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Dear Mr. President,
What an honor it is for the Somali people everywhere to celebrate with you and your country on this historic occasion of your swearing in as the 44th president of the United States of America. This is surely a day when billions of people around the world are tuned to their television sets or radio’s rejoicing over your message of change and hope and the symbolism of witnessing the first African-American President in your country’s 200 year history. In solidarity with the people and government of the United States, we congratulate you for this historic occasion of your inauguration as President of the United States of America.
As you assume the presidency of the only remaining super power in this ever shrinking global village, notwithstanding the local economic challenges that await your full attention and consideration, there are a number of other global issues that you will inherit Somalia being paramount after Iraq and Afghanistan that merit your cool and careful consideration. As you begin receiving your daily briefs from your national intelligence sources regarding the eighteen year old international community problem that is Somalia, we think it is the right time that you hear other equally useful and important perspectives especially from the citizens of Somalia.
To the millions of Somalis caught in the cross-fire inside their country, the hundreds of thousands scattered as refugees throughout the globe including the United States, the following Mr. President represents the hopes and aspirations of the majority of Somalis to realize under your leadership a viable Somali state at peace with itself and with its neighbors. As you undertake your message of hope and change throughout the globe, it is our hope that your foreign policy agenda towards Somalia consider the following that we believe are in the best interests of both the United States and Somalia:
1. End Statelessness in Somalia
Mr. President, contrary to what others may say about the core of the perpetual Somalia conflict and its endless civil wars, without a doubt “statelessness” is the main source, cause and culprit of the never-ending quagmire that has engulfed this Horn of Africa country. Mr. President, as you may know Somalia only gained its independence some 49 years ago in 1960 from Western colonial powers and had one of the most successful if not premature democratic systems of governance in all of Africa in the early sixties.
The politics of the cold war between the United States and the then powerful Soviet Union, not to mention economic downturns, military rivalry with neighboring Ethiopia and a corrupt leadership, life and civic duty in Somalia has deteriorated for the average citizen with many of Somalia’s educated middle class and its military brass opting to leave the nation in search of a better future elsewhere.
Without rehashing the cause of Somalia’s failure as a modern state in this short editorial, suffice it to say Mr. President that reconstituting the Somali state we believe should be the first order of business in your administration’ policy towards Somalia. It is no secret Mr. President the administration of your predecessor failed to establish a firm US policy towards Somalia as vehemently advocated in the senate chamber and halls of congress by Senators Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Congressman Donald Payne of New Jersey. These three distinguished gentlemen, Mr. President, have expressively spoken about the need for a comprehensive US policy towards Somalia that not only ensures America’s interests in the Horn but also fosters a political settlement in Somalia that paves the way for the reconstitution of the Somali state.
2. Support Comprehensive Peace and National Reconciliation
Mr. President, contrary to what Western media and intelligence agencies say about Somalia, the Somali people are yearning for peace and genuine national reconciliation brokered by a neutral and powerful third party that puts aside its own hegemonic interests for the sake of peace and tranquility in the region. The African Union (AU), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional body consisting of six East African countries that wants to be the sole caretaker of the Somali problem for the international community and the Arab League have all but failed to show impartiality, capacity and credibility to effectively broker the longstanding Somalia conflict. We believe that due to their close proximity to the area, frontline states and neighboring countries in the region have for the most part become part of the problem and have a vested national/regional interests that prohibit their impartiality and delivery of a lasting negotiated settlement.
Mr. President, we are concerned that a stateless or divided and weaker Somalia is not in the best interest of Somalia but rather the best interest of irredentist and landlocked Ethiopia whose national development depends on access to the waters of stateless Somalia. As the bully of the region and a ruthless regime to its own citizens, America should not align itself with a regressive regime analogous only to that of Saddam Hussein of Iraq in the eighties, and instead invest in the long term development of the people of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa-- thus winning the hearts of minds of the people.
3. Establish Relations with Moderate Islamic Groups
Mr. President, the vast majority of Somali citizens want the same basic issues that people all over the world are concerned about-- namely peace, prosperity, tranquility and a progressive environment where they can raise a family and live at peace with themselves and with their neighbors. The Islamic movements contesting for power and prestige in Somalia are a new phenomenon that for the most part is a direct outgrowth of the failed policies of the Bush administration. As you have famously said during your campaign as president, and to paraphrase you said that most people cling to guns and religion during hard economic and political conditions. Somalia’s infatuation with Islamic movements is exactly that and can be over come by developing relations with the moderates and with their help reconstituting the Somali state. Mr. President, most Somalis do not support religious extremism, do not espouse hatred towards the United States and are largely victims of the ongoing global war fought in their midst. The United States should take a visible leading role in the Somali peace process and should establish direct relations with the moderate elements of the Somali religious community.
4. Help dispatch UN peace keeping forces to Somalia:
Mr. President, most Somalis and friends of Somalia were dismayed by the untimely objection of the proposed plan to send UN peacekeeping forces to Somalia by your UN Ambassador designate Susan Rice during her testimony in congress. Mr. President contrary to what some analysts have called as “a Bush Administrations trap” to your Horn of Africa strategy, sending international peacekeeping forces to Somalia now would enhance the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian assistance to Somali citizens, the creation of a “green zone” area in Mogadishu to protect politicians, UN staff, monitor cease-fires and build up Somali security forces.
Mr. President, the Horn of Africa today is a lot different than the conditions under which Dr. Susan Rice left Somalia during the Clinton Administration. It is exactly the “Black Hawk Down” view of the Clinton days that is haunting Somalia to this day and is hampering meaningful international involvement and support that Somalia deserves.
We are hopeful that your overarching domestic and foreign policy platform of change and hope will sway the Ambassador’s antiquated views on Somalia and will push forth the dispatching of the desperately needed UN peacekeeping forces to Somalia.
5. End the Global War on Terror:
This loaded and derogatory term targeting 1.3 billion global Muslims as potential targets has caused more harm than good to many innocent civilians throughout the globe and has shattered the once reputable name of the United States of America. The Somali people recognize and sympathize with the American people on the heinous crimes committed against the United States on September the 11th of 2001. However, the blind militaristic response against the alleged perpetrators and their sympathizers in the Horn of Africa region have had a negative impact on the quest for Somali statehood-- resulting in a misguided US Somalia policy whose core is the apprehension of few alleged terrorists hiding inside Somalia. Patrolling Somalia from military bases in neighboring Djibouti and sending unmanned drones at night to bomb alleged misfits hiding behind communities, all the while terrorizing innocent civilians and neglecting the festering humanitarian disaster of helpless millions caught in the crossfire inside Somalia was a signature policy platform and the failed Somalia strategy of the former Bush Administration.
Mr. President, Somalia will undoubtedly remain a safe haven for terrorists and other international misfits and a constant reminder of the pitfalls of a failed state unless the United States under your leadership takes serious steps to genuinely help Somalia establish a unified central government that safeguards its own borders from enemies foreign and domestic.
6. Resolve the piracy issue peacefully:
Mr. President, the piracy issue on the coast of Somalia is but a symptom of the cancer of statelessness that has engulfed the Horn of Africa nation. The former Somali Republic as a central state once maintained a strong naval presence in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea patrolling the coast with effective coast guard units. Lacking basic governmental services such as schools, social services, employment and health centers, deteriorating human conditions unfit for raising a family, despair over the endless quagmire at all levels of governance and the illegal fishing and toxic waste dumping on the Somali coast by foreign vessels has caused many young Somalis to commit crimes of piracy unbeknownst to Somalia before and have become a threat to themselves, Somalia and to the international community. Over dramatizing the piracy issue by dispatching Western and non-western naval ships to protect the flow of commercial and tourist vessels on the coast of Somalia without addressing the root causes of the piracy problem is mind boggling to many Somalis and international observers of Somalia. Rather than investing effective strategies in resolving the Somali conflict and resuscitating the Somali state, the international community would rather spend billions on the coast of Somalia protecting only its commercial interests leaving poverty stricken Somalia largely to fend for itself.
Mr. President, your presidency has regenerated the hopes and aspirations of not only ordinary Americans but people of all stripes throughout the globe just as they did in 1960 with the inauguration of the late John F. Kennedy. Children and families in Somalia today are once again hopeful that your administration will work very hard to help Somalia reconstitute a viable state thus ensuring a peaceful social, human and political infrastructure to grow as productive citizens of this global society.
We wish you every success, Mr. President, in your efforts to right the wrongs of your predecessors and by rekindling the hopes and aspirations of the many disenfranchised communities throughout the globe.
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