by Heikal Kenneded
Friday, December 03, 2010
Dear Prime Minister M. A. Farmaajo:
Congratulations on the recent approval of your new cabinet by the parliament. Many supporters in the Diaspora and I are proud of the high caliber of your lean cabinet (18 ministers) who carry the hope and dream of many despaired Somalis both in the country and in the Diaspora. Unfortunately, you come into power at our country’s direst moment, when no one exactly knows how to cease the vicious cycle of violence that has plagued our society or why is the country still burning after almost two decades of civil strife? And what can be done to defeat the so called Islamic militants who are bent on putting the last nail in the coffin of Somalia’s existence? Winning in Somalia, however, requires your new administration to appreciate the changed nature of the conflict you are dealing with and to adapt your approaches appropriately. Simply eradicating Islamic militants through force is no longer a viable option. Since all previous transitional administrations went the wrong way about untangling the failed Somali state by either turning a deaf ear to the country’s total collapse, while getting rich themselves, or even much worse by engaging in clan politics that further fueled the conflict and eventually caused the loss of life and displacement of thousands of people. Your highly skilled new administration has the rare opportunity to correct all of these past wrongs and set our country on the right path for national reconciliation and nation rebuilding.
As you’re well aware the current intractable conflict in Somalia is no longer purely clan warfare fighting for territorial dominance, but part of a global jihadist agenda that exploits the status quo in order to use Somalia as a launching pad for international terrorism. A terror campaign often well funded and supported by foreign sinister elements in neighboring countries or other Al-Qaeda linked terrorist organizations. Their supporters continuously shuttle foreign fighters into Somalia. They also use hard currency and illegal arms to recruit from the vast pool of illiterate young men in the country who live out of survival in the continued poverty and chaotic violence in the country. In other words, these Islamic militants like their warlord predecessors find every chance to wreak havoc with impunity in the unraveling of the social and economic fabric ever since the collapse of the Somali nation state.
Countering against this changing alliance of expediency between well-funded global Jihadist extremists operating in Somalia and local discontents, a new approach is required to win back Somalia. The current collapse from within, hence, cannot be defeated from the top down but rather a bottom-up reform. Though strengthening the security of the capital is imperative, such endeavor would be a rather futile effort without a complementary attempt of running a transparent government, which can translate into the support of the international donor countries. In addition, a great endeavor should be made to repatriate fresh minds from the Somali Diaspora (similar to the current cabinet) who are able to invest in the country and build the indispensable institutions at the local level that can eventually be connected to the transitional government. In light of the new reality in the country, working within the decentralized reality of the Somali society is essential to defeating the hard-lined Islamic fundamentalist insurgents, Al Shabab.
Hence, the changed nature of the Somali conflict entails adapting four key strategic approaches.
(1) Fight corruption to the bone within the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and secure critical economic at both the national and local level. No wonder Somalia is the most corrupt country in the world, according to the latest Transparency International report. Corruption has marred every aspect of the Somali society due to kleptocratic government officials who continuously grow affluent at the cost of the poor and displaced. A transparent government coupled with a functional economy would be able to win back the unwavering support from the civil society and the international donor agencies, and ultimately weaken the hardened Islamic insurgents. The overwhelming majority of insurgent fighters in Southern Somalia are mostly young, unemployed, and illiterate who fight out of survival. Thus, the economic survival of violence that drives many of these young men to join in the ranks of Al-Shabab must be challenged and eventually replaced with other positive incentives of integrating them into society. In addition, transparent governance is essential in building local institutions robust enough to create incentives to earn the loyalty of young people while job creation and education of the young should be the heart of the matter in the long run. If this is achieved, local hard-lined militant groups will gradually crumble.
(2) Support local institutions by focusing on conflict-resolution initiatives. Working closely with progressive peace building organizations, particularly in the capital Mogadishu and throughout the South, is crucial. Despite the unquestioned skills and experience of your new administration, you suffer from a lack of tangible experience in the workings of a fragmented and stateless country, like Somalia. For confidence building measures, empower the existing progressive institutions to manage and resolve conflicts within or between communities. Since effective conflict-resolution is achieved when those who do not have political, social or economic stake in ongoing fighting come together and build a "constituency for peace." This can challenge the perpetrators of the bloodshed, and eventually promote the development of impetus toward peace. Also, work closely with local leaders to promote security in neighborhoods and on roads, thus encouraging local solutions to local problems by offering the people compelling justifications to support the TFG and its unwavering counterinsurgency efforts.
(2) Engage in recruiting Somalis in the Diaspora to volunteer working and investing inside Somalia. Since Somalis in the Diasporas have sustained the Somali economy for the past 20 years, it’s a high time that they step-up to the fore of resolving the ravaging conflict and rebuilding their native country. Attracting Somalis in the Diaspora back into their native country can be a powerful force on the side of the TFG, if used strategically. At first, recruit a small group of highly skilled Somali-Americans as a test case, with proper financing and backing from the U.S. government. They could serve as an important liaison between the Diaspora and other progressive elements inside the country who are seeking support in their efforts to fend-off the growing influence of Islamic fundamentalist groups, especially the Al-Shabab. In the wake of dozens of young Somali-Americans who vanished without any prior knowledge of their parents and joined in the ranks of Al-Shabab, there is an urgent need to support and organize a new prototype of “Somali Youth Peace Corps.” This will create an alternative means of support for those young Somalis in the Diaspora who are willing to help their country out of patriotism. Because it’s rather distressing to learn that these young men did not have any other alternative to help their native country from their adopted countries. Currently, there is no system of such support from any of the countries that the Somali Diaspora lives to transition them promote peace and development back in their native country, if they wish to do so.
Empowering these goodwill emissaries from the Somali Diaspora, to bring effective governance, basic services, and economic opportunity to their people in a manner integrated with nation building is the best way forward for a national reconciliation process. A great deal of any reconciliation effort must include comprehensive outreach program to help educate the community about terror-linked networks of the insurgents, supporting local schools and institutions, and advocating human rights, especially child protection from all sorts of exploitation, including religious extremism. Local institutions desperately need to draw on the expertise of civilian partners from the Somali Diaspora to develop resilient structures pertinent to everyday life. The government cannot do this alone. However, ensuring these efforts are properly aligned with the TFG will gradually weaken the Islamic militants and eventually mitigate the very real risk of a return to the chaos and warlordism that destroyed the country after the collapse of the Somali nation-state. Some of the challenges that such a program would face would be of course the security issue, which is in its worst phase for the past two decades. Nonetheless, to cower and do nothing is not an option.
(4) Collaborate with neutral African countries in the continent to train and recruit military and police forces for the TFG. Work closely with these countries in Somalia to eliminate insurgent save-havens is critical, but so is investment in local governance and development in the impoverished areas that have become breeding grounds for militants. Here too, potential recruits to the Islamic militant groups need a reason to support the government. This collaboration must be accompanied by an intensified effort to raise and recruit Somali forces. These forces should primarily concentrate on protecting the population. To that end, they must form allies among the people by minimizing the resentment and resistance associated with the presence of foreign troops in the country. The insurgencies cannot only be defeated militarily in order for Somalia to have peace, but there has to be an alternative for the young people whom they recruit. Improvement on these fronts, of course, would also support the fight against the radical Al-Shabab. Then, strike against the rebels whenever and wherever they reveal themselves.
Finally, it’s a critical time to reclaim Somalia’s stateliness by adapting these approaches to the realities of the conflict that the country now finds itself struggling would enable the TFG to defeat the unrelenting Islamic militants.
Godspeed in winning back Somalia.
Sincerely,
Heikal Kenneded
Washington D.C.
[email protected]