It seems somali divisions and fragmentations is well known now, a while ago an algerian classmate asked if I was somali, when i replied in the affirmative he then went on to ask if i was from "somaliland, puntland, or south somalia". I laughed and asked him how he knew about all this, he said his somali freinds told him about it, it seems we are very proud of our divisions and boast about them. Very sad situation but things are looking better with the new government and everyone should support it.

Qudhac Defeated lot? Puntland is still one of most stable and prosperous regions in somalia and a puntlander is the prime minister of somalia. If that's being defeated, then consider puntland pummeled. As for the topic, baidoa clans got Speaker of the house and finance minister, correct? That's better than most groups, i'd say.

Originally posted by Najmudin: ^Really? I am afraid odayga has run away for his safety. Who is he afraid of in puntland? I don't care for colonel yey, but let's use some common sense here.

Are we dealing with facts here or childish and tribialist motivated fantasies? call abdullahi yusuf whatever one wants, but calling him a refugee in yemen is infantile and has no substance when he can clearly come back to somalia anytime he wants and still has considerable influence in puntland and even with the new government. That is the fact, a man from puntland was picked as PRIME MINISTER of the new government largely to appease A/Y and his base although i have no interest in associating the new PM with the former president. Let's be real here! But i suppose people on both sides here are interested in continuing their trivial propaganda flame war more than anything else.

Originally posted by Naxar Nugaaleed: very unfortunate not that i expect this latest thing to work This government will work inshallah. Somalia finally has a new generation of educated and competent leaders who care about the somali people. Now that the old warlord yey is gone, a much needed paradigm shift is occurring in somalia and things look very good for somalia. We should all be optimistic.

He will be replaced with another reer gedo, it means nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Azhari, Cirro, etc seems like the same old players, anyone relatively 'new' in this cabinet? And what regions are they from, so the minster of foreign affairs went to northwest somalia like before. Same formula seems to be at work, hopefully this time with a better and more refined leader in shieck sharif things will turn out better.

What regions are these men from? i know sharif shieck hassan is from bay and bakool if i'm not mistaken, but do all these men satisfy the 4.5 formula? Who has been left out?

Originally posted by -Serenity-: Interesting article. Polygyny (one man having more than one wife) and polyandry (one woman having more than one husband) from a family perspective can be a good family environment if its what all the parties want. There is really no difference in terms of needs or ability to be in those kind of relationship(like the jibberish that men want more of the bedroom stuff than woman - these things are person specific and not gender specific). The restrictions in Islam have come about to preserve paternity as in polyandry, its not possible to tell who fathered a certain child... .. but now that there is DNA testing... hehe! Are you saying islam needs to be updated? But religion aside, how is this good for the family? I mean polygamy is practical in the sense that one man and many women is more productive in terms of producing children, but one woman and multiple men is not natural at all unless of course there was a shortage of women. Not to mention, biologically speaking most men seek quantity while women seek quality or that's what psychological studies and common sense have shown.

By Joseph Nasr and Douglas Hamilton JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Right-wing leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday accepted a mandate to form Israel's next government and immediately called for a broad, national unity coalition with centrist and left-wing partners. Such a coalition might create a stable, middle-of-the-road government immune to the sort of pressure from fringe parties that has hamstrung previous Israeli administrations. But there was no sign that his rivals would accept, and Netanyahu may have no alternative but an alliance with far-right and ultra-religious parties, which could tie his hands on making peace with the Palestinians and tightening fiscal discipline. Palestinians and Arab neighbors were likely to see his nomination as confirmation that most Israelis are in no hurry to pursue peace deals with them. Netanyahu, 59, leads the hawkish Likud party. He was prime minister before in the late 1990s and now has six weeks to put together a coalition for a second turn at the helm. Likud more than doubled its seats in the election 10 days ago in which the security of the Jewish state was the paramount issue, after a 2006 conflict with Hezbollah Islamists in Lebanon and a war with Islamist Palestinian Hamas in Gaza last month. But there was no clear winner. With 27 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, Netanyahu ended up one seat behind the centrist Kadima party of Tzipi Livni, the dominant partner in the outgoing coalition. The electorate's rightward drift, however, gave him a better chance of achieving a majority with like-minded parties. But his nomination by President Shimon Peres on Friday was a break with Israeli tradition, which has always given a governing mandate to the leader of the first-placed party after elections. Netanyahu urged his opponents to close ranks for the sake of the country and join his government: "I call on Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni and Labor Party chairman Ehud Barak and I say to them -- let's unite to secure the future of the State of Israel." Repeating his campaign message, Netanyahu said Iran was seeking nuclear weapons that could threaten Israel's existence and challenging Israel through Islamist proxies, Hezbollah in south Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. In the Gaza Strip, a spokesman for the ruling Palestinian Hamas movement predicted conflict and instability. "This means that Zionist policy is going from bad to worse," said Fawzi Barhoum. "The nomination of Netanyahu does not point to security, peace or stability in the days ahead." http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE51 H54120090220

Marx Saxiib, somali ma ku hadli kartaa? Afka hooyo yaa kugu diray? Also, you still have not answered why you have winston churchil as an avatar, a notoriously drunk bigot who was no different than hitler. Care to elaborate on the reasons why you consider this man a hero?

Ibtisam A word of advice, you're debating style comes off as mad rants like that crazy woman from the simpsons who throws cats at everyone, tone it down and learn to articulate your thoughts without getting too emotional especially when it comes to important islamic topics.

Originally posted by *Ibtisam*: ^^EDIT: Not you: Jibaaber: It seems Serenity is not confused and got it: But for your benefit, application of rules and treatment of individuals as prescribed in Islam is not equal or the same in Islam for people who believe and those who don’t. I.e. people are treated according to their believe and status, there is no we are all equal and the same regardless of religion. So the thought, views and actions of none muslims are not equal to those of Muslims and you are not required to treat a Muslim person the same as a none-Muslim. There are different set of guidelines and rules which govern each camp; those who believe and those who do not. Aah okay then, well your wording was convoluted. But now I understand, and I can't say i completely disagree. Though are we not encouraged as muslims to treat muslims and non-muslims alike with kindness and all things noble? Now I'll let you and serenity have your little debate.

I don't get it, if this gaal woman wants to get jiggy with multiple men, why doesn't she just become a prostitute and earn some money in the process. Clearly not a great way to raise a family, but if it works for them, c'est la vie.

Originally posted by *Ibtisam*: But first you have to understand there is a difference between Muslims and none Muslims in their treatment, the application of principles, the value fo their views particularly with regards to OTHER Muslims. If we don't agree on this basic level, we won't agree on anything else. It is NOT mix and match and take the best view. Explain this please, you have me and most likely everyone else utterly confused again.

No one is gonna read all that, why don't you summarize it for us, what are you trying to get across this time?

Even somali 'intellectuals' have the same ignorant clanist behavior, nothing surprising there. This goes back to my earlier statement about somali's favorite pass time being criticizing others(in this case omar jamal) while at the same not giving an effort themselves to pursue an alternative action.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama must urgently seize the opportunity to help Somalia's new leaders unite their strife-torn country under the rule of law, a senator said in a letter released Thursday. "The need to develop and implement a new approach is urgent," Democratic Senator Russ Feingold told Obama in a letter dated February 13, urging the new US president to break with predecessor George W. Bush's approach. Feingold urged Obama to forge a comprehensive new approach grouping US diplomatic efforts but also military and intelligence means "into one coherent strategy." "The previous administration maintained a disjointed and short-sighted approach toward Somalia that was counterproductive and led to increased anti-Americanism in the region," the Wisconsin lawmaker charged. Islamist militants loyal to newly-elected President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed take up position at a... "As a result, the situation in Somalia has deteriorated, undermining our national security goals, including counterterrorism," the senator, who visited Somalia in December and met with President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. The moderate Islamist won office January 31 under a United Nations-brokered peace deal between the Somali transitional government and a moderate Islamist opposition that also calls for forming joint security units. Somalia has had no effective central authority since the 1991 ouster of former president Mohamed Siad Barre touched off a bloody cycle of clashes between rival factions. Feingold, an outspoken Bush critic, urged Obama "to consider making a public, unequivocal statement that you intend to make a clear break from past policies toward Somalia." "I believe doing so could make a tremendous impression on ordinary Somalis and greatly advance US public diplomacy efforts in the Horn of Africa and across the Muslim world," he said. SOURCE: AFP, Friday, February 20, 2009

There is no logic in religion, any philosophical debates on god's motivations will lead to nowhere. We as humans don't have the mental capacity to understand allah's(swt) motivations, it's something you believe in or you don't. That simple.

Where's the commotion coming from? This seems to be the sum of the shieck's argument and it's something all muslim can/shoul agree with. How does one interpret the following statement as 'allaying with the enemy'. And who exactly is the enemy? As the Gaza events and decades of horror in Muslim lands have shown, terrorism is not an Islamic monopoly. However, what should be of concern to Muslims - is not that ‘islamic terrorism’ is a contradiction in terms, but rather that the term is and has been coined and is being used widely"

What if we take these seef la bood three stooges(turki, roobow, aweys) and send em to the moon and leave em there. They can stone age each other to death there.

Jaamac Churchil aka Marx Listen chief, habrahan iyo odayaashan gaboobey verbal beating beating baa loo dhibaa, dharbaaxo kulul cyber style camal haddi kale qalbiga bay kaa jajibinyaan. ha ka baqin saaxiib, sidii mudane biggie smalls dhahay when it comes to formulating your views treat it like boxing, stick and move, stick and move.

The new PM is his own man and has nothing to do with abdullahi yusuf or the past government, let's move forwards and not backward. Why are people still so persistent in talking about A/Y? He is gone, and there is a new and better dynamic at work in somalia. I might even get the chance to go to mogadisho inshallah if things continue to get better.

Originally posted by NinBrown: Kash...for someone who is fighting for a islamic state, you don't display an islamic manner and all you do is curse and swear. Therefore we wouldnt want your version of Islam. I believe the kid(kashafa) was raised in the projects or something, he thinks the whole world is some islamic version of a rap video, with gangs and turf wars. Not realizing, somalia has seen violence and misery for the past 17 years with many innocents dying in the process, but this ghetto crack monkey and his al shabab want to see the continuation of violence. It's Cagli xumo at it's finest.

The appointment of the new Prime ministers seems to have agitated many clanists, why exactly do they have problem with both shieck sharif and ina cabdirashid? Both are educated and good men. Al shabab's has no relevance in somalia, are they gonna wage jihaad on fellow somali's now?if they are smart, they will join shieck sharif's government and be part of a national army and rebuild the tattred remains of the somali republic. Somalia finally has the right and practical leadership we've been waiting, let's make something of it.