Wednesday, March 17, 2010

How Somalia’s Envoy to the USA vindicated neo-cons on Somalia

The TFG Envoy to the US Mr. Abukar Arman
Transitional Federal Government of Somalia’s new envoy to the United States Mr. Abukar Amran
Transitional Federal Government of Somalia’s new envoy to the United States Mr. Abukar Amran, writes op-ed pieces on Somalia for some newspapers and major websites such as Huffington Post.  In the past his views carried weight within the Somali community because he did not have a role in clannish politics of post-1991 Somalia until 2006 when the Union of Islamic Courts defeated the notorious warlords and captured many parts of southern Somalia. As a new envoy of Somalia to the US, Abukar Arman is keen to reopen a Somalia Embassy in Washington. “The transitional federal government under [President] Sharif has no legs to stand on, what then would an ambassador represent given that?" Professor Ahmed Samatar, Dean of the Institute for Global Citizenship at Macalester College told Associated Press. The professor’s remarks angered Abukar Arman who, according Associated Press report,  implied that professor Samatar is a lazy thinker. “We've tried that line for the last 20 years - it didn't get us anywhere," he said. "It's a tall order, but somebody has to do it, somebody has to march with confidence towards that goal.“

During 1980s Professor Ahmed Samatar’s views on Somalia under Siyad Barre regime put the spotlight on the clan based opposition groups. His 1988 book, Socialist Somalia: Rhetoric and Reality, is still the most reliable and well researched study critical of the Somali revolution. He foresaw the armed opposition movements’ inability to put Somalia on the road to democracy when Siyad Barre “regime falls”. His views on post-1991 Somalia   emphasize the need for an able leadership. Why has envoy Arman dismissed the Professor Samatar’s remarks knowing full well that the TFG is protected in some parts of Mogadishu by (The African Union Mission to Somalia AMISOM) forces?

Envoy Arman’s  2006-2010 writings on Somalia  can shed some light on his dismissive attitude. Frontpage, an online  magazine, published articles on Abukar Arman. Patrick Poole a contributor to the magazine, called Arman  “one of the most prominent public defenders of the al-Qaeda-backed ICU[ Islamic Courts Union]  terrorist organization in the West,…[who] published numerous articles in print and online defending the group prior to their violent takeover of Somalia last summer.” The ICU didn’t succeed in conquering all Somali regions; it ruled parts of southern Somalia where US financed warlords once regarded as their fiefdoms but Poole’s criticisms took their toll on Arman who “lost his teaching job”, according to a Columbus Dispatch story on the day Abukar Arman was cleared of any terrorism connection. In one of his pieces Arman called for the international contact group  for Somalia to support the ICU  because it is against “the abuses and exploitations of the warlords, and as such, the movement bears a profound historical significance to the average Somali, which is why it attracted “the good; the bad; and the ugly” as volunteers.” The defeated, CIA funded Alliance for Counter-terrorism made up of warlords was targeting members of Islamic courts  operating in some parts of Mogadishu. The warlords underestimated the power and support base of the Islamic Courts in Mogadishu. People in Mogadishu were tired of war; it was the religious men who took up arms and brought the warlords’s reign of terror to an end. The ICU leadership called for jihad against Ethiopia, prompting the intentional community’s moral support for Ethiopia.
The United States under Bush and now under Obama maintains “terrorists” have found a haven in Somalia. Al Shabab’s transition from a small group of men under the ICU into a full-fledged organization controlling many parts of Southern Somalia, and its link with the Al  Qa’eda says something about  Arman’s  judgment. In 2008 the United States killed Aden Hashi Ayro, a top Al Shabab leader, in Galugdud region. In 2009, the United States killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan near Barawe. The US was on the trail of Nabhan  for the 1998 bombing of American embassies in Nairobi and Darussalam. Abukar Arman was defending an organization of which the United States knew more than he knew about it. One can safely say that “moderates” in ICU were outnumbered by “extremists”. Arman’s uncritical support for the ICU was shared by many including the Somali-Canadian academic Afyare Elmi who, in 2007 wrote an op-ed in Boston Globe.  He criticized the US policy “for approaching the complex and multilayered Somali conflict in this simplistic way and linking it to the war on terror.” Afyare had to change his views in an Al Jazeera  TV interview  in February 2010 because “they [ Al Shabab ]  want to link al Shabab and  Horn of Africa  Jihad to the global network led by Osama Bin Laden . Americans were arguing that Al Shabab  was a proxy for Al Qa’iada. They seem to be vindicated.”

Then Against TFG, Now for the TFG

When  Sharif Sheikh Ahmed   was elected president of the  Transitional Federal Government of Somalia in January 2009,   Abukar Arman began to write articles in support  of the TFG although he described the TFG in the following  terms: “Many Somalis are generally skeptical of the authenticity of the TFG. To many, there is no difference between the TFG led by Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi and President Abdullahi Yusuf, on the one hand, and the Ethiopian regime led by Meles. They consider the first duo as self-serving charlatans and the latter as their master and puppeteer.” Now Arman  is the  TFG’s envoy to the United States. The TFG is the outcome of a reconciliation conference which, according to Arman , was “ micromanaged” by the Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi, just like “ most of the 14 previously failed ‘reconciliation” conferences.” In another piece Arman argued:  “The ICU  leaders carry significant political credibility and clout that could help disarm Mogadishu, restore peace and order, and give credence to any future (mutually organized) intra-Somali reconciliation conference.” The founder of ICU sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweis is the leader of the Hisbul Islam,  a militant Islamist outfit  that is bent on getting rid of  the TFG;  Al Shabab is no longer a group of young men within the ICU.

Envoy Abukar Arman’s past Op-Ed pieces and columns  leave no one in doubt that he is a partisan  who has (unwittingly) misinformed the world about Somalia and its problems. Sadly, he vindicated the neo-cons on Somalia.
Liban Ahmad
E-mail: libahm@gmail.com

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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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