Hiiraan Online

The indictments are in; a total of 14. Some of the indicted are believed to be dead while at least two not-so-young fellows managed to slip out of America.

No need to worry about these fugitives because, like Bin Laden, the Feds will hunt them down.

The question that stumps the enquiring mind is; how did these fugitives manage to vanish under the watchful eyes of the ‘vigilant’ American law enforcement agents?

Perhaps, I am geographically-challenged. I thought Tora Bora was located in Afghanistan and not between San Ysidro (California) and Tijuana (Mexico).

Unfortunately, both the FBI and the U.S Border Patrol agencies are not talking.

“No Comment, please”.

But the investigation rattled some nerves and has exposed the government and the Somali community, as like an x-ray; not beautified but stripped down to the core.

All Terror Is Local

Contrary to the wide belief, the case of missing youth was distinctly Minnesotan.  To be more specific, it was mainly limited to the Twin Cities.

The Feds and the Congress initially made us believe that Somali pockets in Minneapolis, Columbus, San Diego, Seattle, Portland (Maine) and Atlanta were incubators of terrorism. Somalis, it was hinted, are fanatic Muslims that pose a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States.

Well, the threat is still there but the main problem, so far, is Minneapolis.

Seattle had a case or two of the missing youth, but even that originated, sorry folks, from Minneapolis. 

Leadership Crisis

Will the real Somali leaders in the Twin Cities stand up? 

No, no, not you self-appointed microphone-huggers!  You have a near-clinical need to be around microphones. I bet you never met a microphone you did not like, and when you are behind one, you are an impulsive loudmouth, a certified mediocre, fuzzy on the facts, and, above-all, you spew venom. You are long on complaints but short on prescriptions. I see you more as meddlesome rather than helpful. Sadly to say, you are unaware of the contempt and derision you provoke in others.

Sit down.

I am looking for true leaders.

Sadly, if there is Somali leadership in Twin Cities, it remained resolutely silent during the course of the investigation.

Minneapolis may have the largest Somali population in America, but one may confidently say it also has a lethargic leadership.

Demonizing the Wrong People                                                                            

Some of the relatives of missing youth rightfully raised their voices and brought attention to the tragedy. We know that no one can efface the pain and the anguish these parents went through.

But the parents, in the heat of the moment, wrongfully accused the people of Abubakar as-Sadiiq mosque in Minneapolis for recruiting, funding, and sending the youth to Somalia.

Imam Abdirahman Sheikh Omar became a piñata for some of the aggrieved relatives and was portrayed as being the quintessence of evil.

He was yelled at, shoved, and gouged.

Yes, I know he was not physically attacked. Maybe I am slightly exaggerating.

But, seriously, Imam Abdirahman was barked at and even threatened. He was accused of leading the youth astray (Somalis aptly call this ‘duufsasho’) and turning them into cold-blooded jihadists bent on killing and maiming innocent Somalis.

Sheikh Abdirahman must have a very amiable personality and a magnificence of spirit. To the surprise of no one, he never lost aplomb in the midst of the tumult.

The Imam was being buffeted on all sides.

The Feds were sharpening their swords to put him away.  

Any ‘Black Sites’ left in Romania or Poland?

This poor man was even taken off from a flight, for security reasons, at the height of the investigation.

Sorry Imam, you can drive, within the confines of the U.S, but you can’t fly!

 The Sheikh must have asked himself; “You mean, I can drive through Minnesota’s strong and sturdy bridges but I do not even have the privilege of flying and landing in the waters of New York’s Hudson River?”

I love this country!

Fortunately, I am told, the Sheikh’s name has been removed from the “No Fly” list.

So does this mean he had nothing to do with the missing youth?  

Well, no one from Masjid Abubakar as-Sadiiq mosque has been indicted.

Do I hear murmurs and titters?

I think an apology is in order.

Now, what?

Ladies and Gentleman, the further investigation of Somali immigrants will, of course, continue, and the missing youth, if they ever return to the States, will be prosecuted.

Hopefully, they will come to their senses and extricate themselves from Al-Shabaab terrorists. 

I do not expect President Obama to issue a pardon to the missing youth.

Wouldn’t that be a gesture of good will?

He has already pardoned “Courage” the day before Thanksgiving.

‘Courage’ who?

Oh, it is a turkey whose life has been spared.

The community in Twin Cities needs to have a smart, poignant, and unvarnished look at what has transpired in the case and should engage in a grueling self-examination.

It is mind-boggling.

The very young people who were rescued from Somalia’s tortuous civil war are returning back to that same hell.

No doubt, they may have come to this country as children, but when they embarked on the journey to Somalia, they were adults.

Alas, Shirwa Ahmed, 27, the first ever American suicide bomber, was a man.

But most of the youth were still impressionable.

Those who helped their recruitment and financed their trip must be brought to justice.

The parents and the relatives of the missing youth have the right to ask the U.S Congress to hold a hearing regarding the flight of alleged terror suspects like Mohamud Said Omar (now in custody in the Netherlands), Abdullahi Farah and Abdiweli Isse.

The latter two men are the ones that had crossed the U.S Mexican border.

Where are the microphone-huggers when you need them?

Oops, I forgot that they were banished.

At any rate, it is a wild world.

But then, the sagacious people of Benadir were right; “If you live long enough, you will even see a she-camel give birth.”