2 years is neither a long time nor much to ask, or is it?. Give the guy a chance, give the peace a chance, at the minimum I dont see lots of deaths on the streets of Mogadishu unlike while my uncle, former president, Yusuf was in charge, and that alone is a hope, embrace it, dont spoil it....

Clearly some of us are confused, namely Mr. Odweyne and his cohorts. The reunification of then two British/Italian Somalilands in 1960 is binding and valid as we know it. However, in order to nullify that marriage, a prerequisite debate between the parties concerned must take place. Dear Odweyne, intaad dudid, dee iskama tegi kartid ee la soco, haddaad sidaa yeeshana ogow qoys walba tuuladiisii buu ku noqonayaa, oo dee Somaliland-tu reerkaaga goofkiisa bay ku koobnaanaysaa.... Wallee belaa ku haysata, war ninyahow furiin la diidye, bal talo kale keen

A relative piece compiled by Faisal Roble. This article appeared on horn Africa journal Local and Global Norms: Challenges to “Somaliland’s”

War inanta koofida wadata ha la daayo, I think she is smart & pretty but something unseen urged her to be on the lookout.

Originally posted by Shankarooni: Makes me love somaliland more... Doesn't that make you a tribalist too, or does it?

Dear SOLers, A Somali thinker by the name Osman Hassan penned down squarely the challenges facing the Somaliland's quest for recognition An excerpt of the piece states something like this... ......"the Self-determination, if granted, is a double-edged sword, from which Somaliland has as much to gain from it as it may lose. Acting as the devil’s advocate, suppose, as could well happen, the Awdal region were to withdraw, from the current secessionist Somaliland, or a future independent one; will Somaliland then oppose it by force since it is on no moral or legal ground to reject it, being itself the product of self-determination an/or secession in the first place?. Some might consider the example of Awdal as a hypothetical exercise. I beg to differ. But if Awdal’s withdrawal from Somaliland is considered by some as far fetched, one could turn to a more realistic and closer case, namely the SSC regions. While Somaliland never tires to claim self-determination as if it was its own preserve, it would at the same time deny it to the SSC regions. Worse, it went to the extent of invading and occupying Sool and its capital Lascanod. Nothing could make a mockery of this principle than this blatant double standard."...... Read the article here in full -- Challenging Somaliland’s Claim to Sovereignty

Dhankaan ka hadlay waa kaa Odweyne dhaafay hadalkiiye. Mr. Odweyne, Here's my brief response to you. With all due to respect, you reserve, like anyone else on SOL, the right to read through, pick and choose, in your own fittings about the historical facts of Somaliland analyzed by the political pundits of the horn including Mr. Roble, a guru of Somali political evolution who is based in Los Angeles. However, your sentiments and details are somewhat distorted and fabricated. Your tone exhibits intolerance to other’s views, not to mention the lack of both substance and subjectivity in your claims. No matter how long one tries to capture your unique and idiosyncratic use of the language, one comes to the conclusion that you are either a self-appointed entertainer or someone who just doesn’t get the complexity of the debated issue, and remember! Ignorance is not a defense. Zooming into the past, a legit question to ask is that: has Somaliland protectorate ever been a recognized state that enjoyed her sovereignty like all other family of nations?. Dear Odweyne, if it is hearsay, tit-for-tat game, we can debate on this endlessly but as our chap, Che Guevara, put it eloquently in one of his previous correspondents on this thread, citations required, sorry to say that what our grandmas told us has no legal ground. The reunification of Somali Republic in 1960 superseded whatever legal status that was unique/governing the two Somali regions, your argument of reclaiming your sovereignty in retrospect is like a married woman who is still claiming to be a virgin. Nevertheless, one thing I disagree with many unionists is that nothing is sacrosanct including that of Somali nation. However, if Somalia is divisible so Somaliland is, no more any less. In addition, the immorality of the secession ideology needs to be exposed, Somalis are very homogeneous, this unique centripetal deserves to capitalized. However, civil wars are part of human nature and inevitable to happen but having reconciliation amongst parties involved is an option, for instance the rainbow nation of South Africa moved on, even though what happened there was not even comparable to what happened in Somalia, clearly some of your grievances could be addressed more fairly, had you been chosen to deliver them in the proper channels. 20 years on and the caravan is still in motion, destination is getting more remote than ever. I wonder if there is a deadline when my friend Mr. Odweyne and like-minded chaps care smelling the coffee, may be 20 more years needed as it took to many intellectual thinkers and analysts of Somaliland to realize that their quest of recognition depends on other Somalis, in another words, the solution to Somaliland’s problem must be found onshore not offshore as the problem of the pirates in the high seas is.

The epicenter of Mr. Goth's and the oldman's argument was based purely on the following insufficient fallacies: They say: WE are the only victims of the last regime's abuses. They say: WE are the only ones who can fight to the end for their self determination in the Somali peninsula. They say: Dismembering of Somalia is divine while Somaliland's unity is sacrosant irrespective of other northern-clans' wishes for self determination or political association, the secessionists have to get their way or else, like there is no tomorrow. They say: Justice can only go back till 1988, not withstanding the fact when the current hard core secessionists' forefathers were friendly clans of the colonial powers who were aiding the savages with their raids and harrasment to their brethren. They say: Invading Las Anod and making it the Suweto of Somalia is a legit endeavor that worth undertaking, ignoring that they are playing with a frozen conflict. They say: By all accounts we are the chosen people because our activities are unconstrained like other-Somali savages, be speaking, intruding and trespassing to others' territories and internal affairs respectively. Why?,because we are the only saints of Somalia. Finally, one may wonder with such an attitude, how far can their clannish dogma advance?. How would they ever get a sympathy/dividend for some of their heavily invested, partially legit sentiments?. However, I've to offer a free consultation to the brothers who give their allegiance to the cause of "Somaliland". For the sake of our common ends, please don't bite more than you can swallow, be optimistic but realistic, let us discuss the issue of the secession out in the open where nobody thinks has the right to decide for the other.

Caamir, Yusuf, Nur and Sharif of which whom he represents is yet mystery to me, know pretty well that they sidestepped the Somalis' common interest and forgot that they are elected officials who are supposed to bring a lasting peace in our country. With that said, much of our misery is a homemade and much of our solution must come from within us... We've just been playing victims' card for such a long time with too little return...time to take some responsibility I suppose.

Criminals are criminals and Morgan isn't an orphan in this

The mishaps of Al-Shabab, the TFG and that of Jr. Ceyrow need mending rather exploiting.

War jiraaba cakaaruu iman!!

Rageedii. Kamaba qasna!!

Thanks Al Burcaawi. I stopped in Buroa for a lunch and to your surprise I bought a fantastic club (Budh) as Buroa is the home of the finest CLUBS you can find.

Originally posted by LANDER: quote:Originally posted by Mansa Munsa: a reality that is hard to digest but needs to be reckoned with is; over 90% of the infrastructure of this region, be schools, hospitals, roads and so on, is what the previous Somali government had put together. ^^ So you mention this in the same paragraph where you describe your experience in Hargeisa which you dubbed as '7 lonely nights'. Did you actually leave your hotel room and survey the infrastructure? better yet, a much simpler question; If the said 'government' had built the said 'infrastructure', than that same government leveled Hargeisa in '88 and subsequently must have come back from dead to reconstruct what they had built right? How do dead men rebuild what they destroyed? Did the Ghost of Siad Barre magically repair all that was destroyed in the last 17 yrs? This maybe going into the absurd if not outright blasphemous I realize, but I figure this would be the only way to level. Perhaps Oodweyne is nice enough to give you a pass on some of this bull, however I'm not quite as accomodating. When I saw the title I expected a unique insight into every day life back home, you know the type we DON'T get in news documentaries or politically inclined stuff on the internet. Your visit to Mr. Omar was as close as you got to giving us some insight into life back home, but even than you didn't really describe just what you saw near the shabelle aside from stating that land in Hiiraan is fertile (I really could've googled that one). So I have to ask, when you decided to go back home, were you on a political crusade? if not, than why is there so little sensible experience in your anecdote and so much biased political rubbish. Did you go back home to reinforce your narrow-minded and previously ill conceived views? "Dhankaan ka hadlay waa kaa LANDER dhaafay hadalkiiye" Dear Mr. Lander, Relatively speaking the private sector in this part of the country is booming, for instance privately own sky rises, fantastic resorts, telecommunication, schools and so on. The big question is whom should the credit be given?. to the current admin. or to the public... I guess the answer is clear. In addition, in terms of scalability the current SL admin's contributions to the infrastructure is small fraction if compared with what last government left behind. Think about the major roads, schools, the port...Lander! just for a moment, for the sake of a healthy discussion, think outside the box and admit the shortcomings of your assertions.

Mr. Xiinfaniin, Before I investigate in detail the economic hardship facing our people and country, allow me to shed light on where Somali economy stands in globalized world. As most of us are aware of there are some variables that are being measured and are indicators of the economic might of a nation. Nevertheless, how one can be fair, getting those figures is just beyond me, while government institutions are almost non-existent in many parts of the country. By the way, I am so tempted to address eagerly the questions raised by our chap Xiinfaniin because I believe if the economic problem of our country is been addressed, I am confident that half of our problems would have been solved. Economy: GDP of Somalia is one of the lowest in the world. The backbone of Somali economy has been the trade of livestock, and this trade was devastated by the extension of the dry season in many parts of the country coupled with the sporadic embargoes posed by some Middle Eastern countries namely Saudi Arabia and the likes. Drought season hit hardest Togdheer, Sool, Sanaag, Nugaal , Mudug and Galgadud. There are host of other issues that are adding burden to the already our fragile economy, to name a few; Qat trade has a dual negativity of our meager economy, it sucks our hard currency and it decreases our productivity in so many ways. Qat is highly priced commodity yet it has the minimum return of return (ROR). The instability of many parts of the country is a factor contributing to the economic impasse that we are in. Forget about the growing numbers of Internal Displaced Persons following intensified fighting in Mogadishu. To add insult to the injury, aid agencies become part of the problem. As Somalia slips into further abase Aid Agencies talk about profitability. Beggars have no choosing holds to be true here and most of the people who run these organizations wear different hats meaning their effort has dual functionality. You can’t talk about thier misdeeds as the western media will rush to the megaphones and propagate misinformations against our own interest. Education: This is the bright side of our society since the quality of the schools was high considering in such circumstances. I was thrilled to see some high school students in Hargeisa, Bosaso, Beledweyn and in between that were well equipped and could easily compete and outsmart their counterparts regardless wherever they are on the face of the earth. The sad thing is; whoever wants to go to school can’t go because of the privatization of education establishments. For sure this will have a negative impact on our human resource down on the road as lots of genius kids are not given the opportunity they deserved. One thing I would advise you about education. Please, if you can, I know deep down you can, give a child or two or three a scholarship in your hometown or be generous and breathe life into those bright children whose dreams have been shattered regardless of their location. In this deed; its Return of Investment(ROI) is extraordinarily high. Water: The pundits of International Security and Conflict Resolutions had predicted the next front for mankind will neither be oil nor nuclear proliferation as some predicted rather WATER shortage will be number one conflict trigger in the 21st century. As we aware of, except of Beledweyn, the places I have been are semi desert by nature and there was a long drought. These are only my rough estimation about (25-30) % drink clean water. I reached this conclusion after I observed randomly in different cities how many people, I encountered, were drinking clean/or unclean water in any given time. The marginal error of my sampling and variance were nominal. Finally, all of my hadaltiro boils down to one thing. Unless we get some sort of security with semblance of governance I mean by strengthening the institutions of PL and SL, and somehow magically brokering a peace deal between the Resistance and the TFG and forcing Ethiopians to withdraw with the replacement of peacekeepers from friendly nations. I think we will be singing in a vacuum for some time to come.

Thanks my dear SOL friends, I didn’t expect you less than that and I thank you back for your warm welcoming. Without further reservations I anticipated sharing with you for what I saw without censorship. Sifting my piece is a legit position to take and your right as every writer and reader injects some sort of native bias into discussions. Akhyaarta…Ducaysane, Che -Guevara, Emperor, Caamir, Malika and Laba_Xiniinyood…Thank You. Sir Oodweyne, and Odayaasha kale (Ngonge, Ayoub, and Suldaanka): First and foremost, I thank you for your comments. By the way, it would be unfair to you that I address all of your comments into one response because as individuals; you have varied positions on different issues. However, you guys have one common denominator that being the belief of Somaliland’s irrefutable independence. Traditionally, there is an irony to your arguments; you ignore, omit and take lightly a relevant variable from the political discourse of SL; Embrace it!! there are sizable northerners who are not singing with you on the same lines of the song. Not accommodating for those who disagree, yet you share so much with; will definitely compromise with our symbiosis. Oodweyne: I am looking forward your rebuttals pertaining SL’s dogma. We will swing the pendulum as time permits. Suldaanka: Don’t laminate me anti-Somaliland if I happen to differ from you when it comes to SL’s secession. Ngonge: I sleep less than the average person. Hope that answers your question. Dear Dabshid: What a very legit question you posed Ya Dabshid: In my judgment, the combination of the following factors had facilitated the fall of LA to the less-impressed group by the masses. 1- Lack of leadership in this part of the country 2- Tension and suspecting within this community 3- A big PL betrayal of a segment of its subjects. 4- Determined local, homegrown merchants These aforementioned, and other reasons that you are welcome to add to the list, are the determinants of the fall of LA.

You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try. --Beverly Sills Mansa Munsa returned to his adopted country after he had spent long 45 days, crisscrossing a large portions of his motherland, namely; from Seylac to Beledweyn and what may lie there in between. This endeavor fall short reaching Deep South for obvious reasons including Ethiopian occupation, the deteriorating tension between the TFG and UIC, and other numerous, unquantifiable problems of which an anarchy system comes with. The purpose of this trip was, first and foremost, to educate myself about the reality of the ground and the psychic of Somali citizens, who live in there, and thereafter wanted to reconcile my findings with the mentality of the wishy-washy, coffee latte addicts of the Somalis in the Diaspora. To make a long story short, a pleasant afternoon my Russian-made-plane touch the runway of the Hargeisa International Airport a.k.a. (Egal International Airport), this was my first time that I saw the 2nd capital city of Somalia, it was an emotional moment for me because in a long time this was the moment that I could talk like a proud Somali, smell Somali air, walk on a Somali soil and wherever I looked at; there were Somalis strolling, by the way these were the moments without proper names and sometimes I wonder why this skinny a-s-s-e-s just can't get along. In all fairness, some Somalis regard Hargeisa, the capital of their self-proclaimed administration (Somaliland), Hargeisa has a bit over half million residents. Relatively speaking, its security was the best to all other places I had being in Somalia, something to be commended I must say. Nevertheless, the administration there is extremely corrupted, citizens' rights can be rendered and deprived at will, arbitrary arrests, and censoring of the media outlets are the norm. Over long seventeen years; the self-styled administration has to yet deliver anything worth mentioning to its subjects except shallow promises, a reality that is hard to digest but needs to be reckoned with is; over 90% of the infrastructure of this region, be schools, hospitals, roads and so on, is what the previous Somali government had put together. With all that said, in mysterious ways the peace has been honored and preserved for many years in this part of the country except the recent hostile, illegitimate, and immoral aggression of Somaliland against North- Eastern regions (SSC) whose population in higher percentile doesn't subscribe to the ideals of what Somaliland represents, by all accounts, according to my own observations, this was an exercise of purest form of security dilemma. After spending seven lovely nights in Hargeisa I rented Mark II so, I could continue my journey to Las Anod (LA). From this city some of my immediate family members had being displaced by the recent Puntland and Somaliland skirmishes. The trip between these two cities was virtually smooth, on the way I went through various splendid landscapes, be plains, mountainous and terrestrials. Because of my enthusiasm and nostalgia of this whole trip; the ordeal of the trip was almost negligible. I reached LA when Maghrib prayer was called. The mood here was different with what I had experienced in Hargeisa, somehow people of LA were a bit anxious, and exhibited a higher uncertainty about their near future. During my stay in LA; I intermingled with the locales and asked them about what went wrong?. How such a city which was one of the fastest growing cities in Somalia, a linkage between the northern, and southern Somali regions and that of Reserve Area; all of a sudden collapsed and became a ghost town. I posed such questions to them, and I said: you can blame 24/7 the Garowe and Hargeisa administrations but the city's own sons, above all else, victimized and paralyzed the sort of semblance existed there. Some said; get use to it--it is just the signs of the new times, some nodded, and kept moving and others were dismayed by my blunt questioning. However, the majority population of this region gives their allegiance to the autonomous Puntland State, a bit over a quarter is proponents for self rule, and 10 to 15 percent embrace Somaliland ideals, the rest are stunned and undecided. Somali unity is very strong here even though some question its divident because this region contributed more than its share during the struggle for freedom and it has to yet realize any payback. Garowe, the administrative city of Puntland, was my next stop. What once was a beacon of hope, and the foundation of building blocks suggested for reincarnation of Somali nation by many political analyst and experts of the region. It has become an administration that fits all negative adjectives that can come to your mind. Lawlessness is its peak since PL was coined, not to mention the pirates, random killings through out Puntland, even more nowadays in Bosaso which is the economic pipe of the region, ill-conceived deals in regards to natural resources of the region and pocketing for whatever generated from the meager economy, disintegration of the administration is underway as Maakhir declared its secession from PL. President Adde and his Vice failed their constituents in any way, shape or form possible. Incompetence, corruption, insecurity and lack of good governance are the hallmarks of the current administration. If PL leadership is not changed soon I am very confident to say that she is a good candidate of becoming next hot spot within Somalia. I also visited my uncle who resides in Badhan, the capital city of the newly inaugurated, autonomous state of Maakhir. There is a friction and tension within the Maakhirities about the destiny of the new administration whether it will break up from or stay with PL for good. However, Maakhirities, unlike their neighbors (SSC), had managed to keep their problems under control. Something that needs further enhancement and assistance I must say. I had spent good fifteen days from Badhan, Bosaso to Galkacayo and then hit the road for Beledweyn. On my way to Beledweyn, the capital of Hiiran region, I went through the heart of Galgaduud. Cadaado and Dhuusamareeb, my two stops in Galgaduud region, for sure I will remember them about the delicious meals (Goat meat, milk and rice) that I had in these cities for sometimes to come. I reached Beledweyn that is where I wanted to meet up an old friend, Mr. Omar, of mine who teaches the high school there and runs a small business of his own. Omar and I took promenade on the Shabelle river banks and he zoomed me in to the past and briefed about his socio status and the situation of the region in general. Jokingly over the course of our discussion Mr. Omar stated that they (Reer Hiiraan) could feed the entire Somali nation if peace prevails and developments kicks in. Indeed what I witnessed in this region proved Omar’s assertion right. In conclusion, Somalis are regarded homogeneous society that has not been able to get along for such a long time; they have stunned many anthropologists, religious and political pundits who believed that homogeneity brings social cohesion and strength. However, Somalis defied that rationale and proved it wrong to everyone's surprise. Love it or hate it; Ethiopian occupation in Somalia is a reality. Obviously, her military presence concentrates on the Southern regions but even if one observes carefully about PL and SL dominions. One would notice subtly about her undeniable influence. These administrations can't officially condemn any of Ethiopian wrong doings. Let alone condemning them; they have to reciprocate expeditiously and without a condition any call that comes from Mele's regime. Love it or hate it; approximately a half million people has been displaced from Mogadishu alone, forget about all others who were forced to flee from their homes for no apparent reasons, these victims care less whether the TFG, UIC or any other entity rules them, they just want to have normal life. Raise their kids with dignity so they can achieve their potential, and merely be ordinary citizens. Love it or hate it; In a nutshell Ethiopian presence is the core and the mother of all our problems and its withdrawal is a must if we want to move forward. However, prior to Ethiopian invasion, Somalis had done to one another all heinuous crimes, and even some enslaved others and because of these recorded facts when Ethiopians depart in one way or another. Our situation will not be a creme del la creme but the environment of a healthy dialogue can be fostered. Love it or hate it; Somali nation is on the decline and our indifference isn't helping it either. As they say; "it takes two to play tango" therefore, no matter how much our views are apart, no matter what region or clan you hail from, no matter how diehard you are on your beliefs, Somalis need to do this together. Mark my word, in our present time there is no single entity or grouping in Somalia, regardless of its connotations, that can navigate MAANDEEQ to safety.

The gist of the piece is universal as DhulQarnayn put it. However, it is not comprehensive and needs further developments.

BarigaSanaag & JB, Maakhir represents much of Sanaag and western portion of Bari. It is a huge land if you are not blind to the facts and figures.

I will subscribe to this remark by Muhsin. Reason and foresight are very scarce resources in the errant secessionist enclave and you can expect them to stay put in Lascanod until they are ignominiously thrown out.

LIES LIES LIES. IT IS WISE TO ABSTAIN FROM THE OBSCENITIES OF LIES AND PROPAGANDA. IT SURE PLACES PERMENANT, IGNOMINOUS MARK ON THE SOMALILAND FACE. listen to the speech of Maakhir President, Jibriil Ali Salad today. It also seems that Somali-Land is set on new approach that is to take a false credit on the creation of Makhir State just to boost their public relations campaign and the tactics of influencing the tide of self-governance and autonomy by the people of Maakhir on their clannish favor. In this speech, he is entreating his people both inside and outside the country to participate the rebuilding of this state, touching on other issues like its administrative divisions. He says Maakhirities contributed to the reconstruction and support of the two neighboring entites . Therefore, the time has come when Maakhir divorces itself from any political affiliation with the two entities. He even calls the Hargeesa adminstration as Somalidiid or "Somali Rejectionist" http://dhahar.com/wareysi/jibriilkhudbadii112207.rm

^

Bariga are you saying that you are from BarigaSanaag or this alias of yours is part of a public protest, one that diminishes the geographic size of Maakhir people? Funny name iga dheh.

Ameen