa goobta gaaray ciidamada AMISOM waxayna arkeen fiilo dheer oo ka soo baxeysa halka miinada lagu rakibay oo ku jirta gudaha xerada, wey fur-fureen, miinadii iyadoo aan qarxin ayeyna goobta ka soo saareen” ayuu intaa ku daray Afhayeenka ciidamada Midowga Afrika AMISOM Capt. Panddy Ankunda.

This quote is from an unrelated article critical of turkish foreign policy in the Jerusalem post As a consolation prize, “to showcase Ankara’s ambition to become a major political and economic player in Africa,” and “raise Turkey's profile even further,” Erdogan lately visited Somalia, the country that has been worst affected by a prolonged drought in the Horn of Africa. He announced that Turkey had raised $137 million for Somalia, and pledged it would open an embassy, build roads and open more schools and hospitals. Erdogan also promised to help facilitate a settlement to Somalia’s internal conflict, with the Islamist Shabab militia to be part of the peace process. http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=236674

Dowlada Turki-ga ayaa waxa ay ku dhawaaqday in Soomaaliya ay u soo dirayso gudi dhaxdhaxaadin ka Sameeya Dhinacyada Soomaalida Axmed Daa’uud Oogloo Wasiirka arimaha dibada ee doowlada Turkiga oo la hadlay Warbaahinta dalkaasi ayaa waxa uu sheegay in doowlada Turkiga ay Soomaaliya u direeyso Wafdi dhexdhaxaadin ka sameeya ama u istaaga sidii dadka Soomaalida ay dhibaatada kaga bixi lahaayeen “Waxaan soo direeyna gudi heer Wasiiro ah oo waxa ay dhax dhaxaadin ka sameeyn doonaan dhinacyada Siyaasada Soomaaliya isaga soo horjeeda sida Dowlada iyo Shabaab waxaa ay gar gaari doonaan dadka ay abaarta iyo macluusha sameeysay wafdigaasi waxa uu ka kooban yahay 170 xubnood “ sidaasi waxaa yiri Axmed Daa’uud Ogloow Sidoo kale Wasiirka arimaha dibada ee Turkiga ayaa waxa uu sheegay in wafdigaas ay isugu jiraan Wasiirka deeganka,Wasiirka Dastuurka Wasirrka arimaha dibada Wasiirka Cuntada iyo beeraha Wasiirka xanaanada iyo xoolaha Wasiirka macdan iyo biyaha Wasiirka Cafimaadka Wasiirka Diinta Wasiirka Musiibooyinka iyo xaladaha dag dag iyo khubaro iyo madax ka tirsan hay’ada bisha cas ee dalka turkiga Waxaa kale oo qeeyb ka wafdigaasi Wakaalada hormarinta iyo isku xerka caalamiga ah ee Turkiga TIKA Mar kale Axmed Daa’uud Oogloow oo ka hadlaya wax qabadka wafdiga ay doowladiisa soo direeyso ayaa waxa uu yir “Waxa ay isku dayi doonaan in ay la hadlaan dhinacyada Siyaasada si gar gaar loo gaarsiiyo dadka Soomaaliyeed dhibaatada ku heeysato gobalada dalka waxa kale ay qaban doonaan in ay Cusbitaalo la dhiso iyo in Dayactirka ay ku sameeyaan wadooyinka iyo in ceelal laga qodo goobaha barakacaaysha ah. Xafiiska Warbaahinta Allbanaadir.com Muqdisho Somalia Allbanaadir@live.com

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN Saturday, September 10, 2011 DHOBLEY, Somalia — Adan Dahir Hassan sits in a bald office, wires dangling from the ceiling, handing out death sentences. Recently installed by an Islamist warlord, Mr. Hassan recalled how he had ordered a soldier who had killed a civilian, possibly by accident, to be delivered to the victim’s family, which promptly shot him in the head “It’s Islamic law,” said Mr. Hassan, the professed district commissioner of this bullet-riddled town. “That’s what makes the community feel happy.” For the first time in years, the Shabab Islamist group that has long tormented Somalis is receding from several areas at once, including this one, handing the Transitional Federal Government an enormous opportunity to finally step outside the capital and begin uniting this fractious country after two decades of war. Instead, a messy, violent, clannish scramble is emerging over who will take control. This is exactly what the United States and other donors had hoped to avoid by investing millions of dollars in the transitional government, viewing it as the best antidote to Somalia’s chronic instability and a bulwark against Islamic extremism. But the government is too weak, corrupt, divided and disorganized to mount a claim beyond Mogadishu, the capital, leaving clan warlords, Islamist militias and proxy forces armed by foreign governments to battle it out for the regions the Shabab are losing. Already, clashes have erupted between the anti-Shabab forces fighting for the spoils, and roadblocks operated by clan militias have resurfaced on the streets of Mogadishu, even though the government says it is in control. Many analysts say both the Shabab and the government are splintering and predict that the warfare will only increase, complicating the response to Somalia’s widening famine. “What you now have is a free-for-all contest in which clans are unilaterally carving up the country into unviable clan enclaves and cantons,” said Rashid Abdi, an analyst for the International Crisis Group, which studies conflicts. “The way things are going, the risk of future interregional wars and instability is real,” Mr. Abdi added, “even after Al Shabab is defeated.” More than 20 separate new ministates, including one for a drought-stricken area incongruously named Greenland, have sprouted up across Somalia, some little more than Web sites or so-called briefcase governments, others heavily armed, all eager for international recognition and the money that may come with it. Officials with the 9,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force, the backbone of security in Mogadishu, say they are deeply concerned by this fragmentation, reminiscent of Somalia’s warlord days after the government collapsed in 1991. “What was holding everybody together is now gone,” lamented an African Union official, who asked not to be identified because he was departing from the official line that all is well in Mogadishu. “All these people who came together to fight the Shabab are now starting to fight each other. We weren’t prepared for this. It’s happening too fast.” American officials are struggling to keep up with Somalia’s rapidly evolving — or some say devolving — politics, saying they have lost faith in the transitional government’s leaders and are now open to the idea of financing some local security forces, part of what they call a “dual track” approach to supporting the national and local governments at the same time. (The fact of the matter is that the so called dual track approach is the one of the major reasons for the devolving politics of somalia)“It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have a local leader with some charisma and grass-roots support,” said one American official, who was not authorized to speak publicly. Perhaps no area better illustrates the creeping warlordism than Dhobley, a forlorn little town near the Kenyan border contested by two new militias, one led by a dapper, French-educated intellectual, the other by an Islamist sheik who used to be in league with the Shabab. People are starving here, victims of Somalia’s famine, 70-pound adults and tiny babies with skin cracked like old paint. But there are few aid organizations around. They have been scared off by the hundreds of undisciplined militiamen, who constantly fire off their guns and have killed each other in recent weeks. The gunmen in solid green fatigues belong to Ahmed Madobe, the Islamist sheik-turned-warlord who just a few years ago was hunted down by American forces, wounded by shrapnel during an air raid and then spirited away to an Ethiopian prison. “I wasn’t just in the Shabab; I helped found it,” Sheik Madobe boasted the other day, as he sat in a tent on Dhobley’s outskirts, flanked by dozens of baby-faced fighters. He said he had quit the Shabab because “they’re killers,” though several analysts said it was a more prosaic breakup over smuggling fees. Also prowling around Dhobley, between crumbling buildings and stinking piles of animal carcasses from the drought, are hundreds of gunmen in camouflage fighting for another man, known as the Professor. Mohamed Abdi Mohamed, better known as Professor Gandhi, is a former university lecturer who says he holds two French Ph.D.’s — in geology and anthropology. He has formed his own state, Azania, complete with two houses of representatives and special seats for women, though he is not actually in Dhobley and seems to spend a lot of time in Kenya. “Let’s just say Madobe and I have different values,” Professor Gandhi said from the tearoom of a fancy hotel in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, where he was wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a stylish thick cotton blazer. Professor Gandhi’s and Sheik Madobe’s forces, working simultaneously though not quite together, recently pushed the Shabab out of a few towns along the Kenyan border. The Kenyan military has been backing them up, and according to American diplomatic cables, the Chinese government gave Kenya weapons and uniforms for the Somali militiamen, possibly because there is oil in southern Somalia that the Chinese covet. A similar situation is unfolding near the Ethiopian border, where an Ethiopian-backed militia has defeated Shabab forces and established a narrow zone of control. In central Somalia, another militia, Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a, which also receives Ethiopian weapons, has seized several towns from the Shabab as well. The Shabab seem to be undercut by internal fissures, though they still have thousands of fighters. Several leaders, including Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, have recently been killed, and the Shabab’s policy of blocking Western food aid at a time of famine has meant that hundreds of thousands of people have fled their territory, depleting the militants’ resources and depriving them of recruits. Those who remain are often too poor to tax or too sick to soldier. In August, the Shabab announced they were pulling out of Mogadishu for the first time in years, though some fighters apparently stayed behind to terrorize the population and behead more than a dozen people. The new anti-Shabab forces have differing relationships with the transitional government. Sheik Madobe says he is willing to work with transitional leaders; Professor Gandhi dismissed them as a lost cause. But even the local administrations marginally aligned with the government say they do not get much help from Mogadishu and now want to break away. “Separation, that’s our dream,” said Abdirashid Hassan Abdinur, a local official in Dolo, near the Ethiopian border. As for a name, he said they were still working on that. “All I can say is that we’ll pick it here, not at some foreign hotel.” Source: NY Times

Excellent thread keep it up!

As the drought and famine grabbed international headlines in July, the Shabab announced a tactical retreat from Mogadishu in August, paving the way for Somali and AMISOM forces to move into areas that had been under the total control of the Shabab for more than two years. The Somali government has portrayed this as a military victory and has declared the beginning of the end of the group. However, “These assessments owe more to wishful thinking than reality,” according to an analysis published in the well-respected journal Africa Confidential. “The military and political damage to Al Shabaab is likely to prove temporary.” The drought has undoubtedly weakened the Shabab’s short-term ability to collect taxes, and diaspora revenue has slowed, partly because of increased US monitoring of Somali money transfers, resulting in an inability to buy sufficient ammunition to fight the well-armed AMISOM forces. While the Shabab has taken heavy casualties among its leadership, the group remains a powerful force, one that has shown an ability to adapt. “The war in Mogadishu and elsewhere is by no means over,” according to Africa Confidential’s analysis. “Al Shabaab could adopt low-level insurgency and avenge the loss of its senior cadres by carrying out a ‘spectacular,’ a major bombing in Somalia or a neighboring country.” There is evidence that even before the drought and famine became major news, the group was already deliberating a major shift in tactics. In June the man the United States alleged was Al Qaeda’s chief of operations in East Africa, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, was killed after he and a colleague got lost in the middle of the night and approached a Somali military checkpoint on the outskirts of Mogadishu. The Somali forces, not knowing his identity, riddled Fazul with bullets. US intelligence later determined it was indeed the most wanted man in Somalia. In Mogadishu, a week after Fazul’s death, I interviewed senior Somali intelligence officials who were poring over the materials seized from the mobile command post Fazul had operated from his car. Among the documents recovered were writings by Fazul criticizing the Shabab leadership for trying to fight AMISOM and Somali government forces head-on. Instead of seeking to hold territory, he advised Shabab fighters to “go back to their old ways of hit-and-run insurgency and underground operations, and to disband the areas that they control,” according to a source who directly reviewed the documents. Fazul was “arguing that Al Shabab essentially give up the vast areas that they control in Somalia, in exchange for going underground across the country, including peaceful areas, in Somaliland and Puntland, and disrupting the whole country,” says the source. Fazul argued that “Al Shabab controls about 40 percent of Somalia. And the other 60 percent is either peaceful or semi-peaceful, and most people in Somalia are not feeling the pinch of Al Shabab.” Fazul advocated that the Shabab “just wreak havoc, carry out small operations, assassinations, throughout Somalia. And that creates a situation like in Mogadishu, where everyone is fearful of them—whether you live in a Shabab-controlled area or under the government area. You cannot travel at night and so on. So that’s his vision, to create a total savagery throughout the country.” Perhaps the Shabab is truly on the ropes, as the Somali government claims. Or maybe the group is implementing Fazul’s vision of a guerrilla terror campaign that gives up territory in favor of sowing fear throughout the country. In any case, the Shabab’s meteoric rise in Somalia, and the legacy of terror it has wrought, is blowback sparked by a decade of disastrous US policy that ultimately strengthened the very threat it was officially intended to crush. In the end, the greatest beneficiaries of US policy are the warlords, including those who once counted the Shabab among their allies and friends. “They are not fighting for a cause,” says Ahmed Nur Mohamed, the Mogadishu mayor. “And the conflict will start tomorrow, when we defeat Shabab. These militias are based on clan and warlordism and all these things. They don’t want a system. They want to keep that turf as a fixed post—then, whenever the government becomes weak, they want to say, ‘We control here.’ ”