Originally posted by Che -Guevara: Mr Bush was then driven away from the White House for the last time as president Doesn't he look sad? Or the nostalgia is gripping his heart.

Qalbi-adeyg, you take pride in being attached to ur qabiil as your social security # and ID but blacks mock and consider it barbaric and ancient record keeping. Get the gist?

For some unknown reasons, Al-jazeera had a guest, Rick Jones, who is very critical of Obama's silence of what he termed as the real issues that matter to the African Americans like "disporportionate incarceration, poverty, under-education, etx" Though real, Obama's vision is to ensure the equality of the justice system and motivate blacks to close the achievement gaps. But he wasn't elected to be a civil rights leader or the president of African Americans. He is there to take a holistic approach on national issues and adopt new economic and political policies that would repair the country's image, improve race relations, and revitalize the dream that kept this country still strong and world leader. Al-jazeera's coverage was tactical and had this hidden agenda that blacks are not better off than other minorities in Europe or the Arab world. Well there are more educated blacks in America than the entire Arab world, prove me wrong.

^that is what *ibtisam said in one beautiful paragraph.

The dream is seeing the return of a strong Somalia. The nightmare is living to witness the dismemberment of Somalia. Seriously, I understand the demand for such a political independence if you were of different ethnic background. How can for instance the ethnic Amhara in Ethiopia demand two seperate states in the same ancestral land?? A&T, advocators of Somalia's partition have been writing a new history and feeding that into the young generation. Some even had the audacity to claim a different culture from the south.lol

Originally posted by Xidigo*: quote:Originally posted by Caamir: [qb] Reer Awdal are true nationalists for the fact that you chose to set a clear and noble distinction from the usual inclination of Somalis when defending a member of their tribesmen who is accused of crimes against humanity. I am just too skeptical to believe that Riyale will be defended not by his tolka but the other brothers at the opposite side of the fence. Lol You are right and I agree with you that reer Awdal are nationalists and are also very peaceful in nature. However, the same people who would have cut Riyaale's throat twenty years ago are now cheering for him and shamelessly defending him. They often use lame excuses as the desire for peace and such words as democracy. In reality, Riyaale was a criminal puppet of Afweyne and now he is a puppet of the SNM. He is there to pacify the people of Awdal but only fools would fall for such a charade. Any Clanlander who publicly cheers for and defends Riyaale is a genuine munaafiq because he wouldn't do it in private. Xidigo, you right and I like the fact that you declare and say what you believe without any reservation and you think far ahead.

You right, look at the quoted part. He seems to hint the recognition of "protecting narrow interests" Anyway it's part of the dream of Martin Luther King Jr coming true. The dream has yet to be achieved contrary to the overwhelming approval of African Americans. It's celebration time for them and a Vindication.

“ But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed.”OBAMA That is a strong statement and a step in the right direction.

Unbelievable History! He is not that serious to downplay the west's inducement and structural policies even if it undermines progress in those poor countries. Who can deny the directives from IMF to cut basic services like education and jobs just to balance the so called Balance of Payment Account. We should have held dictators responsible for their actions, not keep them in power as long as they toe the line. We should have given both financial and diplomatic support and legitimacy to popularly elected leaders or encouraged indigenious methods of democracy. I know President Obama embodies Hope and Change and he wants to change all these failed and discredited theories that led to the global financial meltdown such the trickle down theory, using federal loan or the management of Sovereign wealth fund, oil etc as an instrument of control etc. My first comment about him after the winning speech of Iowa was in short "electrifying, inspirational." And he went on to win the democratic nomination for presidency. This time, be tough but principled on world peace, get rid of foreign policies that keep countries like Somalia in chaos and bring key figures of the peace spoilers to justice by simply freezing their assets and blocking their right to travel and lastly improve the economy little. Good luck Mr. President.

Originally posted by Che -Guevara: Three problems facing Puntland are lack of political equity among member clans, the elite old guard passing baton to each other, and the obvious social/security/economic problems. [/QB] Exactly, you've easily identified the three main problems. And you can in fact influence a political reform without the need to join the administration. In Puntland, the urge has always been a violent one, starting from Jama A Jama and Ade Muse. And Farole was very ambitious, power-hungary and shrewd to adopt a similar strategy betting on the significance of disrupting peace in the capital. State functionaries had to employ their sub-clannish militia for protection. The root cause is that we have yet to form the multi- party political system and a popular vote that can peacefully transfer power in a democratic process. The cabinet posts offered are rightly rejected and considered to be "transitory" and a trap to say the least that is the reason the likes of Saleeban turned it down. Farole can reshuffle his cabinet anytime as did by Ade throughout his term. So what is the point of being part of an administration you know is likely to be tainted by the tendencies inherent in the spoils system. So far, Farole has selected 12 out of 17 from his sub-clan, most likely loyalists.Only fairness, justice, consideration can sustain tangible progress and peace Therefore, as a long time advocate of local level of administration, I know reer Sanaag or Sool won't take the path taken by Ade and Farole or get to reform Puntland through voilent methods. They should instead work to implement the Makhir idea and plan to build an atmosphere of peace, economic trade and military ties with their brethrens and neighbors. The biggest obstacle as the naysayers of Makhir proclaim is the absence of key installations inherited from the last regime --like seaport. This objection is ludicrous and more could be lost than gained with the option of sustaining the current power configuration of Puntland. I don't know how long it takes them to realize the need for such a change.

Well said Ibtisam.

Reer Awdal are true nationalists for the fact that you chose to set a clear and noble distinction from the usual inclination of Somalis when defending a member of their tribesmen who is accused of crimes against humanity. I am just too skeptical to believe that Riyale will be defended not by his tolka but the other brothers at the opposite side of the fence. Lol

Originally posted by AYOUB: ^^ Never mind this mickey-jiir businesses just updated us with the latest regarding the "caravan" xaaji. How fearsome is the word Somali Republic?

Che, thanks for addressing the need for reform in Puntland. I was holding back my comment for the ongoing meeting within beesha Maakhir. Their final and collective decision has just been made public. it's agreed in principle to never permit one clan take hold of or hijack the administration or lead it on a nonlinear disintegration phase. That to save Puntland is a shared responsibility. The communal meeting asked to put off beesha's grievances through compromise and continued and tough negotiation that would create the political reform however cumbersome and lengthy the process might take. Che Guevara, keep it up.

Read some of the statements Rakiya gathered from witnesses in 1989. As Xidigo said, SNM's atrocities in places like Erigavo, Borame, Las Anod need to be counted as well. However we need to forget the past and forgive each other. Or else we will be pointing fingers at political figures and associate their alleged crimes with whichever clan they belong to. Morgan running for presidency, it's like we are back in square one. We never seem to learn our lessons.

Originally posted by Qudhac: Tolka your opinion of him does not act as evidence you just stated your lobsided opinion but that means nothing.. so whether you detest him or not does not make him guilty. either back up yyour claims and not with i heard my edo pet said this and that but EVIDENCE or dont make claimsdont This EVIDENCE was posted Adam Zaila last year. Dahir Riyale Kahin By Rakiya Omar “Mohamed Said Barre is not alone in his guilt for these crimes against humanity, for which no-one has yet been prosecuted. Some of the other key architects of this policy of annihilation, men like Mohamed Saeed Morgan, Mohamed Hashi Gaani and countless other collaborators, continue to wreak havoc in Somalia. Others, including Mohamed Ali Samater, live in comfortable exile in the United States and elsewhere in the world. And then others are right here in Somaliland. And they include President Dahir Rayaale, who was head of the feared and powerful secret service, the National Security Service (NSS) in Berbera. President Rayaale is named in A Government at War With Its Own People. The town of Berbera saw some of the worst atrocities of the war, even though the SNM never entered Berbera in 1988. Elders and businessmen were immediately arrested en masse after the SNM attack on Hargeisa and Burao; between 27 May and 1 June, they were transferred to Mogadishu. The killings, which were exceptionally brutal in Berbera, began shortly afterwards. Many of the victims had their throats slit and were then shot. A series of massacres which have been mentioned again and again took place, mainly in June, in Buraosheikh, close to Berbera, when about 500 men were killed in groups of between 30-40. Some of the victims were from Burao, Hargeisa and surrounding villages who had come as temporary labourers to the port of Berbera. Others were asylum seekers who had been returned from Saudia Arabia. The names of some of these men are listed in the book. As head of the NSS in Berbera, Dahir Rayaale bears a heavy and direct responsibility for their fate. Witnesses who are alive also recall Rayaale’s contribution to the war against civilians. One of the people I interviewed in Djibouti in August 1989 and who is cited in the book is Abdifatah Abdillahi Jirreh. He was only 14 at the time, but he remembered Dahir Rayaale. One day in mid-August [1988], Dahir Rayaale, head of the NSS, came to our ice plant and took my father away. They also arrested one of the watchmen, an old man, Farah Badeh Gheedi. They were detained in the police station, accused of talking about the prospects of the SNM coming to Berbera. Rayaale is not the only man who has held a senior political position in Somaliland whose conduct of human rights has been questioned. Many former members of the NSS and the HANGASH, the military police that came to exert formidable power over civilians, today occupy key positions in Somaliland in the NSS, re-established in 1995, and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). The people they tortured, interrogated and spied on, and the people whose loved ones they killed, will, one day, no doubt give their own account [8]

An important note is that Puntland's growing insecurity initially started with Ade's first adventure in Majihan- a mining area controled by the Makhir clan. It led to a two week long war and neither side was able to push the other until Range resources stopped and withdrew its exploration deal . The Makhiris also threatened to file a criminal lawsuit against the company and seek compensation for their members' blood. Farole and his propoganda machine picked the picture to his own advantage, that is why you read many times from Garowe editorials and news articles, the Majihan conflict. A five months later, Jibriil Ali Salad, another self-serving politician from Sanaag region but very unpopular among the Warsangeli arrived in Badhan and declared an autonomous state. He had gotten a large support from the Diaspora but he wasn't able to win political endorsement from the powerful traditional authority like the main Sultan and his Garaads. The reason is that he was suspected of working with "Somaliland, " but definately had he wielded the amount of respect, mass appeal, and reputation of Gen. Ilka-jir , Maakhir state would be real today. Farole's sub- clan militia was mostly active in destabilizing Garowe- their traditional stronghold. After getting sacked for corruption charges. He sent his militia to the parliament and the ensuing conflict led to the deaths of 6 security personnel. Till then, he kept his ferocious attack on the state. It's this political background that the old guards of Puntland and power brokers, particularly Abdillahi Yusuf, finally decided to hand over the presidency to him just to pacify the capital. Puntland parliament once considered the idea of moving the parliament to Bosaso- a city that is more diverse and vibrant with its economic activities. However that idea was put to rest with the selection of Farole. I see that we seem to be missing this basic strong form of information which I candidly listed to you partly so that they might serve as the yardstick with which you measure future events of Puntland. As objective as your analysis be, without realising the clannish nature of Puntland's power rotation, our prediction and understanding of the dynamics of this state would turn to hold lesser and lesser weight.

I don't think the cabinet will work, to put it in charitable terms. It might even further Isolate Puntland. And there are as of now closed inter-communal meetings as to whether the people of Sanaag and western Bari should still be wedded to Puntland or go on their seperate way, returning to the status of Pre-Puntland era. Farole is just following the same footsteps of Ade Muse but this time he is intent on adopting a different approach seeking the support of reer Sool and use that against reer Makhir. How will that strategy work to his own political advantage is hard to determine as of now. However understand that relations between the sub-clans which formed this state have already begun to worsen. Farole appointed one from his sub-clan to the Finance minister, according to several sites. Quite amusing development!

HornAfrique, I believe it's almost impossible to verify the evidence that he was spying on Ethiopians and Hiiraale's recent military showdown in Gede region. But for the most part, his killing was a politically motivated one since it coincides with Hiirale's activities in Gedo. They even have a non-believers cemetary for Somalis? That is truly worrying aspect of Somalia's multi-dimensional conflict. ----- Friday, January 16, 2009 MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Hardline Somali Islamist insurgents said on Friday they executed a politician accused of being a "spy" for Ethiopian troops and militia opposed to them. The shooting of Abdirahman Ahmed, 55, in the southern port of Kismayu was the highest-profile such execution by the al Shabaab (Youth) group since a young woman was stoned to death late last year after being accused of adultery. Al Shabaab, which is on a U.S. list of terrorism groups, took Kismayu in August 2008 during its now two-year war against the Somali government and its Ethiopian military backers. It controls large swathes of south-central Somalia. A local spokesman for al Shabaab, Sheikh Hassan Yacqub, said Ahmed had been warned several times to break ties with the Ethiopians and local militias who previously controlled Kismayu. "He was in our jail for eight days and then we took him before the court, and finally we executed him according to Islamic sharia law," he told Reuters. "Anybody who spies for the non-believers will definitely face the death sentence." A statement on www.kataaib.net, one of several sites used by the militants, said Ahmed, was shot after he confessed to being "Allah's enemy" and a court found him guilty of trying to mastermind the re-capture of Kismayu. Local residents said he had been buried in a place called the "non-believers' cemetery." Also on Friday, foreign and Somali media watchdogs said kidnappers had released a local journalist, Abdifatah Mohamed Elmi, who was kidnapped in August last year in Mogadishu. Two foreign journalists taken with him, a Canadian and an Australian, are still missing. Source: Reuters, Jan 16, 2009

^Xidigo, with a stable Mogadishu and a functioning government, I can't wait to see Awdalites declaring their open support for the return of Somali Republic.

Where we share similar traits with the rest of Africa, more mutual benefits could be obtained had African leaders understood the sanctity and dignity of the human person, had we instituted open market and trade amongst ourselves, built social and economic infrastructure. We are however deprived of our inalienable rights through the imposition of former rebel leaders as legitimate leaders. While dictators consolidate power by letting offshore foreign bank accounts overflow with their people's GOD given resources and buy more weapons than necessary, the irony is that their assumed friends and allies are busy crafting methods of explotation. They see a starving society(you can feed a starving child in Africa is a business pitch nowadays), untapped resources, and a regime vulnerable for bribery and the fiscal control of their reserves--great partners in the business of social misery and exploitation. On the domestic problems, I think if we can educate our people to forgive and forget the past, one day we might be free both mentally and physically and start marching on the footsteps of the Somali Youth League. It takes vision and constant check on the greed of our leaders through the creation of strict commercial, civil and criminal laws enforced by an independent and powerful Islamic judiciary. Tribalism is our primary concern so every head of state we elect should tread on the side of caution and not let grievances fall into deaf ears for you never know when it will come to haunt you and your beloved country. I am sure as we all see, the only advantage the so called developed countries have over the unfree world is having a stable environment and a transperant administration.(How difficult that would be with the absence of a strong military establishment) If I am a doctor or scientist or author, I would go to where I feel safe from harm on my family and where property rights is given the ultimate protection as our religion obligates the Ummah. Let's build enduring peace, form common wealth with our neighboring countries,(they are our made enemies, not eternal one as the Devil) and adopt a consocietal democracy or decentralization of power, then the perpetual peace that the Philosopher Kant so aptly discussed shall descend upon us with a little adjustment to the dynamics of the world.

Arbitrary sentence as usual in order to demoralize your rivals or advance own power interest! But the Kismayo adminstration is reported to have done much better despite the strict application of the Shariah in a country like ours still in the midst of major polical turmoil and daily voilence. Lessening drastically the black gem business and encouraging school enrollment make the list of the good news coming out of Kismau.

^is your alias signify any objections through Speaker Sir? Shouldn't the inhabitants of Sool and Sanaag and Buhodle extricate their lands from designations like "disputed regions" "border disputes" "clan borders" however repulsive they may sound to read or hear when any self-made politician employ them to distort reality on the ground or render the significance of the inhabitants from these regions trivial. How long the bickering and the bravado persist in an effort to mislead a non-Somali audience? Crazy times we live!

Don't be tricked by the fancy titles, "coast guards" that are merely hired security personnel whose prime establishment is the protection of foreign owned commercial fishing vessels. How many fishing licenses has Riyale issued to illegal fishing vessels? Well do some background investigation on this subject. From Harardhere to Berbera, local leaders in charge of their political domain are engaged in the same business verily--selling the national resources to the highest bidder and even guaranteeing their protection from onshore threats.

Originally posted by Laba_Xiniinyood: The amount of people expressing their unreserved abhorrence for Al-Shabaab has become transparent here over the time they’ve began their pursuit. These people, often in the comfort of their western homes, come up with all sorts of explanations to justify their innate weakness. A disease is in their hearts – a disease that gnaws at their insides as each day passes by and though they are not oblivious to the truth, they simply turn a blind eye to the state of affairs Al-Shabaab have no scholars, they proclaim, they are just a bunch of kids armed with guns and a false understanding of the basic tenets of Islam. They have disregard the very fact that majority of the Somali scholars have indeed affirmed in their outright statements the declaration of Jihad to repel the occupying forces. Other loosely salivate their tongues with the cries of FITNA, FITNA! proclaiming that the so-called Jihad is nothing but spreading Fitna and bringing about the destruction of a large population of blameless folks. After first enlightening themselves about the meaning of Fitna and what it entails, is it not worth contemplating for a second about the possible consequences of an Ethiopian presence in Somalia? Or are they disregarding the fact that in their places of stronghold, such as Baydhabo, even offering Morning Prayer or growing a beard is considered a sign of extremism which could lead to being shot? Fitna would come about as a result of giving the Ethiopian and their stooges a carte Blanche to wreak havoc throughout Somalia – not the dispelling of them. And in this we say that Al fitnatu ashaddu min-al-qatl (Fitna is far greater than the killing) . Others, with a very weak Imaan, draw attention to the supposed ineffectiveness of the Al-Shabaab and to the futility of their actions. Al-Shabaab, they state, cannot achieve anything tangible at their current state. The Ethiopians are mightier in both man and machine, they say, and the hopeless retaliation of Al-Shabaab would simply exacerbate the death toll of the innocent civilians. Little do they know that Al-Nasr is from Allah! Others, in their benighted minds, are happy to see Al-Shabaab put their arms down and assemble at a table for reconciliation talks, fully knowing that such infertile calls for reconciliation are but saab aan biyaha celin . They entertain themselves on the false pretence that the Ethiopians, who are in Somalia simply because of the schisms between the warring tribes, will merrily be singing farewell after this moment and all will be rosy! How blithely they take the situation to be! Then we have those whose slogan is ‘As long as it’s not in my backyard’ and laze about nonchalantly in the comfort of their houses unmoved by Ethiopia’s blatant indiscriminate killings of Somalis. Particular culprits of this notion are the Northerners – unaware they are that Ethiopia is looking to advance upwards to molest them once it’s done raping the South. Islam protects five things – 1. Religion 2. life 3. honour 4. wealth 5. intellect Each is dispensable according to the needs of the other – with a top priority of protecting religion at all cost. So if you cannot and don’t have the heart to protect your religion, your land and your people from the invaders, you either be quiet and quit slandering those who are in the killing fields, or have the courtesy and humility to support them in your heart - for they are doing what you, 'o coward, can't do! LX, what do you think of the new landscape. Al-shabaab are now facing an avalanche of ridicule and criticism from all corners even in their once comfort news portals.