Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed - TIME Interview

[Gheelle.T]

Originally posted by Sherban Shabeel:

Man, it makes me angry to see some of the replies in here.

 

All you cynics, you were against him from the beginning, the Yey supporters because you were bitter about your hero's disgraceful performance, the Shabaab supporters because you were jealous Mr. Popularity got the cake. Like a bunch of ugly kids and nerds in highschool, you cursed the cool cat under your breath and prayed for his downfall. You never gave him a chance.

 

And then came the coup. You were all excited, the opposition fighters swept through Mogadishu, you thought Villa Somalia was about to fall. Like bloodthirsty wolves, you couldn't wait for the blood to start flowing. But you miscalculated. Your rebels weren't strong enough to overthrow the government and end the war. They mellowed down into a bitter low-heat guerilla campaign. They hoped that if enough people die, something will change.

 

But nothing ever changes in Somalia. And especially not in Xamar. A city that has been at war with itself for so long, that its inhabitants have forgotten what it's like to live in peace. Peace is poisonous in Mogadishu, it's undesirable.

 

So let's dance the dead man's dance because any other dance would not fit the rhythm of a city that was once paradise on earth.

 

You cynics got exactly what you wanted. More war, more death, more reasons for you to complain and moan about how everything sucks.

 

Any person with a trace of decency in his heart can see Shariif is a good man. But you DON'T DESERVE a good man.

 

What you need is a bloodthirsty tyrant that will have you rounded up and shot if you even whisper his name.

Are you sure you're Romanian?

[Somali Pirate]

i can't help shaking my head. The solutions to somalia's problems lies within somalia not with the international community mr president.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

He answered them all as diplomatically as he can. Shariif is a rare breed among Soomaali leadership since civil war.

 

Eebba ha u garabgalo.

[wacdaraha_aduunka]

Walle sidii shariif ku socda wax badan ba ka yeedhi doona...

 

Eeboow muxugo mug waaye

Malkamoodka muf iyo maf waaye

Eeboow na mooti Shabaab

Anya Madiina iyo Dameerka moonkiisa

 

[N.O.R.F]

Ngonge, what no alternatives? No solutions? No suggestions? What could he have done better in the 5 months he has been in charge?

 

The man has no past experience in leading a nation and mistakes have and will be made. There is criticism and then there is 'I just don't like the guy'

[Thankful]

With the Italians saying they will open diplomatic relations with us and I am hearing they may start accepting the Somali Passport, I believe President Sharif has a window of oppurtunity. The people will eventually turn fully against Aweys and realize enough is enough. It's quite sad though, Mogadishu should be President Sharifs base and strong hold, but instead his biggest threat comes from their. He is a very intelligent man, and has accomplished so much in the short time he's been in Politics. The Prime Minister just returned from Italy and Libya and is in Dubai, I believe they are doing a good thing and are trying to fight domestically and internationally.

[xiinfaniin]

Sharif is performing astutely under the circumstances. He understands the nature of this conflict, he knows its disputants very well, and he has the full measure of all its parameters. Alshabaab, good Sharif understands, has lost the social support they once enjoyed. They have exhausted all the necessary resource to continue this war. Tactics that alshabaab once used with remarkable success have now lost its bite. That is why Sharif is firmly holding his ground. And in some areas, he is actually making progress.

 

But to fully appreciate Sharif’s performance, one must look at how the relationship between Somalia and the outside world is changing albeit slowly. His foreign and defense ministers have done a superb job presenting a persuasive argument to the world making case not for more foreign troops but for rebuilding Somalia’s armed forces. Even in government’s hour of need, when alshabaab mortars were raining down on its crumbling seat, these two fine ministers insisted on the essentiality of rebuilding Somali army.

 

On the public relations front, Sharif and his government remains recipient of public sympathy. It’s seen as a victim of alshabaab. It’s on the side of reason. Generally speaking, I am not fond of the propaganda rhetoric especially when utilized by government officials in a state of war. But Ina Oomaar’s words go beyond propaganda; they state the truth of the matter. The soft-spoken foreign minister once calmly told a BBC reporter:

Somalia and Somalis do not need to continue this conflict. We have suffered two decades of relentless and costly civil war, and we are in dire need to settle this dispute. My government does no employ cheap tricks; we are genuine in our reconciliation initiatives.

 

His counter part in that debate, a fellow called Zakiriyye, mumbled words that lacked assessable meaning.

 

That dual strategy (fighting with all four legs in the struggel to survive while persuading the world to support Somalia stand its own feet, not by sending new foreign troops, but by arming its security forces) is working. If good NGONGE fails to see the brilliancy of such strategies it is only so because he is too close, and attuned to the goings of the secessionist world to realize the promising broader picture on the other side. He is hopeful and trusting when it comes to Riyaale and his admin. Yet he is cynic, sadly too cynic, to see any progress in Sharif’s world. The biases are so clearly palpable, the perspective so narrow, the truth so politically constructed and redefined, and the facts are so compromised…

 

waa nabi baa bah

 

Conflics are not static. They ar dynamic, and constantly changing. And this one is no different.

This conflict is at a very ugly stage. But it will end, and the dispute will be settled. The details have no rhythm. It’s about Bakaaraha one day, the Presidential Seat itself another day, the shelling of Airport and AU troops in other days. It’s about Wabxo, and Jowhar one day, the Ceelasha Biyaha another day, and at a police station in Yaqshid in other days. That tedious cycle should not blind us to lose sight of the broader picture in this dispute however. This is about Somalia. Ultimately. And we are nearing the end…the hand of Somalia’s conflict clock is ticking close to midnight. The parties that started it are tired and looking for way out. It’s beyond stalemate now. De-escalation and fruitful mediation will be next insha Allah.

[Recovering-Romantics]

Originally posted by xiinfaniin:

Sharif is performing astutely under the circumstances. He understands the nature of this conflict, he knows its disputants very well, and he has the full measure of all its parameters. Alshabaab, good Sharif understands, has lost the social support they once enjoyed. They have exhausted all the necessary resource to continue this war. Tactics that alshabaab once used with remarkable success have now lost its bite. That is why Sharif is firmly holding his ground. And in some areas, he is actually making progress.

 

But to fully appreciate Sharif’s performance, one must look at how the relationship between Somalia and the outside world is changing albeit slowly. His foreign and defense ministers have done a superb job presenting a persuasive argument to the world making case not for more foreign troops but for rebuilding Somalia’s armed forces. Even in government’s hour of need, when alshabaab mortars were raining down on its crumbling seat, these two fine ministers insisted on the essentiality of rebuilding Somali army.

 

On the public relations front, Sharif and his government remains recipient of public sympathy. It’s seen as a victim of alshabaab. It’s on the side of reason. Generally speaking, I am not fond of the propaganda rhetoric especially when utilized by government officials in a state of war. But Ina Oomaar’s words go beyond propaganda; they state the truth of the matter. The soft-spoken foreign minister once calmly told a BBC reporter:

Somalia and Somalis do not need to continue this conflict. We have suffered two decades of relentless and costly civil war, and we are in dire need to settle this dispute. My government does no employ cheap tricks; we are genuine in our reconciliation initiatives.

 

His counter part in that debate, a fellow called Zakiriyye, mumbled words that lacked assessable meaning.

 

That dual strategy (fighting with all four legs in the struggel to survive while persuading the world to support Somalia stand its own feet, not by sending new foreign troops, but by arming its security forces) is working. If good NGONGE fails to see the brilliancy of such strategies it is only so because he is too close, and attuned to the goings of the secessionist world to realize the promising broader picture on the other side. He is hopeful and trusting when it comes to Riyaale and his admin. Yet he is cynic, sadly too cynic, to see any progress in Sharif’s world. The biases are so clearly palpable, the perspective so narrow, the truth so politically constructed and redefined, and the facts are so compromised…

 

waa nabi baa bah

 

Conflics are not static. They ar dynamic, and constantly changing. And this one is no different.

This conflict is at a very ugly stage. But it will end, and the dispute will be settled. The details have no rhythm. It’s about Bakaaraha one day, the Presidential Seat itself another day, the shelling of Airport and AU troops in other days. It’s about Wabxo, and Jowhar one day, the Ceelasha Biyaha another day, and at a police station in Yaqshid in other days. That tedious cycle should not blind us to lose sight of the broader picture in this dispute however. This is about Somalia. Ultimately. And we are nearing the end…the hand of Somalia’s conflict clock is ticking close to midnight. The parties that started it are tired and looking for way out. It’s beyond stalemate now. De-escalation and fruitful mediation will be next insha Allah.

Very Well put. You have said all that I needed to say.

 

Little Correction: The interview in question is from the Al Jazeera Network and not from the BBC.

[NGONGE]

(too long for this thread. I'll start a brand new one).

[Somali Pirate]

what this simpleton should have done was as soon as he took power were

 

go to kismayo and bring in the islamists into the government.

 

kick amisom out

 

 

2 simple things and he did'nt have the balls to do it. I just think he's just clueless.

[Naxar Nugaaleed]

as a former shariif hater, I have to confess Shariif is the best thing to happen to Somalia lately. His cool-headed decision making as opposed foolish rush to more sacrifice thousands upon thousands of Somalis under the pretense to save Somalis from few peacekeeper turned palace guards is a marked contrast of wisdom and foolishness at its height. It is highly disingenuous also of former TFG supporters who went along with Yusuf's at times harsh tactics in the name of clearing an entrenched dowladdiids to now cheerlead for the worst form of dowladdiids.

 

Che, needless to say, i did not take you as a religious moory**n, to see you advocating for these terrorist to impose their will on these poor people, rules am sure you would not subject to your self am sure, is baffling to say the least.

 

Ngonge, you are the foreigners the shabab and xizbul islam say they want to clear from Somalia, if you have any hope of making a peaceful vocation to the beaches of mogadishu, as am sure you are, I would at the very least stay away from the supporting religious moory**ns.

[NGONGE]

^^ But I don't support them, saaxib. Never did. Like LG already said, I don't support anyone in this conflict. They're all as bad as each other.

(I supported Yusuf though).