Victims, and relationship to other victims

[wind.talker]

Does anyone know what King Leopold II did to the people of the Congo during colonial Belgium's time? Does anyone know what the Khmer Rouge killing machine did to the people of Cambodia in the '70s? Does anyone know what the Pinochet regime did to the citizens of Chile during his dictatorship? Does anyone know what Milosevic's supremacist Serb foces did to Bosnian Muslims and the Croats? Does anyone know...I can go on forever. But, it seems everyone knows what Hitler did to the Jews - because they did such a superb job announcing it and repeating it to the world over and over again. An effective use of example, I'd say.

 

Nursing Wounds, Somali Enclave Dreams Of Nationhood

 

Reuters — London, UK — 16 October, 2005

 

HARGEISA, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Abdi Ibrahim lost most of his loved ones in 1988 when government bombers attacked Hargeisa, at the time just another city flattened by Somalia's civil war.

 

Memories of that attack remain raw, not just because tens of thousands were killed but because the massacre deepened a fierce desire for separate nationhood among the people of Somaliland, the northeast region of Somalia.

 

Somaliland -- a former British protectorate -- unilaterally declared independence in 1991, a decade after rebels took up arms against Somali military ruler Mohamed Siad Barre.

 

The anger that fed that breakaway drive more than a decade ago still smoulders in the semi-desert territory, which is pushing to become the next African country to win nationhood after Eritrea, which split from Ethiopia in 1993.

 

"I lost three of my children and 162 ... family members during the massacre," Ibrahim, 52, said, in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland.

 

"Almost everybody was affected. Dead bodies littered the city. Thousands were killed by the blasts as well as by trigger-happy soldiers."

 

Many who survived the onslaught were crippled by hundreds of thousands of landmines placed by soldiers targeting civilians trying to flee to nearby Ethiopia.

 

Although it has not been recognised internationally, Somaliland is flourishing compared to the rest of chaotic Somalia, buoyed by the economic stimulus provided by the arrival of thousands of former refugees attracted by its stability.

 

Last month, the Horn of Africa territory held peaceful parliamentary elections, its third polls since declaring independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991.

 

Somaliland officials say the polls, the enclave's stability, the disarmament of 50,000 gunmen and efforts at good governance show the territory should be a nation in its own right.

 

BITTER MEMORIES

 

Somaliland's bid for recognition is widely resisted around Africa because of a longstanding preference for leaving old colonial borders intact to discourage secessionist movements.

 

The charter of the pan-continental African Union requires that colonial-era borders be left untouched unless all parties involved negotiate all changes.

 

But in Somaliland, there can be no going back.

 

Barre ordered mercenary pilots to bomb Hargeisa in 1988 to snuff out opposition. Many locals who fled vowed never again to be part of greater Somalia when they returned to their city.

 

Abdiwahab Shamaheye was 11 during the killings. He helplessly watched as soldiers loyal to Barre murdered his uncle and guardian Abdullahi Askar, a soldier himself who had disobeyed orders to slay his own people.

 

"My uncle Abdullahi was shot dead in front of our house, Shamaheye said. "The government gave orders for the killing of senior civil servants and police officers from the north because it feared they would rally citizens to fight it."

 

Thousands have been buried in shallow mass graves south of Hargeisa near a military base.

 

A MiG-19 bomber jet sits atop a dais in the capital's Freedom Garden to remind people of the bloodshed.

 

Omar Duale, a Somaliland diplomat who fights for its recognition, said relics of the massacre were preserved to remind people of the pain of union with Somalia.

 

"We will never go back to the union because the same plane with a blue star you see in our Freedom Garden bombed our city," Duale said. "It's a reminder to our future generations."

 

EAGER TO DO BUSINESS

 

Once ruled by Britain, Somaliland joined the rest of Somalia, a former Italian colony, in 1960. The union took place during a wave of Somali nationalism after the British and then the Italians gave independence to their colonies.

 

That nationalist euphoria has long since faded.

 

Somaliland made the final break from Somalia after warlords ousted Barre and plunged the rest of the country into the anarchy that still grips it today.

 

Africa's reluctance to sanction that break has not stopped Somaliland developing.

 

One of its successful businessmen is Abdulkadir Hashi Elmi, owner of Maan-Soor hotel. A retired petroleum engineer with six children, Elmi worked in Kuwait for 36 years before coming home.

 

Locals said he was mad to sink his savings into the hotel's construction on the outskirts of Hargeisa in 1992. But Elmi trusted his instincts.

 

"I knew the city and people well, I knew one day everything will calm down," he said. "I invested $1.5 million to build Maan-Soor hotel to accommodate (non-governmental organisation) staff who were commuting to and from Djibouti."

 

Elmi might be looking to the future, but the past still casts a long shadow in this enclave of 3.5 million people.

 

Opposition leader Feisal Ali Warabe says Somaliland's people still wanted those behind the 1988 massacre to be punished.

 

While Barre and many of his officers are now dead, some survive and wield influence in the south as warlords.

 

Ali is inspired by the hunt for Nazi war criminals.

 

"We will track them down and bring them to justice like the Jews did," he said.

 

Source: Reuters

 

While Barre and many of his officers are now dead, some survive and wield influence in the

south as warlords

.

And in the North as Presidents, no? Funny how Reuters (named after and established by a Jew), forgets to mention how Somaliland president Dahir Riyale is one of Barre's officers. But no - in SL, Barre's officers from the South are guilty, while Barre's officers from the North are raised to the highest status in the land, namely the Presidency. You gotta love the irony.

[Pi]

Obviously, Riyaale was part of the old government. But, I am just wondering, was he in any way, shape, or form responsible for any and all the wrongs that happened to Somalis? I guess so, eh? Afterall, every somali politician has a stained shirt; it's just that some shirts show the stain more than others.

 

Oh yeah, by the way, if Riyaale was part of the generals and colonels bulldozing the city of Hargesia back in the day, would he still have become the president? I don't think so.

 

Sometimes people make it out to seem that Riyaale being elected in Somaliland is similiar to Hitler being elected in Israel. That's just insane. Riyaale, as far as I know, is not guilty of massacaring civilians. He's just guilty by association- association to Barre's government.

[wind.talker]

Oh yeah, by the way, if Riyaale was part of the generals and colonels bulldozing the city of Hargesia back in the day

Nah, but Riyaale was the snitch that was informing Barre's Army of SNM hideouts and pointing out potential target areas for the military to bomb. So, really, what's the difference? The snitch is also guilty.

 

Lastly, but not least, while you're bondering this saging thought, find out, as to why South-Africa, decided to established a truth and reconciliation committee in South Africa,

Firstly, why do you always compare SL to other countries' history? Live your own life, man. SL ain't South Africa nor is it Chile. You got my point and it irks the living daylights outta you cause, at the end of the day, the truth hurts: Riyaale is a snitch who, in a past life, betrayed your much-idolized "war of liberation" movement in Northern Somalia. How does one award the highest price in the land to the enemy of the liberation? :confused: A philosophical question to you which neither you nor your long, run-on sentences will ever find a respectable answer to.

 

similarly, Somaliland, will be within her vlegal right to ask for the extradition of

Gen. Ali Samatar and Gen. Morgan

, from whereever they are around the world to Hargeisa in Somasliland

SL's legal right, SL's legal international borders, blah blah. Like I told you before, all of life in Somalia is decided at the barrel of a gun. Marka waxaan ku leeyahay Gen. Ali Samatar iyo Gen. Morgan rag bay ka dhex dasheen. Su'aasha waxaa waaye: ragnimadaada ma kuu quurtaa inaad afka-hadalkaas dhaqan-galisid?

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

War nimanyahoow maa aflagaadada la iska dhaafo. War nimanyahoow saan hala isku dhaama, saan si ma'aha.

[wind.talker]

Secondly, it's also refreshing to notice, that you have finally accepted the consequences of Somalia's political

settlement

, in which the civil-war, that had happen inaugurated it; for I see, you quite content to label your vanquished ilk, as that of

Defeated Lot

; if we go by the merit of your answers that you have contributed it, to another thread.

Let me share with you a short story, my friend. 1940skii waxaa jiri jiray nin la dhihi jiray Olol Diinle (Allaha u naxaristo) oo ahaa Reer Qalalaafe (oo u dhexaysa degaanada Godey iyo Mustaxiil ee Kilinka Shanaad). Siday sheekadu ii soo gaartay, waxaa uu ahaa ninkii ugu horeeye oo isticmaalkii Talyaaniga u dhiibaan jagada "Korneyl" xilliyadii gumeysiga. Asagoo ka taliya degaanka Qalalaafe ayaa rag kale oo ay isku jifo yihiin u imaadeen oo waxay ku dheheen "Waxaan rabnaa inaan dhabargoyno [Defeated Lot] adna waad u gargaareysaa." Korneyl Olol Diinle ragii buu u jawaabay oo wuxuu ku yiri hadal taariikhi ah: [Defeated Lot] "libin waa laga helaa laakin lagama haayo."

 

So, my friend, you can refer to me as the Defeated Lot for all of eternity, but the question is: Guushaad heshay maxaad maanta ka haysaa? Sidaad adba aragtid, ragii laga guuleyste waa kuwaan oo maanta Soomaaliya wax ka ah oo waad u jeeda cidiinana siday dekedda Boosaaso uga ganacsadaan. Now ask yourself: How is it that the same people you supposedly defeated are charging your ilk tariff to import goods through the port of Boosaaso? Ask yourself how the same people you supposedly defeated are the #1 obstacle to your dream of gaining international recognition?

 

Indeed, the wise words of Col. Olol Diinle (Allaha u naxariisto) have reverbrated through history as the words of truth. Just ask a Burco businessman!