Lifting Somalia’s Arms Embargo and a Renewed Political Conflict

[Carafaat]

Odey;921874 wrote:

I may not agree with all the points raised and it seemed like an attack on the individual, but the Arms embargo should stay in my view because of the following reasons

 

1- We do not have a Professional army that can be trusted with such heavy weapons, nor do they have a Nationalistic View/Mindset or have a wider appeal in its make up that people trust. Their moral compass is questionable still and have a long way to go.

 

2- We are in the phase of winding down a Civil War and until peace takes hold and we are in a position to move away from talking with a barrel pointing at each other, I strongly believe more weapons isn't going to help

 

3- We are a poor nation and we shouldn't be purchasing weapons, but instead should be purchasing medical equipment, building roads and investing in other assorted infrastructure.

 

4- Rebuilding a huge army will immediately make our neighbors uneasy, particularly since our politics hasn't evolved beyond the gun.

 

5- There is a great danger that these weapons will be sold to the highest bidder as they have done for a long time now and cause yet more bloodshed.

 

I think the embargo should stand and even tightened for the exception of Defense capability, coupled with a wider professional training of our security services. They should all be taught Citizenship from a military standpoint and their duties instilled in them so they don't differentiate between the citizens they have been sworn to protect.

 

Their powers and involvement should be made clear and jurisdictions defined, particularly when operating inside the country. a lot has to be done before arms embargo is lifted.

Odey, you make more sense then the author above does.

[Abwaan]

ninkan Odey caqli caqli buu ciyaarayaa, at least I give him a credit inuu xiin iyo The Zack dhaamo.

[Carafaat]

Abwaan;921975 wrote:

ninkan Odey caqli caqli buu ciyaarayaa, at least I give him a credit inuu xiin iyo The Zack dhaamo.

Wakhtigii xooga wuu dhamaday.Siyasadu waa caqli.

[Odey]

many thanks Carafaat and Xiin!. I just hope the points I raised earlier give people something to think about and we can look at this in a more objective way.

[Odey]

Abwaan;921975 wrote:

ninkan Odey caqli caqli buu ciyaarayaa, at least I give him a credit inuu xiin iyo The Zack dhaamo.

Brother I am Unique in a way Only ODEY can be!, I resent being put in any category!

[OdaySomali]

xiinfaniin;921839 wrote:

 

“Someone’s looter/killer is another person’s hero.”

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

[/b]

I have not read the article but a quick passing comment.

 

 

 

I watched the video from which the above quote is supposedly taken and im sure the president said: "One person's warlord is another person's hero". 1: If we are going to quote him, let's at least do so accurately.

 

 

 

2: Now that we have quoted him accurately, let's try to interpret and understand what he has said. I sense that the above quote is supposed to be an indictment of sorts. If anything, the President is correct and insightful in what he has said; and if he is to navigate the minefield that is internal Somali politics, he will need to maintain that perpspective. As much as we would like for all the "warlords" (define, in the Somali context!?) and the "bad" guys to be rounded up, locked up and immediately and forever neutralised, that will only remain a pipe-dream and ideal scenario. It just is not realistic, constructive or possible.

 

Rather than the above quote, I would really find interesting the policies that the President might adopt and the actions he might take to deal with the looter/killer/warlord-come-hero.

[Mintid Farayar]

xiinfaniin;921839 wrote:

By Faisal A. Roble

Feb 26, 2013

“More than 100 religious leaders and business executives, a doctor and other prominent residents of this Port city were hunted door to door and killed in three nights of terror that began on the eve of the Americans landing in Mogadishu...”

Jane Perlez, New York Times, Dec. 1992

 

“Someone’s looter/killer is another person’s hero.”

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

 

This piece is the last of a three-part installment on the deteriorating political situation of the presidency of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. The crusade which his government is waging to have the world community lift the arms embargo comes at a time when political conflict is at its highest since the 1991 civil war. His zeal to go after arming his troops at this time in the country’s history and his unwavering sabotage of local efforts in Jubbaland are all the more troubling.

 

As a recent Garoweonline editorial opined, “Somalia needs a major disarmament and demobilization plan, but instead the country's new president is asking for more weapons.” Few days after this editorial was posted, about eleven people were killed in Kismayo in a serendipitous conflict that pits Mogadishu against Kismayo.

 

In December 1992, nearly about twenty years ago, the late General Aidid’s militia murdered about hundred civilians in a witch hunt that Jane Perez of the New York Times documented. Not to go back to those days where mass killings happened with impunity, the AMISOM forces are in a bid to find the culprits responsible for the Kismayo murders of February 23, 2013.

 

When History should be Lesson for Arms Embargo

 

This is not the first time Somalis smelled the coffee and felt the danger associated with weapons supplied to their beleaguered nation; they rightfully raised their voices and pleaded with Western nations in the past to exercise caution prior to supplying destructive weapons to Somali leaders.

In the late 1980s, for example, when the government of Siyad Barre was carrying its massive atrocities in Northern Somalia (Somaliland), one of the Somali National Movement’s (SNM) activists (Dr. Hussein Bulhan) wrote an op-ed piece on the New York Times. Under the heading of “No Arms to Somalia,” the activist argued that arms given to the dictatorial regime of the late Siyad Barre would most likely be used against its own civilians.

 

It so happened that, according to Africa Watch, the Barre regime was at the time “at war with its own people” in the North and eventually killed thousands of innocent civilians with the very weapons the US government and other western countries supplied to the late dictator, Mohamed Siyad Barre.

 

The critics on the government side at the time called the author of the op-ed piece, “unpatriotic,” and a “Somalia hater.” Many sought to silence him. In hindsight, we now know that the eclipse that blanketed Northern Somalia could have been averted, or its impacts possibly minimized, if the US did not jump the gun so quickly on arming Barre.

 

.......

 

http://www.wardheernews.com/public_html/Articles%202013/Feb/26_Arms_embargo_Faisal.html

 

 

Aaahhh, how certain things are admitted by some(after a lengthy denial, decades long) when it suits one's purposes for quick political gain/propaganda.

 

Aaahhh, those poor Northerners of one particular clan - if only we had stood up in opposition to the 'Arms Deliveries' of the '80s, thousands could have been saved from Barre's destruction. But wait! It's not too late, you can make up for that by standing tall today - Oppose the lifting of the Somalia Arms Embargo, and you can rectify that historical mistake of the '80s.

 

 

P.S. Referring to the '92 killings in Kismayo - wasn't the original story that Omar Jess' men killed the Puntlanders? Or does that complicate the storyline of the current alliance between the two groups - so let's pin this on Aideed??

[xiinfaniin]

^^It is a minor detail.

 

But then again Mr. Omer was an Aideed ally then, if you need to know the connection.

[Mintid Farayar]

xiinfaniin;922008 wrote:

^^It is a minor detail.

 

But then again Mr. Omer was an Aideed ally then, if you need to know the connection.

My apologies. Didn't mean to complicate the storyline ;)

 

Carry on, as you were....

[xiinfaniin]

^^ I take it you appreciate the connection of Aideed to the said atrocities.

 

In general, in 1992 South Somalia, General Aideed was the undisputed strong man, the stud of all warring factions. Kismayo somehow proved difficulty for him to maintain thus his strategy of supporting other militia leaders.

[Mintid Farayar]

xiinfaniin;922017 wrote:

^^ I take it you appreciate the connection of Aideed to the said atrocities.

 

In general, in 1992 South Somalia, General Aideed was the undisputed strong man, the stud of all warring factions. Kismayo somehow proved difficulty for him to maintain thus his strategy of supporting other militia leaders.

No, actually, I'm amused by the attempt to rally the dwellers of the 'larger tent' by claiming marauders from another 'tent' committed the murders. Never mind that the real killers were kin living in the same 'tent'.

 

Facts can be such inconvenient things!

But do carry on....

[xiinfaniin]

^^Ok.

 

Lets concentrate on the large points made, which you obviously found helpful to your little cause as well .

[xiinfaniin]

^^The big tent are all inside , and do not need a rallying cry. Hassan is effectively is doing that now ...

 

Both Mintid and you are miles off, if you really think there are fences to be mended as far as the 'big tent' goes.

[STOIC]

Odweyne,

 

Tell him (Mintid) to ease of the gas pedal as they try struggle to free themselves from the frenetic pace of Somali politics of the day

[Baashi]

Back to the topic.

 

While I despise political kabuki theater and partisan bickering, I am disappointed in what appears to be dereliction of duty in Gollaha Umadda. All the issues making news today are issues the parliamentarians supposed to weigh in, study (appoint national level commissions) and make final decision on.

 

Expect more of the same unless this loophole-ridden, unfinished document called Federal Constitution is clarified and prepared for ratification (when its time comes).

 

Federal member states pin all their hopes on the constitutions’ safeguards and expect the governance to be a shared enterprise by both federal and member states – cooperation, consultation and what have you. So far the admin in Mogadishu focuses on foreign relations and carries out an agenda neither the parliament nor member states have little input whatsoever.

 

The arms embargo issue is case in point. The admin does not get the prerequisite right nor does it consult with the political stakeholders outside of Benadir.

 

The author invokes the dog days of the past and points to the fact that the country is awash with guns. All true. The issue is bigger than that though. At issue are the credibility of the political settlement and the effectiveness of the constitutional checks and balances. That’s the crux of the issue. Is this admin going to behave like military junta of the past and govern the country as it pleases or realpolitik in the country, political parties, other pillars of state institutions and above all constitution will serve as effective check and limit its power and influence?