The Somali Crisis

[Koora-Tuunshe]

The Somali Crisis

Ali H. Abdulla

 

April 15 , 2008

 

“For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”

John F. Kennedy.

 

President Kennedy uttered these words eight months after the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, when the two then super powers nearly annihilated each other with weapons of mass destruction. One can’t help but wonder how the crisis would have evolved if the current trigger-happy president of the United States were in the driving seat and calling the shots at that time.

 

The leadership qualities of Kennedy and his brother Robert contributed to moving the United States from a DEFCON 2 situation that could have led to a DEFCON 1 situation – a point of no return - to a normal DEFCON 5 situation. Kennedy went against the advice of the military establishment to take out the missiles and invade Cuba.

 

To avert a devastating nuclear war between the two giants, Kennedy used his leadership qualities, courage and ability to compromise; qualities that only good leaders with vision are endowed with. He first ordered a complete naval blockade of Cuba which prompted Khurshev, the then Russian President, to blink and turn around his fleet. Kennedy then adopted a give-and-take approach to dismantle the nuclear missiles the Soviets managed to assemble in Cuba before the blockade. The approach contributed to Russia agreeing to dismantle the missiles in return for an agreement from the US not to invade Cuba. In another secret agreement the US also agreed to dismantle its nuclear missiles in Turkey. The key words here are foresight, vision, courage and compromise.

 

As Somalis, we do not only breathe the same air, cherish our children’s future and are all mortal but we also share a common language, a common religion, a common country, a common color and a common physique. Despite all these shared characteristics, we have failed miserably to recover from a protracted civil war that has destroyed our country and threatens our future generations. Our current leaders have failed miserably to emulate great men like Kennedy in order to step back from the abyss that we are sliding into at a steady and determined pace.

 

Somalis say “‘rag waa raggii hore, hadalna waa intuu yidhi”. This proverb teaches Somalis to learn from great men before us. We are not the only people who have gone through a devastating civil war. We differ from others by not being able or willing to learn from the past and to emulate the actions of great leaders like Kennedy. Somalis also say “Sidee bay xeegana xeega u noqota ilkana u nabad galaan”. This proverb teaches Somalis to compromise and find alternatives to difficult situations. Foreigners always wonder how it is that Somalis manage to compose wise proverbs but fail to use them to solve their problems.

 

Since Somalis have failed to solve their problems over the last 17 years, it is about time that the World community intervenes to save us from ourselves. The way things are going, there is no hope in sight and the situation can only get worse. We cannot afford to wait another 17 years in search of leaders who can extricate us from the quagmire we are in. Our people are dying in the thousands; our environment is degrading rapidly; our sovereignty is in danger; we are about to disintegrate into numerous clan enclaves that can eventually go to war against each other over scarce natural resources and imaginary borders.

 

It is in the interest of the International Community to pay close attention to our problem and start worrying about our anarchy. This anarchy can spread and affect many countries in the region, thus destabilizing the whole of East Africa; this anarchy poses a real threat to international shipping lanes after Somalia has become a breeding ground for dangerous pirates and ruthless killers; this anarchy can make Somalia a save haven for all kinds of terror organizations; this anarchy can transform Somalia into a major producer of drugs Ala Afghanistan.

 

The International Community must act sooner than later by assembling a determined multinational force to put Somalia under Trusteeship for no less than 20 years; by that time most of the warlords would have either become too old or simply perished; by that time a new breed of leaders would have emerged to steer Somalia back into the fold of the International Community.

 

It is a drastic course of action but the situation demands it. The crisis in Somalia is worse than Darfur. If the International Community is ready to challenge a sovereign State like the Sudan to save the people of Darfur, what prevents them from challenging a bunch of thugs to save a whole nation from itself?

 

The International Community cannot rely on a country like Ethiopia to pacify the Somali people. Ethiopia is part of the problem and is home to millions of Somalis who are struggling to free themselves from its brutal rule. The New York Times and Aljazeera have lately paid close attention to Ethiopia and the manner that this country deals with its own people. Ethiopia also played an important role in the collapse of the Somali State in the late 1980’s and fueled the subsequent civil war by arming the different factions.

 

In the name of the thousands of refugees who live in squalor or continue to perish in the Arabian Sea running away from the madness we call upon the International Community to intervene and put an end to this human misery of epic proportions.

 

* The writer is a freelance contributor to wardheerNews.com. He can be reached at: E-mail: aliegeh@gmail.com

[Naxar Nugaaleed]

Originally posted by Koora-Tuunshe:

The Somali Crisis

Since Somalis have failed to solve their problems over the last 17 years, it is about time that the World community intervenes to save us from ourselves. The way things are going, there is no hope in sight and the situation can only get worse. We cannot afford to wait another 17 years in search of leaders who can extricate us from the quagmire we are in.

This is the critical failure of all those who look at Somalia and think that some savior is gonna fall out of the sky or think that all the problems of Somalia is do to leadership or lack of it are fools. James Carville was known for saying its the economy, ******. I would like to take the time to say to all the people that think like that, its the people, ******. The Jews have been waiting for their savior and I think it would takes longer if we think some super human, or the "World" to safe us from ourselves.

[Fabregas]

^^ Yet the author acknowledges that Ethiopia can't pacify nor bring peace to Somalia. He correctly indentifies the dictatorship as been part of the problem. You highlight that quote so as to Somalis look backwards and in need of foreign intervention( Ethiopian Brothers shouldn't leave until African Brothers come to guard us, because we are scared of getting hit by weapons of cimamad destruction)