Mr. Dool is amazingly brilliant. "past experiences should not make us cynics but better judges of things.........There are those who blame all Muslims when a Muslim does something bad. Clannish Somalis are wrong to blame whole clans for the actions of individuals. This is guilt by association."from the article What Is The Right Way Forward For Somaliland? By Abdullahi Dool March 08, 2008 Because of my writings, I get lots of electronic mail from Somalis and foreign friends which I acknowledge here my profound appreciation. Most of them carry good and positive sentiments. Needless to say, from time to time, I also receive hate mail. Anyone who deals with people or issues which concerns people will no doubt confront bitter reaction. That is the nature of things. Even the prophets used to encounter some resentment. I would like to share here one such reaction. A clannish individual who resented my love for our people in Somaliland has, not long ago, sent me an email entitled: Mind your business! It was a rant warning me to stay away from the affairs of the North. This is ironic. It is like telling an Englishman from Devon that the English in Cornwall was none of his business. We cannot be Somalis if the affairs of Somalis are not our business. The people in Somaliland are Somalis and the land they inhabit is the land of Somalis (Somaliland). For that simple reason, Somaliland is my business. Personally, I believe in our nationhood, common identity and common destiny. There are 6.5 billion people on this planet. Only 10 million are Somalis. Unlike many nations populated by different ethnic groups, Somalis should appreciate the fact that we are of the same stock, speak the same language, practice the same religion and sect; share one culture, heritage and a common history. Individuals who are driven by clan-based interests do not influence national opinion. Such things require foresight. We need to narrow, not widen rifts created within our society. Let us not forget that such rifts are the creation of unprincipled individuals who tend to benefit from them. It is a disservice, if not treason to encourage hatred within one’s own nation. The Almighty did not create mankind to hate one another let alone people from one nation. We need to confront persons whose enterprise has become hatred. It is the role of the educated generation to fight evil and strengthen the common bond of our people. We live in an age where the whole of Europe is coming together as one nation. Constructive unity is beneficial to those who embrace it. It is true, things have fallen apart and our nation is nowhere near the unity which can bring people of the same stock together. However, past experiences should not make us cynics but better judges of things. The division and disunity of same people is untenable. There was no wall stronger than the Berlin wall which had to come down. Next time when unity arrives, there is no need to look back and miss the opportunity. That day, unity will not be a turn off but a golden opportunity. The reason which could not keep the Germans apart would bring Somalis in Hargeisa, Mogadishu, Kismayo and elsewhere together. Unsavoury leadership can complicate things and make people lose hope. It is one thing to say, ‘let us unite when we have a truly national government’, but who said unity is a curse? In the 1980s, in Somalia, there was a military government in which Somalis from all communities were in its army and public service. We cannot blame any clan for what has happened in the North. In the 1980s the then government was battling insurgency (first in the North and later in the South) which were trained and armed by the then Marxist government in Ethiopia which did not hide its disdain for Somalia and its intention to finish off Somalia. Unfortunately, this is not how some individuals will see it. In this world there are those who blame — not the individual who has done wrong, but his clan or ethnic group. There are those who blame all Muslims when a Muslim does something bad. Clannish Somalis are wrong to blame whole clans for the actions of individuals. This is guilt by association. In the North, individuals who were carrying out orders were from different communities, including from the North itself. Governments everywhere combat insurgency and culpability of wrongdoing may not rest with governments alone. Even the present government in Somaliland will fight anyone who challenges its authority. We saw President Mohamed Ibrahim Egal himself combat insurgency in Somaliland during his reign. Precious lives were lost as a consequence. In August 1991 on live television, we saw the shelling of the Russian parliament by Russian tanks under the order of Boris Yeltsin, the then ruler, in order to flush out rebellious parliamentarians and their speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov.[1] Such examples are many. Our purpose here is not to justify the action of those in authority, but merely to examine parallels by comparing our experiences with other nations. However, we are neither condoning nor dismissing the adverse significance of such actions. The loss of the life of one Somali is very tragic. But such sentiments can only be valid when we all matter to one another and care about one another. We are not the only nation which has had to suffer, but no nation had to dismember as a result. Destruction and the loss of precious lives were not confined to the North alone. Worse atrocities have also taken place in the South and the precious lives of many Somalis were lost as a consequence. But, we cannot blame any clan for the carnage which has taken place in the South. No doubt clans were used, but it was individuals who were behind the atrocities. In the South, Somalis who were wronged are neither asking for a different country nor are they seething with anger. It is time to forgive what has happened between Somalis. But lessons should be drawn. We should never allow hateful individuals to whip up emotion and fan the flames of animosity among Somalis. What we need is to move on and draw a line under the difficult past. If we do not emerge from subterranean clannism into the upper grounds of nation, we will never have a credible government, let alone a state. Even on the Internet individual Somalis are serving clan interests. Some bandy the conflict waged in Las Anod in October 2007 as if Somaliland was Ethiopia and Puntland was Eritrea. The people of Las Anod share kinship with Somalis in both Somaliland and Puntland. Somalis in Las Anod have the right to enjoy their dual kinship unhampered. Far from being a success, the invasion of Las Anod will hinder and not help progress in Somaliland. It is silly to mistake Somaliland for Ethiopia and Eritrea for Puntland. Puntland and Somaliland are both Somali territories populated by Somalis. Let us see things in perspective. Yet again, thousands of Somalis had to flee and endure suffering as a result of another unnecessary conflict. The conflict over Las Anod should have been avoided at any cost. In the past when foolish things happen, only the very young would take to the streets. The exuberance of children has never been a problem. Unfortunately, it is now adults who rejoice. Foolish actions brought about by petty men in positions of power should be rejected, not rejoiced. Public opinion is a priceless commodity. Since the early 1990s, the people from Las Anod and its wider area were split down the middle. Their allegiance was torn between Puntland and Somaliland. Half of the people were supporters of Somaliland. Anyone who raids another’s area gets scorn, not flowers. Another silly idea is the concept of 25 Las Anod folks paraded as prisoners of Puntland. It is never a good idea to parade folks from another community as prisoners. Such things have adverse consequences for inter-communal relations. Needless to say, the people of their area will not see them as prisoners of Puntland. They will see it the humiliation of their own folks. How is this going to help healing? Our nation is in desperate need of national healing. It will not help anyone to rejoice over the victimization of fellow Somalis. There are countless grievances held against past governments. These are legitimate grievances. Many Somalis believe that government positions were distributed unfairly. No government should practise favouritism which will undermine confidence in governing itself. A government should be fair and judicious. A vibrant, stable and prospering Somalia can only come into being when Somalis from different communities work together side by side. Equal opportunity is the corner stone of a just state and justice is the foundation of a strong society. The nation we strive for should pride itself on the practice of equal opportunity. Equal opportunity is an important pillar in governing. It helps in the creation of a stable society. It is a binding factor in social cohesion. When the state is practitioner of equal opportunity it yields dividend in the form of the support of its public. This enables governance to do its job and deliver. Favouring anyone will only endanger important commodities such as stability and social cohesion. No-one should doubt the ultimate owner of a government is its public and no government is wiser than its own people. The public will always know who is given what and why. In the new society we strive for, all our people should feel the government is theirs, there to benefit all and benefit from all. It is very natural people to go after something using only the heart. To discuss the issue of secession let us use both head and heart. Let us not shy or shudder from engaging honest debate. We are not against our brothers and sisters in Somaliland. But we have valid argument against secession. I believe history will prove us right and those who advocate secession wrong. Perhaps we see what they are not seeing. For starters, some of us can see the bigger picture. Our nation has a thousand times more educated people than in the 1950s. If the dream and aspirations of less educated Somalis of the 1950s were one of unity among Somalis, what does that make us? Has education, travel and all sorts of privilege made us less aspirants than those in the 1950s? For 40 years (1950 to 1990) the Somali people have bemoaned why the colonialists have divided us into five parts. Are we now, (educated Somalis) campaigning for the splitting of the two parts which make up the Republic of Somalia? Have we not lost the plot? There are those who see in their interest the dismemberment of our nation into separate clan entities. Our future generations will ask and rightly so, why we did not take a strong stance against our division into separate entities. We appeal to the good sense of all our people to see the bigger picture. We cannot forsake our own nation in order to prop up an individual to keep power. This is myopic. We cannot weaken our own nation for any reason — self-interest or otherwise. We know the adventure in Sanag by Dahir Rayale is opportunistic, short-sighted and self-serving. We know the aim is to whip up emotion and secure popular support in the coming election. Personally, I have no problem understanding individuals who want secession out of alienation. I must admit, I have trouble understanding those who support secession merely because President Rayale is from their clan (sub-clan). We know our people very well. Once an individual becomes the ruler not all but many members of his clan take matters personally. This is one of the bad habits of the Somali people. But this has to change. The presidency does not belong to anyone. It belongs to all the people. Dahir Rayale Kahin is an individual. Leaders come and go. That is the nature of power. The question is: what will such individuals do when one day Dahir Rayale moves on and another leader takes over? Will they not once again become stern advocates against secession? Puntland is suffering because of chronic maladministration crisis. There is only bad news coming out of Puntland. The government in Puntland is incompetent and detached from its people. The people there are left to fend for themselves. There is a lot a government can accomplish for those under its rule. What is the point of having a government if it is not to impact the lives of its public? The leadership in Puntland is in a mess. One’s currency is one’s face and one’s legacy. We urge the leadership in Puntland to put its acts together. It is never too late to do the right thing. The issue of Somaliland concerns all Somalis. Let us ask the question: Is there any connection between Kosovo and Somaliland? The Kosovans are Albanians, while their nemeses, the Serbs, are Slavs. The Kosovans are Muslims while the Serbs are Orthodox Christians. The two nations are different in culture and language. They have no common bond. After decades of oppression, the Kosovans were ultimately subjected to ethnic cleansing. In February 2008 when Kosovo declared independence, the US, the European Union and other nations had to recognise Kosovo because there is a lot at stake. It was the US and the European Union which have been propping up and running Kosovo since the war with Milosovic in 1999. It is not possible to take Kosovo back to the Serbs. The peace and stability in the Balkans also depends on freeing Kosovo from the clutches of Serbia.[2] We know there is no national government in our country. But this is a temporary situation. The right way forward for Somaliland is not secession. It would be myopic and ill-advised to go down this path. If our people in the North dismember themselves from fellow Somalis, one day they too will divide amongst themselves on clan lines. Nobody is forcing no-one. However, when the time comes, all we need is to live together in a way which will benefit all. Seldom will anyone encourage the break up of their own nation. Why then are some foreigners encouraging the break up of our nation? If you meet such persons just ask them one question: Would you want the break up of your own country? The answer will invariably be: hell no! How can then such persons be friends? If you stop someone from jumping off a cliff, at that moment, it is possible that person may look at you as his enemy but one day he will know that you were his true friend. For that reason a friend is not the one who stops you to do what you may regret one day. In 1945 the last thing the people in Europe wanted was unity with Germany. Today, 51 years after the establishment of the union, the last thing the Europeans want is unity without Germany. Those who encourage our division and dismemberment are our enemies — not our friends. I have only a cold message for foreign individuals such as Dr J. Peter Pham. This is our own nation which he is interfering like an abandoned backyard. Dr. Pham is Vietnamese by origin. Vietnam is South and North. But they are all Vietnamese who belong together. The question is: Who has ratified the union between South and North Vietnam? In case Dr. Pham didn’t know, the union between Somalis has been ratified by their common blood. Dr. Pham should go and dismember his own nation of origin Vietnam into South and North. Dr Pham cannot and should not insult the intelligence of the Somali people. A true friend is not the one who encourages you to commit a serious error. The Somali people as a whole should be encouraged to embrace accountable governance which severs all the people. Dr. Pham, as to whether the US wants to dismember one-nation Somalis, go and have a look at UN resolution 733 passed on 23 January 1992. This resolution reaffirms the sacrosanctity of the territorial integrity of Somalia. In case you didn’t know, the US was one of the main countries behind this resolution. People of the same stock are best served to be together and look after one another. We welcome the United State’s pledge to aid Somaliland. Our nemesis has been clannism which brought about misrule and untold misery. Once the country has a government we can be proud of, the burning issue of Somaliland can and will be resolved. There are many ways the issue can be addressed. However, we must stress that unity cannot be achieved by force or by empty persuasion. The most ideal system for Somalia is: Self-administering regions within a democratic union. Under this system, locally, Somalis will elect their own governors, mayors and administrators. On national level, once the new state has been built, the nation will go to the polls to elect its own national leaders and politicians. We have a duty to our nation which cannot take lightly. Somalia is at the moment a polarized country which requires a modicum of peace and stability to embark on nation building. Somalia is a virgin country rich in natural resources and minerals. It has dynamic and industrious human resources and a fledgling global Diaspora. It has unspoiled tourist attractions. It has the potential to become one of the best holiday destinations. What Somalia lacks is leadership. What it needs is honest and incorruptible leaders to develop and tap into her myriad resources. Once it has the right leadership, Somalia can become a bastion of peace and prosperity where foreign nationals flock to visit, work and invest. Pre-independence Somalis were neither wrong nor naïve to envisage a better common future. The country simply never got the kind of leadership which would make those dreams reality. We Somalis have a choice to make. Loath one another and remain in limbo or band together and strive for a better future similar to the one envisaged by our forefathers. Somaliland is my issue as well as the issue of every Somali. Let us not delude ourselves. It is not for other nations to dismember our nation. Somaliland was a Somali territory before, during and after becoming a British protectorate. We cannot blame one another or blame faultless unity for our troubles. What the nation has been lacking is the right leadership which can heal, bring people together and build a nation. We welcome the sound leadership of any Somali. We will welcome if that person is from the North. Nonetheless, leadership is out of merit and competence. The burden of a nation in ruins is to say the least, Herculean. It will no doubt require the best leadership available. The US Senator Barrack Obama who is contesting the 2008 presidential race is not arguing, since all the 43 US presidents were white, let the next (44th) president be black. Rather, he is putting his stall out to lead his nation by ability, vision and competence. We are not advocating the misfortune of our people in Somaliland. What we want is their beauty and goodness. We strongly disagree if that beauty and goodness is their secession from the rest of country. I contribute this view of mine to the national debate. This is my honest opinion which no doubt, I share with many nation-loving Somalis. You may disagree with me, but I would love to hear your argument. That is the nature of freedom of speech to which we should all adhere and uphold. Anyone who has a different take may do so without bitterness to add to the dialogue. Notes 1. The worldwide media. 2. Independence is the only way forward for Kosovo. Abdullahi Dool is a freelance writer based in London, UK. He can be reached at: Hornheritage@aol.com

Do not get me wrong, strayed! brothers and sisters of Makhir/Sanag. I do understand why many of you are in Hargeisa. Few of you were born and raised in the area and are basically at home; few others are inan layaalo and are possibly marooned in that city; some maybe long-time residents conducting business there; others live there because Hargeisa is a relatively livable place compared to many other Somali towns; to be sure, several of you are there to distance yourselves from those in Makhir/Sanag that have made cottage industry out of flaming the fires of fitna within the community as a means of securing their daily rice-bowl; and, a number of you are no doubt disgusted with the idiocy that permeates the poorly administered state of Puntland, where a greedy, arrogant cabal, that can not shoot straight, calls the shots. I have no doubt that this small par of Fatah places the Northern predicament in a clear picture and it is time we come to find out the right solution of such seemingly embedded obstacles that are the product of wrong decisions and cultural assumptions. The future is under the control of Makhiris to embark on new thinking and approach in dealing first with the problems in their region and then coming back to participating a new revolution that might save our country from the grip of a 21st century colonialism in Somaila by Ethio-West coalition and their implimentation of explicit policies(the South) and implicit policies (the North).

THE SOMALI NATION: TPLF’S SACRIFICIAL LAMB Abdullahi Dahir Moge(1) March 1, 2008 “If you have an upper hand over an opponent, you must crash them totally, you must have no mercy, you must give them nothing to negotiate, no hope, and no room to manoeuvre.” Sun Tze, Chinese war strategist One can hardly flatter me for avant-gardism when I reiterate what is basically repeatedly stated by so many others: that Ethiopia is the main evil that is devouring the soul of Somali nation, currently. I would, therefore, not go into the nitty-gritty’s of this assertion lest the appetite might sicken and so die as in Shakespeare’s the twelfth night. However, I will use the name Tigray People’s Liberation front (TPLF) in lieu of Ethiopia for ethical reasons. The majority of Ethiopian people are equally victimized by the current regime; and it would be a great injustice if they were to be collectively blamed for the wrong-doings of Meles and his retinue of Tigrayans in power. In this piece, I will try to give an overview of few facts that are at times flicked through with flippancy. Or more accurately, perhaps not given due attention as discussions converge on the historical rivalry between Ethiopia and Somalia. First, let me ask these questions? When has TPLF’s meddling of Somalia’s politics started? How have its objectives towards Somalia shifted from 1991 onwards? What factors precipitated the latest full scale invasion and occupation? Has it all been part of the ‘mercenary’ assignment of Meles’s regime as part of the so-called ‘war on terror’? Or had there been domestic Ethiopian political agendas that catapulted such an adventure? I will provide the answers very briefly; albeit partially. It was right after the conclusion of the Carta conference in Djibouti in 2001 that the first official signs of a blatant TPLF scheming in Somalia surfaced. In a move that was clearly intended to intimidate the budding government-which by and large reflected the wishes of the Somali people-; the resort town of Sodere near Nazereth hosted a follow-up mini-conference of the most dreaded Somali warlords. TPLF’s reason for undermining the government of Abdiqasim Salat Hassen was ostensibly rooted to its apprehension of his ‘alleged’ clandestine relations to the defunct Al-Itihad Islamist group. But in the eyes of many pundits and the Somali public, the real cause for this act of sabotage was TPLF’s fear of losing control over the ‘tiny’ neighbour; which it had managed like a private ‘fiefdom’ hitherto. TPLF military commanders in ****** had been sharing Somalia’s looted resources with warlords and had in turn been providing arms and ammunition to these ‘blood suckers’ to destabilise Somalia starting from 1993. The military has influenced the policy position of their masters in Addis Ababa; by providing faulty intelligence reports of the ‘threat’ from the east. The warlords might have also exploited Ethiopia’s usually jerky minority ‘rulers’, for the perpetuation of their reign of thuggery. By and large, it was a mutual co-operation; TPLF pulling the rug out from under ‘any government of not its making’ in Somalia; while the warlords wanted to ensure the flow of stolen riches to themselves and their cronies is not abated. Since 1993 when they consolidated power in Ethiopia, it was a familiar story of playing one warlord against the other. Why has that been easy and unnoticed? Because prominent Somali social and political elites were suffering from a ‘fatigue’ of wars and thought the turmoil will recede with time. Most thought the ‘inconveniences’ caused by warlords was a passing cloud. Thus, whatever its motive, TPLF’s meddling in the internal affairs of Somalia has started well before the advent of the popular Islamic courts-who were the product of social anger against anarchy in Somalia. That is one point I set out to remind the readership. It wasn’t the resurgence of Somali Islamist groups or fear of resultant cross-border security risks that compelled Meles to launch the ultimate blitz. Contrary to many Somali’s lament, who decry Yusuf Indhacade’s vitriolic slogans and feeble bluffs, or the ‘immaturity’ of the courts leadership; TPLF’s military were in Baidoa well before the take over of Mogadishu by the Union of Islamic Courts. In fact, six months before the courts’ victory over the warlords, an adviser to the then Somali PM, Ali Ghedi, who I met on board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Gode, told me that the Ethiopian military will ‘take’ the TFG to Mogadishu. He admitted that he was there to facilitate that operation. Undeniably, Meles Zenawi’s war on Somalia has much to do with domestic political expediency than perceived national security threat from rise of Islamists in Somalia. In 2005, Meles, intoxicated by the ill-advised praises of former British PM-Tony Blair, decided to experiment with ‘electoral democracy’. In his insomniac sleepwalk, he fathomed that it would yield a handsome pay off, if by ceding few seats in the nominal parliament; the accolade and the aid from donors could be maintained or increased. That calculation was to be doomed to a fatal fiasco; as results of the elections turned out to be an overwhelming rejection of TPLF’s ethnic based policies and ‘Albanian communists’ style one party dictatorship. All satellite organisations of the EPRDF, lost ground as the big guns were trounced by angry populace. Meles, in a last ditch gasp to save his lot, appeared on the national TV the same night from Adwa, where he went to vote, and announced the election results; without even bothering to wait for the verdict of his hobbyhorse: the National Election Board of Ethiopia-which certainly would have published results endorsed by him anyway. That haste and the incredulity in his eyes betrayed a man who was taken by surprise; not by the people’s verdict but the ‘inefficiency’ of his cadres whom he counted on to deliver the ‘victory’ on a silver plate. He declared that his party had ‘won by landslide’; and that rallies and demonstrations were banned for one month. Just for the record, the National Electoral Board is headed by one Ato Kamal Badri, from the highly privileged Harari minority ethnic group, who is a man of many functions: the chairman of the electoral board, the chief justice, and the chairman of the constitutional review committee in the house of Federation. Interestingly, any aggrieved party in Ethiopia’s elections are supposed to rest their case with these three institutions in hierarchal order. To put it in simple language, if you have a problem with Kamal’s decision when he is in a coat and tie, you try your luck when he is in a gown! Western donors felt slapped at the face, after Meles ordered the shooting of 300 school children who protested the election theft by his party. Like a perennial river that burst its banks, the blood of innocent minors flooded the streets of Addis Ababa. Luckily for Meles, brute force saved the day for him. Terrified of the ramifications of this exposed ugly face of his, he was a man in desperate search for an escape route. Somalia once again came to his rescue; this time in the shape of ‘marauding Taliban-style Jihadists’! The coalescing forces of sanity, in the form of a religious group that rose above the clan fray in Somalia, came as a providential happening of immense importance to Meles. He seized that god-sent opportunity instantly, and sold it as an ominous augury of what is to befall the horn of Africa; should the west continue to demand ‘petulantly’, the delivery of the ‘luxuries’ of ‘unaffordable’ democracy. Sullying the heroic sacrifices of many Ethiopians who stood for democracy, the west myopically sanctified his atrocities and hurriedly jumped to bed with the dictator. He found a willing sponsor in President Bush and was a man back in business. So, the war profiteering got a new momentum. After all, what will he lose if few thousand more of the ‘jobless’ Ethiopian youth- ‘dangerous vagrants’ he calls them- die; as far as most are not from the ‘people tested with fire’-the Tigre’s- who, proved to be ‘gold’. That same objective of playing the ‘indispensable ally’ to the west is the driving cause for his continued occupation of Somalia; under numerous pretexts. But, it is also true that his commanders have found intermediate roles for themselves in the form of amassing the ‘loot’. Somalia is now a de facto open-access country; where Garret Hardin’s the tragedy of the commons theory aptly applies to. A resource owned by nobody or by everybody is bound to be overexploited or utilised sub-optimally in the teachings of natural resource economics. The undisputed outcome is fast depletion and disappearance of that scare resource. In Somalia, the resource at loss is much more than copper, oil or other minerals. It is its people and nationhood that is under present danger of extinction!! Feeling that is not enough, TPLF has also launched a massive campaign of ethnic cleaning and genocide against ****** civilians. (See Human Right Watch Reports and independent reports from foreign media-the latest being from the reputed Christian Science Monitor). No regime in Ethiopia had afflicted such pain and wanton destruction on the Somali nation ever. Not even the infamous Derg regime! Somali’s are only aghast in disbelief by what wrongs they might have done to this ungrateful tribe. Perhaps they supported evil; and this is their deserved payback. But they have slowly grasped the magnitude of TPLF’s pathological hatred towards the Somali nation. That is the good thing. Let us link this to the bigger contemporary geo-political and ideological picture. Meles’ Somalia adventure will end when the west’s Islamophobia subsides, or when they came up with a paradigmatic shift on how to face up to the ‘over-hyped’ threat from Islam. I hope the shift in thinking in their handling of Pakistan is not a fluke. Musharaf is hard pressed to allow a breathing space for democracy to flourish. I hope the west will prescribe the same medicine to Meles. I hope they will recognize that courting dictators will only increase the anger and ‘radicalisation’ of the subjects. For it is the grand law of physics, that “to every action, there is always an opposite action of equal measure.” Of late, some sound voices among the western tink-tank’s are remarking that supporting democratisation-not stifling it; is more effective, less costly, and more sustainable in curbing ‘Islamic fanaticism’. I tend to agree on this point; but not with their other wider analysis and recommendations on the west Vs Islam saga. The west’s obsession with Islam didn’t start with 911. At its roots, it is about imposing one’s perceived ‘superior’ values on reluctant and equally proud societies. Having succeeded to force ‘Anglo-Saxon’ values and culture-coined as the acceptable norm of a globalized human- down the throats of many people on this earth; the Islamic world is the ‘untameable’ delinquent child for the pioneers of western civilization. A civilisation based on the tenets of liberal democracy, competition, individualism, and greed. For all its glitters, it lacks compassion, social responsibility, family cohesion, and spiritual guidance. Islam embodies all of these values; a reason why Muslims will not be subdued to forgo their happiness. Bush et al’s belief that with perseverance, Islamic ideology could be defeated; presumably because communism was vanquished in half-a-century, is flawed and its conclusions are based on wrong premise. Islam, unlike communism, is a religion and not an ideology. Somali’s misery will end when that of the rest of the Muslim world ends. Somalia’s problem is also internal; but it is my considered judgement that the external interference is the most damaging and the decisive one. If we could demand our independence back now;-with all our defects-we can come out of the ashes stronger. That is why the legitimate struggle of the true sons of the soil in Somalia needs our admiration and support. On the threat from the colossus from the west, my people have a fable for which they have a penchant. It is about the tortoise that was informed of predators’ decision to prey on its exposed flesh. Feeling powerless, it comforted itself with the hope that the Almighty Allah will intervene. The tortoise said in resignation: “they may decide so, but was Allah there?” the subtext being the almighty might have other plans for me. The fable has it that God covered it with the impregnable shell it has today as a shield. The west and its attack dog TPLF might have carved out a meticulous plan of annihilation for the Somali nation, but Allah’s words are yet to come! And I am sure it will come soon. Allah might speak through our own action, not in miracles, and we need to believe in ourselves and unleash our fury on the occupation forces- the black colonizers. If his actions in Mogadisho are to go by, Meles has taken the advice of Sun Tze in letter and spirit. It is up to the Somali’s to stop him. It is richly sardonic that the up until now not-so-patriotic Tigre’s, are the loudest ‘defenders’ of ‘Ethiopia’s national interest’ with something akin to the zeal of a proselyte, and preach us on the history of Ethiopia not being ever colonized. Perhaps they wouldn’t feel the same pride in realizing that they were on the wrong side of that history, - as collaborators of foreign invaders for most part. Much the same way the senile octogenarian Abdullahi Yusuf is now in Somalia. Invading another independent state, experiencing a lapse of nationhood, is a step to the wrong direction to redeem their past misdeeds. A fact not lost to most oppressed Ethiopians who refused to sing to the tune of ‘tribe’ jingoists-the new TPLF conquerors. Last, I never got views on whether Ethiopians in general take pride; in the fact that they were also the only black colonizers who took part in the scramble for Africa as early as 1884. But I know most of them condemn the atavistic replay of that history in the 21st century in Somalia. May God help them to get rid off this tribal tyranny! After all, it is they who live with it at the end of the day! (1) The writer is a freelance contributor to Wardheernews.com. E-mail moogedahas2008@yahoo.com, to contact.

Originally posted by J.a.c.a.y.l.b.a.r.o: It is not time we talk about Somaliland here ,,, your so-called president is slapped in his face and you still want to divert the attention to Somaliland ,,,, nice try. The so called "Somaliland" as a political force representing one group remains part and parcel of Somalia and it is not different from other regions' experience with self-rule. It still falls under the sphere of Ethiopian influence. Ethiopian security agents roam in Hargeisa hunting for dissidents. Where is the country you speak of? "Jemal, a 27-year-old Ethiopian student who says he was active in the Ethiopian opposition and saw many of his friends thrown in prison, fled his homeland on the advice of his father, who is a doctor in Europe. However, he's apprehensive about going to Hargeisa, citing fears there are Ethiopian security agents in the city. All the same, he wants to apply for recognition as a refugee; for now he's one of the thousands stuck in Bossaso." "Young urban Ethiopians are particularly afraid. Hundreds of university students, mostly from Addis Ababa, the capital, are sleeping rough in the streets of Bossaso, a port in northern Somalia, with little money and nowhere to go. Many show their opposition party membership cards. They have fled, they say, in fear of their lives." The Economist

Ambushed in Somalia Aidan Hartley Feb 23, 2008 As we entered the old city, the heat shimmered off coral towers half reduced to rubble by cycles of war. We had just exited Mogadishu's presidential palace after a morning's filming. Gemaal was at the wheel and Duguf rode shotgun. Cameraman Jim and I were in the back chatting. Then came the bang. Except I recall no 'bang', only a shock wave. It sucked the air out of my lungs so hard that I tasted blood in my throat. Through our car's rear window I saw black smoke and debris enveloping our escort vehicle 30 metres behind. 'There's wounded, ' said Jim. Gunfire erupted. Everybody abandoned the car. As Jim ran towards the blast site whatever he said was lost except for '. . . secondary attack!' Total confusion. In the back of the escort car I saw one man pulling at a limp body. Nearby, a woman sat in the sandy road. Her right arm was half blown away but she still clutched a can of cooking oil in her left. Two men who might have been talking in the road lay near a crater in the roadside rubbish. One had his guts hanging out. His eyes were open. The other man was panting as blood poured from his chest. Due to the heat I hadn't worn a flak jacket. Now I returned to our car and put it on. As the smoke cleared, there was more gunfire. I thought, 'Now where?' Bystanders urged me to join them down a side street. I wondered if they might be intending to abduct me. But they just looked scared. In Somalia one rarely sees that, ever, but things are very bad in Mogadishu these days. A boy clutched his foot and cried. I asked, 'Are you OK?' He kept on crying. Walking back to join Jim at the blast area, I met a youth on a bicycle. 'We want life, not this, ' he said, pointing at the mayhem around him. 'I don't care about this fighting. My family is finished. Sorry, my English is broken.' When I got to Jim I said, 'It can't have been for us. It was a mistake.' But who would ever know. Here, assassins give a kid a mobile phone plus a number to ring — another phone that triggers the bomb — when a target passes. If he hits the right car he gets 50. Standing in a window a block away, he has little idea what he's hitting. What's worse is that local phones take seconds to connect. You hear them every day, roadside explosions that kill people who have nothing to do with this war. In Mogadishu as journalists we try to be independent. But to avoid ambushes or kidnap attempts you need a police escort. Our escorts had uniforms. I tried to stop them from wearing them, but it's the regulation. Then, minutes after the bomb an insurgent commander called a friend. 'Praise be to Allah, ' he said. 'We killed two Russians engineers working for the President.' Local radios picked up the report and it took some work to convince them we were not Russian, not engineers and not dead. The dead policeman, also with his eyes open, lay in a deep pool of blood. His death must have been instant. A lump of shrapnel had passed through his neck. He had joined us that morning. Nobody knew his name. He was quiet and polite. Only later did we learn he was called Abdi, and had recently married. The escort car was riddled with holes. It was a miracle the other passengers survived. Armed men surrounded us, angrily shouting and shooting. As we got away, I tried to look through the crowd of soldiers for the wounded civilians. Back at our vehicle was another policeman, blood pouring from his thigh. I held him while we sped towards Medina hospital and tried to cut away his trousers with my knife to look at the wound. Between groans he objected to me vandalising what were probably his only clothes. A battered taxi carrying the wounded bystanders was a couple of minutes behind us reaching the hospital. The woman with her injured arm entered triage still holding her can of cooking oil. Her name was Faduma and when I later met her she said that she had been on her way home from market to cook lunch for her husband. She was knocked off her feet, and when the smoke cleared she saw her arm in ribbons. In the shade of a neem tree I also later met the man with the chest wound. 'Mikhail' said he was in pain. Medina hospital's doctors, who patch up Mogadishu's war victims day in, day out, said Mikhail would be left with a chunk of shrapnel in his thorax but he would recover fully. They also saved Faduma's arm. The policeman with the thigh wound limped back to his base in a couple of days. Weeks later, I often think of the dead men's open eyes and feel so very sad for Somalia's people. Source: The Spectator

Ku Dhowaad boqolaal Qof oo Itoobiyaan iyo Oromo isgu jirta oo Dooni tahriiba ay ku Qubtay Xeebta Magaalada Laasqoray ee Gobolka Sanaag. Laasqoray:--Dooni ay Saarnayeen 250 Qof oo isgu jira Oromo iyo Ethopian ayaa waxaa ay tahriib ahaan laga soo qaaday Magaalada Bosaso ee Xarunta G/Bari. Waxa Doontaasi ay saarnaayeen dadkaasi faraha badan ee Oromada iyo Ethopianka isugu jira ay ku khubeen kooxihii doonidaasi tahriibta Sida Watey Xeebta Magaalda laasqoray iyagoo ugu tilmaamay Inay tahay Yemen. Dadkaasi tahriibayaasha ah ayaa waxaa ay isla Markiiba qaar ka mida Dib ugu Laabteen Magaalada Bosaso oo ay uga soo lugeyeen Magaalada Laasqoray oo Meel 15km u jirta Xeebta Magaaladaasi laas qoray Lugu Daadiyey oo Markaasina la yiri Waa Wadankii aad rabteen ee Yamen Debeetana ay Halkaasi ku degeen oo ay lug ku Galeen Magaalada Laasqoray ee Gobolka Sanaag. Tahriibayaashan ayaa asakoodii Waxaa Dooni aan Sidaasi awood u lahayn lagaga soo Daabaulay Xeebta Mareera oo Xigta Dhinaca Bari ee Magaalada Bosaso Waxaana Dadkaasi laga Soo qaaday Xeebta Magaalada Mareera Hebeenkii Xalay ahaa Waxaana Saaka Hiirtii Waa beri Cutubkii ugu Horeeyey ay Soo Gareen Magaalada Laasqoray oo Markaasi u maalaynayeen Dalka yemen. Wax garadka Magaalada Laasqoray ayaa Haata Waxaa ay Shegayaan In Dadkaasi oo Xalay oo idil Rafaadsanaa ay Quudinayaan iyadoo Iminka Magaalada Laasqoray ay ku sugan yihiin 3o ka mida Dadkaasi halka kuwa kalena ay ku sii jiraan Wada isku Xirta Magaalada Bosaso iyoXeebta Dheer ee Magaalada Laasqoray. Maaha Markii u Horeysey ee Fal caynkan oo kale ah kaasi oo lugu Marin Habaabinayo tahribyaan ajaanib ah oo Si Sharci daro ah uga soo ambabaxaya Xeebaha Puntland iyo Dalkaasi yamen iyadoo laga so qatay Lacago ay Bixiyeen oo aan ka badnayn Hal Safar oo keliya oo yemen ah,Ma jirto talaabooyinka Caynkan oo kale ah Wax talaabo ah oo uu ka soo Saarayo ismaamul Goboleedka Puntland ilaa iyo Haatan. Maxamed Axmed Ciise Dhahar.com

Somalia: Hundreds of Ethiopian refugees were dumped offshore near Las Qorey Las Qorey, Feb 23, (DhaharOnline)- Hundreds of sailors who were ethnically identified as Oromo and other Ethiopians were deliberately ferried to the coastal town of Las Qorey in the break away region of Makhir state by smugglers from the village of Mareer in Bari region via Bosaso. The refugees were told by the smugglers aboard that they have reached Yemen and were forced to jump overboard and swim to the shore, witnesses said. Some of the refugees are now provided with food and medicine by the residents of Las Qorey, an official told DhaharOnline through the phone. A large number of the first wave of the refugees trekked back to the city of Bosaso to reunite with those whom they left behind, Las Qorey mayor said. Refugees from southern Somalia and Ethiopia usually search for jobs while in the town and labor hard to earn enough money to pay off their smugglers, the capable ones leaving behind some members of their families hoping to reunite with them in Yemen. Each trip costs from $40 to $80 per person. Despite the perils inherent in the journey, this business undertaken with determined migrants has become a lucrative source of income for armed smugglers whose service ships routinely operate around the shores of Puntland. The notorious business of human smuggling from Bosaso to Yemen goes unabated without interventions from the Puntland administration, elders in the city of Las Qorey complained. Source: Dhahar

What would you expect from a general who commands the biggest occupying army in the region. Which person is valuable to the imperial regime that protects the TFG? What is happening in the O land and in Mogadisho is a testimony that nothing restrains Ethiopia from its full release of wrath against our people. Over 300 police puppets of the colonial Ethiopia were arrested. Is Abdillahi occupies much higher position than those servile servants facing extrajudicial torture as of now? Nin iimaan xumaadoo, arligisa nacayoo Ibliis daabaystoo, ka eedoobey ehelkiis Sideyduu u eedaa, wuxuu oon ku cuno iyo Afartiis waaxood, iyo arag ku waayaa Alla ummal i saaqyey, alla urugadeyday Egga toobad keene, ifka yaa i geeyoo Iilkeer uraayiyo iga saara Alanbaqa (!) From the book, "Garbaduubkii Gumeysiga" by Faarax MJ. Cawl

He was considered/called Sultan of Somaliland in his revolt against colonialism.

Letter for Reerihii Abdullahi Dahir Moge Feb 13, 2008 Whatever goes upon four legs or has wings is a friend.’ The second commandment in George Orwell’s Animal Farm I am writing to you from Nusdariq triangle, sitting under the neem tree in my family’s compound. I wish to send the message in this letter with no less urgency than that Hanuniye demanded of the Shimbir when he implored it to get across his feelings to the far-off Deeqa. If you find it as a palaver or sort of, bear with me; for us still in the homeland, in perpetual anguish and agony- we find solace in talking endlessly in hush-hush dialogues or in restless monologues. Consequently, we just can’t be brief when presented with this unfamiliar occasion. I am also entrusted with the burden of telling you, all that the oppressed people in the homeland feel. I hear a lot, here. I hear the Diaspora are angry and depressed over the killings, rape, food blockades and deprival of water to home community. I was told the literati among you discuss about the famine here, at least once a week over a dinner. Yes, over the sizzling pepper steak and vanilla Dessert- swapping gossips. I distressfully heard some of you wish to believe the palpable untruth about ‘people killed by ONLF in Dobowein, Danot, Gunagado, Garbo etc.’ I am saddened by the gullibility of you people! I wryly laugh at the supreme naivety of some of you; who would not blink an eye to mourn the death of the walking sticks of Meles’s messengers in the region. I get mad at the inordinate fascination of you with ‘peace via submission’; as if to mock the Somali maxim ‘he who does not feel the pain of your spear would never listen to your words’. Even more, I am sickened by the perceived ambiguity of ONLF on what they are fighting for, and the flurry of speculations in the western media on its vision. Not to mention, the mockery that what has hitherto been sold as ‘The Obole massacre’ by the enemy, should have to be cleared up by Human Right Watch’s January Report - and not by the more knowledgeable ONLF! Let me tell you what is going on here, dear all. If you heard Meles has sealed off entire zones of the region, and denied people access to buy food or sell their livestock, - you heard it right. But have you dissected why? Or you still, in your usual credulity, think it is just part of the multiple means he is fighting the freedom-fighters? No, brothers/sisters, it is an end by itself; not a means. For a colonizer, what is more efficient than to impoverish an entire people and reduce them to begging hordes-dependent on food aid-, to firmly stamp his boot on their hungry faces? What is more revelling than the callous pleasure of looking down on the mouth of the defeated, perhaps bellicosely declaring itself unconquered-but from well under the jackboot of the ‘victor’? But again, if that was what the midget Meles hoped for, it utterly failed. It is hopeless times two! The tyrant’s calculations were based on the cruel logic that a beggar is not a chooser; and therefore it can safely be deduced that freedom, right and dignity are invariably alien to him. For all his shrewdness, Meles is a man who deals with the same cards for different games, in a Poker played by maestros. Presumably, just because when that same strategy was played against his Tigre tribes by the Derg it nearly worked; he thought it just might work with the Somali’s as well. Unfortunately for him, what works for Hagos doesn’t necessarily work for the industrious Macallin Abdullahi. Not surprisingly, the people have coped very well; if at all, it has galvanized the struggle. But, the look in the eyes of the emaciated children and mothers in Gode ‘Hospital’- a sarcastic misnomer for empty building-drops a critical hint to the life the Tigrean demagogue wished for our people. On the story of the ‘people killed by ONLF’, may I take the liberty of classifying the dead in Garbo, Gunagao, Dobowein and elsewhere into three? The first group were the ‘willing’ traitors-maamulka and bogus ‘clan leaders’-who sucked the blood of their brethren in exchange for the bones thrown to them by their Tigre masters. No need to name the dead-out of courtesy for their innocent children and widows (and not for them) - but if I were to write an epitaph on their graves, it would have read: Traitors-may your soul never rest in peace! Don’t listen to the cant of the hypocrites who would call them ‘one of our own’ in consonance with the second commandment in the Animal Farm. Tell them the story of the vulture and the dove-who both subscribe to the label of friends if we follow the commandment in the fable. Yet, the vulture preys upon the dove. Tell them in poem or prose-whichever they understand- that the struggle is between ideals not individuals: freedom against oppression. It is which of the conflicting ideals you opt for, that ultimately defines whose ‘own’ you are. Not your name- Wolde-Giorgis or Adan Dheere!! And as much as the line ‘the necessary murder’ in Auden’s poem is not to be condoned, these ones died fighting for whatever they believed in; put inelegantly, to fill their pot bellies. It is wise to have mercy on the dead, but if that were to be the case for all, then Hitler and Fircoon’s legacy should have been romanticised. So, don’t allow your decency to give way to their lies. Blow away their ‘myth of humanity’-which is selectively applied; never ever for the raped ‘Ridwans’ and compatriots whose corpses lie in the middle of Qabridahar as I am writing this letter. The second group were hapless youth and elderly pushed from behind the edge by the ‘peasant colonisers’ who wanted to measure an unknown depth through a human pebble. To this group did my late nephew belong-his truck hit by a land mine- while carrying, forced at gun point, dozens of Tigre militias. The last group are the unfortunate products of war-the collateral damage; to whom our love and heart goes out. On a different note, why does the human rights watch report, after nearly a year, has to clarify the confusion on the casualties in Obole? Yes, the ONLF had stated in its military communiqué, it had killed armed military in that fruitful operation. But, why did it not say, that apart from the 28 Somali’s (who were unfortunately caught up in the crossfire), and the 9 Chinese (who were recklessly daring to ignore repeated warnings) - the rest were combatants. I am glad HRW finally unravelled Meles’s lies and misinformation, but would certainly like more work from the freedom fighters and their sympathetic media in the future. It is correct that Meles’ propaganda is much akin to ‘war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength’ slogans; but the other version must to be told, anyway. Lest ‘a sluggish truth might not catch up with a sprinting falsehood’! More vital stuff. What exactly is the ONLF fighting for? A recent report by a western journalist speculated that the front is fighting for more rights within Ethiopia, for an independent state or to join a greater Somalia. The community here in Nusdariq are unfazed by the speculations but are bothered by the haze on this issue. This is the message they wanted the ONLF to give to the press on that particular question: ‘Ladies and gentlemen- the ONLF, as a front has no right to impose any of that choice on its people. It understands that the ultimate binding decision will have to be made by free citizens in an internationally accepted referendum. What to choose is the sole prerogative of the people. The leadership of the front and the rank and file- is obligated to secure that choice to its people. Our people had been under the yoke of colonialism-a barbaric and primitive one. They have never breathed an air of freedom, and choice has never been part of their vocabulary. In this 21st century, notwithstanding all the fanfare over MDGs (millennium development goals) and the luxury of liberty, fraternity, and equality for others; for this people, life is a privilege -taken away at will by their illegitimate rulers. The ONLF is desirous to install the inalienable right of this people: choice and self-determination. For now, though, it is fighting to put tyranny and the massacre of its people to an end. It affirms its faith in and loyalty to the people and whatever they decide.’[emphasis mine, not the author] In the likely event the pathetic question ‘why don’t you seek your rights in a peaceful manner, and stop the armed resistance’ resurfaces, - with the natural undertone of ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’- I would have added the qualifying line that is conveniently omitted from Bulwer Lytton’s famous epigraph: ‘the pen is mightier than the sword, But, only beneath the rule of men entirely great.’ Not under tiny kleptocrats like Meles! Give me a sound brake! My dear brothers, in Maraykanka, Yurub and elsewhere- the story of Maori’s in New Zealand and the Aborigines in Australia is a textbook example of the differing fate of people under the talons of colonialism due to different approaches they took in confronting it. And although both later succumbed to British imperialism- the noble birth of what Niall Ferguson calls the ‘new empire in all but name’, i.e., the USA in his controversial book empire – the combative Maori’s have fared better in preserving their identity and land, than the docile Aborigines. The relevance of this analogy might be, rightly, questioned; but with a closer inspection, it is not entirely misplaced. The ‘subservient’ Afars have recently woken up to the reality in what they so fondly referred to their ‘region’: the gruelling reality that the Afars account for only 45-50% of the population in their land! As if that is not enough, they are now faced with the resettlement of 100, 000 highlanders on the banks of Awash River; ostensibly to enhance food security to poor ‘farmers’ through intensive irrigation. An expert in the World Bank confided to me, that in many ways, the rebellious Somali’s are by far better off than the tame Afars. I quote him, ‘You have not yet seen the worst face of Abyssinian colonization’, he said. I am not being xenophobic here; nor do I nurse a pathological dislike to any nation or nationality. But the fact is, a stranger in your house can only be considered ‘a guest,’ if the owner had consented to his presence! If he hadn’t, then he is an intruder and hence is not welcomed. To argue that people in the US and Europe are from all over the world and therefore it is alright for X’s to occupy the land of Y’s; is an illegitimate reasoning by way of analogy. True, all kinds of human race are in the US; but with the permission of a sovereign state. If with a bit of stretch, we liken the current situation in our homeland to the very creation of America, and treat the Abyssinian aggression as preserving ‘its empire’, much the same way the whites did to the red Indians-it will only reinforce our conviction why we have to stand up to it and stop it. Not, why we have to accept it! I am tired and want to stop, but the community asked me to convoy pieces of advice on many fronts to the freedom fighters: Militarily:- aim for the figure of 20,000;resources and logistics permitting. It is the optimal size that would transform the struggle to its second stage of freeing urban areas. Work together with other freedom loving fronts- mainly the Oromo’s. Lending your military muscle to them would yield great returns. So, don’t shy away from it. Expand the territories of ‘military engagements’ to Hararge mountains. Diplomatically:-sell your agenda to all; and never tire from telling the same message to even those who don’t wish to listen. Engage the powers that be, but rely on your strength. Seldom had Sympathy shaped anybody’s policy towards a needy people. Politically:-organise meetings for all the people in the region and don’t treat any subject as a taboo. Let all rise in unity-and by all we mean all that could come together. We are aware that some would go astray. We understand that there is no foolproof way to derive complete and transitive social preference-by aggregating individual aspirations. Kenneth Arrow’s impossibility theorem rules out such a thing. But, we are glad that the overwhelming majority are focused and in line. Never compromise on the wish of your people. Be pragmatic- but always principled. The least you aim for has to be the south Sudan achievement. Let it be known to you that changing strategies and adapting to the dynamics of the environs is strength not a weakness. Last, I salute all of you-my compatriots; and after the long gloomy tale, wish to give you a piece of good news. Despite the pain of hunger and horror of death, here, we all are defiantly singing in tremendous unison Arliga iyo ciidaydaa xaq iigu leh (I owe this to my land and soil). Here, we know the regime is hanging innocent children and raping women; not out of victory but from the desperation of its weakness. We understand it is the twilight of colonialism and in much the same way as a thirsty infant expects a drop from a milky breast; we see and await the dawn of freedom from the horizon. Yes, we feel it -it is near!! The young girls, the gashaantimo here, have even begun rehearsing for that day: Hadii la helay gobanimada laxaadka leh Hadii la helay caafimaad iyo doog Waxa lumay oo liicay oo la waayay- waa nacabkii Hadii la helay dadkoo wada lilaahi ah Hadii la helay xornimo loo riyaaqay Waxa lumay oo liicay oo la waayay- waa nacabkii Hadii la helay kuwa ku dhaanteeyaa Hidihii Hadii la helay kuwaan cadow u loogahayn Waxa lumay oo liicay oo la waayay- waa nacabkii Moving stuff! Abdullahi Dahir Moge moogedahas2008@yahoo.com Feb 13, 2008

Geeljire, FGM is part of the bigger picture though the unislamic practice that has remained with us for so long is quite waning. People fight to preserve and perfect the institutions of their beautiful culture that sustained them for thousands of years, but it is surprising to know that it has been within the realms of possibility when a great deal of our people strive to be accepted by others whose frame of references towards those from another continent are constrained by biased sources of widespread information in the media. What do you think of the Micheal Savage type of character who bombards his radical political opinios on the air, attacking Islam and Muslim women. They have this belief that Muslim women are victims of the brainwashing culture of the medieval period. To be accepted, Muslim women should embrace modernity and shed off their forefathers' beliefs and practices.

Originally posted by Ismahaan: Somali shilings Nice pick.

Originally posted by fatboy: is this a twist of ayan hirsi's alsylam process? You get it correct but the moral of the story stretches into Ayan's dilemma having implications for the young upstarts of the business of FGM and their quest for a fleeting popularity.

I had never questioned the veracity of the Jinn allegory. I always believed it was true until my coming of age.

A great article that studies closely on the state of quandary on the life challenges of two conflicting ways of life that confronts Somali women and Muslim women in general. The last show in which a would be Somali model appeared is a case in point. One of the commentators, Kathy Lyford, made these remarks on FGM, " I hope to never hear again: female genital mutilation for the contestant from Somalia..... Link " Kooca on the run Yasmiin Maxamuud "Kooca was a rolling stone wherever she laid her head was her home" A variation of The Temptation’s song Papa was a rolling stone Kooca: Officer me don’t want to die Officer: what, what does that mean? Officer: Lady what is your business here? Kooca: Me refugee from Somalia me hungry, me dagaal, me family dead, no cunto Officer: They are always hungry and famished how can anyone not have food to eat I will never understand, hey Rudie, get someone to translate for this weirdo, I have no idea what she wants Rudie: Hey Mohamed is this one of your people Mohamed:: What, oh that lady yes, she looks Somali Her tattered diric and sandy dacas gave her away, Mohamed:: Adiga ma soomali baa Kooca: Haa walaal somaliyad baan ahay waxaan rabaa in aan is dhiibo, shan cisho wax ma cunin, eeg calooshayda Mohamed:: You isdhiib, from where you come Mohamed:: Sir, she wants to apply for political asylum she says she is hungry and desperate Officer: What life threatening situation is she running away from? Mohamed:: She is a refugee; she has been through war and she is starving Officer: Has she been brutalized in anyway, forced to do something against her will, threatened for her beliefs? Mohamed:: No sir she is hungry, without a country and she wants asylum, oh yes, and some food very fast Officer: No, no no Mohamed hunger alone will not suffice, she must reveal something horrific beyond war, has she gone through FGM, has she been forced to cover her hair with that thing? Mohamed:: No sir, none of these things, she is hungry, walked for days to come here, has not eaten for weeks…… Officer: Rudie call that woman what is her name, Gisela to prep this woman, and get something for her to eat, what have I done to deserve this, hungry refugees, desperate people, and silly people! Gisela, a middle aged white woman arrives two hours later. She is bulky, with ripe red blemishes on her rather large nose. She wears thick glasses. The flaring white skirt does not flatter her large frame and masculine body. A bulky navy blue sweater hid multiple cross necklaces with Jesus in the middle. Gisela heaved to a lone chair, staring directly at Kooca who on the other corner attacked a plate of hamburgers and fries. She guzzled a drink, eating the food without interruption. “Another one of them huh” Gisela said winking at the officer behind thick specs. Her voice raspy but quite contradicted her rather large body frame. She began intoragating Kooca, wiping sweat off her pimpled forehead. Mohamed was at hand to decipher things for Kooca, who would sometimes answer Gisela directly. Gisela: Miss, are you a Muslim? Yes, Kooca said not looking up from the plate. Gisela got up from the chair; it seemed like a chore to walk six steps to where Kooca attacked the food. Pointing to the Hijab she said: Are you wearing that willingly or did someone force it on you? Kooca: I am wearing it willingly, I am good Muslim She continued eating with haste, spilling some of the drink on her diric. Gisela: Hmm, did you go through FGM against your will? Kooca taking a brief break from the food looked at Mohamed: confused, with a full mouth she asked: “what is FGM”? Gisela let Mohamed: explain to Kooca what FGM stood for. Kooca: No my mother refused to do that to us, me and my sister we never have that done Gisela: Look you are making things difficult for yourself; just listen to me and your asylum process will be smooth, ok Gisela: Look at me, for God’s sake the food will not run away. Kooca: Ok, but no one force this one me or no GM, whatever you call that, done Gisela: Just go along as I said, please don’t make things tough for me ok, come with me! Believe me FGM is your ticket out of your desperation. Gisela: Officer I have the full story for you, this poor woman has been abused through FGM, she has been forced to believe in Islam against her will and she has many scars due to the constant beatings she received when she refused to be a Muslim. If you could only see the way she ambushed that food, poor thing they did not let her eat for months. Officer: Ok, now we are talking, finish this paper work for her and take her to Paradise Bliss Shelter. Gisela comes back a while later with the finished application. Kooca smiled from ear to ear, holding some leftover food and a drink in a brown paper bag. Gisela: Look Officer here is the paper work, she says she is twenty years old, but seems at least thirty, who knows these Africans are born under trees without the benefit of a calendar, damn these primitive people! Kooca was taken to Paradise Bliss, which was everything but. While she waited for the asylum process to complete she was entrusted with Alder Frimunt, a social worker who prepared the refugees in his custody for their new life. Kooca prospered under the care of Frimunt. Her belly began to fatten a little; she discarded the hijab for shorts and flimsy shirts. She also surprised Frimunt with her ability to speak Dutch, German, Arabic and English, fluently, after only six months under in his custody. “You are mature for a twenty year old” he would often say. “You are sharp and well versed in worldly issues, very impressive young lady, very impressive” Frimunt introduced Kooca to Hans a member of parliament who took Kooca under his/her wing. No one knew whether Hans was a man or a woman, Hans fell somewhere between the two. People addressed Hans as Hans; no one was ever caught referred to him as he or she. With Hans she became politically active. Her main goal in her new found life was to become famous, well known, revered by the host country and for that she would do whatever it took. While in the shelter she perfected the art of peeling. Her daily tasks included peeling off her old self, and replacing it with more acceptable modern aura. Her mentors Gisela, Hans, Frimunt and the Officer, detested certain things about her. They did not like the hijab she wore on her coarse hair, so that was peeled off. They loathed her religious practices it too came to a halt, whatever culture or traditions she claimed in her past life was also shed. They wanted Kooca to be more like them. A black version of them, after all weren’t they responsible for giving her life. Kooca would sit in her room in Paradise Bliss night after night going over the list of no no's. No Islam, No Hijab, No to FGM Reject the culture which abused me, forcing me into marriage at age seven. She had organized nightly identity peel off slumber parties. She would repeat the do's and don’ts with other refugee women who also had inherited new identities. Some of the do’s included eating food with pork, drinking wine, having a boy friend and exposing body parts. Kooca wanted to emulate white women who were only valued for their naked body parts. She wanted to be like them, exposing herself so she would get favors. Kooca began to believe her new identity. Indeed she was the best pupil Paradise Bliss has ever seen. The fabrications Gisela entrenched into her mind became a reality. She soon repeated the saga of her forced marriage at age seven, the hostility she suffered when her father beat her to wear the hijab, the brutality of FGM which she underwent at age five. Tears would cascade from out of nowhere, emotions she did not posses would emerge. The white people were animated by her story. She intrigued them. Everyone wanted to hug her, help her, and welcome her to their home. She could not believe how easy it was to be famous and loved. It was easy to win white people over with a short invention, she thought. To her surprise it only took a fleeting moment to become famous and internationally known. It was intoxicating, dizzying sometimes surreal. A few add-ons and some subtractions to her persona availed her to go places and meet people she had never thought possible. That is all it took for the president of the United States to personally summon her to the white house. Although she was exotic, his friend the African American woman became a bore, and too stiff. He wanted to meet this bold ex-Muslim who captivated white men alike. It was a little kept secret for men like him. They all wanted a little part of Kooca. It all came crashing down one night as he stood in front of the mirror. He was not pleased with the reflection which stared back at him, he looked bulged, old and she, his African American friend gawked at him with a qumanyo look in the background, swift reflections of gumays hit the mirror. Wow, how did she become so ga-gab, unattractive and grouchy? The good days when she was his ultimate fantasy were long gone. Wouldn’t this Somali girl be something, he thought privately as he lay next to the brand new Mrs. The Mrs. has been busy of late with a face lift, body lift and augmenting something or other, she appeared young. But he was too far gone with exotic the breed such as the ex-Muslim girl. No amount of plastic surgery would deter him of this new gal. Kooca arrived in a private jet some forty eight hours later. Who knew she would reject them all in one command. Hans, Gisela, Frimunt and the Officer became the furthest thing from her mind. International fame assured her scarcity. She was busy lecturing on the mistreatments of Islam, the brutality of her culture and the primitiveness of refugee in the West. She all together dismissed the old crowd. But each wanted to be glorified for enlightening her. They wanted credit for creating her. Arguments and animosity between the original founders of Kooca ended in Hans’s death. Frimunt lost an arm in a shooting with Gisel at the helm and Officer was committed after becoming hostile to other refugee women. He killed a few to avenge Kooca. They mourned for her loss, like a mother mourns a lost child. She could not return to them as their anger would probably ensure a quick death. It was as well, Kooca was now dancing with the super power in supper places. With supper people she had no time or thought for the forgotten few. She enjoyed some glorious moments with supper people until she became humdrum. Like a parrot she repeated the same lines. If his aides were not around, Mr. President could not understand a word the woman uttered, plus she was not as refined as he thought. Why couldn’t she look more like Iman? The jungle girl, yes, he would beckon Iman in her place; the model type would probably suit him better anyway. Ms. Grouchy the gumays began threatening him. She said she had unflattering evidence; it will contaminate your legacy she kept repeating. Damn her she was always a few steps ahead of him. She talked about a scandal and not leaving a good legacy. Legacy was something everyone around him talked about, but he did not really understand it. He did not care about legacy; he could hardly understand how he remained in office this long, never mind legacy. But mother would be disappointed if she found out he was with a black woman. He would be the second son to stray to a colored territory, it was totally unacceptable. Better make mom and Ms. Grouch happy. Kooca was suddenly given the boot, kicked out of super house. She fell from grace very quickly. What a shocker, she was ill prepared by the sudden rejection. She could not return where it all started for death awaited her there. So she went on a pitiful begging spree to look for a new host country which would brace her message of hate for Islam. Russia was futile; her topic was not one of interest. Belgium was busy burying the hatches of the Rwandan genocide; they could care less about Islam, FGM or terrorism for that matter. The Balkans had their own deplorable problems to sort; Canada already had the outlandish Irshad Manji, surely Canada could not handle two of the same kind. France. Yeah, France would welcome her, after all isn’t it the country which had banned the hijab at their schools. For sure they would welcome an expert ostracize hijab wearing in school. For sure President Sarkozy would find her interesting, maybe even attractive. When she arrived in France President Sarkozy was busy celebrating yet another marriage bliss with his newest supper model wife. She would recall the exchange between them years later: President Sarkozy: Well actually you wouldn’t be so bad, but you are a few weeks too late now I am married to Carla… Kooca: Sir, please consider me in your life, any part of your life will do President Sarkozy: No madam I don’t think so, my wife the gorgeous…. Carla Bruni: Nicolas what are you doing with that refugee slut President Sarkozy: No Carla nothing she keeps talking about not wanting to die Kooca: Please Mrs. Sarkozy I don’t want to die, I love my life, please let me wash your feet, let me be your servant, walk your dogs, carry your stuff, watch your kids, I am willing to do anything for you two, just give me a chance of life. Carla Bruni: You *****; you were kicked out of America because you did the president and from all these other places for lying and cheating now you think you can bring your rubbish here President Sarkozy: Carla have mercy on the poor woman, she can become one of the servants no? Carla Bruni: Really Nicolas, even I can see through your lies, you want this refugee here President Sarkozy: No Carla I was not thinking like that, although she does not look so bad. President Sarkozy: Carla, stop being so violent, I should have listened to Mick Jagger he warned me against your violence, ouch, ouch! President Sarkozy: Kooca you don’t know Carla, she is very hostile and….. you better run Kooca Kooca: I don’t want to die, I love my life, please give me a chance of life Assistant to President Sarkozy: Run Kooca run Kooca: I don’t want to die, I love my life, please give me a chance of life Butler: Run Kooca run Kooca: I don’t want to die, I love my life, please give me a chance of life Carla Bruni: Run Kooca run French Socialist MEP Benoît Hamon: Run Kooca run Kooca: I don’t want to die, I love my life, please give me a chance of life Run Kooca run, run Kooca run! And so Kooca was seen running to a mad house in an undisclosed location. She was often heard repeating the words, I don’t want to die. I am agnostic, no I am Muslim. I am the reason Vincent van Gogh painted, I am Sunflower, Starry Night, Maybe I am Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, or maybe I am…... who am I, who am I! She had unsuccessfully attempted to take her life several times, even death had rejected her. Allah hooyoy ba’ayeey, who am I! BY: Yasmeen Maxamuud Email: Yasmeen_maxmuud@yahoo.com Other articles by Yasmin Rape: A Conspiracy of Silence The New Face of Somali Studies

The article has some quotes from the Bible, but they don't deviate from our Islamic values of equality and justice. The Darkest part of the Night By Obang Metho The African roosters are crowing from the north to the south to the east and to the west as the first rays of dawn´s light are cracking through the darkness hanging over Africa. From all over the continent, Africans are awakening to a new understanding of their God-given rights, their democratic rights and with them, to the desire to rule themselves. No longer are they willing to put up with a legacy of corrupt, greedy and power-hungry dictators, no different from the colonizers, who controlled the continent for years with their evil policies of divide and conquer. The people of Ethiopia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Chad, Nigeria, Somalia, Uganda, the Congo—too many places to name, are challenging the status quo of dirty politics and dirty politicians, not with guns, but with their brooms! We are entering a new era and it is time to clean our huts of corrupt leaders who refuse to give up power while robbing and oppressing the people they are supposed to serve! This is the root of our suffering, misery and pain. Dear Africans, it does not matter our ethnic group, region, country, religion, political group, gender, age, language or culture, it is time to truly choose leaders who follow the rule of law and respect the rights of the people. We must start by sweeping away the ill-smelling garbage they helped to produce—hatred, ethnic divisions, violence, poverty, oppression, injustice, immorality and greed—it is contaminating our continent and if we don´t sweep out the dirt and the rot ourselves, no one else will do it for us! Part of cleaning up that dirt begins with understanding better how it got there. In other words, we must be careful not to fall in the trap of the corrupt politicians by fighting the wrong fight as they turn the truth upside down just to confuse the public. A good example of this is what happened in the general elections in Zimbabwe on March 11, 2002, in Ethiopia on May 15, 2005, in Uganda on February 23, 2006, in the Congo on July 30, 2006, in Nigeria on April 21, 2007, and now in Kenya since the national election on December 27, 2007. The truth is that it is not a battle of politicians and their political agendas; it is a battle for real democracy, freedom, justice and peace against corruption of the democratic process. Any peace agreement that does not fearlessly address this key issue will be a cover up of the truth. Yet, in both Ethiopia and Kenya, the incumbents have attempted to convince others that the real problem was with those who protested against their claimed victory rather than with the actual stolen election. When the protest in Kenya became violent, the incumbent was quick to define it as "ethnically-based protest." This seemed to best serve to advance the cause of the incumbent who then can blame the opposition for not bringing an end to the violence and humanitarian crisis by simply accepting their loss. If Africans do not understand these manipulations, they may fall into the trap of committing violence against their fellow innocent countrymen—something that has already created deep societal wounds that will take years to heal. Yet, the motivation to create the illusion that the violence is only a power struggle between ethnic groups, vying for power, is simply a diversionary tactic meant to cover up the allegedly fraudulent election so as to undermine totally or at least delay calls for a re-count or re-vote that might lead to a different election outcome. In a Reuters´ press release on February 16, 2008, Jendayi Frazer, the U. S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs was reported to say that both Kibaki and Odinga "understood they had to find a credible lasting solution to the dispute". She added, "Any individuals seen as obstructing the effort for a peace process, a power-sharing agreement, the president stated, will be subject to possible further sanctions by the U.S.". Hopefully, this does not mean peace at any price, such as through a cover-up that focuses on the aftermath of the alleged election fraud rather than on the alleged fraud itself that ignited the unrest. If there was fraud on the part of Kibaki, why should there be power-sharing and how could Kibaki be trusted under those conditions to actually share the power? Would a power-sharing agreement, something which would never be considered in a western country, work in Kenya? Why is the west proposing something like this rather than standing up for a fair election? What would Jendayi Frazer say about Bush sharing power with Gore after the 2000 election dispute in the US? One of them would certainly have ended up with more power than the other. Instead, democratic enthusiasts should be lobbying for the truth, now popularly called "good governance confronting their so-called allies in the War on Terror, like both Kibaki and Meles, on their failures to hold fair elections and to respect the human rights of their citizens! Disturbingly, throughout the international media, much of the coverage about what was happening in Kenya focused not on the election irregularities, but on the ethnic dimensions of the violence and ways to re-stabilize the country. There was little voice calling for examination of the root of the problem originating in Kibaki declaring himself a winner before the dispute was settled. If the emphasis is not on conducting a fair and honest election, what price will Kenyans and other Africans have to pay in the future for choosing a "feeble peace" over the establishment of long-term justice? It is simply another example of sweeping the dirt and rot under the carpet rather than out of the house—it will still smell! If it does not work in the US, the UK, Canada, Europe and other western countries, why should we think it would it work in Africa? The people chose the ballot box to vote for change rather than the gun. They did everything right, but were cheated out of the fruits of their earnest desire for justice, opportunity, the rule of law, development and human rights. Those who historically benefited from the favors of the incumbent, including those outside the country, largely supported Kibaki´s assertion of winning, despite the evidence to the contrary. The Kikuyus, Luos, Kalenjins, Luhyias, Kisiis and others should join together and vote for fair elections; thereby refusing to fall victim to an ethnic struggle no matter how much pressure there is to put them in an ethnic box. Kenyans with vision and wisdom must stand together with other Africans in destroying the ethnic manipulations that keep the corrupt in power by using the people against each other! Instead, it is a great insult to freedom-loving Africans who have been cheated out of their votes by a deceitful leader posing in democratic clothes that do not fit his actions! Please learn from what happened in Ethiopia. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi never was held accountable for the rigged election or for the deaths of the protestors following that election, killed by his own security agents. He remains in power today and he has only proceeded to further suppress any resistance to his falsely won regime. The majority of the people of Ethiopia are deeply suffering. Look at what God says about it in the Biblical book of Ezekiel when he condemns the "princes" who plot ways to oppress and rob the people of their rights, property, justice and lives. "There is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her…Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey: they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations… The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice. I looked for a man among them who would…stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not destroy it, but I found none." (Ezekiel 22: 25, 27-30) People of Africa, we must first see ourselves and others as being equally created in the image of God. We will all face judgment someday and the decisions we make now, may forever influence the outcome. Will you be one of those willing to do the right thing? If we refuse to stand in the gap for what is right, we will see the destruction of not only ourselves, our families and our communities, but we will bring destruction to our countries and to our continent! Yet, if we fear God with all our heart, soul and mind the darkness will lift off of Africa. It will require that we treat our fellow Africans and all of human kind, especially the vulnerable, as part of us and as someone equally precious to God. If we do, He promises to bless us as seen in Psalm 41: 1 and in Psalm 72: 4. Let us seek such a blessing and deliverance for our continent! "Blessed is he who has regard for the weak: the LORD delivers him in times of trouble." "He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy: he will crush the oppressor." The darkest part of the night is right before the dawn so expect that those who see the darkness as an opportunity for evil to increasingly resist the people who love the daylight, but the daylight is coming anyway. Therefore, we should not be discouraged but instead, we should press on all the harder by joining together with others who value doing what is right. It is not a time to be timid or to give up. Even dictators, who many times flourish only because of the support of outsiders, cannot overcome a united people who join together to sing the praises of freedom, justice, equality and love towards each other. As such a groundswell from the people emerges; it will become like the journey of the sun through the day-- impossible to alter. The sun is setting on the old Africa of dictators and they know it, yet we too must change! We Africans must come out to the light if we want Africa to come out of the dark! It is not only about our dictators—we too have a responsibility! God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. (I John 1:5-6, 2:9-10) This means an end to ethnic hatred or discrimination. This means an end to violence and barbaric acts. This means an end to corruption, bribery and false testimony. This means returning to God, promoting respect for the rights and lives of the people He has created. This means we must choose the side of morality, righteousness, compassion, integrity, forgiveness, reconciliation and goodness as we call out for God´s help or He will not be with us and we will be no better than those we are fighting against. Look at the following passage from Psalm 34: 17 and Psalm 35: 4-5 where God hears the cries of the righteous and those righteous may be the ones we have wounded by our actions. May we be willing for God to change us quickly where we have done wrong! "The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. May those who seek [our lives] be disgraced and put to shame…May they be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the LORD driving them away…" The real struggle in Africa is no longer between different power-hungry leaders, but it is between people who want freedom and those who are trying to repress it. It is between morality and immorality and between truth and the lie. With some exceptions, our institutions, like the African Union, have become "social clubs of dictators for life." They back up each other so that they will not be held responsible for the crimes they have committed to gain and maintain their power and riches. They are a union of the shameless, leaving a trail of blood, horror and immoral actions behind them. They are unconscious and uncaring about the pain of the child whose limbs have been cut off, the orphan without parents, the screams of the woman who was raped by a gang of soldiers and the widow whose hovel was bull-dozed to make room for the business of the privileged elite who have been favored for supporting the regime. These dictators have abandoned their duties like parents who have come into a union of marriage and given birth to a child they refuse to parent. Where was their voice when the Rwandan genocide occurred or when the atrocities against young children were occurring in Liberia, Sierra Leone and which are still occurring in Northern Uganda? Where is their voice for those in Darfur, the Congo, Somalia and Ethiopia? As the African Union accepted Kibaki´s participation in this past months´ summit meeting, protecting him by refusing to put the election dispute and ensuing crisis on the agenda, they showed their refusal to face the hard issues of Africans. Instead the crisis was referred to IGAD, another ineffective organization which is headed by Kenya, which is no different than telling a criminal to investigate his own crime! This all happened in Addis Ababa where their host, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, is trying desperately to hang on to power after his own stolen election of 2005. Is he going to speak up for the execution of justice when such a thing does not exist anywhere in Ethiopia? Is he going to stand up for the oppressed when his own people are oppressed and terrorized by him? Will he speak out against human rights abuses when in southeastern Ethiopia, in the ****** region, and all the way to Mogadishu, Somalia, Ethiopian National Defense Forces are committing widespread crimes against humanity—even carpet-bombing Ethiopian civilians in the ******? Should we expect Mugabe to speak out or Museveni, al Bashir and others in the Union of Dictators? Who will speak for the people of Africa who have been abandoned by those who are supposed to care? This African Union should be a union that gives life, nurturing, compassion and wise guidance to the continent, but instead it has become a union that promotes the perpetrators of death and destruction to the continent. Those of integrity, courage and moral strength are too few. As long as the major players, including the West, are willing to "look the other way to corruption, human rights abuses and electoral fraud," it appears that the payoff is worth the risk—look at Ethiopia. However, in Kenya, the results have not gone as smoothly as they have in other African countries, having turned one of the most stable countries in Africa into political turmoil, seriously affecting the Kenyan economy. Unfortunately, many innocent Africans, from all different groups, have suffered for it. Let us first look at how it played out. On election day, Kenyans did exactly what they were supposed to—they came out in the millions and peacefully voted, standing in line with other Kenyans from every ethnic group and political persuasion to cast their votes, some for President Mwai Kibaki, others for Raila Odinga, the leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). At their polling booths, the Kenyan people voted not only for a president, but even more so for democracy. Tragically, the deciding vote against democracy was cast when President Kibaki, according to credible sources, stole the election and defrauded the Kenyan people out of their vote. Look at the chaos that erupted when Kibaki refused to accept the truthful results of the election. One thousand lives were lost, a tragedy that could have been avoided had he acted with integrity and morality instead of hurriedly being sworn in as president by Mr. Samuel Kivuitu the Chairman of the Kenyan Election commission when both knew the election dispute was unresolved. Despite being a Kibaki supporter, Mr. Samuel Kivuitu could have refused to support the flawed election, but he instead lied about the results, along with 22 others on the Board. The next few days when Mr. Samuel Kivuitu took back his declaration of Kibaki as winner of the election, stating it was impossible to know the real winner, it was already too late—the chaos had begun. Even though voters did not follow rigid ethnic lines in voting for Odinga and the ODM, causing them to win in six out of eight of the provinces and the majority of parliamentary seats, it was later falsely defined as a power battle along ethnic lines, between Odinga and Kibaki, rather than a power struggle between a leader who wants to stay in power at any cost and the people, who should have the right to decide. The West should be affronted by this Kenyan result for in a perverse way the West has now become victim of its own values and rhetoric - freedom and democracy and the right of the people to choose their leaders through the ballot box. Here is the real dilemma for the Western liberal democracies - in the Kenya case which represents blatant electoral fraud - can we allow Kibaki to continue when all know the political class whom he represents will flaunt democracy at every moment in order to remain in power. How can the West preach democracy and `good governance' when the people of the most advanced and stable country in East and Central Africa are robbed of their voice? What are we to do now? Support Kibaki, court Kibaki, install of minor sharing of power under the title of `power sharing', or, more appropriately, disown Kibaki as no true friend of democracy and demand his resignation in favour of Odinga and the ODM. Given that Kibaki was willing to sacrifice his own people in the post-election violence and turn his police on non-Kikuyu protestors, can the West expect him to suddenly acquiesce to `power-sharing'? As donor countries are placing incentives and expectations on these countries to become democratic, the voting public will be betrayed if election fraud is ignored by those donors who choose a band-aid approach to peace that will not lead to sustainable resolution of the root problem. Honest and fair elections are the groundwork for a free society and Africans should not ever side with corruption. It is the wrong side and pits like-minded people against each other along ethnic lines instead of bringing them together to stand against injustice. Today´s injustice will tomorrow become one´s own. Therefore, the desire for a free and democratic Kenya should unify Kikuyus, Luos, Kalenjins, Luhyias, Kisiis and all the other many ethnic groups in Kenya to fight against electoral manipulations or all will lose. This does not mean that they do not have legitimate complaints and disagreements (like land disputes) that must be fairly settled, but these may be all the more difficult to settle after a fraudulent election, especially if a peace-agreement is only superficial and used to further suppress justice, truth and honest democratic expression. Let us look again at the ethnic tensions that continue to exist in Ethiopia. They are serious enough that the wrong set of circumstances, like another flawed election, could potentially explode into chaos that could exceed that in Kenya. However, the many legitimate complaints that various groups and factions have against one another; should not be approached using violence. Instead, Ethiopians and Kenyans need to rally behind a consensus to resolve these disagreements fairly and civilly. Yet, in Ethiopia, Meles has been masterful at inciting dissension between groups, a tactic that most certainly will backfire and is now also being used in Kenya. In fact, there are allegations being made that some are stirring up the violence for their own benefit. Currently, some witnesses have come forward to report that some of the financial elite within Kenyan society, who have a vested interest in ensuring that Kibaki stays in power, have reportedly been bribing "Mungiki" or unemployed youths on the streets to commit violence, even violence directed at innocent members of Kibaki´s own ethnic group, the Kikuyus, in order to exert pressure on Odinga and the ODM to give up their positions by blaming their refusal to accept Kibaki as the winner as the reason for the continued violence. Such subterfuge! However, this tactic is not original—ask Meles! Let us look how the same thing was done in Ethiopia. The opposition party was blamed for the violence following the rigged election even though a later governmental report was leaked that indicated Meles´ security agents were responsible. The Opposition Party, under pressure from outsiders, agreed not to protest, but later were thrown in prison for twenty months. The movement lost its momentum. Meles is still in power and has only become more and more repressive due to his fear of being overthrown. Most all sources of communication in the country are blocked. For instance, because the radio, TV and newspapers are all controlled by the government, because many Internet sites are blocked and because spies are all over, Meles has effectively created a wall of silence around Ethiopia. Many Ethiopians have no idea what is going on in Kenya and Meles obviously would like to keep it that way. As long as ethnic groups are divided, Meles is stronger, but Ethiopians are starting to see through this, including many Tigrayans from his own ethnic group who do not support him. The soil of Ethiopia is stained with the blood of its citizens due to immoral leaders who are willing to sacrifice their own people. Do not let this happen in Kenya! Certainly some are always willing to commit violence against their fellow countrymen and women, but just like there are criminals in every society, the majority should not condone it. However, when it is supported by those in power, the people of Ethiopia, Kenya and others should be outraged and stand against it in a joint effort of diverse, but united people who value life and liberty. When Kenyans first began their protest, it was governed by the Kenyan values, conscience and the constitution. It was peaceful and respectful until the police shot live bullets and sprayed water canyons at the people. Now, a thousand or more Kenyans have been killed and 500,000 others displaced. Africans and others in the world are closely watching what happens in Kenya. What happens there will have an effect in other places on the continent. Freedom and democracy must be the winner. Humanity over ethnicity must win. We must unite against the dictators who have united themselves against us. Mr. Kibaki can go to the school of other dictators who will support them and instruct them in the fine nuances of maintaining control. Mr. Kibaki can learn from the likes of Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Museveni of Uganda, Kabila of the Congo, Al Bashir of Sudan, Isayas of Eritrea, Deba of Chad, along with many others. They will be tutored on the fine details of how to subvert democracy, how to silence the opposition, how to divert attention by instigating ethnic conflict and humanitarian crises while at the same time, reaping the financial benefits. However, these dictators will never stop the light that is bringing Africans to see each other as fellow Africans. The signs are everywhere that the roosters of Africa are crowing. They are crowing for a new day for Africans where we will look upwards to God, our Creator, the provider of that light who cares about the oppressed and the harassed. He cares for our neighbors like He cares for us. As we can have perfect trust that the light of dawn and will bring a new day, we can have faith that a humble people who look to God, will never be disappointed. As we do, we will see our African-ness more than our ethnicity and our humanity more than our African-ness. This is a fight for a new Africa by new Africans. The old Africans are like old seeds you put in the ground that never rises from the ground to produce any crop. It is the old Africans that makes Africa to be known as a dark continent, full of misery, pain, death, bloodshed and sorrow. These old Africans are not like our African forefathers who invest their wisdom, love and strength in guiding and helping the next generation. Instead they are those who want to devour the young as they might rise up to challenge them. They have failed Africa and have created institutions of nothingness. This is the reason why the first places African leaders go to when they are in need, is the West rather than to African institutions where corruption is upheld too often. This past week, a doctor from Toronto, Canada, was charged for stealing kidneys from unwilling victims in India. He tricked them by first promising jobs, then secretly sedating them. In a private operating room in the back of his home, he then proceeded to remove one of their kidneys in order to sell it to someone needing one. After the forced donor awakened from the surgery, he was threatened that if he told, he would be killed. Is this any different from the danger that is lurking in the dark corners on our continent? We have been seduced by the promises of those among us who only talk the words of democracy, justice and freedom, but who have no heart for the people. They get us to go along with them, but then use that power to exploit us—removing our lives, souls, resources and the future of our children. If we complain, our lives are threatened or ended. As long as we are silent, the evil system continues, preying on new victims. But, the roosters are crowing and waking up Africans to this deception. We must start talking about it and unifying against it as one force and now it is up to all Kenyans to make sure they do not fall for this deception in their own country! By supporting the outcome of a stolen election, the people of Kenya, from every group, are supporting continued corruption—and giving up far more than they realize. It is not about which leader they supported, it is about protecting the establishment of justice! As we write this article, we are not choosing Odinga over Kibaki or Kibaki over Odinga—that is for the Kenyan people to decide. That is exactly the major point! Nothing less should be tolerated any longer in Kenya or in any other country in Africa. Africa does not need sham democracies and anyone who pressures Africans to accept such false substitutes is not a friend of Africa and instead is trying to keep us in the darkness while "our organs" are being removed! Now is the time for this new Africans to connect with each other, putting the entire puzzle together for the first time. Those who are seeing the light in Ethiopia must be connected to those seeing the light in Kenya. Those seeing the light in Zimbabwe must be connected to those seeing the light in Chad, Nigeria, Uganda, Somalia—the list goes on. This cannot be accomplished by organizations consumed and controlled by tribal loyalties which blind them to the humanity of others. Africa must move away from the politicization of ethnicity. Celebrate the ethnic and cultural mosaic of Africa but at the same time create an `a – ethnic´ or non-ethnic politics. Africans must surrender their ethnic clothes when they move into the political arena and assume positions of power. It is time for a Movement for a New Africa, one shorn of ethnic chauvinism in the world of politics. Unless this happens then political leaders will play one ethnic group off against another for political advantage parallel to the past colonial practice of `divide and rule´ and the current neo-colonial practice of foreign intervention in ethically-based strife; mounting the war on terror; and, driving for control over valued resources. Africans have been divided for too long and separated from their common heritage by artificial boundaries and the ethnic and regional and religious divides. Africa must re-discover its soul and celebrate its African-ness. The soil of African continues to be stained by the blood of its sons and daughters all in the name of mindless ethnic power struggles. A politics of collaboration and consensus must be re-asserted drawing on African tradition within the local community. In Ethiopia, we are convinced that what must happen is to create a Movement for a New Ethiopia which includes everyone. The strategic goal of this Movement is to reclaim Ethiopia from its tyrannical rulers and their associates. Our path is about life enhancement for all not matter their ethnic identity for in the end we are all Ethiopians and Africans. We are not pursuing State sovereignty here but rather people sovereignty, to set our people free from oppressive rule. Those who want to create ethnic conflicts and issues want us to remain backwards so we put our heads down while they rob us of our natural resources as well as our lives. These are the politics of colonization and enslavement. Part of what must be done is to stop the exploitation of not only the natural resources, but of the precious people of Africa. This will only happen when we see ourselves and our neighbors as God´s children, beautifully made and full of purpose and potential. This is the only way to prevent us from being thrown into cages to fight and kill each other like dogs or roosters, while we hardly utter a complaint. These power-hungry leaders are out to kill the brightest and most compassionate among us so they can continue the economic colonization of the continent. We Africans must resist by coming together within our countries and within our continent. It should be done in Zimbabwe before the election next month and in Ethiopia and Uganda before their elections. Africans have been divided for too long. We have put up with this political game that is destroying us from within. We can prosper together, knowing that we are a continent with some of the greatest and richest of natural resources, including ourselves, despite having the poorest of opportunities for our people. We must change the way we think and it will require a spiritual transformation with God at the center! If Europe, who used to fight and kill each other, can live with the same money and can travel between twenty-four countries on that continent without a checkpoint, this can be done in Africa, but only if we begin to think differently. We must refuse to be by-standers while the continent is engulfed in flames! Africans who see this must start connecting with one another in making this dream of living peacefully with others come true. It can be done! It will not be easy because there will be some who do not want it because they make money off of our lives, but if we believe in God and seek Him and if we respect and love one another, it is more than possible! God can provide a new path through the jungles, savannahs, deserts and over the mountains where none yet exists! This can be the starting point from where Africans begin connecting with each other, giving life to the continent, constructing a new Africa, through the power of God that will include all people regardless of differences. It is up to us Africans to start the journey with God at every side. Right now we, as well as these African dictators, know that the sun is setting on them. Their power is like a piece of hanging pottery, held up only by an unraveling cord, but yet holding the heavy offenses they have committed against the people of Africa. Soon the weight of those offenses will become too much for that cord that has been holding their power up for years and it will snap. When the fragile pottery crashes into many, unusable pieces, everybody will see how weak they really are. This is what the Holy One of Israel says: "Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit, this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant. It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern. In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.... Yet, the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him! (Isaiah 30:12-15, 18). Change is possible individually and collectively. The Chairman of the Kenyan Election commission Mr. Samuel Kivuitu was part of the deceit that made Kibaki the winner of the election, unleashing violence and chaos in the country; yet, something changed in him overnight and he admitted his wrongdoing. Mr. Samuel Kivuitu had done his job well in 2002, but had failed this time. Perhaps his God-given conscience convicted him, giving him the courage to correct what he had done the previous day—we do not know, but we do know that as people we can make mistakes and those mistakes can have consequences for others, but that should not stop us from later admitting our failures and changing our ways. Imagine what would happen if Kibaki or others would admit theirs—like King Nebuchadnezzar was warned in a dream to do? Confused by the dream, the prophet Daniel interpreted it for him, telling him that until he acknowledged that "the Most High God was sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes" that he would literally go crazy. Daniel advised him not to boast of his power and instead to: "Renounce your sins by doing what is right and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue." (Daniel 4:27) At first he refused, but later heeded the warning. May our African dictators change their ways for the good of the people and because some day they also will be held accountable before God! However, regardless of what they do, we Africans have such a great resource in a gracious and merciful God, who will show us the way to walk in humility, love, compassion, integrity and morality. Let us pray that through the "bread of affliction" and through the "water of adversity," that we Africans have gone through, that we will discover a way out of our legacy of pain, misery and suffering that will change the direction of Africa for future generations to come! May God provide light to the path we must walk together! For information, please contact: Mr. Obang Metho, email: advocacy@anuakjustice.org

Originally posted by Haneefah: It's time we looked beyond this irrational regional mindset and viewed all Somalis as one. I for one see myself no less Makhirian than the one whose qabil hails from the region. Anyways, Qaaraanku ma MN and London umbuu ku egyahay yaa jamaaca. How can Canadians partake in this great project? Aleylahe Haneefah inaad gob tahey. Qaaraanka is coming up for Toronto soon. I am going to post the Info here soon.

Ethiopia reportedly supporting former Premier Gedi as next Somali president Because the Ethiopian government cannot forget the sincerity of former Somali premier Ali Muhammad Gedi, it has now invited him to its capital, Addis Ababa, in order to support him to become Somalia's president in the next elections. Reports say that Gedi has arrived in Addis Ababa, following an invitation from (Ethiopian Prime Minister) Meles Zenawi for talks on how to make him president of Somalia. Premier Zenawi is fed up with Somali affairs, and has decided to find a man to replace President Abdullahi Yusuf, who seems to have failed to restore peace in the country. (According to Somalia's transitional charter, the current government term ends next year, and elections are supposed to be held in that same year.) Excerpt from report by Somalia's independent Jowhar.com website on 21 February © Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights reserved. http://biyokulule.com/view_content.php?articleid=958

I have no problem with 'Somalialnd' politically campaigning for its secessionist goals, (for the time being of anarchy and occupation of our beloved Somalia) but what I am against thoroughly is its persistent drive to bury the occupied region of Sool and the self-declared entity of Makhir State in its imaginary map. I respect their right to self-determination, but that right of self-determination is null and void when it infringes on another society's right to self-determination. The people of these two regions have persistentely voiced their concerns that they are not part of a single Somali-clan project, but for some inexplicable reason, Somaliland and its single Somali-clan project is poised on the unethical standards of lobbying and its drastic actions against these regions it views as the Trojan horse of its quest for an independence.

The Torture and Killing of Abdiasis Mohamoud (San-Yare) By Mohamed Muhumed Dheere Feb 14. 2008 Abdiasis Mohamoud (San-yare) a student and a member of my family was brutally tortured and murdered in jail in Jigjiga last week. Abdiasis, a promising and an educated young man, was never given a due process, medical attention and people who saw his body and buried him said they have never seen anything like it in their life. And their killers, who would fit the profile of Jeffery Dalmer and disturbed psychopath, are employed by the Ethiopian Federal Government. Now his family and community are heart broken and we all would like to know why he was murdered? Why did this atrocity take place while Abdiasis was in the hands and custody of the Ethiopian government? Did they think that this young man’s blood could be shed without consequence? Did they think that the world, in this age of the internet and global consciousness, wouldn’t know about it? We would like the world to know this injustice. We would like the Ethiopian Journalists to investigate this abuse of power. We want human rights groups in Ethiopia, and the world to look at this Gestapo-like treatment of people. We want the websites from the Horn of Africa to carry this story. This is not the middle ages. This is the dawn of the 21st century. What is happening to the people in the region from all sides is unprecedented. Innocent people in the region are being killed, starved to death and displaced. We want educated Somalis from the region in the Diaspora to speak up. A poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller in Nazi, Germany comes to mind: First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up, because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me. Sometimes we might be silent. Now and then we might be swayed by those with hidden motives but mostly I believe that most human beings are good; and justice ultimately reigns. We should speak-up and tell the truth not as a nation, clan, and religion but as human beings. Not only for this killing but about the misgiving you have about the leaders of your nation, clan, and those who use religion for their personal economic gains.. I am talking about the atrocities taking place throughout the Horn of Africa. We should all work to bring peace to the Horn of Africa. We should expose our so-called leaders. We should change these people. If we put our voice together we can replace these “leaders”. We should replace them with leaders who understand the sanctity of life and value of the human being. We should never be manipulated. We should never be afraid. Otherwise the future is bleak. There will not be any victory to be enjoyed. We are already in the midst of a civil war instigated and manipulated by magameloniacs and merchants of death who only care about their bank accounts. Let us not all perish. Mohamed Muhumed Dheere Email: jananka111@yahoo.com) Atlanta, Ga

Ethiopia's starvation policies and genocidal operation in the occupied Somali region is not only limited to the innocent population whom this tyrant regime (supported by the West) accused them of feeding the rebels, but it has now exclusively targeted those possibly "loyal" elements in the armed force and police. Ethiopia: Over 300 Police Arrested for Rebel Links - Report Addis Ababa Over 300 police officers suspected of links with separatists rebels have been arrested in Ethiopia's restive ****** region in a government crackdown, AFP reported citing a state news agency on Monday. " Some 309 police officers suspected of having links with the anti-peace elements of the ****** National Liberation Front (ONLF) have been apprehended," the report quoted Regional police commissioner Yussuf Mohammed as saying: It was not clear which state media was cited for the report. The report said Yussuf did not give a time span but said "rebel hideouts" and communication avenues had been "wiped out" by government forces. "We are in a position to completely destroy the ONLF in a very short period of time," he said. Recent Ethiopian military campaign follows high-profile ONLF attacks in the region, including the April attack on the Chinese oil site at Obole and the May attacks on Jigjiga and Dhagahbur. ONLF forces have also been responsible for serious abuses. An April attack on Obole, an oil field in northern Somali region, reportedly killed dozens of civilians, including nine Chinese oil workers, and at least 28 civilians working on a farm in nearby Sandhore village. On May 28, ONLF fighters allegedly targeted two large gatherings in Jigjiga and Dhagahbur with hand grenades. The blasts, and the crowd stampedes that followed, killed 17 people and wounded dozens, including the regional president of Somali region. In a June 9 news conference, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi stated that the Ethiopian military was launching a "political and military operation to try to contain the activities of the ONLF." . Source: The Daily Monitor

Tanzania: Local Oil Invites Americans The Standard Monday, February 18, 2008 Last week, Tanzania announced that it had hit commercially viable oil deposits along its coast. This comes just over one year after Uganda struck its own black gold in the west. And suddenly rumours of Americans calling on the region are rife. There are speculations that United States is planning increased presence in the region by creating a military command to be based in either East Africa or South Africa. The Tanzanian oil find stoked further debate over the mandate of the recently created US Africa Command (Africom), an American military frontier outpost in Africa set to come into effect in September next year. The mandate of the command is expected to be much more than "to kill or capture al Qaeda fighters," according to a story published last Monday by defence writers Thomas PM Barnett and Bryan Christie based at the Pentagon, the US defence headquarters. The story provided fresh insights into why the US is moving in earnest to put in place Africom to check China's growing economic and military clout in East Africa. Political antennae in the West have pricked oil prospectors' hopes in the past two years that before 2020, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and chaotic Somalia would have had a clear picture of their 'oil status'.' Traditional oil producers in the Middle East and Latin America are tightening grip on their resource. Which is why East Africa is believed to be the next oil frontier the West appears determined to hold onto. "With its vast natural and mineral resources, Africa remains strategically important to the West, as it has been for hundreds of years, and its geostrategic significance is likely to rise in the 21st century," an American security expert John CK Daly wrote in an online story in ISN Security Watch magazine published in Zurich, Switzerland, last week. United States will take charge of region Daly said the remit of Africom, which comes into effect next year, is still largely ambiguous, although "African nations remain cool to the idea amid fears of mission creep and unclear US intentions". "From next year, the United States will take charge of security in the region to counter the growing spectre international terrorism, but according to defence and economic experts, the US is positioning itself to neutralise Chinese influence in East Africa, which has been receiving attention from the world's fastest growing economy," Daly, a consultant and an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute, said. The US military involvement in Africa is shared among the US European Command, the US Central Command and the US Pacific Command. Defence Secretary Robert Gates called this divided responsibility "an outdated arrangement left over from the Cold War." Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee four months ago that creating Africom would "enable us to have a more effective and integrated approach than the current arrangement of dividing Africa between different regional commands". President George W Bush has ordered that Africom be created by September 2008. A top-ranking, four-star military officer who will serve on equal footing with other regional US commanders around the globe will head it. Bush announced on February 2, that the US planned to consult African leaders "to seek their thoughts on how Africa Command can respond to security challenges". He also said the US would "work closely with our African partners to determine an appropriate location for the new command in Africa". It expected that East Africa or South Africa would host the command given their proximity to the volatile Middle East. Another US defence expert, James Jay Carafano, added, "The US is facing increasing international pressure to play a more prominent role on the world's most troubled continent. The continuing civil wars in Liberia and the Congo, the spectre of tyranny and man-made famine in Zimbabwe, the global spread of infectious diseases and the rising threat of international terrorism in East Africa are all issues of mounting concern." Carafano, a defence scholar, said, "A dedicated command could also more efficiently oversee US anti-terrorism efforts in East Africa and provide American political leaders with more thoughtful, informed military advice based on an in-depth knowledge of the region and continuous planning and intelligence assessments." Carafano pulled the veil off the Africom project, observing, "With its vast natural and mineral resources, Africa remains strategically important to the West, as it has been for hundreds of years, and its geostrategic significance is likely to rise in the 21st century. According to the National Intelligence Council, the United States is likely to draw 25 per cent of its oil from West Africa by 2015, surpassing the volume imported from the Persian Gulf." In addition, he added, "Africa has the world's fastest rate of population growth. The continent's population has doubled since 1970 to nearly 900 million and is expected to rise to 1.2 billion by 2020. This will be greater than the populations of North America and Europe combined." President Bush has demonstrated a willingness to commit more resources in support of US overall Africa strategy. Washington has significantly increased assistance to Africa to deal with the HIV/Aids scourge. The proposed the Millennium Challenge Account is another initiative designed to address the failures of traditional aid programmes. The recently unveiled $100 million US counter-terrorism package for East Africa was also a welcome step in the right direction. The Central Command (Centcom) countries in or near the Horn of Africa area are Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Sudan. Africom may be pushed beyond its objectives Against this backdrop, the analysts pointed out, economic and energy resources concerns are the core of US interest in East Africa. Anti-terrorism, they said, is just a smokescreen to lure governments for sustained commercial ties with the West. Daly remarked, "Many Africans fear that the nexus of energy, poverty and terrorism may swiftly push Africom beyond its stated humanitarian objectives. The rising violence in Nigeria's Delta region may well be the rock upon which Africom is humanitarian focus flounders." He said the region borders the critical sea lines of communication through the Red Sea. Famine, drought, and disease ravage the region, and civil wars in most of these countries have further exacerbated the problems. Writing last week on US involvement in Somali turmoil, two American defence experts, Thomas P.M. Barnett and Bryan Christie, put the perceived ulterior motives in perspective using early this year's Ethiopian intervention in the Somali imbroglio. Quoting military intelligence, the two reported, "When the invading Ethiopians quickly enjoyed unexpected success, Centcom's plan became elegantly simple: Let the blitzkrieging Ethiopian army drive the UIC (Union of Islamic Courts) along with its foreign fighters and al Qaeda operatives, south out of Mogadishu and toward the Kenyan border, where Kenyan troops would help trap them on the coast." In a similar manner, the region could be being pushed into a box after Chinese influence fades. (Description of Source: Nairobi The Standard in English -- independent newspaper with second largest circulation in Kenya.) © Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights reserved.

CIA Front Companies Closed Down GREG MILLER Pittsburgh Post-Gazette February 18, 2008 The CIA set up a network of front companies in Europe and elsewhere after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as part of a constellation of "black stations" for a new generation of spies, according to current and former agency officials. But after spending hundreds of millions of dollars setting up as many as 12 of the companies, the agency shut down all but two after concluding they were ill-conceived and poorly positioned for gathering intelligence on the CIA's principal targets: terrorist groups and unconventional weapons proliferation networks. The closures were a blow to two of the CIA's most pressing priorities after Sept. 11 -- expanding its overseas presence and changing the way it deploys spies. The companies were the centerpiece of an ambitious plan to increase the number of case officers sent overseas under what is known as "non-official cover," meaning they would pose as employees of investment banks, consulting firms or other fictitious enterprises with no apparent ties to the U.S. government. But the plan became the source of significant dispute within the agency and was plagued with problems, officials said. The bogus companies were located far from Muslim enclaves in Europe and other targets. Their size raised concern that one mistake would blow the cover of many agents. And because business travelers don't ordinarily come into contact with al-Qaida or other high-priority adversaries, officials said, the cover did not work. Summing up what many considered the fatal flaw of the program, one former high-ranking CIA official said, "They were built on the theory of the 'Field of Dreams': Build them, and the targets will come." Officials said the experience reflects an ongoing struggle at the CIA to adapt to a new environment in espionage. The agency has sought to regroup by designing covers that would provide pretexts for spies to get close to radical Muslim groups, nuclear equipment manufacturers and other high-priority targets. But current and former officials said progress has been painfully slow, and that the agency's efforts to alter its use of personal and corporate disguises have yet to produce a significant penetration of a terrorist or weapons proliferation network. "I don't believe the intelligence community has made the fundamental shift in how it operates to adapt to the different targets that are out there," said Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. The cover arrangements most commonly employed by the CIA "don't get you near radical Islam," Mr. Hoekstra said, adding that six years after the Sept. 11 attacks, "We don't have nearly the kind of penetrations I would have expected against hard targets." Whatever their cover, the CIA's spies are unlikely to single- handedly penetrate terrorist or proliferation groups, officials said. Instead, the agency stalks informants around the edges of such quarry -- moderate Muslims troubled by the radical message at their mosques, mercenary shipping companies that might accept illicit nuclear components as cargo; chemists whose colleagues have suspicious contacts with extremist groups. Agency officials declined to respond to questions about the front companies and the decision to close them. "Cover is designed to protect the officers and operations that protect America," CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said. "The CIA does not, for that very compelling reason, publicly discuss cover in detail." But senior CIA officials publicly have acknowledged that the agency has devoted considerable energy to creating new ways for its case officers -- the CIA's term for its overseas spies -- to operate under false identities. "In terms of the collection of intelligence, there has been a great deal of emphasis for us to use nontraditional methods," Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, the CIA director, said in a November 2006 radio interview shortly after taking the helm at the agency. "For us, that means non-traditional platforms -- what folks call 'out of embassy' platforms -- and we're progressing along those lines." The vast majority of the CIA's spies traditionally have operated under what is known as official cover, meaning they pose as U.S. diplomats or employees of another government agency. © 2008 Post Gazette Publishing Company.

Originally posted by xiinfaniin: ^^ The latter is analogous to the existential threat Ethiopia poses to Somalia. But it requires common understanding or as the Man calls, tallo , to face such a challenge! To set the negotiating table, one must first have a powerful stake in the outcome of negotiation. The Ethiopian factor that impinges on those processes is still relevant. Any reconciliation, at this time, ignores the motives of Ethiopia which gives us the right suspicion as to what the direction of her long-term policy in Somalia might be. For two parties to negotiate, they have to be equals putting the sovereignty of our country as the overriding objective over any thing else. Lost blood and property can be regained, but what can be hardly regained is the loss of our sovereignty. Lord Salisbury's remark that "the only bond of union that endures among nations is the absence of all clashing interests” is very relevant. In other words, hegemonic states hardly resist their temptation to cover their aspirations and ambitions. The day might come when a future Somali government will symbolize an extension of Ethiopian influence. Only hard and long resistance can free our society from the shackles of 21st colonialism. Reconciliation at this moment is a political folly defined in terms of power that establishes and maintains Ethiopia’s sphere of influence in Somalia. (A reality that exists and needs to be dealt with) Successive Ethiopian regimes and empires have coveted our territories since Minellik II. Their untamed and barbaric forces have inflicted maximum destruction on our people.

"I don't want to say anything that would offend anyone, but for 40 years northern Cyprus has practically had independence. Why aren't you recognising that? Aren't you ashamed, Europeans, for having these double standards?" Exactly... It is only Turkey that recognizes Northern Cyprus up to this day.