^It doesn't matter whether SSC was planning for war or not (though I will grant you that is my opinion too) the fact is occupation of a degaan is appropriate cause for war. And Somaliland clearly is in the wrong here. That is that point. I can't believe you're arguing about the semantics of land grabbing. Somalia sees the Somali people in Ethiopia as its people and the land as its land. If tomorrow they engaged in a conflict ala Somaliland and tried to occupy the place - Ethiopia and the whole world would see it as land grabbing. And rightly so. Come on! You can't win people over by invading them - The US tried that in Iraq remember? Riyaale was a more astute politician than Silanyo. He expanded his influence and territory through buying off pliant underlings. While I think that strategy is doomed to failure in the longterm I recognize its success in the short term as in the example of Las Anod. I keep telling you guys that SSC is not interested in you for your own benefit. Invest in your territory instead of wasting resources geeing up for war.

^Exactly. All the headlines are 'Pirates Killed Captives' - the only part missing is - after US forces launched a rescue attempt.

Interesting place. Millions to buy land and build but the rents are a couple of hundred dollars.

Cantrabaqash.com from Ngonge. 1- Clans have degaans - everyone knows where the boundaries are ; even with degaans known - some people may trespass - this happens in Somalia - it is resolved thru the elders - withdrawal, compensation yada yada yada 2- Kalshaale and the other places being fought over are SSC degaans - even with the signed agreement Somaliland forces did not pull out of these places - this precipatated the current fighting 3- When the Somaliland army - and we know as you aptly put it the clan elements thereof - decides to 'close' a colonial border unrecognized by the other clans that reside there - you are necessarily engaging in land grabbing. 4- I can't count the number of times you and others have been told the majority of the SSC folks want nothing to do with Somaliland and its secession agenda ; there seems to be a mental block there; who or what Xaabsade is supporting or says is as irrelevant as the people who came out in 'support' of Mubarak during Egypt's revolution 5- If the Somaliland govt chooses to act on the fantasy of real support in SSC then they will get the same rude awakening as the dictators of the middle east. Quote of the day(supposed) - anonymous woman in Burco - ama kalshaale aada ama kayshelliga qata

Good program. Thanks for sharing. I didn't understand the racism argument made by some of the commentators. South Asians are insular but I don't see how the opportunity for racism would arise. Sad if it does though.

LOL - This is too funny.

^If you don't care what some hooligans are doing in Egypt every 5 minutes - the door is thataway ---------> The protestors need to change their tactics - they should demonstrate at hosni's palace and the parliament and let ppl get on wiith their lives.

Excellent analysis. But this is definitely in the longer term time horizon.

CAIRO – Egyptian state television says President Hosni Mubarak will make an important speech shortly, at the end of a day when a quarter-million people turned in the largest protest yet to demand his ouster. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information.

^Enjoying in the sarcastic sense maybe. No se.

Theses protests have nothing to do with Washington's fake words about democracy or the Iraq invasion.

It ends with Egypt for now.

HM can't last much longer now - the country is shut down for a week now. How long will the military allow him to hold on. The Israel lobby is very afraid: A democratic Egypt or a state of hate? By Richard Cohen Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Things are about to go from bad to worse in the Middle East. An Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement is nowhere in sight. Lebanon just became a Hezbollah state, which is to say that Iran has become an even more important regional power, and Egypt, once stable if tenuously so, has been pitched into chaos. This is the most dire prospect of them all. The dream of a democratic Egypt is sure to produce a nightmare. Egypt's problems are immense. It has a population it cannot support, a standard of living that is stagnant and a self-image as leader of the (Sunni) Arab world that does not, really, correspond to reality. It also lacks the civic and political institutions that are necessary for democracy. The next Egyptian government - or the one after - might well be composed of Islamists. In that case, the peace with Israel will be abrogated and the mob currently in the streets will roar its approval. My take on all this is relentlessly gloomy. I care about Israel. I care about Egypt, too, but its survival is hardly at stake. I care about democratic values, but they are worse than useless in societies that have no tradition of tolerance or respect for minority rights. What we want for Egypt is what we have ourselves. This, though, is an identity crisis. We are not them. It's impossible now to get a fix on what is happening in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood seems to be lying low. Is this a reflection of weakness or canniness? The Brotherhood remains the only well-organized institution in Egypt other than the military. It has been underground for generations - jailed, tortured, infiltrated, but still, somehow, flourishing. Its moment may be approaching. Under a different name (Hamas), the Muslim Brotherhood runs the Gaza Strip. Hamas's charter states unequivocally that it wants to eradicate Israel. It mentions the 1978 Camp David accords, and not with admiration. ("Egypt was, to a great extent, removed from the circle of the struggle through the treacherous Camp David Agreement.") No doubt that in an Egyptian election, the call to repudiate the treaty will prove popular - as popular as the peace with Israel has not been. The Muslim Brotherhood's most influential thinker was the Egyptian Sayyid Qutb. He was hanged in 1966, but not before he had managed to turn out a vast amount of writings. He showed almost superhuman courage and was, in many respects, a formidable man. But he was also a racist, a bigot, a misogynist, an anti-Semite and a fervent hater of most things American. As if to prove that familiarity breeds contempt, he had spent about two years in the United States. The Egyptian crisis has produced the usual blather about the role of America. The United States remains powerful and important, but it has already lost control of events - not that it ever really had it. Moreover, it hardly matters what Washington now says. The Islamists of the Brotherhood do not despise America for what it does but for what it is. Read Qutb's purplish alarm at the dress and appearance of American women. Read his racist remarks about blacks. The Islamic state Qutb envisioned would be racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Christian as well. It would treat women as the Taliban now does - if only because the Taliban, too, reveres Qutb. He rejected a clemency offer, saying his words would matter more if he was dead. He was right. Majority rule is a worthwhile idea. But so, too, are respect for minorities, freedom of religion, the equality of women and adherence to treaties, such as the one with Israel, the only democracy in the region. It's possible that the contemporary Islamists of Egypt think differently about these matters than did Qutb. If that's the case, then there is no cause for concern. But Hamas in the Gaza Strip, although recently moderating its message, suggests otherwise. So does Iran. Those Americans and others who cheer the mobs in the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities, who clamor for more robust anti-Mubarak statements from the Obama administration, would be wise to let Washington proceed slowly. Hosni Mubarak is history. He has stayed too long, been too recalcitrant - and, for good reason, let his fear of the future ossify the present. Egypt and the entire Middle East are on the verge of convulsing. America needs to be on the right side of human rights. But it also needs to be on the right side of history. This time, the two may not be the same. cohenr@washpost.com http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/31/AR2011013104014.html

- From Canada's Fox News Obama faces a Jimmy Carter moment in Egypt Read more: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/01/28/peter-goodspeed-obama-faces-a-jimmy-carter-moment-in-egypt/#ixzz1CMkPX9qi Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution is spreading with the same wildfire uncertainty as the tumult that deposed the Shah of Iran 32 years ago. Then, as now, the United States and the the West were caught almost totally by surprise as they witnessed a world they had confidently managed and manipulated suddenly transform itself before their eyes. The Arab world’s sudden, unprecedented, public demonstrations calling for authoritarian leaders to step down has the potential to produce fundamental change, as surely as the thronging thousands in Tehran changed the Middle East with their chants of “Death to America” and “Islam, Islam, Khomeini, We Will Follow You.” Today, as Egypt endures its third straight day of turmoil, it is easy to believe the crowds clashing with police believe they are eroding the foundations of Arab authoritarianism. Each demonstration, each round of tear gas, each fallen dissident and each Internet-fueled call for further rebellion is empowering and enlisting young people who demand change — even if they have no real idea where that may lead. Radical Islamists are well placed to take advantage of the confrontations and could easily hijack the Arab world’s fledgling pro-democracy movements. It is not outlandish to predict that if the trouble persists, we in the West could face a perfect storm of radical Islam twisting itself into worldwide revolution. There are realistic fears Tunisia’s trouble has already spread like a virus to Egypt and Yemen. Jordan, Algeria, Libya and even Saudi Arabia, whose 86-year-old King Abdullah is recuperating from surgery in Morocco, are all vulnerable to similar conflict. Lebanon is already facing a sharper, more intense and unpredictable conflict between its pro-Western alliance and the newly-installed Hezbollah-backed government. The longer the Arab world’s turmoil percolates, the greater the likelihood those demands for fundamental change in Islamic countries may sweep out of the region into such volatile places as Pakistan. Karachi, Pakistan’s financial capital, is already boiling with ethnic, religious and political unrest and the country is haunted by terrorism and an unrelenting religious fundamentalism. On Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama spoke out for the first time on the riots in Egypt, saying freedom of expression is essential and warning that violence is not the answer. Speaking to a “town hall” of YouTube viewers, Mr. Obama spoke of the United States long relationship with Egypt and his talks with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. “I’ve always said to him that making sure that they are moving forward on reform – political reform, economic reform – is absolutely critical to the long-term well-being of Egypt,” Mr. Obama said. “And you can see these pent-up frustrations that are being displayed on the streets.” For a faint moment, Mr. Obama sounded as uncertain as former U.S. President Jimmy Carter did when he tried to politely distance himself from the Shah. And the crowds in Egypt, as in Iran in the past, may pose as sharp a rebuke to the West’s past indifference as they do a challenge to our Arab world’s authoritarian allies. Read more: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/01/28/peter-goodspeed-obama-faces-a-jimmy-carter-moment-in-egypt/#ixzz1CMkFEnPw

^His regime was composed of people of all clans. That's the point. You and almost every Somali had a stake in it. It's failures are yours too. Isn't it obscene to witness Riyaale leading a memorial for the dead?

^They wanna get ahead of the Egyptian street. They think if they back any successful popular uprising against Mubarak - their relationship with the country will remain the same. Very deluded. Similar to the invasion of Iraq ushering in democracy across the Arab world.

With a deep investment in the status quo, Israel is watching what a senior official calls "an earthquake in the Middle East" with growing concern. The official says the Jewish state has faith in the security apparatus of its most formidable Arab neighbor, Egypt, to suppress the street demonstrations that threaten the dictatorial rule of President Hosni Mubarak. The harder question is what comes next. "We believe that Egypt is going to overcome the current wave of demonstrations, but we have to look to the future," says the minister in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel enjoys diplomatic relations and security cooperation with both Egypt and Jordan, the only neighboring states that have signed treaties with the Jewish state. But while it may be more efficient to deal in with a strongman in Cairo - Mubarak has ruled for 30 years - and a king in Amman, democracies make better neighbors, "because democracies do not initiate wars," he says. (See pictures of Egypt's protests.) http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599204492900;_ylt=AoQakF9BIF4oA7uk1UuSbZ4UewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTJ1aHA0M3Z0BGFzc2V0Ay9zL3RpbWUvMDg1OTkyMDQ0OTI5MDAEY2NvZGUDbXBfZWNfOF8xMARjcG9zAzMEcG9zAzMEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNlZ3lwdHNjcmlzaXM-

^I guess we will see in the coming days. A real popular revolution needs to see sustained pressure and the state security apparatus to not get in the way of the public's desire. Tunisia was a sustained campaign that started in late December and spread and spread. We're at the beginning here in Egypt and I would like to see many more people in the streets. I just don't see the security apparatus melting away like in Tunisia here. I'm not sure Egyptians have shaken off their apathy that quickly. But this all an opinion. Events will unfold as they will.

^It won't matter if Hosni is gone and replaced by some like minded hack. If I was to take a wager I bet this regime survives more or less intact with the public fobbed off with cosmetic changes. I don't think Egyptians have the stamina to keep up the pressure on this regime. Millenia of acquiescing to rule by Pharaohs won't be swept away that quickly. What is remarkable is that protests are still being counted in the tens of thousands in a country of 80 million plus.

Poor JB - celebrate the good - peace and development but the rest is just deluded. As if a separate non-Somali alien race bombed and killed people in the north. It was Somalis of all clans(at the instigation of the president) who did that not some special subset. This is not the case of America and Japan of WW2 - discrete and distinct entities to whom one can clearly lay blame and thus hold logically consistent memorials.

^Damn. No video footage to inspire paroxysms of outrage.

^I thought the big El was detained.

The is-qabsi is so telling. The only response here on the sad day is may God help this people and country to a better future.

GC - I'm saying the military and Hosni's regime are one and the same. We will see how this plays out. Guys - Layzie is just taking ther micky - or some such according to Brits. I wouldn't bother responding. Go on LZ - let it all out.

The western coverage still hasn't reached the heights of the Iran elections aftermath. And the commentary is cautious instead of the mock outrage following the Iran elections. Egyptians need a Neda of their own.