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by Gaatamo
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Dool’s article starts with three important words: ii shub, ii shid, ii sheekey. I like the rhyme. I also like the power of the words because as soon as I pronounce them, the images of who is talking to who at the teashop come to my mind. Because the words can be stretched, I am thus pushed to say something and take the debate one step further.
I would divide the current Somali crisis into two phases. Anything that occurred from 1990 to Mbigathi constitutes the first phase. Whatever the effects of this phase, it was essentially a game played by Somali hustlers and clan chauvinists. The second phase started with Mbigathi (2003). Here old and familiar players joined the game and forced a qualitative change (not at all positive) in how to resolve the Somali crisis.
1. We see the aggressive policies of the neighboring countries. We see Ethiopia determined to get an outlet to the sea. We see Kenya determined to consolidate its domination on the NFD and even determined to annex parts of Southern Somalia as far as Kisimayo. We see Uganda and Rwanda, providing mercenaries to subdue the Somali people. Now, let me turn around and ask myself what is different between these African mercenaries and the 10,000 Niigerians, Ugandans, Sawahilis, Malawians, under the Kings African Rifles, who invaded Somalia in 1941 and broke the back of the Italian Fascist Army in the country?
2. I do not see any difference. The King’s African Rifles were paid by Britain. We know that the current invaders, under the auspices of the AU, are also paid by Britain. Back then, the Swahilis in the King’s African Rifles looted Somali shops and raped Somali women, in the same way as the current AU mercenaries are shelling and killing civilians.
3. Who is paying them to do all this havoc to the Somali people? Britain, the same Britain who, by the way, is also responsible for balkanizing Somalia, and setting it up for this failure, every step along the way – 1942, 1948, 1954, 1957, and 1963 - cutting off chunks of Somali territories behind the back of the Somali people, and leaving us with a wounded independence. Personally, I cannot imagine so much mischief. It seems that our independent, superior, challenging, and Irish spirit got us into trouble with the fat old lady.
4. We see the United Nations, which is determined to force its solution on the Somali people. This also is the second time that the UN shuts off the Somali people. In November 1949, the UN forced the return of the Italian colonial administration back on Southern Somalia, contrary to the wishes and welfare of the Somali people. Italy, then, was broke, and it made no sense to get Italy back to Somalia. Somalia was sacrificed to prevent instability in Europe. Keep in mind that it took Eritrea 30 years to free itself from the UN colonial policies when they placed that country under Ethiopian domination back in 1950.
5. We see the emergence of the notorious old guard and the emergence of old alliances within the country. Read the diaries of Giorgio Sorrentino (January 1897), and you will see what happened to the Hintire, Wadan, and Bimal insurgency back at the end of the 19
th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Sorrentino used Libyan, Yemeni, Eritrean, and of course Somali mercenaries to burn and loot peaceful native communities. Until 1960, there was even a law in Southern Somalia which banned
members of these communities from even owning property in the cities of the Benadir. What will they do if they succeed in their current campaign?
6. With new and powerful players in the game, the old clan model is redundant. We must free ourselves of the labels that are used to define the Somali people. Even the labeling that divides Somalis along religious lines is suspicious. Using clanism to explain everything and to dismiss the whole of the Somali crisis as the result of a hopeless clan affair puts all of us in boxes to the point that we miserably fail to see the big elephant in the room. Every year, Reuters, AP, the AU, and the UN media label Somalia as a "failed state" more than a thousand times – they never get tired of it. Certain Somali tabloids pick it up and use the same terminology to the nausea. They must certainly have a reason for doing that.
7. Even the breakaway city states must wake up to this reality. Breaking away from the rest of Somalia is fashionable to some, but read the writing on the wall, becoming an Ethiopian or a Kenyan vassal, believe me, is worse. At the Berbera Airport, I hear that Ethiopian security guards inspect the Somali passengers. Shame on you, Riyale! Admit that you made a catastrophic mistake! You are locked in a dead end! The ghosts in Dhibouti and Puntland are no different.
8. I think that we need to come together and start manifesting our views right at the door steps of the United Nations in New York. Maybe a hunger strike would help embarrass these crooks – why not! We fast for God! Why can’t we fast for Somalia?
9. The bottom line is not to leave clan chauvinists and careerists, such as Ahmed Ould, to misinform the world about the crisis in Somalia. Keep in mind that the man comes from a country which still abuses black people. I am not surprised if he has difficulty understanding what the Somali people want: the right to self determination, freedom from oppression, and equal rights for all.
Gaatamo
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