Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Rep. Donald Payne's Misguided Africa Policy Ignores Eritrean Terror Ties While Undermining Somalia and Ethiopia--Why?


The current violence in Kenya and Chad brings renewed focus upon the serious challenges in Africa, and underscores how important it is that America act wisely and send consistent and appropriate messages. During a recent trip to Eritrea—just as Kenya was beginning to erupt—Rep. Donald Payne did neither.

With the United States fighting a global war on terror, the notion that a Member of Congress would sit silently beside a terror-sponsoring dictator as he criticizes America is appalling. Yet that is reportedly what happened during Rep. Payne’s January visit to Eritrea, a country without press or religious freedom that openly supports al-Qaeda linked jihadists.

It is bad enough for any U.S. official to behave this way—but far worse when you consider that Payne chairs the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, an influential leadership post that has an impact on U.S.-Africa relations.

As a Somali-American I am deeply concerned about the message Rep. Payne’s trip sends—and the impact engaging Eritrea may mean to the fragile stability in Somalia and the entire Horn of Africa.

For more than a decade, Somalia has been a lawless state with no central government. With Ethiopia’s strong support, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which is backed by the United States and the U.N., is working to restore legitimate leadership to Somalia and to improve its standing in Africa and around the world.

Thwarting this progress toward stability and peace is the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), a radical Islamist group whose leaders have proven ties to al-Qaeda. The ICU seized power in 2006 from the legitimate TFG and formed an alliance with Eritrea.

A 2007 U.N. report detailed extensive Eritrean support to the jihadists wreaking death and destruction among my brothers and sisters in Somalia. In addition to supplying training and financial support, Eritrea has sent suicide vests, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, anti-aircraft guns and portable surface to air missiles. The deadly impact these weapons have had in the hands of the terrorists should be well understood by Americans who bear the haunting memory of the Black Hawk Down disaster in 1993, when 18 American soldiers deployed to Somalia on a humanitarian mission were dismembered and dragged through the streets.

In response to Somalia’s request for assistance, Ethiopia sent troops and effectively defanged the ICU terrorists. Since being routed, the Islamist fighters have regrouped and are waging a low-level insurgency aimed at driving out Ethiopian troops helping to secure Somalia.

By visiting Eritrea, Rep. Payne communicated clearly his overall goal: moving the balance of power in northeast Africa away from Ethiopia and toward Eritrea. His visit took place despite the State Department’s announced intention to declare Eritrea a state sponsor of terrorism. This visit raises serious questions about the real intent of H.R. 2003, a bill that Payne authored and pushed through the House in 2007.

H.R. 2003 is a dangerous piece of legislation because it is a full frontal assault on Ethiopia. It threatens to cut off aid to the country that kept Somalia from falling into the grip of an Islamist regime and is playing a key role as a U.S. partner in the war on terror. The radical terrorists that have wrecked my native Somalia are seeking to exploit the weak government in Mogadishu and gain a lasting foothold. They have vowed to fight on, while Osama Bin Laden himself has repeatedly called for jihad against Ethiopia and for radical Muslims to join the terrorists in Somalia who are attacking the peacekeeping forces helping to maintain order.

In the years shortly before September 11 forever changed the world, major terrorist attacks took place in the Horn of Africa. Al-Qaeda terrorists killed scores of Americans and Africans in large-scale, bloody assaults on U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. If those attacks have taught us anything, it is that the world cannot afford to ignore the terrorists, or to permit their sponsors to carry out their support with impunity.

Following Rep. Payne’s misguided visit, I visited Washington with dozens of other Somali-Americans from around the country to demonstrate at the State Department and on Capitol Hill and to meet face-to-face with our elected representatives. We delivered the message that the United States must continue to stand with Somalia—and with Ethiopia—which is helping to secure its future. And we reminded our lawmakers that states such as Eritrea that sponsor terrorists should be isolated—not coddled by key leaders in the U.S. Congress.

When it comes to the Horn of Africa, the stakes of are high. Our nation and its leaders must maintain moral clarity—and stand with allies who oppose terrorism and celebrate freedom and democracy.

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.

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