The June 25th hearing of the House Subcommittee on Africa was quite a spectacle. It was supposed to be about fighting terrorism, but it turned out to be mostly about three other things. First, it was an occasion to stress how much Sheikh Sharif government (the TFG) that is holed up in a few buildings in Mogadishu needs help. This theme was repeated ad infinitum. But the question why the TFG was weak was never raised. The closest thing to an answer to this question that could be gleaned from the hearing was the circular argument: the TFG is weak because it needs help. The right answer is, of course, the TFG is weak because the vast majority of Somalis do not support it. But nobody in the hearing wanted to talk about such basic facts.
The second item that dominated the hearing is of course Congressman Donald Payne himself who ran the hearing as if it were a private affair. He touted his concern for Somalia, Somaliland and Puntland. He played up every little encounter he had with Somalis. He conveyed a sense that he held the keys to a magic kingdom that will deliver the Somalis, only if they will follow his wise counsel. But while he was at it, he kept showing his ignorance of the politics of the Horn of Africa. He kept calling Mogadishu Mogandishu. The irredentist concept of Greater Somalia was to him the same as Somalia. The TFG, Puntland and Somaliland are, as far as he is concerned, the three regions of Somalia. Congressman Payne regaled his audience with these and other idiocies.
Noticeably absent from the hearing was input from other congressmen, particularly Republicans. Based on what we could discern from a video of the proceedings, the only two other congressmen who actively participated were Jackson-Lee and Keith Ellison, both democrats. This is puzzling given that terrorism was the announced topic of the hearing which should garner interest from a wide variety of congressmen. It was also puzzling that the hearing did not address the threat of domestic terrorism posed by some Somali Americans, especially since Congressman Keith Ellison was present and many of those Somali American terrorists, including the one who blew himself in Somaliland are actually his constituents. Similarly, the President of Puntland was not asked about his administration’s UN documented involvement in piracy. Apparently, Mr. Payne was not going to let such issues get in the way of his show.
The third item that dominated the hearing was Somaliland bashing, with the exception of Dr Pham’s presentation. Congressman Payne explained that he invited Somaliland foreign minister, that Somaliland’s foreign minister asked for a separate panel, and that the congressman refused the request. But the congressman did not leave it there. He went on to express his dismay, to which he is also entitled. But then he went even further and issued a threat to isolate Somaliland, and there he definitely crossed a red line.
There are some Somalilanders who are saying that he just got upset because he really wanted Somaliland to participate in the hearing but has no ill will toward Somaliland. Time will tell. In the meantime, two things are for sure. Donald Payne is an ignorant man who wades into complicated issues without adequate thinking. Actually, even though he had threatened to isolate Somaliland, right now he is the one who is isolated and not welcome in most countries of the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia has gone as far as calling him a terrorist. Until recently, he used to defend Isaias Afwerki’s regime and has lauded its “achievements”. These days, he has embraced Sheikh Sharif’s phantom government which puts him at odds with the Eritrean regime. So instead of threatening Somaliland with isolation and thereby adding to the list of countries in the Horn of Africa where he is persona non grata, he should be working on ending his own isolation in the Horn of Africa, if he wants to contribute to the political situation in that region.
As far as US policy is concerned, needless to say it is based on protecting US interests. And right now the US interest lies in keeping the peace and stability in Somaliland. So it is very unlikely that the US government will follow Donald Payne’s advice if he suggests to the US administration a policy of isolating Somaliland. On the contrary, the US knows that it has got a good thing going in Somaliland, whereby Somaliland has been a stable and reliable force against terrorism in the region, with the US doing very little for Somaliland in return. So why throw away such a good deal, especially when the most likely alternative to Somaliland’s democratic government is not peaceful union with Mogadishu, but Somaliland becoming a carbon copy of Mogadishu and turning into a terrorist haven. In this context, Congressman Payne’s outburst against Somaliland was a boost for terrorists who just can’t wait to turn Somaliland into another Mogadishu.
If anything, this hearing should have made clear to Congressman Payne that even though Somaliland is an impoverished and unrecognized country, it does not mean it will allow him or any other foreigner to dictate to it which meetings to attend and which meetings not to attend. This decision can only be made by Somaliland’s democratically elected government, and the criterion is whether attending, or not attending, is in Somaliland’s interests. As a democratically elected official, he should at least understand that much.

 

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