Somalia's government cannot tame Mogadishu

[Juje]

8 months on, Somalia's government cannot tame Mogadishu

 

NAIROBI, Kenya: The killings in Mogadishu, Somalia's bloodstained capital, are not going away. Nearly every day, the city endures street battles, roadside bombs, showers of bullets.

 

This is not how it was supposed to be.

 

Eight months after the U.N.-backed government supported by troops from neighboring Ethiopia rolled into Mogadishu promising peace, divisions over clan, politics and power are stronger than ever. The chaos is allowing a deadly Islamic insurgency to gain momentum in a region seen as a key battleground in the war on terror.

 

"We stayed here in Mogadishu through all this fighting because we thought things would calm down if the government became powerful," Asho Abdi Nor told The Associated Press this week as she fled the city with her family. "But now the Islamists are promising to redouble their attacks, and we will be the victims."

 

Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, then turned on each other. The current government was formed in 2004, but has struggled to assert any real control.

 

A radical Islamic group with ties to al-Qaida ruled the capital and much of southern Somalia for six months last year, until they were driven out in December when Ethiopia — the region's military powerhouse — sent in troops. Remnants of the group have launched an insurgency, vowing to realize their dream of ruling Somalia according to the Quran.

 

"A martyr like me should devote his precious life by defending Islam," an insurgent fighter, Abu Khalid, told AP.

 

Human Rights Watch has accused all sides in the conflict of war crimes, saying the battles target hospitals and other medical facilities. The fighting has decimated the capital, already one of the most violent and gun-infested cities in the world. Thousands of civilians have been killed since December, and a fifth of Mogadishu's 2 million residents have fled.

 

Earlier this month, two prominent Somali journalists were assassinated, one outside his office and the other as he returned from his fallen colleague's funeral. The motives are unknown in a city teeming with people desperate for power.

 

Somalia's government spokesman acknowledges that violence has increased in recent weeks, but said it's only because "the terrorists are now using their last gasp to survive."

 

"What is happening now is a security operation, and it will continue until security is fully restored," he said. But the government has announced before that it has crushed the insurgency, only to watch it rise again.

 

A National Reconciliation Conference — which also has been the target of insurgents — has been going on since July, but organizers have announced no major breakthroughs. Much of the stalemate is due to clan allegiances — there are dozens of clan factions in the capital, each making demands on the government and each a potential spoiler.

 

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf's ****** clan has little or no presence in the capital, leaving him with no local allies. The majority of Mogadishu residents are from a rival clan, the ******, which is itself riven with factions whose warlords in the past divided up the capital among themselves.

 

The Islamic group, meanwhile, has not even joined the meeting and most of its leaders are in hiding.

 

"Powerful sub-clans are totally alienated from the governance of the country, and have allied themselves with the Islamists in order to undermine stability and take down the transitional authority," said John Prendergast, a senior adviser with the International Crisis Group, which monitors conflict zones.

 

The United States has repeatedly accused the Islamic group of harboring international terrorists linked to al-Qaida and allegedly responsible for the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. America is concerned that Somalia could be a breeding ground for terror, particularly after the Islamists gained power briefly last year and Osama bin Laden declared his support for them.

 

The U.S. sent a small number of special operations troops with the Ethiopian forces that drove the Islamic forces into hiding. In January, U.S. warplanes carried out at least two airstrikes in an attempt to kill suspected al-Qaida members, Pentagon officials have said.

 

Other than the airstrikes in January, the U.S. has avoided overt military action in Somalia since it led a U.N. force that intervened in the 1990s in an effort to fight famine. The mission led to clashes between U.N. forces and Somali warlords, including a battle chronicled in the book and movie "Black Hawk Down" that killed 18 U.S. soldiers.

 

Besides the seemingly endless violence in Somalia, the country struggles with hunger and disease. Life expectancy at birth is 46 years; a quarter of children die before they reach 5. In many areas, malnutrition rates are 20 percent or above.

 

"We civilians are in pain from every direction," said Abdi Kafi, a Somali peace activist. "We are the poorest of the poor in society, we fear for our children. How painful that is."

 

The Associated PressPublished: August 29, 2007

Source

[Faarax-Brawn]

Juju,This not new news adeer. You,I & every supporter has been saying this since these men came to MOG atop Xabashi tanks.

 

Only blind yeysters are still clinging to this unfounded dream that the TFG will somehow pacify & control Mog while indiscriminatly killing its residents.

[General Duke]

It is being tamed and will. Insha Allah. all this talk is nonsical. The TFG has two years to overcome this simple fact.

[Faarax-Brawn]

Originally posted by The Duke:

It is being tamed and will. all this talk is nonsical. .

Powerful media houses such as the AP & the Int'l Herald tribune are just talking out of there a$$ i suppose? Yaa Brother Duke?

[Juje]

^^

Saxiib ninkan hal dheg ayu wax ka maqla.

[Faarax-Brawn]

Originally posted by Juje:

^^

Saxiib ninkan hal dheg ayu wax ka maqla.

Runtaa weeye,Dhegtaasna waa half dhagool alaylee.

[General Duke]

lool. Powerful media houses you say. Their predictions are based on individuals such as yourselfs, ill informed and driven by clan. Remmeber the "regional war" and the other predictions.

 

Mogadishu is 90% tamed the rest is a simple fact to be overcome with time.

 

More training for police and strengthening the security apparatus. 8 months, two years what ever it takes. Mogadishu is no longer a clan haven its the capital of Somalia.

[Reer Banaadir]

Duke..Stop lying....where do U get your news? forget about the media and those that R oppose to this so called government...let's talk about reality on the ground if security and safety is measured by the killing, raping, pillaging, de-popolating the city, for getting about the rest of the country, the famine, lack of basic medical treatments and human rights..then somalia is the safest place on this planet and the government is strong trusworthy government. But if we don't skip the reality..I told U before I know someone that was very close to the government that just returned from somalia and met both the current president and the PM had a frank talk with them and told me all that U as Duke wrote up there are nothing more than someone's figment of imagination..So remeber bro U aint the only one that have up close and deltailed information from this government. So, stop being childish and start to grow up like a man with principal and integrity. If the government officials are confessing to the sittuation in private to their close supperter and they themself are realizing the mistake they made who the hell r u to contradic it? forget about the somali side one of my friend who is an tigre and very close to the higher ranks of the the etiopian government have told me tha Meles is in deep trouple not only in Somalia, but in and within the Ethiopian territory itself, withinn his own party the TPLF who are trying to replace him due to the mess that he got them in the the horn of Africa. The only reason that he's in Somalia right now is to create fear monger among the Amhara and telling them that support me now or the tigary will secceed from Ethopia if these TPLF guys over throw me and U the Amharas will be left to fend for yourself agains the nagry Oromos and and Somalis..SO tell me man where R u getting informations or U lack the critical needs to analyze the facts and sittuation on the real world. R U depating on here for mere fact that I belong to a seratin clans and as such I shall support them wright or wrong no matter what they do to the rest of the country. This failed in the 60's,70's, 80's, 90's. and now as all over somalia from North in somaliland to South all over. to all off U somalis here Start behaving like a civilized ppl or I promiss U U'll be errased from the face of this earth. Remember U weren't the 1st sociaty that were over run by others when they couldn't get their acts together. At least I'll give the Tigray and the amhara a credit for one thing they know what's the meaning of having a nation to call their own and know how to deal with trouplesome neighbors like us on here...The rest of the world they say: He who does not learn from the past Histories is DOOMED to repeat..but in the somali mentality I notice the past has noo relevance to the present and future, and we deliparately ignore our mistakes and foults and allways blame someone else for our demice and self distraction. Nowhere in our normal conversation there is that I or we of clan A,B or C have made a mistake and I or we're sorry and are willing to correct our misdeeds. Untill we learn those precious words we'll be in a perpetual cycle of vengance and counter vengence till our end. If that is what we want then we deserve this government, cause it helps us speed up the process. Remember ppl only a good sociaty produces a good leaders and a wicked one can only produce one that is worst of human kind, so far it look like we have been prodicing the later, my question is what does that tell about uss individualy? Cause every group off people starts from "I" before it gets "we". I know I said too much, but this was for Duke and likes including those that criticise this government. Eachone of us need to do some soul searching before we start say this or that, and think about why are we as somalis are unable to produce a good qualified leader to lead us. we need to ask each other what have we, individuale have done to contribute to the mess that we are in. we need to stop suporting someone blindly, that is called MADNESS and a mad person looses self respect and the respect of those that are around him/her. If U look around we lost the respeck of eachother and lost the respect of those country that are our neighbors and those far fields, and we still think we are great in our own little pathetic corners of what was once great nation called Somalia ( from what today part of Eriteria , much of ethiopia and parts of Kenya)and are at risk of disappearing all together just Like The Alandalusians... PEACE and OUT

[Juje]

Originally posted by Reer Banaadir:

Duke..Stop lying.... ...let's talk about reality on the ground if security and safety is measured by the killing, raping, pillaging, de-popolating the city, for getting about the rest of the country, the famine, lack of basic medical treatments and human rights..then somalia is the safest place on this planet and the government is strong trusworthy government.

Indeed..!

[RedSea]

Stating the obvious. And also look who is saying trees are being planted mr. Duke.