A love song for the I.C.U or incomptence comes home to roost

[Baashi]

Originally posted by LIQAYE:

The pacification of mogadishu was the lasting legacy they could have had instead from a fundamental perversion that all somalis have they chose to hand the weapons back to the populace knowing full well were the weapons would end up, Qanyare walks out of his house in Dayniile with 12 armed trucks in the foyer of his compound and walks back with the same 12 armed trucks awaiting him in his compound, were is the justice, when this was the only obvious result of any action that might be taken by the I.C.U.

Xiin, brother Liqaye has a point there! Can you refute this fact? Ain't that is truth the whole truth nothing but the truth.

 

Mogadishu pacified -> ICU committed itself untimely and unnecessary war -> ICU Lost the war -> ICU handed back the weapons to clans -> ICU saved Mogadishu from the urban warfare -> ICU didn't extend the same courtesy to Jilib and Kismayo.

 

Xiin what you make of that? What went wrong brother? To defend their cause is something. To justify their tactics is something different al together!

 

Amazing wallahi! I blve you are an honesty nomad and I want to hear from you how you connect the dots I outlined there.

 

Waiting...

 

I don't want hear from other self-styled cyber jihadists.

[Liqaye]

sorry d/p

[Liqaye]

Caano Geel said

 

Liqaye

There is something that you are ignoring .. The ICU was defeated militarily via complete incopetence, but their opposition lacks support and the wide spread credibility in the somali community they once enjoyed.

 

The "pacification of mogadishu" cannot be treated as a footnote on wider subject. The UN failed to accomplish it, the USA failed, the TNG failed, the various warlord alliangces failed. .. inshort sofar everybody failed for 16 years, except them.

 

 

This says one two things:

a) they provided something the people needed/wanted and were welcomed to facilitate it, or

b) they conquered for it and where the strongest faction and subjugated people to their vision.

 

The reality is that there isnt much truth to the second proposition, since clearly they were maryooley, with gar gaduudan - however, if their conquering meant peace, it seemed a worthwhile sacrifice and people tooks it, hence their rapid spread.

 

Now what all this means is that though their army of ill equiped teenagers may be defeated, they have planted a seed in the somali conciousness. A seed of hope.

 

So i think you are wrong to claim incompetence, they over stretched, believed their own rhetoric and failed, taking down the good that they created. But they left behind (1) a hope that things can change, (2) somalis can be united under more than just the ubiquitous *clan* but an ideology and (3) power can change without blood shed* - this is a tentative point, but a sizable number of their acquisitions were negotiated.

 

These are lessons that have the capacity to change the path of any future somali state. Showing that military might does not always work and that it needs to be tempred with diplomacy was their initial strength, it is also what they forgot.

 

But we haven't forgotten, and that is a much more respectible legacy than any of its predecessors -- one that we should use to hold the current regime accountable

The "pacification of mogadishu" cannot be treated as a footnote on wider subject. The UN failed to accomplish it, the USA failed, the TNG failed, the various warlord alliangces failed. .. inshort sofar everybody failed for 16 years, except them.

 

No doubt the pacification of mogadishu was a good thing, that it lasted for 6 months only and led to the I.C.U handing back the weapons not only to the populace but more sytematicaly the representatives of the warlords is a disgrace.

 

a) they provided something the people needed/wanted and were welcomed to facilitate it, or b) they conquered for it and where the strongest faction and subjugated people to their vision.

 

Caano geel what you have presented is not an either or argument but fundamentally have hit upon the progression of the thinking of the I.C.U leadership from accepting that they goverened at the behest of the somali people of banadiir they crossed the rubicon and started to believe that they had as Gods viziers on earth played out a part of history on their terms a history that would take them to the gates of Addis Ababa when the people of Banadiir very far from supporting such grandiose schemes waited ever paintently for either a negotiated settlement or a status quo that would allow them to lead their lives peacefully.

 

So i think you are wrong to claim incompetence, they over stretched, believed their own rhetoric and failed, taking down the good that they created. But they left behind (1) a hope that things can change, (2) somalis can be united under more than just the ubiquitous *clan* but an ideology and (3) power can change without blood shed* - this is a tentative point, but a sizable number of their acquisitions were negotiated.

 

So i think you are wrong to claim incompetence, they over stretched, believed their own rhetoric and failed, taking down the good that they created.

 

Brother what you outlined above is not incompetence, in the words of Nguyen Giap did they not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?

 

But they left behind (1) a hope that things can change, (2) somalis can be united under more than just the ubiquitous *clan* but an ideology and (3) power can change without blood shed* - this is a tentative point, but a sizable number of their acquisitions were negotiated

 

Firstly they did not leave this hope you acclaim in fact on the ground the old certainties of clan division are very much back in vogue, the populace of banadiir watched with dismay as the undercurrents of qabiil swirled around in the hearts and minds of the upper echelons of the I.C.U wereas today the same dogs of war that had been thought defeated parade across mogadishu, that is the final testament of islamism poorly understood and even more poorly practiced have had on the HOPEFULL banadiir.

In mogadishu in the early days most undoubtedly many acquistions were negotiated, but once the homogeneous population of Banadiir was on board Kismayoo, the middle shabelle and cabudwaq were tests that the I.C.U had failed miserably on any yardstick, consequently one must ask ones self if this ideology was to unite somalis as I believe it can why did the I.C.U fail so miserably in implementing it fairly and equitably?

 

But we haven't forgotten, and that is a much more respectible legacy than any of its predecessors -- one that we should use to hold the current regime accountable

 

Now atleast we move to a topic that I can agree is fundamentally more important to the daily livelihoods of the somali, in this we can first agree that we have two choices

 

1] Be pragmatic about the T.F.G and use the intervening years to build up our body politic and the social economic foundations of the Banadiir

[Here I appeal directly to the people of mogadishu, who as it is obvious are expected to fight the ethiopian's to the last Xamar man by all the arm chair mujahids and keyboard waranles on S.O.L, who inevitably hail from parts of somalia that will be on the sidelines in any conflict either seeking recognition from those they expect for us to ruin the lives of our children in battle with, or in the case of puntland grow ever more fat and obese on the back of a pax ethiopia neither helping but condemining]

 

2] The other option which I wish to make clear to the keyboard waranles on S.O.L as they cringe over their apple laptops downloading pictures of T-55 tanks and wishing they were there, is simple with the arms in the hands of the populace any resistance will be spontaneous and will be over the right to keep wepons rather than any concerted effort to remove the ethiopians, this fight will quickly degenerate to clan warfare, and you will get a whole new breed of warlords that will make the current cabal seem like day care specialists.

 

Do I need to make it clear that the mujahids of the drawing rooms need not respond?

[xiinfaniin]

^^One Keyboard Waranle is out alla mubaarazah style! Ready for the call, yaa Liqe?

 

Mogadishu pacified.

Yes, but what significance brother Liqaye attributed to that historic achievement? A mere apostrophe, did he not yaa Baashe? Of course Liqaye’s write up doesn’t constitute in its entirety a worthless rant, but my sweeping objections were inline, justly, with the tone of his post. When one attempts, regardless of his/her political persuasion, to paint an entire entity with one stroke, and negatively, seldom would one obliged to take him seriously. Hence my summary dismissal of Liqaye’s post!

 

 

ICU committed itself untimely and unnecessary war. Untimely, yes. But was it avoidable all together, yaa Baashi? That I personally hoped a different approach before the conflict broke out is a matter of record in these boards. But when the war started and defeat seemed inevitable, I have insisted, as you know, on human dignity and thusly my call to fight on till death or victory. The alternative was defeat with humiliation; such was, in my mind, the stark choices Courts leadership faced.

 

 

ICU Lost the war. No question about it. But that’s hardly a shortcoming. Wars are won and lost!

 

 

ICU handed back the weapons to clans. True. And it was a good strategy to make difficult for the invading force to govern in peace. The options were to destroy Courts heavy weaponry. Time was not on their side for that to have happened, or leave it for the Ethiopia’s taking—it could still take it, but it requires additional effort as the weapons are in the hands of distrustful clans. What would you have Courts do in the above circumstances, yaa Baashi? Give their weapon to Yeey and Geedi or to Ethiopia?

 

 

ICU saved Mogadishu from the urban warfare. True. And they must be commended for it.

 

 

ICU didn't extend the same courtesy to Jilib and Kismayo. Not true. War was not fought in both cities. If you are talking about the region it self, it was chosen for its terrain. It’s receptive for insurgency activities I was told. At any rate, the charge that Courts spared Mogadishu from the knife and purposely sacrificed Kismayo is unfounded. It’s misinformation yaa Baashi!

 

 

Good to see you back...Santaaro is back too from Nairobi.

[Liqaye]

Keyboard waranle number 26 said:

 

^^One Keyboard Waranle is out alla mubaarazah style! Ready for the call, yaa Liqe?

 

Mogadishu pacified.

Yes, but what significance brother Liqaye attributed to that historic achievement? A mere apostrophe, did he not yaa Baashe? Of course Liqaye’s write up doesn’t constitute in its entirety a worthless rant, but my sweeping objections were inline, justly, with the tone of his post. When one attempts, regardless of his/her political persuasion, to paint an entire entity with one stroke, and negatively, seldom would one obliged to take him seriously. Hence my summary dismissal of Liqaye’s post!

 

 

ICU committed itself untimely and unnecessary war. Untimely, yes. But was it avoidable all together, yaa Baashi? That I personally hoped a different approach before the conflict broke out is a matter of record in these boards. But when the war started and defeat seemed inevitable, I have insisted, as you know, on human dignity and thusly my call to fight on till death or victory. The alternative was defeat with humiliation; such was, in my mind, the stark choices Courts leadership faced.

 

 

ICU Lost the war. No question about it. But that’s hardly a shortcoming. Wars are won and lost!

 

 

ICU handed back the weapons to clans. True. And it was a good strategy to make difficult for the invading force to govern in peace. The options were to destroy Courts heavy weaponry. Time was not on their side for that to have happened, or leave it for the Ethiopia’s taking—it could still take it, but it requires additional effort as the weapons are in the hands of distrustful clans. What would you have Courts do in the above circumstances, yaa Baashi? Give their weapon to Yeey and Geedi or to Ethiopia?

 

 

ICU saved Mogadishu from the urban warfare. True. And they must be commended for it.

 

 

ICU didn't extend the same courtesy to Jilib and Kismayo. Not true. War was not fought in both cities. If you are talking about the region it self, it was chosen for its terrain. It’s receptive for insurgency activities I was told. At any rate, the charge that Courts spared Mogadishu from the knife and purposely sacrificed Kismayo is unfounded. It’s misinformation yaa Baashi!

 

 

Good to see you back...Santaaro is back too from Nairobi.

Mogadishu pacified.

Yes, but what significance brother Liqaye attributed to that historic achievement? A mere apostrophe, did he not yaa Baashe? Of course Liqaye’s write up doesn’t constitute in its entirety a worthless rant, but my sweeping objections were inline, justly, with the tone of his post. When one attempts, regardless of his/her political persuasion, to paint an entire entity with one stroke, and negatively, seldom would one obliged to take him seriously. Hence my summary dismissal of Liqaye’s post!

Before anyone reads this maybe a refrence to this post would be apropos

 

http://www.somaliaonline.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=008521;p=1#000000

 

So let us keep the cheap theatrics to a minimum brother, I did not claim that the I.C.U had not done anything positive in mogadishu being myself in mogadishu, has allowed me clearly to see the benificence of the I.C.U in banadiir, that being said my accusation is simple, when the I.C.U handed back the weaponry to the general population and into the hands of the warlord heplers such as from the top of my head farah garamgaram in the case of dayniile, a man who had amply proven his loyalty and support to Qanyare, it knew fully well, that the security situation in xamar would deteriorate beyond what it had been before when the clan courts had atleast nominal control of 70% of mogadishu even before the full blown capture of xamar.

 

but my sweeping objections were inline, justly, with the tone of his post. When one attempts, regardless of his/her political persuasion, to paint an entire entity with one stroke, and negatively, seldom would one obliged to take him seriously. Hence my summary dismissal of Liqaye’s post!

The above was written in the vein of a cock preening itself, and as such I shall not do you the injustice of interupting this narcisistic adoration of ones grasp of english.

 

ICU committed itself untimely and unnecessary war. Untimely, yes. But was it avoidable all together, yaa Baashi? That I personally hoped a different approach before the conflict broke out is a matter of record in these boards. But when the war started and defeat seemed inevitable, I have insisted, as you know, on human dignity and thusly my call to fight on till death or victory. The alternative was defeat with humiliation; such was, in my mind, the stark choices Courts leadership faced.

ICU committed itself untimely and unnecessary war.

 

Perhaps this is not a sign of incompetence, or perhaps you do not realise how the I.C.U and by these I mean the hardliners who while sending there wives to eriterya blundered and blithered into war others were expected to fight for them,

 

But when the war started and defeat seemed inevitable, I have insisted, as you know, on human dignity and thusly my call to fight on till death or victory.

 

Finally after much diging we reach the crux of the matter, perhaps it is not obvious to you [but I must choose my words carefully since I wish to include as much viturperation with out being banned from the boards] that the two ideas you are putting foward are not only morally dishonest but diametrically opposed?

They are not morally honest because as it is patently obivous the death you wish people to fight for shall not be yours, will it? Do you wish me to go and buy you a daalo airlines ticket right away welcome you in xamar and push you in the right direction, to people who will be ever so eager to support you in acquiring the 40 concubines you so wish to have, because I will brother in a heart beat, or perhaps you are actually doing something for the expected victory [apart that is than your fine contributions on S.O.L wich as you can see are is the reason that I wake up in the morning] such as setting up a jihadist fund, or a fundraising commitee or perhaps victory was what you preached in one of the anti-ethiopian demonstrations you organised?

The other reason you are being morally dishonest is because you fail to realise what sort of vicotry you are aiming for, if you accept that the I.C.U as an entity is dead and the fact that it did not prepare it self for the possibilty that it might have to fight under occupation, then what you expect is the disorganised masses of xamar to fight along clan lines against the ethiopians, do you expect this sort of victory to occur this year or within the decade? Finnaly with the I.C.U discredited will it not be the old certainties that people will hold on to, like clan divisions and the warlords that thrive in such a sticking morass?

Finally knowing the situation of southern somalia, the 17% literacy rate , the high infant mortality rate, the fact that 40% of arable land in southern somalia is mined, the fact that 170,000 somali refugees in kenya are scorned and treated like serfs and the ones in yemen are littering the deep blue sea, can you with a straight face look a somali in the eye and claim that war, and haphazard disorganised terror bombing war at that is going to give him or her dignity? Perhaps your version of dignity and what is dignified is diffrent than what is universally accepted.

 

The alternative was defeat with humiliation; such was, in my mind, the stark choices Courts leadership faced.

No that was the stark choice that the courts created for themselves, again another sign of incompetence that I accuse the courts of but I am sure you shall indubitably write an appologia on that one.

 

ICU Lost the war.

No question about it. But that’s hardly a shortcoming

. Wars are won and lost!

Reading this makes me feel all tingly inside, I would describe the sensation to you but again dear brother the rules of these boards are so constricting.

It is a shortcoming because the poor planning, and deficient thinking of the upper echelons of the I.C.U has led to this impasse, oh I know in emotional language you will say that it was the T.F.G invitation of ethiopian troops that has led to the national humiliation, but since we already know the calibre of men that the T.F.G includes would it not have been obvious that this would be their recourse, that even the masses of the gog and magog would have been a okay to such dwarves as yusuf or aideed?

Was it not the incompetence of I.C.U leadership that gave every gold-plated opportunity for the ethiopians and the quislings in baidoa?

 

ICU handed back the weapons to clans. True. And it was a good strategy to make difficult for the invading force to govern in peace.

Au contraire it makes life difficult for the citizens of mogadishu who were very happy to get rid of that particular species of implement.

 

The options were to destroy Courts heavy weaponry. Time was not on their side for that to have happened, or leave it for the Ethiopia’s taking—it could still take it, but it requires additional effort as the weapons are in the hands of distrustful clans.

Precisely, handing over the weapons over to the the ethiopians or a T.F.G representative [for P.R purposes alone my dear dear brother] would have meant that the warlords influence would have been neutered, that isbaroyiinka would not be coming up again as they are know, or the fact that women are once again being attacked for their mobile phones would not be a fact, also the weopons and especially the heavy machinery that you talk about were not in the hands of clans, but were stored at clearly mareked I.C.U depots, which implies that the words I.C.U were not just painted on the doors but there was actual I.C.U control of the depots. just to clear the probable mispreception you had.

 

ICU saved Mogadishu from the urban warfare. True. And they must be commended for it.

Like a broken record you harp on the same theme that I beleive I have already answered, so to add my own record would make this not a post but a din of words.

 

ICU didn't extend the same courtesy to Jilib and Kismayo. Not true. War was not fought in both cities.

The war was not fought in kismayo because the people roundly rejected it, and actually started fighting with I.C.U militia even while the ethiopians were over the horizon, the war was not fought in jilib because the I.C.U planted some mines and took off.

 

If you are talking about the region it self, it was chosen for its terrain. It’s receptive for insurgency activities I was told.

You were told many things it is your choice to understand things as they are, rather than fitting it into a proscetuean bed, for your reality becomes more grosteque the more you try to shape it into what you deem correct.

[Caano Geel]

Liqaye

Fundamentally, i agree with your point on the somali state of mind. And i think this is what your argument boils down to. An attitude that dictates, "if we can't, no one can".

 

This is a subject that i personally find hard to remain objective about. If nothing else, the ICU factions that organised the clean up of mogadishu gave some hope and showed themselves to be capable of implementing a real change.

 

Polically i am secularist, in todays world, i believe that mixing the state with the religion is a recipe for of inequality and short cut to abuse - since the interpertation of divine law is left to humans, all too easily our failability are exposed and excersised. At least with 'man-law' we can question it and change it -- anyhow that aside.

 

For the ICU with their 'fire and brimstone' politics to appeal to me, they did something spectacular. And, i was not the only person. Therefore, even if the havent managed to convince Kismaayo of their intention, they showed an alternative, ideology based path - that was sadly beaten by the morons in the end.

 

This is a step as somalis, we not yet accustomed to - and the reason that i think your analysis is too harsh. Lets just hope, the ICU wont be the last movement that at some point engades a brain.

[bambo]

Liqay

 

 

sxb icu gave back the power to the people , they enjoyed support from . as you well aware of somalia did not reconcile yet , every clans sustained their weapones to guard their business and regions .

 

One can understand if TFG had plan or agenda prior to marching into xaamar , with no agenda and no plan they march into xaamar with somalia long time enemy . how can the people feel secure sxb . while the people see what tikreys are doing in ****** regions to their brothers and etc .

 

2 . TGF also brought back the warlords with havy weapons , mind you some clans dont have warlords who will pertect them from revenge and etc .

 

 

LIQAYE sxb dont emphazise events that your dont have knowledge for , IUC gave back heavy weapons to clans they belong to , each clan was givin back what ever they contributed to icu movement.

[xiinfaniin]

1- ICU was incompetent because it lost the war. It lost it primarily because it lacked sagacity and could not foresee it coming.

2- ICU didn’t give up its heavy weaponry and give it to Ethiopia. That ate up their earlier success, which their supporters continually boast about. It was morally wrong to have done so.

3- ICU was disingenuous: it saved Mogadishu from the destruction of war while it intended to expose Kismayo to the wrath of Ethiopia’s invading army.

 

4- the only recourse that’s available for ICU (its remnants and supporters) is to concede defeat and embrace Ethiopia and the tfg! Any talk of insurgency and resisting Ethiopia’s occupation is not only idle but also incredibly immoral.

 

 

^^^Brother Liqaye, those points I highlighted above form the axis of your chief complaints/critique of ICU! In my response to Baashe, I addressed most of these points and gave a measured reaction to the baseless charges (some of the above points are baseless and amount to hearsay), which you reiterated here. But given your passionate post here and how you excessively moralized in this debate, I see the need to address them again!

 

Reading this makes me feel all tingly inside, I would describe the sensation to you but again dear brother the rules of these boards are so constricting.

It is a shortcoming because the poor planning, and deficient thinking of the upper echelons of the I.C.U has led to this impasse, oh I know in emotional language you will say that it was the T.F.G invitation of ethiopian troops that has led to the national humiliation, but since we already know the calibre of men that the T.F.G includes would it not have been obvious that this would be their recourse, that even the masses of the gog and magog would have been a okay to such dwarves as yusuf or aideed?

Was it not the incompetence of I.C.U leadership that gave every gold-plated opportunity for the ethiopians and the quislings in baidoa?

 

I appreciate the fact that you have control of your emotions. Hindsight commentary, however, does not represent a fair critique. Of course you and I, in light of the information that’s available to us now, can indeed understand the significance of the enemy Courts faced. We know now that Courts fought not only with Ethiopia who has an organized army but also with America and it suffered defeat as a direct result of latter’s logistical reach. Given what we know now, you and I, good Liqaye, would have done everything that’s humanly possible to save our shabaabs or would have planned in a different way to affect a different and favorable outcome. But that is speaking from the rear sight of the firearm as it were and hardly proves a point---it’s easy yaa Liqaye!

Midda kale, are you lamenting about their heroic battle that unfortunately resulted into a depressing rollback of what they fought to advance? Are you yaa Liqaye? Losing a war does not necessarily suggest incompetence adeer. Need I cite you history to prove that point? There could be many factors that could have caused the defeat of ICU. Why did you so readily condemn them as an incompetent bunch, then? And if it was their sheer incompetence that threw you off, how can I take you seriously when you seem to embrace the tfg? Oblivion, Mark Twian was quoted to have said, is the only earthly certainty. Would I be widely off the mark if I suggest you suffer one?

 

 

Precisely, handing over the weapons over to the the ethiopians or a T.F.G representative [for P.R purposes alone my dear dear brother] would have meant that the warlords influence would have been neutered, that isbaroyiinka would not be coming up again as they are know, or the fact that women are once again being attacked for their mobile phones would not be a fact, also the weopons and especially the heavy machinery that you talk about were not in the hands of clans, but were stored at clearly mareked I.C.U depots, which implies that the words I.C.U were not just painted on the doors but there was actual I.C.U control of the depots. just to clear the probable mispreception you had.

 

This view of yours is dominated by powerful emotions. Obviously with such emotional fog I don’t think you could reasonably be held accountable for the utter impracticality of your suggestion above. How could a defeated army hand over its weapon to its enemy? And which warlord’s influence are you trying to neuter yaa Liqaye? The ones who come to the city riding on the back of Ethiopia’s invading tanks or those whom the Courts defeated few months’ back but now reportedly returned? Why would you profess one is better than the other and hence have the right to collect retreating men’s swords? Courts handed back the weapons to the clans from whom they have originally collected. Unless you are a passionate anti-ICU you cant accuse Courts by neglecting the security of their constituency and leaving them without defense when their actions were intended to just prevent that. They provided to the people of Mogadishu whatever weapon they could so they can defend themselves and keep city’s military balance in check. I also believe Courts have rightly anticipated armed insurgency to begin in that city and thusly left small armies in the hands of would be insurgents in Mogadishu so when the rebellion begins those who wish to partake in it would have the necessary means to do so. Not everyone sees the legitimacy of the tfg and the Ethiopian invaders so don’t get surprised if some still talk opposing and resisting Ethiopian troops in Somalia. There is a chance that Courts weapon will not decline in utility so giving it to the enemy would have constituted treason in my opinion.

 

Finally after much diging we reach the crux of the matter, perhaps it is not obvious to you [but I must choose my words carefully since I wish to include as much viturperation with out being banned from the boards] that the two ideas you are putting foward are not only morally dishonest but diametrically opposed?

They are not morally honest because as it is patently obivous the death you wish people to fight for shall not be yours, will it? Do you wish me to go and buy you a daalo airlines ticket right away welcome you in xamar and push you in the right direction, to people who will be ever so eager to support you in acquiring the 40 concubines you so wish to have, because I will brother in a heart beat, or perhaps you are actually doing something for the expected victory [apart that is than your fine contributions on S.O.L wich as you can see are is the reason that I wake up in the morning] such as setting up a jihadist fund, or a fundraising commitee or perhaps victory was what you preached in one of the anti-ethiopian demonstrations you organised?

The other reason you are being morally dishonest is because you fail to realise what sort of vicotry you are aiming for, if you accept that the I.C.U as an entity is dead and the fact that it did not prepare it self for the possibilty that it might have to fight under occupation, then what you expect is the disorganised masses of xamar to fight along clan lines against the ethiopians, do you expect this sort of victory to occur this year or within the decade? Finnaly with the I.C.U discredited will it not be the old certainties that people will hold on to, like clan divisions and the warlords that thrive in such a sticking morass?

Finally knowing the situation of southern somalia, the 17% literacy rate , the high infant mortality rate, the fact that 40% of arable land in southern somalia is mined, the fact that 170,000 somali refugees in kenya are scorned and treated like serfs and the ones in yemen are littering the deep blue sea, can you with a straight face look a somali in the eye and claim that war, and haphazard disorganised terror bombing war at that is going to give him or her dignity? Perhaps your version of dignity and what is dignified is diffrent than what is universally accepted.

 

Your didactic tone aside, you do indeed have a point there. What dignity does Xiin see in a perpetual jihadi war that will inevitably cause many lives and that which certainly prolong Somalia’s strife? Perhaps I am being mulish here but the way I see it is that Somalia is invaded by its historical foe and as long that enemy is on our soil any means (of course acceptable means) of driving it out is justified. The alternative is even worse in the long run. Allowing Ethiopia to stay in Mogadishu, manipulate local clans there and get a foothold is worse alternative for Somalia’s future statehood than waging a violent insurgency war, which in the process could cause loss of innocent lives. Today, I heard, a local oromo imam has been murdered in Mogadishu. Muslims shabaabs are being hunted down in the jungles of Jubbooyinka. I don’t claim to have the moral certainty on this but I can’t easily accept a defeat of this sort so early. By losing one war and suffering the setback, Courts movements shouldn’t easily give up on their pursue of bringing lasting hope to Somalia, which they came very close to do. If it takes only one defeat to retire from their cause they shouldn't have tried it in the first place! True that a serious blow has beer strike against Islam’s political approach in Somalia. The zeal and fervor of opposing Ethiopia has been nevertheless strengthen, and that, however feeble, is a hope for me. I don’t know when the kind of victory I am talking about will be realized but that does not mean anything yaa Liqaye. Time is not the measure here. We may not even achieve it in our lifetime, but we should set the tone for future generations and instill in them the value of resistance against Ethiopia. If Ethiopia withdraws now and leaves Somalia’s affairs for Somali themselves then I would not see the value of continuing more fighting. Baashe’s suggestions, however bitter, would be a good and realistic approach to take. But as I said it there, given the realities on the ground and the attitude of the world I don’t see that happening any time soon. To the disappointment of those who are riding on the Ethiopia’s momentum now fights against Ethiopia are inevitable, and will happen. And I do see a dignity in them yaa Liqaye!

 

 

Another point I would like to emphasize is that Courts were defeated primarily because of the resolve of the enemy they faced. Ethiopia has been planning this for a long time and is determined to not allow a genuine Somali state to emerge from the ruins of the civil war. It worked very hard to get a foothold in our politics and it understood Somalia’s tribal settings. Those who doubted its prudence before, recent events were quite illustrious to leave any room for further ambiguity. Instead of engaging in an endless hindsight commentary and analyzing what the Courts have gotten wrong, we should instead emphasize what the Courts have aimed to achieve but were unable to attain. Agree I will be if we subject the means to scrutiny but strive to realize Courts stated goals. You can’t genuinely quote Somalia dire statistics as a reason to stop fighting for ejecting the occupation force. Lets get the sequence right saaxiib the swords of resistance need be lifted against Ethiopia, Somalis need be reconciled, and then, and only then, will we e able to address the problem of Somali people whose dismal situation you have cited.

 

As for the conspiracy of Courts double-dealings, which I see you theorize and present it as a fact that need be dealt, I say it’s baseless. Courts have not fought Kismayo and neither have they done any fighting in Jilib! The claim that Kismayo people resisted their plan of fighting in the city is a weak armor. Kismayo people, after all, were on the mercy of Courts fighters, and were no in a position to affect any influence on Courts decisions. To insist on such invalid points only shows how meager the information you have is. it does not warrant a serious response.