Issue 262

This short note is intended to offer a practical and fail save solution to the apparently intractable problem of Somalia. The solution I propose is so simple and yet so profound that, if adapted, it will save the lives of millions of Somali people.

Before I reveal my simple solution to Somalia’s problem, however, it is necessary to dispel certain insidious and false misconception about facts in Somalia.

The strife in Somalia is not a unique phenomenon with no precedence in human history, nor is it a novel display of aberrant human nature went wry. Somalia’s convulsions are deeply rooted in a pedantic and all too human struggle of free man fighting tyranny.

I like begin my discourse with a refutation, through logic, reason and facts, a pernicious and false premise perpetrated by self serving individuals who claim that the problem of Somalia can only be resolved through the imposition, by force, of an illegitimate and tyrannical regime.

I will then propose a rational road map that can lead to the resolution of Somalia’s problem once and for all times.

I am a Somali who has lived through 16 years of Somali futility and barbarism. I am well versed on the nuance of the Somali debacle, and I have found the Holy Grail solution of the Somali problem.

Excuse my lack of humility. There are times when humility is not a virtue and indulgence in harmless polemics, to crystallize an important, perhaps critical point, is not a vice.

Before I delineate my specific prescriptions to curing Somalia’s ills, which, if heeded, might engender a new era of peace, tranquility and prosperity to my stricken land, I will present to you few incontrovertible facts that may serve as a background to illuminate my conclusions and solutions.

First, the “transitional federal government”, the TFG, was monstrously imposed on the Somali people at the point of a bayonet or rather aircraft gunship of the Ethiopian army. The TFG has now installed itself in a bunker in Mogadishu. The TFG leaders feel that the change of abode from Baidabo to Mogadishu is a good propaganda tool to hoodwink the world community. At last, they revel, we are in Mogadishu and the world will think we are in charge.

Despite these pretensions, however, the TFG remains nothing more than a set of unpopular, ambitious opportunists who used the unpopularity of the Islamic labeled ICU to impose itself illegitimately on the people of Somalia.

The whole world is aware of this fact. Recent events in Somalia have been televised and webcasted to give witness to this assertion.

Furthermore, the unpopularity of the TFG among the Somali people is evidenced by its constant call for the deployment of foreign forces to defend it against the people it claims to represent.

In order to cover up this glaring lack of legitimacy and popularity with the Somali people, the TFG resorts to propaganda designed to fool the world community.

TFG Ministers hide behind Ethiopian tanks and bunkers in Mogadishu and issue press releases and edicts that have no validity beyond the bunkers they reside in.

Only in a lunatic asylum whose inhabitants are deprived by nature to clearly see reality, or in Disneyland where visitors deliberately suspend reality for a short duration to entertain and enjoy them in fantasy does the TFG charade make sense.

With the exception of the twilight event in1945, when the defeated Hitler and Josef Goebles residing in a Bunker in Berlin pretended to direct nonexistent and imaginary wermarcht divisions, has the world witnessed a charade and absurdity comparable to twilight illusion practiced by the current TFG ministers in Somalia. The grotesque disconnect between reality on the ground and the illusions of the ministers of the TFG in the bunker in Mogadishu is unprecedented. A government issuing orders and declaration from a bunker is a fantasy and it is good for nothing

The world community is desperate for a solution to the never ending cycle of violence in Somalia. The world is desperate for any solution.

Lacking facts and impelled by noble human instinct to do good, the world has decided to entertain this illusion before succumbing to despair.

One must ask, however, whether the Somali problem is truly desperate and unconducive to rational solution. It is our task, as Somalis who care about our kin, to educate the world community and guide the enlightened humankind into the correct solution.

It is our task, as Somalis, to state our case and to co-opot the false and misleading machinations of a few corrupt, ambitious and odious individuals who claim that the matter of Somalia can not be resolved by rational means. It is up to us, as genuine Somali patriots, to counteract the false propaganda of few vile ministers who want to propagate the mirage of an illusional government. Thank heavens; the days of the government shutting down all means of communication among the people are over. We thank the discoverers of the internet for their invaluable service to humanity.

Before relegating the Somali people to a new dark ages presided over by a clique of ignorant, unrepresentative, ruthless, mafia-like petty tyrants, the world community should consider the following real and verifiable facts:

This country has existed in peace and tranquility and practiced the rule of law for the past 15 years. They have overcome, through compromise and hard work, the prejudices and ignorance of clan mentality fomented by the Siad Barre’s evil regime. For the last 15 years, the city of Hargiesa with a population of a million inhabitants had 10 cases of murder. This miracle was achieved because of the commitment of the people in Somaliland to tolerance and hard work. Despite persistent provocations perpetrated by the forces of darkness to saw discord among Somaliland tribes, the government of Somaliland refused to lose its cool.

This achievement by Somaliland is a testament to the sanity of the Somali people. It is an exhibit to the court of world opinion that if Somalis are offered a genuine system that respects their right to life and liberty, they respond favorably.

It behooves the world community to take note of this miraculous achievement. It is a clear road map for southern Somalia. It is contradicts the notion that the only solution to Somalia’s problem is to impose tyranny.

It will be a pity to sacrifice the exemplary achievement of Somaliland merely because the world does not want to violate a theoretical protocol that preaches the sacredness of borders artificially and voluntarily created in 1960. Such a signal from the world community to the people of Somaliland will give a new meaning to the siloliquoy of Sheakespear that “Rightly to be great is not to stir without great argument, but greatly to find a quarrel in straw ..”

2.Imposition of an unpopular regime by force on the people of Somalia will only exacerbate the current Somali turmoil

Somalis have overthrown Siad Barre’s regime, a well armed government that enjoyed the niceties of world recognition, because that government was a menace to the security, to the liberty and to the property of the Somali people.

The present TFG is believed by most Somalis to be as an unreprsentative and as tyrannical as the Siad Barre regime. The TFG is also less endowed with the resources of Siad Barre. It has fewer arms, less money, fewer resources than Siad Barre’s government. The ruthless communist dictator brother who supplied arms to said Barre are dead.

The present TFG will never be as strong militarily as the Siad regime that was unceremoniously overthrown by the free people of Somalia it tried to enslave.

Supporting the TFG which is constituted of criminals and ignorant gangster will only make Somalis to fight harder for their liberty

It stretches human credulity to envision a scenario whereby the current feeble TFG government with practically no support among the Somali people, and with tyrannical tendencies, can long endure. In the past, the people of Somalia have scarified their limb and their property to overthrow Siad Barre’s regime. The people have taught Siad Barre and his gangsters the truism articulated by Jon F. Kennedy when he said that “those who foolishly ride on back of the tiger ended up inside”.

The current TFG is committed to leveraging world power to ride on the back of the angry Somali tiger. They will be devoured by the freedom loving, indomitable and angry Somali tiger.

The world community should force the TFG to earn the right and privilege to be a recognized member of the civilized world community of nations. Offering a blank check of recognition to set of unelected, ambitious clique, removes the only leverage the world community has on influencing their behavior. Giving recognition to TFG and funding their nefarious and illegal consolidation of power is to condemn the Somalis people to a new cycle of violence. The world should withdraw its recognition from the TFG.
The world should demand the republic of Somaliland and TFG to compete on equal terms for recognition
Good deeds and progress on establishing elected governments that respect the rule of law should be made the only yardstick for rewarding either group.
The world should set up a certain date for Somaliland and the TFG to reach certain milestones in establishing elected governments that enjoy the consent of the governed.
If both the TFG and Somaliland republic create a legitimate government with the support of the governed, a new union should be contemplated. A commission of representatives from both governments should convene to deliberate the basis for a new union. The recommendation of the commission should be subjected to referendums in both states. The two nations will either join together as one or they will chose to coexist separately and amicable as sister states with shared destiny and a manifest need for collaboration

The TFG can not exist for long without the arms of Ethiopia and without the recognition and potential financial support of the world community. They are relying on these sources to impose themselves foolishly and illegally on the Somali society that detests them.

There is no urgency to rush in recognizing the TFG. We are a small nation and the world community will not notice our absence from the world stage.

If support to the TFG is made conditional on a verifiable time table for elections and progress, the TFG will become a useful tool. It will abandon it arrogance and will work hard to earn the support of the governed

Today’s intransigence and hubris of the TFG is based on its reliance of the Ethiopian army and their belief that world recognition will supply them with resources to subjugate the Somali people.

The Ethiopian army will leave Somalia very soon as they must lest they are willing to subject their citizens to along and arduous struggle of Somali civil war

The only other basis for the hubris and intransigence of TFG is the belief that with world recognition money will follow and they can use this money to impose their will on the Somali people.

The intransigence of the TFG leadership to dismiss the independent speaker of the parliament is an augur of its tyrannical tendencies and its commitment to crush dissent. Leaders of the TFG, flush with military success made possible by Ethiopian army, have intimidated some of the taciturn and illegitimate parliament members and bribed others to dethrone the only voice of reason in the TFG. This episode reveals the tyrannical tendencies of the men who lead the TFG.

Also, the ministers of the TFG have become globe trotters. Instead of speaking to their Somali constituents, they have chosen to spend their time in world capitals. They are more committed to collecting foreign aid from the world community than they are to earning the trust and legitimacy of their own people.

This delusion and topsy yurfy priorities is made possible by the free offering of recognition to the TFG. The world must be immediately correct this oversight. If ththe world withdraws recognition frim the TFG, the deluded ministers will quickly sober up and focus their efforts to earning the trust of the southern Somali people.

Also, the world community should also not be fooled by fallacies and superficial arguments which claim that shared kinship and religion among Somalis should force all of them into unholy union. Thomas Jefferson has proclaimed the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as a fundamental reason to sever political ties with Great Britain’s who share kinship, religion and heritage. The justification for somalilanders to sever political relationship with former Italian Somaliland is no different.

Finally, the Somali people love each other. They have fought wars together. They have bled for each other. Our history of war against our enemies is a testament to this assertion.

However, the law of self preservation is more basic than love for your kin. When your kin loses his mind and injuries you with unmerciful harshness, disillusionment inevitably follows.

If the kin who has wronged you earlier returns to you and offers you an apology for his earlier misbehavior, our prophet has taught us to forgive him. Forgiving, however, does not mean all is forgotten. Prudence dictates that your kin demonstrates that he has changed before you offer him your unfettered trust. Sentiment, hugging, and crying are no substitute for a verifiable rehabilitation and change.

Somalilanders have forgiven the trespasses of their kin. They also decided not never again be under the mercy of their unpredictable brother. Somalilanders simply chose to be the masters of their own house.