Xudeedi
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Somalia's new conflict, rooted in old ties
By H.D.S. Greenway | January 2, 2007
THE OLD YEAR closed with the murderous musketry of a new war. Ethiopia holds to the legend that it was founded by King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba's first son, Menelik, 3,000 years ago. Christianity came in the fourth century with Ethiopia's first bishop, Frumentius of Tyre. Seventeen centuries later, Ethiopia spent Christmas bombing the airfields of Mogadishu in neighboring Somalia.
It appears that Ethiopia, long ruled by Christians, does not want to see Somalia ruled by radical Islamists, and is therefore hard at work putting Somalia's warlords back in power. America's role in this conflict has not been adequately explained.
Long antagonists, Ethiopia and Somalia were divided during the Cold War by the ideological fault lines of the American-Soviet rivalry. "During the Cold War a country could be nonaligned, as many were, or it could, as some did, change its alignment from one side to another," Samuel Huntington wrote 10 years ago in his eerily prophetic book "The Clash of Civilizations." Ethiopia and Somalia were classic examples of the latter, abruptly changing alliances. Ethiopia switched from being America's ally to the Soviet bloc, inviting in Russian advisers and Cuban soldiers to help fight Somali rebels.
Today, the fault lines are more cultural and religious, as Huntington predicted. "In the new world order . . . cultural identity is the central factor shaping a country's associations and antagonisms. While a country could avoid Cold War alignment, it cannot lack an identity. The question, 'Which side are you on?' has been replaced by the much more fundamental one 'Who are you?' " Thus Ethiopia sees its war against its old antagonist as a fight against militant Islam, and therefore is helping the old lords of Somalia, who are thought to be more moderate in their religion if not their murderous behavior.
Although these same Somali warlords humiliated the United States during the Clinton administration, the Bush administration is backing them against the Islamists. But, as Jeffrey Gettleman wrote in The New York Times, since the United States became bogged in Iraq, there is the "Africa-wide sense" "that the United States is not the kingmaker it once was."
When he wrote his book, Huntington had the Balkan wars of the '90s as a vivid example. The Cold War threat of the Soviet Union taking back its errant Communist province kept Yugoslavia together under the strong, if undemocratic hand, of Josip Broz Tito. But no sooner had Tito died, and the Soviet Union ceased to exist, than Yugoslavia fell to pieces largely along religious and cultural lines -- Roman Catholics vs. Eastern Orthodox vs. Muslims.
A decade earlier had been the Lebanese civil war, which pitted Shi'ite Muslims vs. Sunni Muslims vs. Christians, with a dash of Druze thrown into the mix, all vying to protect or increase their power.
And today, the Israel-Palestinian struggle, which used to be a quarrel over land, is increasingly transmogrifying into a religious struggle with all the intractability that entails with the ascendancy of Hamas.
Ten years ago Huntington wrote: "The West's universalist pretensions increasingly bring it into conflict with other civilizations, most seriously with Islam and China . . . The most dangerous clashes of the future are likely to arise from the interaction of Western arrogance, Islamic intolerance, and Sinic assertiveness." So far rivalry with China has been kept in check.
The arrogant, universalist pretensions he feared, however, have not, and the desire to "make the world like America" has led us into Iraq. "The central problem in the relations between the West and the rest is, consequently, the discordance between the West's -- particularly America's -- efforts to promote a universal Western culture and its declining ability to do so . . . What is universalism to the West is imperialism to the rest," Huntington wrote.
When Huntington first published his thesis in Foreign Affairs, some scholars said modernity would trump religious and ethnic antagonisms. This has not yet come to pass, however, and Iraq is breaking up Balkan-style: Sunnis vs. Shi'ites vs. Kurds.
The late president Gerald Ford put America's pretensions into perspective when he said: "I just don't think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security." He might have added, especially if the hellfire and damnation is going to make us less secure.
H.D.S. Greenway's column appears regularly in the Globe.
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Baadida nin baa kula daydayi
daalna kaabadine
Oon doonahayn in aad hesho daa’in abidkaaye
dadkuna moodi duulwada dhashoon wax u dahsoonayne
One is so committed to lending you a helping hand
And you may perceive it as an honest help
Although he does all the undoing of your effort
Qamaan Bulxan
Introduction:
As Mr. Meles Zenawi, the strong Prime Minster of Ethiopia, defiantly decided to invade Somalia, despite his demagogue about saving Somalis from themselves, there are enough indicators that he may ultimately loose the war and his rag-tag largely Tigrian army would suffer a historic defeat in the scorching and forbidding terrains of Dusomareeb and Galguduud. But the ultimate looser in all this is unfortunately President Abdullahi Yusuf.
On November 29, 2006, only 2 days before a pan-Somali conference sponsored by Northern Somalis for Peace and Unity (NSPU) took place at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC and called for the resumption of the Khartum Talks, Mr. Zenawi hastily rushed through his parliament a motion by Shifarow Asafa, majority whip of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) was passed to authorize him to invade Somalia. Uneducated crowd populates the parliament, individuals who are mostly handpicked (or what is in Amharic known as “taladafi” or lackies”) from Ethiopia’s vast rural areas.
The speech of Mr. Zenawi, the all-knowing and hour-long speaking dictator, was preceded by a typical “shimbrayahow heesa” presentations, one of which was that of Mr. Mohamud Dirir, a Minister from the so-called autonomous Somali region. (Mr. Dirir has no credibility in the region for he and some of the “taladafi” leadership in the region allegedly belong to a new inept leadership who are more committed to their personal well being and are colloquially referred to as the “waar guriigii qabyada ahaa ma dhamaystirtay gang. This is the same leadership that authorized the transfer of 1/3rd of Somali districts from the Somali to the Oromia region by the stroke of a higher order from Addis Ababa. Accordingly, the government-order demonstration in support of Mr. Zenawi’s motion to invade Somalia does not in anyway represent either the feelings of the masses of Ethiopia, nor that of the Somalis in the region.
As I am drafting this article, Jigjiga, the capital of the feeble autonomous Somali region, is on the verge of massive civil disorder. It has been reported that unknown, but most likely clandestine government operatives, distributed leaflets inside the city’s only High School premise. The message read that “Prophet Mohamed was killed by a Mosquito bite.” This outraged the Somali students who in reaction took their anger to the streets. In a calculated move, the TPLF soldiers have rounded up unidentified number of Somali [secondary] students and hauled them to a detention center. This type of provoking communities is a typical TPLF tactic (see The Huntington Doctrine in Ethiopia, A “One Dominant Party System, Faisal Roble, Ethiopian Review, 1996).
Dr. Negasso Gidada, former president of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, who is now a member of a small but enlightened group of independent parliamentarians, opposed what the local gangs (waar gurigii qabyada ahaa ma dhamaystirtay) blindly supported. In his brief speech, he said the following concerning the proposed motion:
Well, four reasons were given to justify it as a war. The first one is that they declared jihad on Ethiopia. But when they declared jihad on Ethiopia, they qualified it to have meant only on Ethiopian soldiers who entered Somalia. As for their declaring jihad on Ethiopia, I don't know: it could be a matter of interpretation.
Did they really declare jihad against Ethiopia and crossed the border? Is that the fact? I don't think so. As comparison, if you take the conflict with Eritrea, that country, in fact, crossed the border and took control of parts of our territory. But we don't see similar situation this time around.
The other thing that amazes me is that Ethiopia is under repeated attack from the Somali forces and that we are absorbing those attacks according to the prime minister. If that is the truth, then why did the government keep silent? An emergency session of the parliament should have been called and the problem must have been dealt with.
The second reason given is that the Islamic Courts are assisting and sending here anti-Ethiopia forces. This was not clearly explained. What kind of anti-Ethiopia forces are these. Are they snicking in Somali or foreign jihadists into Ethiopia? Or are they supporting and sending other local opposition forces such as the ****** National Liberation Front (ONLF)? These local opposition forces have long existed. Did they train and send fresh forces during the summer? Despite this, I believe that going to the extent of declaring war ought to be reconsidered. I don't think there is a situation currently which forces us to go to war. I see a problem with the request forwarded to parliament to give the green light (Wardheernews.com, Dec. 6, 2006).
Mr. Meshasa Biru, a businessman in Los Angeles and a former member of the Ethiopian Transitional Government (1991-94), echoed a similar sentiment. Mr. Biru believes that Mr. Zenawi wants to use the Somalia/Islamic threat factor not to help either the TFG or the people of Somalia. He maintains that this is another faustian opportunity for Mr. Zenawi to woe the largely Amhara opposition, who in the last election won 25 of the available 25 seats in all the districts of Addis Ababa, to his camp. Mr. Biru, who holds a doctorate degree in Political Science from UC Santa Barbara, California, said that after Mr. Zenawi failed to get a lasting legitimacy, mainly within the Amhara middle class, as a result of the Eritrean war, intentionally initiated by TPLF, or by fostering conflicts in the Somali region of Ethiopia, the Somali/Islamic threat is his new opportunity. But Ethiopians will not give him that rare gift, political legitimacy, nor will they support his plans to invade our suffering brothers.
Tigrian Racism toward Somali Muslims
Since the early 1990s, Mr. Zenawi has shrewdly succeeded to disorient Somalis while at the same time undoing the Democratic Republic of Somalia. While publicly misleading the easily believing and magnanimous Somalis (both in the Democratic Republic of Somalia and the Ethiopian “autonomous region) that his Tigrian-ruled Ethiopia is a friend and not a foe to Somalis, everything that he has done so far is indeed a devil’s duty.
Since 1994, he has incarcerated thousands of innocent Somali travelers under a false pretense of Islamic terrorism. In one jail located inside the eastern Oromia region (near Gara Mulata district) thousands of Somalis are still kept without any charges and are denied to have access either to their relatives or to international organizations. The prisoners are kept under similar conditions that one heard or read about the Abu-Graib prison in Iraq, or some of the abuses that we have been familiarized with in the Guntanamo prison in Cuba.
In a recent trip to Ethiopia, I have learned from reliable sources that Ethiopian prison authorities, often Orthodox Christian Tigrians, endlessly subject helpless Somalis to some of the most unspoken humiliating acts, like “forcing prisoners to do Wudo with their urine,” or “forcing them watch while Christian soldiers soak the Quran in a zest pool of human feces and urine.”
When arrested, these prisoners, who are from all over Somali-speaking regions, happened to be traveling either inside Ethiopia or around the common border areas. One of the most famous prisoners is related to the late Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Igal (Ciise Muse) who was picked up while he was on a business trip inside the Somali region that Ethiopia administers. Others are from Bosaaso, Kismayo, Burco, Hargaysa, Qabri Daharre, Baydhabo Jigjiga, *** Dhabe, etc.
The history of the Tigrian Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) has been one of neo-fascist based on a closely-nit ethnic chauvinism. Additionally, a narrow version of the teachings of the Coptic Church (colored by the beheading of the only Tigrain King in Ethiopia’s modern history, Nugus Johannes, by the Mahdi of Sudan) and the Enver Hoxha Stalinist strain of Marxist world outlook has guided them. This is a deadly combination, especially against any community that follows the teachings of Islam. TPLF’s anti-Islamic and anti Somali stance is rooted in this twin believe system.
Mr. Zenawi’s TPLF has marginalized both Muslims in Tigray province as well as in the rest of Ethiopia. For example, despite that Tigray’s Muslim population amounts to ten percent there is no tangible presence of Muslims in either Tigry regional government or in the leadership of TPLF. With the exception of Samora Yunis, a commander of the armed forces, who lost all that he had about being Muslim except half of his name, there is no other Muslims in the TPLF higher echelon. In a country where more than half of the population is Muslim, there is only one Muslim person in the Executive Committee of the ruling EPRDF party.
The marginalization of Muslims in the TPLF dominated government in Ethiopia proper is so pronounced that it amounts to extreme case of racism. For example, there are more Tigres in Mr. Zenawi’s government than there are Muslims put together, although Tigres account for a mere 2.7 million as opposed to Muslims with a whopping 50 million out of a total of 75 million. If this is not a clear case of assigning an inferior social position to Muslims in Ethiopia, it at least indicates the deep-rooted Tigrian attitude towards Muslim Ethiopians.
Moreover, TPLF has been loudly racist against Somalis. In a 1991 interview that Mr. Zenawi, then president of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia, gave to the veteran and long-time horn of Africa journalist, the indomitable Sayid Khalif, what came out was more of TPLF’s deep-rooted racism than a vision. When Mr. Khalifa asked why Somalis received only a handful of positions (only 4 parliamentary seats out of about 500) in the transitional government formed by the victorious TPLF in exchange for Somalis’ decade’s long struggle against injustice and oppression by Abbysinians, Meles Zenawi unequivocally responded:
The reason why Somalis did not get more positions in the
transitional parliament is because Somalis do not know how to
administer for they are nomadic and therefore do not have enough skills.
Even to the most pragmatic observer of the Ethiopian condition, the late Mohammad Ugaas Abdi, aka, **********, who reluctantly signed the transitional charter on behalf of the now-defunct Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF), said once that “Meles waa cunsuri muran madoonta ah,” or “Mr. Zenawi is undoubtedly a racist to the bone.”
Why is, then, this racist who does not have an iota of respect for the Somalis, be they inside of Ethiopia or in the Democratic Republic, so quick to invade Somalia? His public and diplomatic pronouncements that he is going into Somalia to protect and safeguard the weak Transitional Federal Government (in Bydhabo) from the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) is as laughable as the “fox watching the chicken coop.” This kind of nonsensical diplomacy, which is a reminiscent of the pre-Iraq invasion rhetoric, say “Saddam Hussein is only months away from unleashing a nuclear bomb against America,” or “liberating the Iraqi Muslims from Saddam Hussein,” or the former South African Apartheid regime saying that they are protecting Swaziland from subversive forces of the ANC, are nothing but naked lies of leaders who are not in touch with their own peoples’ feelings. As such, the not-so morally upbeat Ethiopia’s largely conscripted army is prone to suffer an unforgiving defeat in the hands of ICU militias inside Somalia.
President Yusuf is a Real Loser
Invading Somalia, a sovereign nation with standing membership at the United Nations, by a neighboring Ethiopia, a long time enemy, under the pretext of stopping the advance of Islamic Courts Union (ICU) will definitely backfire and may even expose how fragile the shaky TPLF grip is in the Somali region as well as in Addis Ababa. Somalis have a more fitting saying for someone as high-headed as Mr. Zenawi:
Wallee Dheehay Dhaaxaad Oloshaye, Oh! Dheha, you have been on the roller coaster long
Waa lagaa dhalin oo laguu dhigi enough that it is high time to force you into deliverance
What is certain is that if Mr. Zenawi invades Somalia, he is bound to leave out of Somalia, whenever that may be, weaker and more beaten down. His [conscripted] soldiers would be hunted down in the unfamiliar rough terrain of Somalia. To make matters worse, if Eritrea simultaneously opens up a northern front, we could easily expect a rapidly and profusely bleeding Ethiopian army at two fronts. This plausible scenario – plus a certain re-activation of the Somali Liberation Fronts (WSLF and ONLF) in the east to harass an already stretched out army and a robust Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) attacking on a new southern front – makes Ethiopian invasion a futile exercise and could even result in more negative results for Ethiopia.
There are several salient results that could come out of the impending Ethiopian invasion of Somalia: First, it is nearly impossible to defeat the ICU inside Somalia, and more so inside Mogadishu. In other words, it is unthinkable that Ethiopia would ever conquer Somalia, where both the UNISOM forces and highly specialized US invasion projects were soundly defeated. Precisely so, because almost everyone in Mogadishu, with the possible exception of the immediate family members of the lame-duck Prime Minister, Ali M.Geeddi, Ethiopia’s man of the TFG, would carry a gun pointed at Ethiopian soldiers. As such, an Ethiopian expedition as strong as 10,000, 20,000, or even, say, 30,000 would amount to nothing compared to a massive resistance put up by an entire population armed and eager to die for their faith and front yard. (read Ragge Omar’s analysis, Wardheernews, Dec. 8, 2006.)
Thus, it is likely that the military brass of Ethiopia may discourage Mr. Zenawi from taking this rout. Equally unthinkable is the fodder cannon tactics, pushing unwilling conscripted peasant with a barrel of a gun pointed at their backs to clear enemy mines, as Ethiopia did in its war against Eritrea in 2000. A repeat of this kind of unscrupulous war tactics would reawaken the bitter memory of Oromos, who lost thousands of their own peasants, and the US government who secretly complained to Mr. Zenawi about this heinous military tactics.
The most likely Somalia mission of Ethiopia would, therefore, meant to beef up Ethiopia’s alleged presence in and around Bydhabo to attempt to protect the weak TFG from falling into the hands of the roaring and “river-like trouping surges” of the ICU militia. This may create a long term stalemate between Ethiopian-backed TFG who would remain pigeon-holed in the provincial town of Baydhabo and a vast administration-less country ruled by ICU militia.
But creating a stalemate would be a win-win situation for the ICU. One, Mogadishu would still remain in the hand of the ICU who would use it as a base for organizing a grassroots movement to create insurrections through the rest of the country city-by-city and region-by-region. In the final analysis, Ethiopia would loose both man and material resources and gain nothing. At minimum, an invasion of Somalia at this time may further destabilize Ethiopia’s eastern and southern fronts. At maximum, the entire Ethiopian society may be put back into war track once again, and this could easily erode the little gains that some regions within that country have achieved.
In all these scenarios, one thing is certain: the real looser is President Abdullahi Yusuf who may never set a foot in Mogadishu as the President of a “reconciliation government,” notwithstanding that he was nominated at Embagati almost two and half years ago with over seventy percent of the delegates.
With his health failing, plus a country whose murky conditions are muddied by the Ethiopian opportunistic factor, President Abdullahi Yusuf may as well be left with nothing, except mincing at the last fare well bid he had paid to Villa Somalia prior to his escape to Ethiopia in 1977. Nor is it likely that he would see the gallant military salutation of a future national army of Somalia staged at the breezy Tribune mall that is tacked in between Talex hotel and the dusty plains of Digfer Hospital, as did decades ago his nemesis, the late dictator Mohamed Siyad Barre.
As Professor Said Samatar said in a different context, I may quickly add here to say this: poor Abdulahi Yusuf, too far from Allah and from Arbac Rukun Mosque, and too close to Ethiopia’s Qudus Gabriel Church. By invading Somalia, Ethiopia has sealed off the faith of this aging warrior, and it consequently killed his long-held dream of ruling Somalia out of the magnificent Villa Somalia once in his lifetime. How such a fierce fighter, who cares less about wealth and more about the attainment of the highest political power of his country, who refused anyone to dictate to him, and who searched the mirage of presidency all along, is easily negated by the actions of another ambitiously ruthless, yet clever dictator, is one of the many unscripted tragedies of post Barre Somalia.
It is time now to bid good bye to President Abdullahi Yusuf, and hear all Somalis sing in unison: President Abdullahi, we don’t love you less, but we love Somalia more, as much as Brutus said at Cesar’s court: “I killed Cesar not because I love him less, but I love Rome more.”
Faisal Roble
E-Mail:Fabroble@aol.com
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What border, the disputed border btw Somalia and Ethiopia?
Our border with Ethiopia is not even considered International border but provisional border and we will reclaim the lands under their occupation once we set our civil problems right.
Past a couple months, I had a casual conversation with a fellow Ethiopia . He had the audacity to tell me that Somalia is Ethiopia and it will be. Due to his irrelevant argument and knowledge of Soamlia's history I began to advise him on flagrant claims like this and offered him a crash course of the history of the region in which he was devoid of. There exist many uniinformed who come aboard with nationalistic and rhetorical ploy to crave for a country that is not theirs.
Sooner we understand the enemy is not within ourselves but outside meddlers, Ethiopia as a principle factor of this political meddling designed to undermine and kill both of our national pride and statehood, the better we can deal with these poverty-stricken country and its minority Christian rule.
Another is to be aware of those among us like the so called "Somaliland" also known as the North Western Somais, who will relinquish you to the foes for their clan interest. But would it matter for the enemy to discriminate favorably Somalis based on clans. To the Tigre and Amhara, we are one and leaches whose fragmentary society is at best exploitable for them to stay alive and perpetuate their false but cockeyed superiority.
Land locked Ethiopia will remain landlocked forever whether they like it or not. Blame Eritrea, not us.
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I hope and highly encourage that these initiatives and many other in the region and every region of Somalia be consummated in the near future term.
Somalis should help one another in these hard and challenging times.
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Me, ok, do you agree Xeer normalizes the caste system? It doesn't practically reaffirm its support of this system but it neither disavows its social aspect of behavior from such ill-fated treatment of parts of our people. Xeer is a social contract entered with a group or clan considered to be in par with the other clan, provisions that is based on legal correction of social wrongs both extreme or moderate.
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Political incorporation will not solve the problem in that region’s grade as occupied, underdeveloped region that is ruled with martial law. Our lesson with Kenya gives testimony to that when the Somali government and the people in that province had given up their struggle after former Somali premier Egal signed the Arusha memorandum in return for a better treatment of equal citizenship with the rest of the country. They are still treated as "aliens", bandits, Shifta despite their less calculated decision to be Kenyans. In recent article published at Daily NATION, the national tabloid of Kenya, writes, "Even after being defeated, their remnants turned the province into bandit-land, something that is still all-too-prevalent even today. The effects are telling. One of them is the area's continued under-development." There exist hardly any political revolts in the form of Bandits today as the writer claims, a manifestation of his prejudices, but he admits the under-developmental nature of the region.
The courts consolidated as the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS) stand as a beacon of light to Somalia and it will unite all Somali territories through its derivative support of the whole populace, make no mistake about it, the long painful years of tribal wars will only help us learn from our mistakes, mature politically and economically, and expose to the Somali people the wider picture of co-existence is the way of Islam.
The African Union has failed us as a country. Its policy in operationalizing "the responsibility to protect” civilians in armed conflict has been a total disaster and mostly left the onerous task to Ethiopia, a country that strives to disintegrate Somalia. Moreover, The Canadian sponsored for International Commission for Intervention and State Sovereignty aimed at developing the right to intervene countries in the most extreme cases was never implemented in Somalia at the time of our need. The Islamic courts have emerged to take the responsibility to rid the country of its destructive elements supported by Ethiopia, to react to areas under the domain of warlords (Riyale and Adde) in diplomatic approach first and finally in military intervention, and to rebuild by restoring law and order and preventing reoccurrence of violence.
We won’t buy the doubled-edged, ambivalent concern of the U.S and its mouthpiece, the UN, which previously neglected Somalia and left it to rot and decay till no person is left, its branding this group as terrorists
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Me, Xeer infuses into the Sharia the old habit of Somalia's primitive nature. Although it can be used for mediation as a mechanism to solve problems locally, Sharia law is still the best method based on the justice of Allah that can unite Somalis and get rid of the old habits.
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Sky, May be Cabdulahi wasn't briefed on the history of these two tribes. The current Somali conflict becomes trivial compared to what these two clans went through in the past.
Colonel Goronyo-Cawl, the man who successfully led the army against the Ade's once insurgents said to the the founder of SSDF that his tribesmen had already attempted that expansionist attitude.
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It is indeed beautiful but impenetrable due to the poor road. As I was told, it takes days to roam in there with car because of the terrain.
I was surprised of the nomads who live there. They look blissful and content with their serene life. Is that crops he is pointing to the adventurer?
----The last one,
. LasQoreyNet is promising another round of pictures in the coming weeks. -
Nomads who live on the Mountain.
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I was first told of these pictures and a documentary of the geographic landscape of Calmadow, Sanaag by a friend who saw it at a local TV in London that aired it.
Geeldoora is a high summit mountain when you are en route to Laas Qorey. Its tough terrain has cost lives as many vehicles were rolled over due to the bad condition of the road there and the moutainaous nature of Geeldoora Rd.
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Thanks, Great opinion! I wlc Muhsin. He has been out for a while. I was told he was on a business travel to a far land.
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Dear me, Waa runtaa, Sabtu ma jirto laakin waxaa jira magaceeda iyo sheegsheegideeda. I am for totally a Somali republic ruled by the Sharia Law. In the long run, it will unite our people and terminate the existance of these sub states, which derive their nomenclatures from foreign words that are alien to our culture and dignity. It is like accepting John and David. They make no sense.
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Sublands in Somalia are threat to our unity. They are divisive and destructive and can easily be manipulated by neighbouring enemies who see this as opportunity to further divide Somalia forever. Sublands encumber political reconciliations, centralized government, and promote hostility on border issues. They invariably make mockery of each others' existance and pits one sub-clan against another. We should rally for a government that unites Somalia and that is not built on tribalistic Constitution, nor accepts the existance of clannish adminstrations under Federalism.
The Sub-lands Revisited —another telltale of disintegration
The formation of sub-states (i.e. Puntland and Somaliland) along clan lines has represented another development in the ongoing process of disintegration of the old state. There have been other sub-lands in the making—i.e. Juba-land, Hiiran-land, and Central-land but which have not yet materialized. “Puntland”, it seems, had followed the footsteps of “Somaliland” before it, as far as structure and source of legitimacy go, and has represented the manifestation of the failure of the international approach towards reconciliation. As well as being a means for political survival on the part of the elite as they waited for that government which they would nationally impose from the top—Boos-celis for some, to use a familiar Somali phrase—the sub-lands have, at best, and in essence, been a corruption of terms such as the “bottom-up approach”, “governance at grass roots level” and “decentralization”—I should add. These sub-states are fashioned after the parent Somali Republic of the past by the same clan-conscious elite of the failed Republic. More recently these have been wrongly proposed as sub-denominations of a FederalState.
These sub-states have been designed in the form of rogue mini-states by the same agents of old to reproduce the same past structures and political culture of that failed State. Far from meaning self-governance or a bottom-up approach to nation building, as is claimed by their advocates, the phenomenon implies government imposed from the top at the regional levels. The same military and political elite of the former despotic forms of Somali governments, who have failed to reconstitute government top-down fashion at the national level, seem to have imposed government on their respective clan denominations to demarcate their claimed boundaries of jurisdiction within the State. The proliferation of these sub-states—the sub-lands or sub-national entities, as a phenomenon—will not only prolong the stagnation and political stalemate experienced through-out, but will also deepen the extent of division and conflict between and within communities at local levels beyond easy repair.
“Somaliland” and “Puntland” already have fundamental differences and are built on diametrically opposing orientations in terms of assumptions, theoretically speaking. Their boundaries have also been overlapping and their dispute over a large portion of territory may have been a blessing in disguise for the territorial integrity of Somalia, so far. “Somaliland” is built on the Type I assumptions above, and “Puntland” is built on Type II assumptions, for that matter. A resolution of the territorial dispute would substantiate one or the other assumption about the nature of disintegration, in terms of the types of assumptions mentioned above. For the time being though, and by the same token, the case for the sub-lands remains pending the process of disintegration taking its toll one way or the other. The irony is that the diametrically opposing presumptions on which the two sub-lands are founded make a mockery of their existence and, in the meantime, check the possibility of early disintegration either way.
http://www.wardheernews.com/Articles_06/march-06/21_Somali_distegration.AHirad.html
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This Monitor editorial piece, which probably came after the Shabait editorial in support of Somalia's struggle for their just causes to handle their affairs alone, is at best misguided by its polarized thinking that it can sustain Somalia stateless and forever divide so that it can manipulate what it calls as "the loose confederation of the primitive Somali clans that are at war with one another". Ethiopia sees the development in Somalia against the backdrop of a lasting support for peace and unity of all Somali territories, sprearheaded by the Union of Islamic Courts, as a threat to its very weak regime that is now collapsing under its own weight, looking at the complex and hostile nature of the diverse ethnicities in its own turf.
It first proposes the Int'l recognition of "peaceful islands" (Puntland and Somaliland" as the first order of business. How is that possible from the perspective of our political stalemate. Does it think that it can sway the international community with such a baseless rhetoric claim for a desperate call of international effort to Somalia's stateless nature? And how will the effect of such call reinforce the self-determination of the ethnicities like Oromo in Ethiopia? You might assume that this call interprates itself into a pernicious approach to the resolution of Somalia's problems and there is a deep irony to the pretense of the author for his care for "a government of the people in Somalia"
I will leave the rest for others to comment.
Generally speaking, the declaration of the secession has been a multi-headed monster, independent of the wishes and control of a, conservatively, good proportion of the people of the North. Unfortunately, the situation continues unabated and remains to present an up-close and present danger for all. Unable to consider options or discuss challenges and opportunities for the future among themselves, all have had to remain solemn to their safety and security as a priority, in the interim, until reality hits to dispel the fantasy. In the words of one pundit from Hargeisa, “We cannot question the situation as of the moment, in 1991, when the decision was made”—and so spontaneously—I add. A. Hirad
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Ethiopia's destructive colours towards Somalia's sovereignty is manifesting broadly without the least reserves. The Monitor's editorial highlighted today that the International community should heed to the developments and minimalist system "Somaliland" region has adopted despite the nonexistant jurisdiction over the territories it claims. Do you think Ethiopia is cornered by the possibility of united Somalia and this very request with all its unintended consequences of war within the region should the International community respond to such call is the only way left for them to keep Somalia's destabilization.
Somalia: Why have we failed in Somalia? This is a question that has come and gone for over a decade now. Somalia has been without an effective central state since 1991. Up to one million people died because of fighting between rival warlords, famine and disease. Somaliland was independent for a few days in 1960, between the end of British colonial rule and its union with the former Italian colony of Somalia. More than 40 years later voters in the territory overwhelmingly backed its self-declared independence in a May 2001 referendum. They have effectively distanced themselves from main land Somalia and it new government. Somaliland has a democratic and minimalist political and economic system; that other African leaders can learn from. Somalia and Somaliland deserve much better handling by the international community. Specifically Britain, Italy and France need to lead the act as former colonizers of this region. It also should entails building the capacity of IGAD, AU, and CSOs, that are stuck in the corners of African politics, dependent on the umbilical cord of member nations and donors who determine what they do and that have little clout in and of themselves as they stand today.
Eritrea's Position
Eritrea's stand on the issue of Somalia is clear and firm. It emanates from the historical ties and friendship, which the Somali people extended to the just struggle of the Eritrean people for liberation. Hence, Eritrea remains keen to extend political encouragement to the just cause of the Somali people to create a ground for national reconciliation, dialogue and enable Somalis to live in peace and harmony. There is no other agenda whatsoever beyond that. National reconciliation of Somalis as well as promoting stability in Somalia has a substantial role to play to regional peace and mutual benefit.
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The Somali problem should be left for Somalis to tackle!- Eritrea’s role and firm stand on the issue
Shabait Editorial
By Staff
Nov 18, 2006, 15:47
Ten countries including Eritrea as well as the Hezbollah party of Lebanon are being accused of “breaching the arms embargo and sending armaments to Somalia”, according to the accusations released this week by the UN. Nowadays, when the UN organization has been changed into an appendage or extension of the US State Department and being micro administrated by the CIA , it is not hard to imagine from where these views and accusations are being sent. Instead of resolving conflicts prolonging and complicating conflicts has become the main concern of the US Administration so as to implement its sinister agenda. And sadly enough this has become its harbinger to all its failures.
Looking at it from this true perspective, the US Administration, which for the last 15 years has never uttered a word, while the people of Somalia were decimating each other, and has instead been continuously channeling weapons and money to the Somali warlords to inflame the conflict, is now presenting accusations through its mouthpiece, the UN organization. And no one can miss to what end this accusations are being tuned.
These baseless and ungrounded accusations are intended to hit two targets. One: Tarnishing and changing the countenance of the movement created out of internal political dynamism of Somalis with an agenda to create a united Somalia and make it look like a terrorist movement, and threat to international security. Two: By fabricating a fairy tale with regard to the neighboring countries of Somalia, especially Eritrea and Ethiopia, alleging that “these two countries may ignite a proxy war in Somali territory and thereby exacerbate the already precarious situation to heightened regional conflict”, so that either through mercenaries or direct military intervention stifle or complicate this encouraging development and ensure that the chaos and pandemonium that have been rocking Somalia stay unabated.
Eritrea's stand on the issue of Somalia is clear and firm. It emanates from the historical ties and friendship, which the Somali people extended to the just struggle of the Eritrean people for liberation. Hence, Eritrea remains keen to extend political encouragement to the just cause of the Somali people to create a ground for national reconciliation, dialogue and enable Somalis to live in peace and harmony. There is no other agenda whatsoever beyond that. National reconciliation of Somalis as well as promoting stability in Somalia has a substantial role to play to regional peace and mutual benefit.
The unholy agendas and interventions by regional and international forces in Somalia over the last 15 years have brought about much destruction. In this regard, the people and Government of Eritrea do strongly object the unjustified intervention pursued by the US as well as its mercenaries and other external forces, because its inevitable lasting scar on the Horn is very dangerous. Eritrea 's role and clear position regarding the issue of Somalia is to leave the matter to the Somalis themselves. Hence, external forces have to retract their hands from meddling in the internal affairs of Somalia , with regards to the constructive and fervent political process that is gaining momentum in the country. And if they really are genuinely interested in extending assistance, they should create a reconciliatory ground, without intervention and without taking sides with anyone.
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I am speaking on behalf of all these territories except Awdal. You should look at my map and refrain from politicising which territory belongs to clan-lands. Since you sound to be a man of genuine beliefs, you should change the title of the thread into a Somalia ,a unitary title of all Somali clans and I won't have problem with it. You have no approval of categorizing places into belonging a clannish entity they don't endorse its legitimacy. At least, that would render their political position and beliefs the right measure.
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it is very un-manly to claim people's lands (until we probably find a government of national union) and even change some of the places into what they are not. Although I love Daallo mountain since it is part of the range of the mountains of Sanaag, that picture where camels are grazing is not Daallo. I am assuming you might be harbouring the false perception that Calmadow falls within the periphery of a clan territory different from yours but what is Daalo itself. If it enhances your pschological needs such as belonging and affection, Go ahead with the twist.
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^^Sanaag is not neglected except it shares the lack of sound infrastructure such as roads with many regions. However It is the most vibrant region when it comes to district to district. If you look at Bari region, barring Bossaso, which thrived through its inheritance of a national property/port, what you have there? Ma hadaan galey Qaaba Qooseen.
It is only Erigavo which declared for their support to the Islamic courts and the rest of the districts would probably not follow suit.
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A lot of you are familiar with Duale's piece a year ago when he bibliographed and detailed the birth and rise of Al-Itihaad Al-Islaamiya in the Horn. The founders, mostly from northern region, and popular members whom most of you are presently familiar with their activities.
The piece was written prior to the rise of Islamic courts. Consistently, Dr. Siarag highlights all the key players both the present and the past.
This is his summary of Mogadisho elements after discussing all of their political involvement in the regions they had previously established their bases. Please, note his article preceded the events that unfolded in Mogadisho.
It flourished and proliferated under the umbrella of the USC-Aided’s wing and under the auspices of Abdiqassim Salad Hassan and his Transitional National Government (TNG) formed in Arta, Djibouti, in 2000. In collaboration with the USC, it established a base in Merca, the capital of the Lower Shabelle region in 1992, taking over the control of the port and setting up an Islamic court.................Al-Ittihad maintains Islamic courts and its own militia force in Mogadishu. They also run various madarassa schools, relief organizations and almost all the business activities in the city, including export-import trading, transportation, telecommunication, storage facilities and banking systems. Al-Ittihad regulates daily currency exchange rates for southern Somalia, including Puntland. It maintains strong commercial ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where Al-Ittihad retains commercial centers, offices and residential premises, and hideouts for its top leaders who mostly are in possession of UAE resident permits and bank accounts.
The higher-ranking Al-Ittihad leaders based in Mogadishu include, Mohamud Esse, Sheikh Omer Faaruuq, Hassan Daahir Aways, Sheikh Ibrahim Suulay, Aden Hashi Ayro, and Haji Addani (perhaps the most influential of Al-Ittihad leaders in southern Somalia).
Sheikh Ali Dheere, who follows a different version of religious radicalism in Mogadishu, was instrumental in the establishment of the first Islamic court in North Mogadishu. Officials of another extremist Islamic organization, the Altakfiir Wal Hijra, headed by Abdiqadir Haji Mohamud, which is believed to be the most intimate and closest to Al-Qaeda, in terms of ideological outlook, are residing in the ******-dominated southern Somalia.
http://wardheernews.com/articles/November/13__Alittihad_Sii'arag.html --The Whole Long Article
Notes: By Sii Arag at the end of his article.
Muslim Brotherhood (commonly known by its Arabic name, Ikhwan ul Muslimeen) was founded in Egypt by Hassan al-Banna in 1928 to serve as a political instrument for the founders’ quest for the creation of an Islamic State in Egypt. It later inspired likeminded Islamic radicals in many Muslim countries. Muslim Brotherhood is politically active in Somalia under several names, in addition to its original name, among which are: Haraket Al-Islah (reformed movement) and Al Haraka Al-Islam (Islamic Movement).
2 On December 5, 2001, the State Department released statement on the designation of 39 organizations on the USA PATRIOT Act’s “Terrorist Exclusion List”. Al-Ittihad Al-Islami featured top in the list. The US government has also frozen Al-Ittihad Al-Islami funds with the intention “to deter donations to the organization and alert other governments to U.S. concerns about the group’s involvement in terrorist activities”.
The Clash of Civilizations: Reality or Illusion
[ November 12, 2006, 09:26 PM: Message edited by: Libaax-Sankataabte ]
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Let me make it real and crystal clear. Puntland is inviting its own demise if it keeps supporting the vanquished , hateful monger of CabdiQaydid. The man is neither powerful nor significant to say the least and his alliance to Puntland will only weaken the military position and reputation of this region as peaceful region. How could it support this man when he committed the worst genocide on Puntland's people, when you have tapes showing his order to massacre civilians identified to be from either Puntland or Gedo.
It is not in the best interest to ally with insignificant, morally weak hateful warlord who was alread vanquished by his own people. Puntland leaders are inviting destruction to their tax paying people, business owners who have invested so much in Galkacyo. They are betraying their own people and they are indeed politically naive to whatever that could have advanced the region's survival interest.
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Paragon, this would have been good had the Islamist not forced themselves to mediate people and their God.
Will Sanaag follow suit?
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A Muslim's way is the middle path. A Muslims is neither extreme in his views nor is he negligent. Calling Muslims 'kafirs', calling for the annihilation of those who disbelieve or belong to the 'People of the Book' etc is not the Islamic way. The extreme views emanating from the Hijaz are indeed worrying, but this can not be adressed unlessed the Ummah wakes up from the deep sleep we are in and rid ourselves of the various malaise afflicting us, both intellectual and spiritual.It seems you have agreed with me. Pax Americana has been shown its limits in Iraq and I don't think it will stretch beyond its limitation. Economic wise, they will dominate since United States is the leading and biggest international debt and it has established strong enough in the Middle East, the Pacific , and Europe. You might think that EU is an exact copy of America's political and economic system. It is!
Prof Cadow: we are ready to talk to the TFG , why now?
in Politics
Posted
If Indhacade and few servile conformists of the clan doctrine were to be restrained from advancing the interest of the Islamists, we would have reached negotiated settlement. Geedi is learning from his mistakes and now realizes the need for discrediting and abandoning sub-states of Somalia. I wonder if Federalism is for reconciliation purpose alone.