Originally posted by me: @Castro - That’s what I was talking about, so come out and tell us, where do you stand on Somali politics, other then that you are luke warm to secessionism and that your hate for AY/Stooges. Where would you like it to go? Why I ask you these silly questions? Well since you told me I am wrong about your support for the secessionists I need to put you in a new box and label it friend or foe. You'll waste your youth trying to put people in neat little boxes for your convenience. No one person fits in any one box. People have different backgrounds, beliefs, passions and ideologies. And these ideologies mature or fade away with time. If you really want to know where I stand and the evolution of my thoughts, even within the past few years, I've left an archive of a 4000+ posts on SOL. If you need more, we can meet for coffee one day.

Originally posted by me: Castro I don't need to look further then your support for the secessionists to see double standards. Secession is not a disease that some are afflicted with but a political ideology whose adherents are, rightly or wrongly, passionate about. They understand, I hope, that choosing to secede could cause others, even within their back yards, to ask for the same. I'm many things saaxib, but a secessionist is not one of them. Any secessionist worth the title could have told you that. So, now that we got that out of the way, what were we talking about?

^^^ Saaxib this was a theory of how the recent conflict was engineered and executed. It was not about who has a plan and who doesn't. Also, don't you think it's a little too convenient and entirely unfair to accuse someone of not having a plan when their perfectly working plan was destroyed under aircraft and tank shelling? And I'm not sure how you can sit there and call these buffoons "men with a plan" when they've clearly been hand picked and shoved down the throats of all Somalis by the very people who're bombing them into heaven.

Originally posted by me: What I am saying is, all you guys ahve double standards, so its amusing to see the likes of you, xoogsade and northerner in action. Since you're hell bent on throwing accusations around, and you've conveniently dodged my first request, won't you lay out a case for my "double standards"?

Don't blow a gasket, me. When Caydiid and his likes were doing "similar" things I called them out elsewhere. Without resorting to personal accusations atheer, can you articulate what makes Puntland unique compared to the other Ethiopia dominated regions in the homeland? The fact that you may be from there doesn't count towards its uniqueness.

Puntland is sacred. It is neither a secessionist entity nor the anarchy-loving south. Puntland can do no wrong. Cadde Muse is the second coming. What a load of rubbish. The leadership of the 'semi-autonomous' state of Puntland is anything but autonomous and almost entirely subservient. Why is a spade not being called a spade here?

^^^ But yeey is the uniter not the divider. lol. What will be left to govern when the city is completely destroyed and the population either displaced or killed?

By Mohamoud Ali Gaildon Monday, April 23, 2007 Dear Sir: Please accept my sincere apology for using your nickname in the title of this missive to you. Tradition dictates that I, a man many years your junior, address you in a manner that befits your grand stature among Somalis of all clans and your seniority in age to me. That you can relate to how I feel and, thus, commiserate with me in my discomfiture at having to use your nickname I am sure. I was born and bred in Aden, the town that presented you to the Somali nation; and I spent most of my schooling in Erigavo, Dayaha and Sheikh, a region that you hail from. It is, therefore, in the grand spirit of the manners fed to both of us since childhood that I apologize to you. You have never heard of me; but you may have seen me, a tiny figure among many, in Dayaha boarding school, many years ago. You spoke to us as we sat cross-legged on the dirt under an umbrella-shaped tree at the center of the School’s garden. Such size and shade of an acacia tree I have never seen! Like so much of Sanag region, the tree was legendary. The Sayyid himself used to tether his horse to this majestic tree, we heard. (Unbeknownst to you, you may have actually stood on the very spot where more than half a century earlier the Sayyid may have delivered one of his epic poems.) Now, however, and for this one day, you were our Sayyid. With a smooth and deft blend of vigor and tenderness, you spoke. Motivational themes of advice and guidance spouted forth and held captive serious and eager kids many a mile from kith and kin. Dayaha, I should emphasize, was a desolate valley surrounded by hills. If not for the brook and the books and each other, the students would have felt in a prison of sorts. Unlike today’s boys with guns, we fell in love with the books. And for some of us, that romantic affair continues to this day unabated. It could have never been otherwise, could it, with the likes of Hurre, Dalab, Dhegaweyne, Abdi Hussein Mattan, and Ismail Dualeh Qambi as educators. Such were the days when Somali boys from the countryside and the remotest villages could hope and dream. Such were the halcyon days of yore! Dayaha, however, has fallen on hard times, as has Somalia as a whole. Gone are the days when a Somali child could laugh and play in peace or hold a book and have a dream. Gone are the days when we could think of ourselves as a nation and not as clans. Gone are the days when an Ethiopian boot on our sacred soil was a national shame. And so have the days when a leading Somali of the highest educational and professional standing could travel to an out-of-the-way boarding school and, like an enlightened parent, gather young, promising boys around himself and inspire them and challenge them and point the way to a bright future—a future that to most, it pains me to say, never arrived. I have got carried away; for these are times not to daydream but rather to rise to the challenge and face the dreadful reality before us. Sir, the former North East Region of Somalia (now, Togdheer, Sanag, and Sol), an area we both hail from, is in grave peril of being swept by currents well beyond the control of its people. Careworn locals stand at risk of being dragged one way or another and the peace and security they have enjoyed for over a decade and a half are about to slip away. What do you think your role should be? Is it a time to grandstand and follow the frenzied mob, or a time to be the voice of reason and save the people from the looming inferno? You will agree with me that your dutiful pupil, albeit for one day, is entitled to ask questions, which I hope you will take as questions deferred from that shining moment of years ago. As my former teachers will tell you, never did I let a question slip away. With you, however, my inquisitive mind chose to relax and relish the moment. References to Ibn Khaldoun and Sheikh Zubeir, obscure to me at the time, I put away in the back of my head for retrieval at a later date. That later date has now arrived. The drums of war sound ominously as dark clouds gather over Sanag. It is spring. The earth is soft and verdant. The scent of blossom wafts over the air, and the twitter of the birds mingle with the piercing chirps of various insects coming back to life in the rainy season. It is time for milk and honey, time to sing and dance, time to wed and mate, throughout good old Sanag, the mythical mother of the Somali nation. It is the sacred land of proud Sanag with its tradition in the east, vibrant energy in the center, pluck and grit in the west, coming together in harmony and a prefect blend. And the clock ticks away to mark the hour when the guns begin to roar. And yet, and yet, it need not be, if we could only use our minds right. The origin of the conflict is not whether Sol and Eastern Sanag belong to Puntland or Somaliland but rather Somaliland’s irrational policy to separate all of the former North from the former South. Somaliland’s attempt to secure the “border,” inherently a vicious act of violence, is a threat to peace for many people of different clans and different regions; for to reach the “border,” Somaliland forces will have to stomp over a local populace determined to remain part of Somalia. On Somaliland, therefore, lies the burden of choice: Respect the will of the people of Sol and Eastern Sanag, who pose no threat to anyone, or start a war that can benefit no one. Should, God forbid, the choice be war, how many more lives of every age and from all clans, East and West, will go in flames? It is not for me to give advice to Somaliland’s leaders, as I am one who adamantly holds onto Somali unity. Yet, places like Eil Afwein, Erigavo, Dayaha, Burao, Sheikh, Berbera, Hargeisa, Borama, Amoud, and the many wonderful people I have known over the years since childhood beckon to me. Nostalgia overwhelms me. So, let me say it is my earnest hope that Somaliland will not throw caution to the wind. This is a venture fraught with tremendous risks, both militarily and politically. Will and valor, always in high supply to the sons and daughters of Somaliland, cannot the place of wisdom take. Raw emotion dulls the mind. Single-mindedness can so easily lead to simple-mindedness. Miscalculation is a recipe for disaster. Why am I writing to you? I really do not know. Is it the frustration of a middle-aged man, unwilling to let youth slip away? Is it the babble of a lunatic? Or the musings of the roving, restless mind that has been my affliction since childhood? Perhaps, perhaps not. At any rate, let me say to you THANK YOU for the moment you granted me and many others so long ago—a moment that for me continues to shine through the fog of time. Respectfully Yours, Mohamoud Ali Gaildon E-mail: mgaildon@aol.com

Are these not the same people who reported on the guy who committed "suicide" by shooting himself five (5) times in the head?

^^^^ Who are these "terrorists"? No clue? Look below.

This covertly racist rant is ripe for dissection and demolition. Xiin, care for a rebuttal?

What is wrong with this argument, if anything? By Omar Mohamed Alihashi Monday, April 23, 2007 Our country has been without a government for 17 years and every attempt to create one has ended in failure. Today the Somali people for the first time in many years have an opportunity of seeing the return of a functioning government that has the support of the international community. The attention of the world is focused on our country again, our people are tired of the sad state that we are in and the political leaders in the country now accept the need for a solution. Simply put, all the right circumstances are in place or as one might say the stars are aligned for peace in Somalia. Realizing this, why should we allow for some people to squander this opportunity for us again? Is it fair for a nation of 10 million people to be held hostage by a handful of thugs driven by selfish interests? The reality is that those who oppose the Transitional Federal Government have no alternative to offer. They are quite content to see Somalia in the same state of chaos and anarchy that it has been in for the last 17 years. Yes, they may try to present themselves as the saviors of Somalia but in reality they are the destroyers of our nation. Under various disguises and multiple aliases they oppose the return of normality and sense of order to our country. They want to keep us in a state of nature where those who are strong get their way at the expense of those who are weak. These folks who claim to be a religious movement one day, a nationalist movement the other or tribal militias when their back is against the wall are only interested in one thing: To keep Somalia in the same state of hopelessness for as long as possible. They fight because in a state of hopelessness they are happy, in the anarchy they are strong and in the poverty of the masses they have plenty. The truth is they have nothing in common with the majority of peace loving Somalis who can not wait to see the return of a stable government. They have denied our nation peace, violated the dignity and honour of our people and turned our country into a safe haven for international outlaws. After all this, they have the nerve to present themselves as the saviors of Somalia. Do they really believe that we are fooled by their trickery and deception? “The Ethiopian Invasion” They claim that they are against the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) because it is a puppet of Ethiopia. It is no secret that the TFG is closely aligned with Ethiopia and receives a great deal of support from Addis Ababa. However, Ethiopia did not invade Somalia; instead it came in at the request of the TFG. As the sole legitimate authority of the country the TFG has the right to exercise a foreign and security policy that it sees fit. It decides the countries that Somalia will have relations with and those that it will not. One does not have to agree with every decision that a government makes and no one should certainly attempt to overthrow the legitimate authority in a country because one disagrees with its policies. However, these things are difficult to understand for people who reject the whole concept of a government let alone its policies. The reality is that the Ethiopian argument is a cover for their real motive which is to oppose the return of a government that will establish the rule of law and end the anarchy that currently exists. If it is Ethiopia they oppose then why was the Transitional National Government reduced to being locked down in one of the local hotels in Mogadishu? Would they argue that Abdiqasim Salad Hassan and Ali Khalif Galaydh were puppets of Ethiopia? The truth is that there is no difference between the TNG, TFG and any other government in their eyes because any established authority would make these gangsters illegitimate. These are people who have greatly benefited from the chaos of the last 17 years by establishing themselves at the top of an anarchic society and they will oppose anything that threatens their status. They have no remorse in sacrificing the lives of innocent people in order to continue their strangulation of our country. Ever hear some of the demands being made by these folks? It is simply pathetic. Moreover, if they oppose foreign troops then why do they continue to create a situation that makes it necessary for the country to need outside intervention? Why did they not volunteer to become the troops that their government needs? Why did they not disarm and welcome the TFG? Instead they twice attempted to assassinate the Prime Minister and sent suicide bombers to Baidoa in an attempt to eliminate the President just to show their opposition to the legitimate authority of the country. They also began assassinating anyone who wanted to see the return of a government and the rule of law. These folks have to realize that the Somali nation will not be a hostage to them any longer. They should understand that Somalia is determined to move forward from this sad period in its history. Working against the wave of hope that is spreading across our country is irrational. Furthermore, arguing that we need to “liberate” our country from Ethiopia misses the fact that our nation first needs to be freed from the forces of darkness that have held it hostage for 17 years. Ever wonder why the nationalist fervor is limited to a few neighborhoods in Mogadishu but not throughout the rest of the country? How interesting! Advice to the anti-government forces Your cause is unjust no matter how much religious/nationalist rhetoric you use to portray otherwise. Moreover, you do not have the support of the international community which fully supports the TFG. Despite the cries of invasion and massacre, no country has stepped forward to seriously challenge the TFG and its allies. On the contrary, a United Nations resolution (Resolution 1744) authorized African Union intervention in Somalia. Eritrea, a state sponsor of terrorism is the only country which supports your cause and only because it sees you as a tool in its wider war against Ethiopia. Most of all however, you do not have the support of the Somali people. You do not even have the support of the majority of the neighborhoods in Mogadishu yet you claim to be a mass movement which speaks for all the Somali people. You are not waging an insurgency with grassroots support despite all the comical comparisons to Vietnam and Iraq that you and your supporters make. An insurgency with no mass internal support and a formidable external backer is not much of an insurgency but rather a hopeless struggle. Therefore, I would advise you to stop sending young Somali boys on suicide missions against well armed and well trained troops. Most of your strength was destroyed when this conflict began which makes one wonder what you can achieve now with your hopeless and desperate tactics which only results in the suffering of innocent civilians. It is clear that you have no military option to back your flawed political objectives. Moreover, you have to realize that Ethiopia is not going to cut and run like the US as it is not a Western democracy where its leader has to worry about public opinion affecting the next election like an American President. Burning corpses and dragging dead soldiers on streets only gives ammunition to the government and its allies while exposing you as savages. Furthermore, the international community has fully committed itself to seeing the return of a functioning government to Somalia no matter how hard you try to prevent it. Most significantly however, the Somali people are now seeing you as nothing more than an obstacle to the peace that our country longs for. The question is how long will it take for you to realize the truth and accept these undeniable facts? What is the Alternative? People should ask themselves what would become of our country if we were to lose this chance. Is there really a viable alternative to the Transitional Federal Government? Our country has lost many historic opportunities before and I believe we should not repeat those mistakes again. The TFG is the only and all inclusive option which represents all Somalis, a characteristic no other movement can claim. It is also the only authority that can obtain the support of the international community that our country desperately needs. It is time to stop sticking our heads in the sand and blindly opposing something without understanding the consequences. Our nation is waiting to wake up from this terrible nightmare that has been haunting us for far too long. After 13 or 14 peace conferences, a major UN intervention and a couple of previous governments when is enough really enough? The folks who are opposing the Transitional Federal Government are not motivated by principles or patriotism. They are only interested in continuing the bililiqo, piracy, poverty and backwardness that has become the norm in our country. The reality is if we squander this chance it will be at our peril. It would also be a shame if we let these selfish thugs cost us this historic opportunity. Hiiraan.Com

Eritrea accused over Somalia fighting April 24, 2007 08:10am Article from: Agence France-Presse THE United States accused Eritrea today of providing funding, arms and training to insurgents battling Somali forces and allied Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu. The State Department's top Africa official, Assistant Secretary of State Jendaye Frazer, also called for renewed ceasefire talks to end the deadliest fighting that Somalia has seen in years. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due to discuss the situation today with her visiting Ethiopian counterpart, Seyoum Mesfin, officials said. The fighting in Mogadishu pits heavily armed Ethiopian troops allied to the country's UN-recognised interim government against an Islamist militia known as al-Shabab and other insurgents supported by the city's dominant ****** clan. Ethiopia intervened in Somalia, with tacit US support, in December to help oust an Islamist movement which had seized control of much of the country from the transitional federal government. Since then, Ethiopian forces and the insurgents in Mogadishu have battled with tanks, mortars and other heavy weapons in fighting that has claimed more than a thousand lives, more than 250 of them in the past week, and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. Ms Frazer, who visited Somalia early this month, singled out Eritrea today for helping fuel the fighting in order to weaken Ethiopia, its regional arch rival. "Eritrea has not been playing a constructive role in Somalia because they continue to fund, arm, train and advise the insurgents, especially the al-Shabab militia," she said. Ms Frazer also said the Ethiopians were actively trying to negotiate a truce with the Hawiya clan, which has remained estranged from the interim government. "We know that Ethiopia is very quietly working very closely with especially the Hawiya clan and the transitional federal government to negotiate a long-term ceasefire," she said, without elaborating. "We're pushing for the ceasefire, and for those discussions to bear fruit so that they can end this violence," she said. Ms Frazer also called on the interim government to step up efforts to broaden its base to include more clans. "It's very clear that the key to solving the situation in Somalia and stabilising it is to have this inclusive dialogue," she said. "Trying to get the transitional federal government to reach out to the various clans and sub-clans is a large part of our diplomacy," she said. Ms Frazer went on to accuse the Islamist militia of trying to undermine reconciliation efforts by targeting Hawiya clan leaders willing to talk to the government. "They are actually trying to spoil this process of political dialogue and reconciliation," she said. The US also backs the planned deployment of some 8000 African Union peacekeepers to help stabilise Somalia. But so far only about 1500 Ugandan soldiers have arrived and their presence has made little difference. Herald Sun

Guess who has a bullseye on their back? US accuses Eritrea of fueling deadly fighting in Somalia The United States accused Eritrea Monday of providing funding, arms and training to insurgents battling Somali forces and allied Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu. The State Department's top Africa official, Assistant Secretary of State Jendaye Frazer, also called for renewed ceasefire talks to end the deadliest fighting that Somalia has seen in years. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due to discuss the situation Monday with her visiting Ethiopian counterpart, Seyoum Mesfin, officials said. The fighting in Mogadishu pits heavily armed Ethiopian troops allied to the country's UN-recognized interim government against an Islamist militia known as al-Shabab and other insurgents supported by the city's dominant ****** clan. Ethiopia intervened in Somalia, with tacit US support, in December to help oust an Islamist movement which had seized control of much of the country from the transitional federal government. Since then, Ethiopian forces and the insurgents in Mogadishu have battled with tanks, mortars and other heavy weapons in fighting that has claimed over 1,000 lives, more than 250 of them in the past week, and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. Frazer, who visited Somalia early this month, singled out Eritrea on Monday for helping fuel the fighting in order to weaken Ethiopia, its regional arch rival. "Eritrea has not been playing a constructive role in Somalia because they continue to fund, arm, train and advise the insurgents, especially the al-Shabab militia," she told reporters. Frazer also said the Ethiopians were actively trying to negotiate a truce with the Hawiya clan, which has remained estranged from the interim government. "We know that Ethiopia is very quietly working very closely with especially the Hawiya clan and the transitional federal government to negotiate a long-term ceasefire," she said, without elaborating. "We're pushing for the ceasefire, and for those discussions to bear fruit so that they can end this violence," she said. Frazer also called on the interim government to step up efforts to broaden its base to include more clans. "It's very clear that the key to solving the situation in Somalia and stabilizing it is to have this inclusive dialogue," she said. "Trying to get the transitional federal government to reach out to the various clans and sub-clans is a large part of our diplomacy," she said. Frazer went on to accuse the Islamist militia of trying to undermine reconciliation efforts by targeting Hawiya clan leaders willing to talk to the government. "They are actually trying to spoil this process of political dialogue and reconciliation," she said. The US also backs the planned deployment of some 8,000 African Union peacekeepers to help stabilize Somalia. But so far only about 1,500 Ugandan soldiers have arrived and their presence has made little difference. AFP

This is what PINR wrote on April 12 (before this latest round of fighting): Having engineered the conventional military defeat of the I.C.C., Addis Ababa and Washington now face a militant Islamist insurgency, an overt ****** opposition and an I.C.C. political wing backed by Eritrea. The T.F.G. remains weak and unpopular, the Europeans are becoming disenchanted with the T.F.G., Uganda is out on a limb, Kenya is out of action, potential contributors to AMISOM are lying back, and the regional and international players are divided on the definition of reconciliation and the advisability of an Ethiopian withdrawal. There are no honest brokers -- every actor is compromised -- and the domestic players will only pursue reconciliation on their respective terms. You can easily see the US is the only one capable of taking care of business since all the others players are, more or less, frozen with ineptitude. Kenya is the second worst neighbor any country could have. Uff!

Violet, don't despair. Pray that the invaders and their collaborators are ousted. Pray as well that Allah ease the suffering of those caught in between. And pray that this madness not spread to the peaceful regions. And finally, pray that this resistance will not turn out to be just another false promise of the kinds we've seen in the past 17 years.

Weeks? Months? I'd guess it will probably be sooner rather than later. Sending three little boys to do a man's job was a big mistake must be what the American's are thinking. Time to take matters in their own hands?

Seeing that things are not going so well for the TFG and its 'allies', and seeing also these increased baseless accusations of phantom terrorists in Muqdisho, when do you think the 800lb gorilla will take things in its own hands? Fighting Rages for Sixth Day in Somalia By SALAD DUHUL The Associated Press Monday, April 23, 2007; 11:23 AM MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Masked Islamic insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government forces pounded each other with machine-gun fire, mortars and heavy artillery in Somalia's wrecked capital Monday, bringing the death toll from six days of fighting to at least 250, a human rights group said. Somalia Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said his interim government was winning the battle against the insurgents, but called for greater support from the international community. "If we do not get international support the war may spread throughout the region and Africa," he told reporters. "These terrorists want to destabilize the whole region." The latest fighting flared after Ethiopian and Somali government troops made a final military push to try to wipe out an Islamic insurgency that had controlled much of southern Somalia until it was defeated in January, Western diplomatic and Somali government officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The government and its Ethiopian backers have been facing mounting pressure from the U.S., European Union and United Nations over the mounting civilian death toll and appear determined to bring order to the city before a planned national reconciliation conference in June, the Western and Somali officials said. Mogadishu's clan and warlord militias also have joined the fight against the Ethiopians and government forces, but they switch loyalties easily. Mogadishu's dominant ****** clan has been behind the cease-fire and ordered key insurgents out of the capital to try and broker peace. A bid earlier this month to wipe out the insurgency left more than 1,000 people dead, many of them civilians. More than 320,000 people have fled the fighting. The United Nations said the fighting had sparked the worst humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged country's recent history, with many of the city's residents trapped because the roads out of Mogadishu are blocked. At least 18 civilians were killed and 21 wounded in Monday's fighting, said Sudan Ali Ahmed, the chairman of the Elman Human Rights Organization group. He said 19 insurgents were killed and 31 wounded but had no figures for Ethiopian or government casualties. The new tallies bring the death toll in six days of fighting in Mogadishu to at least 250, with more than 291 wounded, according to the Elman Human Rights Organization group. Rotting bodies have remained strewn across the streets for days, witnesses said, because it is too dangerous to retrieve them. Halime Ibrahim, who fled from south of the city, said she had seen 11 bodies. "I even failed to recognize if they were men or women," she told The Associated Press. A Somali government official said Sunday that his government planned a major offensive against the insurgents soon and wanted residents of the capital to move from insurgent strongholds. "People in Mogadishu should vacate their homes that are located near the strongholds of terrorists and we will crack down on insurgents and terrorists very soon," said Deputy Defense Minister Salad Ali Jelle. In a separate development that could increase tension in the Horn of Africa, Eritrea suspended its membership in a regional body mediating the Somali conflict. Rivals Eritrea and Ethiopia have fought two wars over an unresolved border dispute and many experts say the Somalia conflict could become a proxy war between the two, with each backing different sides. U.S. officials have said that Eritrea is backing the months-old Islamic insurgency in Mogadishu, an accusation Eritrea has denied. Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, plunging the country into anarchy. The transitional government was formed in 2004 with U.N. help, but has struggled to extend its control over the country. Washington Post

Originally posted by NGONGE: Nice speculative work there, Bilaal. However, I can’t help thinking that your explanation seems to be a bit too perfect a story. Nothing about Somalia has been that perfect or straightforward. Nothing about POLITICS has ever been straightforward! You don't think Bilaal's is a plausible explanation? A "bit too perfect" is hardly a critique atheer. Won't you come out and say what you have in mind. If you don't think this is how it went down, tell us, please, how you think it went down.

Originally posted by Dhubad: Sarkaalkan ayaa amar diido xoog leh kala hor yimid Saraakiisha kale ee Tigreega, isagoona muran iyo dood dheer ka dib lasoo baxay Bastooladiisa ka dibna ilaa 5-xabadood uu Madaxa isaga dhuftay. Suicide with 5 bullets to one's own head? These fools must have never seen an episode of Law and Order. May be he shot himself once and the gun bounced on the floor and fired four more times into his head. LOL. What a joke. Let the "master strategist" Yeey come to Kismayo and sort this mess out. Ooops, I forget. He's getting his diaper changed in Addis Ababa.

The chickens are coming home to roost.

Originally posted by BiLaaL: Meanwhile, Meles Zenawi feels more trapped each passing day. His intention was to use the U.S. military to achieve his dream of installing a puppet regime in Somalia. Having installed his puppet regime, he unexpectedly found the going tough. He is now hoping to slip out the back door and leave a fragmented country. The Americans, however, are demanding every cent of their investment and forcing Meles to stay in Somalia, until Somalia is free of the invisible enemy called 'Al-Qaeda'. There's no slipping out of the back door. Meles stirred a hornets nest in Somalia and he will pay dearly for this. The Americans, who're in their own hornets nest in Iraq will cut him loose soon enough. Some of you may have been waiting to read about the role of Abdullahi Yusuf in this command structure. Sorry to disappoint but Yey has no place. How else would one explain the thousands of statements made by himself and Gedi warning of an imminent offensive, only to have the so-called offensive delayed for weeks by the real planners and controllers of this war. Bilaal, you're right on the money. The whole idea of being a stooge and a puppet is that you've no tangible influence in the state of affairs. A glorified rubber stamp. Some here would like us to believe this nincompoop, Yeey, who was caught on camera counting with his fingers when interviewed by the BBC, is the political 'genius' directing a US/Ethiopian invasion? He neither gives an order of any kind nor transmits or performs the order. Odd really. This man will end up bearing all the responsibility for a war he has no control over. Why hold him responsible, you ask? The simple answer: Because he illegally authorised the invasion of his own country and applauds as his own people are being massacred. You're absolutely right again. None of his crimes as a warlord compares to this colossal failure in judgment. For the small prize of living in Villa Somalia (at least for a few peaceful nights back in January), this b*stard has washed his hands in the blood of innocent Somali men, women and children. And for that, he may rot here and in hell. Geedi, the animal doctor, is the exact moral and intellectual replica of Yeey, the wild dog. The invaders really know how to pick them. It's the same in every country. Except their cynicism in the case of Somalia of pairing a veterinarian with a wild dog. Meles must have been laughing all the way to the bank to cash American checks if the thought ever crossed his mind.

Somali media station bombing 'no coincidence' By Andrew Cawthorne Nairobi - The co-owner of a major Somali media house shelled during weekend battles in Mogadishu said on Sunday the attack had the hallmarks of an attempt to muzzle journalists trying to cover the escalating war. The private broadcaster's compound was hit by seven shells on Saturday - apparently from Ethiopian troop positions near the presidential palace. Buildings were smashed, four staff suffered injuries and HornAfrik went off air, witnesses said. "Seven artillery hits is more than random," HornAfrik boss Ali Iman Sharmarke said, saying the TV and radio station was lodging a formal protest with Somalia's interim government. The government, backed by its Ethiopian military allies, is fighting to contain an insurgency by Islamic militants and some armed elements of the local ****** clan. At least 200 people have died this week in the latest spike in violence. "There is a possibility that the intention of the Ethiopians and the TFI (transitional government) was to deny our global audience a chance to know what is going on in Somalia," added Sharmarke, who left Mogadishu days ago to visit Nairobi. Somali and Ethiopian officials could not be immediately reached to answer the imputation. But they have repeatedly denied suppressing local media unless they break the law. Ties between the government of President Abdullahi Yusuf and the media have been strained since Somali-Ethiopian troops toppled Islamist leaders at the New Year. Several local outlets have been briefly shut, while Arab network Al Jazeera was recently told to stop operations. "There is a general harassment of the media by the government and the Ethiopians," Sharmarke said. "They cannot tolerate the fight for Somalis to have free information." Saturday's seven hits on HornAfrik damaged the cafeteria, a water supply, antennae and the parking lot, he added. Four staff were hurt, one - who also films for Reuters - so badly he was being evacuated by air to Kenya on Sunday. But the broadcaster would be back on the air by Monday, Sharmarke said, "if they don't bomb us again". The media boss rejected insinuations from some officials that HornAfrik, whose executives are from the ****** clan, was siding against the government, whose president is *****. "We cannot control the fact that we are ******, but we do control our journalistic content, and I challenge anyone to find one item of our output that does not conform to the highest standards and ethics," he said. "And remember the Islamists also closed us down in Kismayo (town) and accused of us being Christian and anti-Islam." Sharmarke said the recent fighting in Mogadishu was appalling even by the terrible standards of recent times. "In nine years here, I have not seen such a situation - indiscriminate shelling of the city, whether it hits mothers, children or mosques. It's just an open field," he said. "I do not think there will be a winner at the end of the day from this killing of the mothers and children of Somalis." Reuters

Phil Shiner April 23, 2007 7:00 AM Images of the battered, bloodied, bruised face of Baha Mousa, tortured to death while in detention with British troops under the Iraq occupation, should have shocked the nation when they appeared last week. Instead, most media outlets chose to ignore them. By comparison, when Canadian troops meted out similar treatment to a prisoner in Somalia in the 1990s, the result was a five-year public inquiry and spring-clean of the military justice system. What is going on? To answer that question is to dig into what was described as a cover-up by the judge advocate at the conclusion of the court martial into the incident. What follows arises from publicly available material, most of it in the House of Lords case, which finishes tomorrow, into whether the Human Rights Act applied to protect Mousa and others. There are four clusters of issues we have to face. First, the incident led to more than just a single death. Photographs and medical evidence show our troops nearly killed another civilian, and badly injured five others. The judge found that a group of soldiers had engaged in systematic torture and humiliation, but none had been charged because of an "obvious closing of ranks". Who were the torturers? Second, the torture included the use of four techniques banned by the government in 1972: hooding, stressing and sleep and food deprivation. And it was not just one rogue battalion, 1st Queen's Lancashire Regiment (QLR), but others. Further, we are asked to believe that only a single battalion relied on senior brigade legal advice, which said it would not be breaching international humanitarian law to hood and stress civilian detainees. Is this credible? Third, the facility where Mousa and others were tortured was small. The soldiers' shouting and detainees' screaming were audible to anyone on the site. So, who are those in command who knew, or ought to have known, what was going on in the critical 36 hours before Mousa's death? Even more potentially damning to the chain of command responsibility, who knew, or ought to have known, of the complete breakdown in the system of training troops? There was a failure to train troops to observe the law and also, it seems, to teach them the basic principles to enable them to fulfil their role. The evidence on the training of tactical questioners is striking. They have an important balance to strike. They need to obtain evidence from detainees that may, for example, save the lives of our troops. And they must do so without using torture or ill-treatment. This is about prisoner handling. The evidence shows the tactical questioners in the Mousa incident had precisely 1.25 hours training on this. Further, those responsible did not ensure that rules of engagement appropriate to an occupation, not a war, were promulgated to reflect the change for 10 weeks. There is a risk that during this period our troops were following the wrong rules. The final cluster of issues is where it starts to get really ugly. What are we supposed to make of material that shows it was standard to refer to Iraqis as "Ali Babas"? Or of military operations that had similar racist connotations from an earlier era? Or material that indicates a remorseless disregard of Iraqis' human rights, which dehumanised them in the eyes of the troops who were supposed to protect them? When our troops were supposed to be exercising policing functions, we appear to have shot first and asked questions later. Uncomfortable questions about our complicity in war crimes with the US also lurk beneath the surface. The evidence from prosecution witnesses in the court martial shows that the US was putting pressure on us to adopt its interrogation techniques. Consider that the facility involved in the Mousa incident was in the middle of an urban area and the abuse occurred in broad daylight. By comparison, our theatre internment facility, Camp Bucca in southern Iraq, was in the middle of nowhere. But the government claims the US ran Camp Bucca. The evidence in the court martial is clear. We had two compounds for UK detainees, they had six. We had jurisdiction over UK detainees who were subject to questioning by our tactical questioners. So why the blatant denial of responsibility where it is obvious the UK did have jurisdiction? The MoD admitted in 2004 that six other Iraqis had died while in detention with British troops, and we know all British detainees were taken to Camp Bucca until Christmas 2003. We also know that US forces killed Iraqis during "riots" at the facility and that three US soldiers were discharged in 2004 after being found guilty of abusing prisoners. If Mousa died in our custody where he did, what was happening in the British section of Camp Bucca? Most of this iceberg of disgrace will remain hidden unless there is an independent and public inquiry. What is our government's response to Mousa's death and its implications? Sadly, it knows no shame. Despite the shocking facts and images, it argues in the Lords that the Human Rights Act does not apply outside the territory of the UK. If it succeeds in this argument, we can all give up hope of there being any proper domestic accountability for any human rights abuses by UK personnel outside the country. I can almost hear the howl of anguish from Baha Mousa's grave. Guardian

First there are the dead and the injured then there are the disappeared. We will probably never know how many people will be 'lost' in the Kenyan-Ethiopian "legal" system outsourced and financed by the western world's war of terror. And you have clowns claiming to be Somalis who call others terrorists and dowlad-diid. Any government that has the likes of Yeey in it, I would reject for as long as I live.