The cloak-and-daggers boys of Somaliland have a sharp eye for what they perceive as the enemy of the nation. Siilaanyo, Ina Hashi, Gabose or anyone else with SNM antecedents are allegedly destroying Somaliland's long march to recognition. They even dismiss Qaran's good old-fashioned political activism as terrorism to cash in on America 's one-dimensional foreign policy. One reason: Ina Riyale, a tinpot dictator from tiny and obscure Quulul Jeed, is surrounded by sycophants frightened to give him reality checks about Somaliland 's political situation.

The irony is that many former NSS hit men are pointing fingers at yesterday's mujahidins. Once again, Somalilanders have found themselves growing increasingly angry at the absurdity of these allegations, most are not over-impressed with Udub late remarks. Look no further. Riyal's recent declaration of war before the two Houses shows the autocratic shift in Somaliland political system. Riyal's speech was full of blahs (with a dose of anti-Semitism) and committed a very well known astronomer fallacy. Astronomers draw lines all over the universe and as soon as a new star is discovered, they claim copyright. Our Colonel claims he is behind every single project in Somaliland , just like the grandiose self-delusion of the addict.

Somaliland 's little boy from Quulul Jeed confuses also political gimmicks with legal and legitimate arguments. For example, as of 15 of May, the opposition parties did not recognize the political legitimacy of the government. Rightly so. On the 15th, Riyale's regime was neither legal nor legitimate. Not legal because the extension was based on a dubious decision by the atavistic Guurti. Not legitimate because the extension was not based on consensus and compromise, but on the Guurti unilateralism. This recent political behavior has triggered, among sensible individuals, a fresh argument about the role and the place of the Guurti. Somalilanders feel also that Riyal seems to have entrenched himself politically and will be difficult to move, for he controls the Supreme Court, the Guurti, the tools of oppression (the army, the police and the so-called Nabad Sugiid) and close to 70% of local governments.

Somalilanders sense this drift towards totalitarianism because over the years they have demonstrated certain prescience in detecting Ubu-like tendencies.

Our Colonel has his serie B ideologists defending him. Browse any pro-regime web site - particularly Awdalnews and Qarannews - and you will see how today's writers stifle people's conscience. Long time Faqash supporters such as the 3 stooges – Ina Sulub, Cirro and Cawil, born again Somalilanders who were chosen for their capacity to stir up old wounds and to manufacture consent - squabble day and night about SNM's political heritage. They attack Gabose's origins. They put a know-it-all face and became convenient revisionists who spend most of their time exploiting 1994, the year of our minor civil war. They're deliberately trying to erase SNM's heritage to balm their guilt and past political choices. Let's check our historical facts: of the 33 or so of Somaliland 's peace and reconciliation conferences, 22 were organized under the auspices of the SNM. Considering the mayhem and the total destruction of our cities by the Faqaash, it was quite an extraordinary achievement. And am not even counting the political genius of the SNM in crafting our political system (our bicameral system was invented during the struggle) So Mr. President, we know you are the only person in Somaliland and beyond who reads our constitution, but you should stop saying nothing happened before ina Cigal. Quite frankly, Mr. President you are too good for your boots. There is nothing anybody can do if, in the 80's, you and your 3 stooges were the main collaborators of Siyad's fascist regime. You are not alone because the wheels of herd mentality are in motion, a flashback from the 80's when this click was supporting Syad's fascist regime. Once a collaborator always a collaborator, I suppose. People could expect political blunders from the 3 stooges and their lack of historical perspective is understandable, but not from Dr Mahamud Tani, one of Somaliland 's historical figures.

Dr. Tani's faulty parallelisms and historical falsifications show his one-sided stand and clearly reveal Udub's disingenuous attitude towards our young democratic polity. Tani brandishes the French Resistance as a model, but he forgets that most collaborators were killed within few days of the liberation. Anything goes to keep his inadeero in power. Tani and his NSS ideologues portray virtually any historical fact/fiction as a relevant political issue. This new breed of gulwade uses Synlayo's political history, imagined or real, as the main culprit of today's social ills while hiding Riyal's infamous obscure past during his NSS years when he was involved in SS style repressions.

Evidently, Dr. Tani has lately identified himself with his former prison guards, suffering from a clear case of Holocaust Syndrome where victims cooperate with their oppressors. Dr Tani, for obvious reason, is watching and backing the stooges rolling back Somalilanders' fundamental rights and destroying the SNM political experience in the name of untold politics of pardon. For the train eye, Tani seems to be as blind as ever, loosing even his two cents grip on reality and blasting away at friends and foe alike. An act of a lost innocence? I sincerely doubt it, because Tani and his UDUB Inc. (Tani's adeero is one of the main figures in Riyale's cabinet) constantly recycle reactionary ideas and political clichés to belittle anyone who tries to articulate an oppositional discourse.

Taken as a whole, UDUB's basic message is that servitude is essential for our political space. We are told that political bondage and cult of personality are not as remotely as important as defending noble causes and many other things that Somalilanders accomplished against all odds. Consequently, they arrest, inflate and instigate in the name of a cheap patriotism while using political clichés such as wining the hearts and minds of Somalilanders and sexual imagery “ina Rayale dhabta ku fadhiya”. As we all know, sexual imagery has a profound, though often subliminal influence on people's political senses. The phallus becomes the central political object. The quintessential question is: who is doing whom? I suppose, yesterday's feeble collaborators are on the receiving end. For this NSS regime, politics is a swing joint where political debauchery are the rule of the game. History teaches us that such political adventurism go hardly unpunished by the tides of upheaval. If Somalilanders do not select their next president wisely, they will suffer again to remove the cloak-and-dagger boys from power. They just cannot afford to feel wistful about the democratic perks they're giving up.

Sagal Ainashi

sagalainashi@hotmail.com

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