By Dalmar Kaahin

Only time will tell whether the Somali people will forget or forgive about some of their most notorious traitors who shamelessly hide behind the Ethiopian tanks while Somalia is pulverized to dust. However, as history will attest the collaborators’ sarcastic remarks, their divide and conquer strategy towards the Somali people at times of massive devastation in Mogadishu, the fallen capital of Somalia, will certainly dominate the history books.

Though the comments made by most of these traitors are not worth to dwell on, nonetheless, some collaborators stic k out like a sore thumb, and their sarcastic remarks have added insult to injury. A case in point: on November 09, 2007, a spokesperson for the Somali Transitional Government TFG (or Tigray Founded Government), Abdirashid Mohamed—a close relative of Abdullahi Yussuf, the current “president” of Somalia—gave an interview on the massacre in Mogadishu to the BBC. And instead of speaking out against the Ethiopian brutality—Mr. Mohammed not only used the infamous formula—divide and conquer—but he also defended the mass killing of Somali civilians by the heartless Ethiopian troops. So sarcastically he said, “The killing and displacing people has continued since the 90s; the Hawiye tribes [predominantly Mogadishu residents] are divided and they have been whining for a year…” In other words, the Ethiopians not only could afford to slaughter more Somali civilians but the enemy troops could also wipe out Mogadishu from the face of the earth. Additionally, Mr. Mohamed vehemently supported the Ethiopian atrocities and said they defended themselves. How could anyone say an occupying army is defending itself? An army defends itself in its own native country, not when it [army] invades and occupies another severing nation like Somalia. Clearly, the Ethiopian army is in Somalia to attack, not to defend itself.

Additionally, Bereket Simon—a man of terror—the security advisor of the Ethiopian Prime Minster, Meles Zenawi, used divide and conquer formula as well. (Just ask the Oromos and Somalis in Ethiopia about the horrific crimes committed against them under the supervision of Bereket Simon.) On the same day, Mr. Simon too told the BBC, “Those who claim that there are atrocities in Mogadishu do not represent Hawiye tribes.” How bad is bad? How low did the Somali people descended into subjugation so an Ethiopian security advisor now proudly decides who should be the tribal chiefs in the Somali capital? Besides, what does the Hawiye “division” to do with the heinous crimes carried out by the Ethiopians against the Somali people? And not surprisingly, just few days later, one of the Somali tribal chiefs Mr. Ahmed Diriye—who repeatedly spoke out against the horrendous mass killings carried out by the invading Ethiopian troops—was kidnapped in Mogadishu and transferred to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, where he would probably end up in the Ethiopian torture champers—the Guantanamo Bay of Africa. ( http://tinyurl.com/yw9e2b)

Amazingly, Mr. Mohamed and Mr. Simon—the Rudolf Hess: Adolf Hilter’s right-hand—of East Africa used the same strategy—divide and conquer. Listening to their interviews, it was as if they had a meeting before the interviews—they used the same policy towards the Somali people: divide and conquer.

Worse yet, another die-hard supporter of the TFG, Abdalla A. Hirad published an article entitled, “ INSURGCY IN MOGADISHU: Freedom Fighting or Bid for Clan Hegemony ? ” on wardheernews.com (or warandheernews.com) ( http://tinyurl.com/23qryu)

He chauvinistically and shamelessly defends the Ethiopian brutality against the Somali people in Mogadishu. He writes, “They [Ethiopians] are here to fight thugs and criminals who have and are still occupying the government infrastructure and private properties of the people who fled the Capital since January 1991.” He wrote his paper as if he were the spokesperson for the merciless Ethiopian army.

Evidence is, however, contrary to his claims; sadly and shockingly, over 3000 civilians—not thugs—have been brutally murdered; over 5000 civilians have been wounded; and one million women, children, and elderly people—not criminals—have been displaced. ( http://tinyurl.com/ytor8c) Yet Mr. Hirad defends the Ethiopian brutality at times when both U.N and European Parliament are proposing a full investigation about the war crimes committed in Somalia. ( http://tinyurl.com/3bvvuf or http://tinyurl.com/2zdnej)

His attitude is a copycat of the American’s. The Americans would willingly and knowingly annihilate an entire city to hunt a handful of alleged terrorists even when— undoubtedly—thousands of innocent people would perish in the process, for instance, Fallujah in Iraq. Likewise, Mr. Hirad justifies the mass killing of Somali civilians in Mogadishu because the occupying Ethiopian army is supposedly hunting “thugs” and “criminals”.

Mr. Hirad also threatens Hawiye people (the dominant tribes in Mogadishu) that they would be wiped out from the face of the earth, if they fail to comply with the Mr. Yussuf-Ethiopia coalition. He predicts an impending disaster—an Armageddon that waits the Hawiye as he states, “Still, they have a chance to make a truce with the other Somalis—through the TFG—while the sun shines. Otherwise, they will be annihilated if they continue embarking on the same strategies.” Isn’t that something?

And above all, just like Mr. Simon, the cruel security advisor of the Ethiopian Prime Minster and Mr. Mohamed a close relative of the current TFG president, Mr. Hirad makes tireless efforts to divide Hawiye tribes and portrays the Mogadishu carnage as a tribal mayhem, not as an invasion. And just like Mr. Simon, Mr. Hirad further attacks the credibility of the Hawiye tribal leaders— who, despite knowing that their lives are in danger, bravely and daringly speak out against the mass murders in Mogadishu. In his article, Mr. Hirad accuses some of the Hawiye tribal leaders of having ties with the Somali liberation group established in Asmara, Eritrea—which U.S. labels as a host country for “terrorists”. Worse still, he further labels some of the tribal leaders as selfish criminals who benefit from lawless Somalia. Incredible!

Furthermore, Mr. Hirad, of course, felt disgusted to see dragging dead Ethiopian soldiers through the streets of Mogadishu by an angry mob, but he neither condemns the Ethiopian brutality against an unarmed Somali civilians nor states the Mogadishu residents resent so much the occupying army and as a result—out of frustration not because they are cruel savages—they dragged the bodies of the invading forces. After all, Mogadishu residents did not invade Ethiopia and drag dead Ethiopian soldiers through the streets of Addis Ababa, but the Ethiopian trekked hundreds of kilometers to unleash hell against the residents of Mogadishu. So while dragging dead bodies is un-Islamic, it is, however, understandable—the same way that if the Ethiopians had dragged the dead bodies of an invading Somali soldiers through the streets of Addis Ababa would be understandable.

He also deliberately and hypocritically avoided mentioning that the Ethiopians themselves, in fact, hacked civilians to death in Mogadishu. As report by credible eyewitnesses, the Ethiopians didn’t even waste their bullets; instead they used their bayonets to chop up their victims. In fact, what the Ethiopian troops did was a classic example of cannibalization. The butchered civilians were predominantly women, children and elderly people, not “terrorists”. So why did Mr. Hirad fail to point out the slaughter of his fellow Somalis while he shed tears for the dead Ethiopians? Well, it takes an especial psychic to read the mind of a traitor! Did he just wake up in Addis Ababa one morning? Maybe! ( http://tinyurl.com/29owbb or http://tinyurl.com/25zclv)

Meanwhile, Mr. Yussuf never concealed the atrocities that he planed to carry out if the residents of Mogadishu fail to bow to his demands. In the past he said, “I would bomb Mogadishu even if I know that there are civilians.” And now, Mr. Yussuf gives a grim warning if the residents of Mogadishu don’t fight for him, as he states, “People in neighborhoods must also fight the Shabab [ Mogadishu fighters] and chase them away. Otherwise they are the ones who suffer in crackdowns…” ( http://tinyurl.com/2ecx6n) And in regards to the abhorrent crimes committed against the Somali people so sarcastically and callously he adds, “When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers…” In essence, what Mr. Yussuf is saying is: after heavy rains grass re-grows; and similarly Somalis survivors could reproduce children, in the near future—so the loss of lives in Mogadishu is not a big deal! According to Mr. Yussuf’s slogan: “one less Hawiye, one more to go” That is his motto!

And despite Mr. Yussuf ‘s crying wolf about “terrorists” murdering people in Mogadishu, much of the killings in Mogadishu have, in fact, been orchestrated by none other than the TFG itself, as testified by Salim Lone, a former spokesperson for the UN mission in Iraq. Mr. Lone states, “The government has tried everything, from the bombing of civilians in hospitals, killing journalists -- I think it should be clear: this government has killed journalists, not that ten journalists have died. Some of them, or even many of them, have actually been killed by the government. And yesterday, it closed the largest independent media house in Somalia, Shabelle Networks. So this situation has to be arrested somehow, and it can only be arrested by the international community.” ( http://tinyurl.com/yowea8)

It is also worthy of noting for the past 16 years that bloody warlords roamed around in Somalia, no doctors, reporters, politicians, tribal chiefs, human rights activists, former Somali army Generals, colonels, or police chiefs, were murdered with the exception of few. But no sooner Mr. Yussuf was parachuted into power by Ethiopia in 2004, than murdering prominent Somali figures began in Mogadishu. Yet Mr. Yussuf wants you to believe that foreign “Jihaddists” and “terrorists” are behind the killings. Well, the only foreigners that are killing people in Somalia—in droves—are none other than Mr. Yussuf’s ally—the Ethiopians. So, isn’t about time that these Ethiopian Jihaddists leave Somalia?

In addition to Mr. Yussuf’s willingness to mass murder civilians in order to achieve his political agendas, Gen. Adde, the current “president” of Puntland region, didn’t hesitate to shore up support for Mr. Yussuf regardless of how many people would perish in Mogadishu. Recently, Gen. Adde said, “Using our money and our army, we would help the Somali government, led by Mr. Yussuf.” (Listen to Gen. Adde’s speech: http://tinyurl.com/3xktmf) And amazingly, Mr. Yussuf and Gen. Adde who certainly have no moral compunctions about waging merciless war in Southern Somalia with the help of Ethiopia would want you to believe that they are pro-Somali unity. (I wasn’t born yesterday!)

Furthermore, Puntland leaders and its Media without hesitating or giving a second thought call Mogadishu freedom fighters—terrorists and extremists. They also call Somaliland: “the enemy” but surprisingly no such a malignant or an inimical towards the Ethiopian forces occupying Somalia where thousands of Somalis have been slaughtered. One wonders when the Somalis became the enemy in their own land while the invading Ethiopians are viewed as the saviors!

In short, in a desperate attempt to silence the only few Somalis who dare to speak out against the subjugation of their people, die-hard and shameless collaborators have now unleashed malicious campaign of smear against those who vent their anger over the occupation of their beloved country. Using hiiraan.com and wardheernews.com, which many Somalis view them as the newly baptized pro-Ethiopia websites, as a launch pad for propaganda campaign against the struggle of the liberation, collaborators meticulously hand craft their skills as a character assassinators, continuously spread disinformation, and viciously attack pro-freedom Somalis. And the traitors spare no one.

While both the U.N and the European Parliament are considering a full investigation about war crimes committed against Somali civilians by the Ethiopian troops and TFG’s ragtag militias, the likes of Mr. Hirad, Mr. Mohamed, Gen. Adde, Mr. Yussuf and Mr. Simon spit on the faces of the Somali victims by further dividing them into clans and sub-clans, and mocking their misery.

However, as history will attest Somalia would pass this horrific time—the East Africa’s Nazi slaughter—and many traitors and collaborators, in the near future, would hide their shameless and cowardly faces for many years to come. In the end, justice would prevail—by “either bringing these collaborators to justice or bringing justice to them”.

The author can be reached at dalmar_k@yahoo.com