In the north (Somaliland), as a result of numerous wars conducted by Mr. Sayid Mohammed Abudlle Hassan’s dervish resistance movement, decades old wounds had barely healed—bitter memories of past bloodshed still lingered; then along came Mr. Siyad Barre who put the northern tribes against each other in order to continued to rule the country with an iron fist. The dervish struggle ended in 1920 and resulted in the death of an estimated one-third of Somaliland populations and the near destruction of its economy.2 Siyad Barre, on the other hand, was overthrown by numerous rebel forces in 1990. But not before his army massacred not only thousands of innocent civilians, but also devastated the entire north and forced the majority of northerners into exile.

When everybody thought it was finally over—a lasting peace has come—Mr. Abdillahi Yusuf suddenly popped up out of nowhere. Yet again just as his predecessor did, he instigates another conflict between the northerners.

These three men were all driven by different motives, but they have one thing in common: none of them are native to the north. Worse still, the legacy they left behind, would keep the northerners divided for decades to come. And how did Mr. Yusuf get involved in Somaliland issues?

Mr. Yussuf’s claims of tribal affiliations with the population in parts of Sool and eastern Sanaag regions, therefore, invading and occupying their peaceful territory, has definitely remained a sharp and deadly double-edged sword for him. So are his calls of “terrorists” in Muqdisho.

For one reason, his tribal lineage theory, along the support of foreign powers, has worked to his advantage, to a degree, and made him the temporary President of Somalia—a dream came true for Mr. Yusuf. For another unforeseen reason, in the end, his own fervent tribal rituals will undermine him at every opportunity to succeed as a true “leader”.

His unyielding determination to create his own tribal kingdom while seeking to reunite Somalia is similar to one’s efforts of extinguishing fire with gasoline. The question is: didn’t tribalism destroy Somali unity? Without a doubt, tribalism—the opposite extreme of unity—has always been the core problem of Somali society. And what is Mr. Yussuf’s perception of unity?

For almost 12 years that he was in charge of Puntland region, he couldn’t unite the city of Galkayo, let alone reuniting the rest of Somalia. Then how is he going to tackle the Somali unity issue, which is far more complex than Galkayo?

“Galkayo, Somalia --An invisible border splits this town in two. It runs east to west through a maze of narrow, rubble-strewn streets pockmarked with bullets and shrapnel.

No member of the Darood clan dares cross into the southern part of town; no member of the Saad clan ventures north. The price for violating the boundary can be death. Gunmen from the two clans, prowling Galkayo's streets in Soviet-era armored personnel carriers and trucks fitted with antiaircraft guns, are ready to dole it out.” 1

Yet, opening a military front in LasAnood (the capital of Sool province) and in eastern Sanaag regions—in order to establish his own tribal hegemony over regions that he has probably never been to—made more sense to him than securing his Puntland region.

The population in parts of Sool and eastern Sanaag may not share political ideologies with Somaliland, which is perfectly fine. Neither have they been coerced to become part of Somaliland, nor have they invited Mr. Yusuf to invade their regions. These regions fall within Somaliland borders. However, Mr. Yussuf’s tribal theory exceeds the bounds of reason.

Though he doesn’t recognize international borders, drawing new tribal borders kept his hopes of becoming a president alive. That is replacing the borders drawn by the colonial regimes with tribal ones. Yet, if Mr. Yusuf were asked to name a single border in the world that was not drawn by the colonial regimes, he wouldn’t have an answer.

In addition, the conflict that he has started in Somaliland still remains unresolved and volatile. And late in 2004, while he preached for the unity, peace and harmony among different tribes in the Somali reconciliation meeting in Kenya, a bloody battle between Somaliland forces and his Puntland militias erupted.

It defies any known common sense and logic while Mr. Yusuf claims of making peace with the vicious southern warlords; the fire he lit in Somaliland still burns. And this is exactly what the warlords themselves cannot understand, therefore, skeptical about his calls for peace. How about making peace with your neighbors first? The warlords seem baffled by this.

This explains the latest maneuver in the eternal cat and mouse game between Mr. Yusuf and the warlords. Together with him they spend few months at Jawahar picnic, followed by few months at Baydhabo picnic, and maybe, eventually, they may lure him to Muqdisho. A dreadful trip for Mr. Yusuf to make!

These warlords have established the notorious formula for tyranny—Morayanism: kill them all, loot them all, and rape them all. Since, Mr. Yusuf couldn’t make peace with Somaliland—a piece loving nation—how possibly is he going to achieve peace with violent and deadly warlords that are eager to take the fight all the way to Puntland? This is a mind-boggling exercise.

Despite that, he still dreams about reuniting former Somalia. Is this how things work? Thank God, logic was not invented by Mr. Yusuf. Can a man who has no shame of showing his tribal loyalty ever succeed to lead a nation that has been ravaged by tribalism?

According to his tribal theory, you belong to whomever you have tribal lineage with. And if you wish to join your tribe’s people nothing should stop you. That is fine. Let’s play Mr. Yussuf’s tribal card. Then hypothetically speaking, let’s say Somalia including Somaliland reunites, and Mr. Yusuf still remains the President—God forbid. Will his tribal theory still hold?

The flip side of that, of course, if the Issa tribes of Somaliland decide to join Djibouti they must not be opposed. After all, they have tribal lineages with the rest of Issa tribes on the other side of the border.

Similarly, if, in the near future, Ethiopia grants Western Somalia (WS) its independence and WS wishes to remain as a separate entity, unwilling to join Somalia that should not be a problem either. In addition, if the Isaaq, Gudabiirsay, Dhulbahante and Issa tribes of WS decided to join Somaliland and Djibouti, they should be able to do so freely. They too have tribal lineages with the populations in Somaliland and Djibouti. Again, the notion of tribal identity—not national identity—should have more relevance than international borders. Oh! We run into an unexpected glitch. Does Mr. Yussuf’s theory open a can of worms?

Without a doubt, Mr. Yusuf has set, one too many, diabolical traps for unlucky victims, yet, as it seems he has, finally, fallen into his own traps.

On the other hand, his regime has also hit consecutive roadblocks and there seems no end to his misfortunes. The pitfalls that he has created: hindered any progress that his current regime would have made.

Moreover, instead of achieving a healthy transformation from a warlord—with a power base in Puntland region—to a peacelord, in order to please the Americans, he has made loud noises about the presence of terrorists in Muqdisho, without a shred of evidence. That is instead of ending the misery he has created—he has admitted firing the first shot that led to the destruction of Somalia—he has made new enemies for himself: the Islamic court leaders.

The Islamic court leaders, on the other hand, strongly believe, amongst the infamous worlds, Mr. Yusuf—the leader of league of warlords—has been sticking out like a sore thumb. Whether they bring him to their “justice”—which is normally applicable only to the poor—or they bring “justice” to him, they neither fear nor ashamed of knocking Mr. Yusuf off, once and for all. They adamantly believe that he is not only a menace to the Somali society at large, but also to himself, born to fail, yet, determined to drag everyone else down the drain with him.

Their concerns include Mr. Yusuf being a long time stooge for foreign powers, not worth trusting. In fact, no group stands more resolutely opposed to Mr. Yussuf’s lame duck leadership than the Islamic court leaders.

Will he ever be trusted as a “leader”? According to Islamic court leaders, even as Mr. Yusuf claims, if he has become clean and has gotten rid of his old dirty tactics, rarely ever, an old dog can be taught new tricks. So, don’t be fooled. How bad are the Islamic courts?

Contrary to popular beliefs, these “terrorists”—the Islamic courts, have done much more good than harm for Somalia.

“People feel that Islamic courts are creating safety. In areas run by Islamic courts, people can walk with their money in their hands without being afraid of being robbed; they can walk at nighttime without being afraid of being killed,” 1

That is, Islamic courts have created a safe haven for peace loving Somalis, not for “terrorists”. Can we say the same about the areas that the warlords or Mr. Yusuf controls? No way. Then who are the real terrorists?

To the Somalis, the only known terrorists in their country are the warlords themselves— America’s new allies in the war on terrorism. Isn’t that ironic? Through the eyes of the hopeless, tormented and starving Somalis, this has been the unholiest alliance of its kind that they have yet seen.

Evidently, this new unholy alliance between the US and the infamous warlords has made Muqdisho far more dangerous than it was few months ago. Even worse, this would undermine years of reconciliation among the warring factions. A setback for peace! Thanks to the United States of America.

Yet, Mr. Yussuf’s forgone conclusions about the presence of terrorists in Somalia would eventually end his 28 years of struggle for craving to become the president of Somalia. So far, what did Mr. Yusuf achieve in his lifetime?

Mr. Yusuf waged 12 years of guerilla war against the former dictator, Mr. Siyad Barre. For almost another 12 years that Mr. Yusuf ruled Puntland, once again, he waged sporadic bloody fights not only against Islamic groups, but also against an elected leader, Mr. Jama Ali, in Puntland. And for the last 4 years Mr. Yusuf has been busy undoing the damage he has caused in the past 24 years, but to no avail.

Furthermore, Mr. Yussuf’s militia invaded and still up to this date occupies parts of Sool and eastern Sanag regions where sporadic fights between Somaliland troops and Puntland militias seem unavoidable. In 2002, when Mr. Yusuf invaded LaasAnood, the President of Somaliland, Mr. Dahir Rayale Kahin who was visiting the city narrowly escaped assassination.

During this incident, an interview with BBC, Mr. Yussuf’s, ironically, could hardly pronounce the name of the city-LaasAnood. He repeatedly said LaasAano, instead of LaasAnood. How about getting the name right first? One thing at the time!

Also worth a note are Mr. Yussuf’s tireless efforts to segment Somaliland into tribal enclaves have indeed dashed to the ground any hope of unity, counter productive to the ill perceived causes of unity.

In Somaliland, today, the attitudes such as: “Let’s see if the minority can hijack the wishes of the majority” prevails, a tug of war. That is the majority of Somalilanders’ determination to succeed as an independent country was not purely as a result of Mr. Siyad Barre’s relentless military campaign to wipe them out, but also Mr. Yussuf’s tireless efforts to destabilize their country has further pushed them to the point of no return.

That is Mr. Yusuf has added insult to injury. And you would think this is something that he should know better because his Puntland region was also at the mercy of Mr. Siyad Barre’s brutal army, at one time.

In addition, because of Mr. Yussuf’s annexations of parts of Sool and eastern Sanaag, simmering animosity between Somaliland and Puntland people has flared up. And there has never been any historical animosity between these communities before. Dose this sound like the symptoms of backward mentality?

Finally, after 28 years of fighting a numerous wars, Mr. Yussuf’s dream has come true; he is the temporary President of Somalia. Yet, sooner than he has crowned himself as a president, he has picked another possible fight with Islamic court groups. Yet another bloody war instigated by Mr. Yusuf looms on the horizon.

As history will attest, Mr. Yusuf has dug up his own potholes little too deep. From 1978 to 2006, 28 years of struggle, yet, there is no light at the end of Mr. Yussuf’s tunnel. Further, any way you look at it, his logic failed and in the end it will fail him. So far, everything has backfired on him, for known reasons.

Paying only lip services to unity and, at the same time, consolidating a tribal hegemony over other tribes’ territories, brings neither unity nor lasting peace to Somalis. Mr. Yusuf invasion of Sool region under the pretext of tribal lineage has opened a can of worms. This would haunt him for the rest of his life. He would be known as the author of his own misfortunes.

Faysal Diriye, Ottawa, Canada

faysal_diriye@hotmail.com

Reference:
1. Badkhen, Ann, 7 April 2006

2. OnWar, 16 December 2000