Monday, March 15, 2010

Where The Chaos And Corruption Seems Endless

March 15, 2010: The Sufi militia, Ahlu Sunna wal Jamea, has agreed to formally join the Transitional Government. Sufis are believers in a more mystical form of Islam, and are looked down on by many radical Sunni groups. But the Somali Sufis got tired of being harassed by al Shabaab, and have armed and organized themselves for defense over the last year. This helps, but has not helped transform the Transitional Government from a corrupt alliance of clan and warlord militias.  This makes the Transitional Government unreliable, and dependent on the AU peacekeepers for its survival. Most of the fighting in the last week has taken place mostly in the area north of Mogadishu, between Ogaden and the Indian Ocean, where clans battle over land use and water rights. There have been several hundred casualties, with nearly a hundred killed. Land and water are traditional causes of such strife, but the availability of automatic weapons, RPGs and mortars means many more casualties. Two clans of the Hawiye tribe are doing the fighting.
The clans, and warrior leaders, are what control most of military power in the country. Most of the gunmen serve clan leaders. The only "governments" in Somalia are the clans, and the clans are constantly bullying and plundering each other. Ambitious men, either bandits, merchants or religious leaders, can afford to hire men to form their own private armies. Foreign cash has created some of the largest private armies. Al Shabaab receives Iranian cash and weapons, via Eritrea. This doesn't cost a lot, less than a million dollars a month. Al Shabaab also gets donations from Islamic charities and Somali exiles. Al Shabaab has also made a lot of cash from extortion (of merchants and foreign aid organizations). This has made al Shabaab a major player.
Al Shabaab appears to have been taken over by  al Qaida, in the form of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed. A native of Kenya, Mohammed planned the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. There are several hundred al Qaeda members in Somalia, attracted by the absence of any police, and the presence of Iranian subsidies. All this enabled al Qaeda to establish a presence, especially after their defeat three years ago in Iraq, and the growing pressure on them in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Currently, the major al Shabaab effort is in Mogadishu, where the Islamic radicals have massed in an attempt to take the traditional capital of the country. So far this year, over 100,000 civilians have fled the city, and al Shabaab has been unable to make much progress against the 5,000 African Union (AU) peacekeepers from Burundi and Uganda. In the last week, there have been over 200 casualties in this fighting, which consists of daily skirmishes and heavy use of RPGs and mortars and, only by the AU, artillery. There are several thousand Transitional Government and Sufi militia fighters in Mogadishu, but only the al Shabaab gunmen show any enthusiasm for combat.
While the clan, warlord (bandit), merchant and religious militias represent over 70 percent of the armed Somalis, the Islamic radical groups (like al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam) are the most determined. Their primary obstacle  are the African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu. The Somali warriors have never been able to make much progress against professional soldiers. But they will keep at it, which discourages more organized foreigners, who come to feel it's pointless to keep butting heads with these violent Somalis. The U.S. provides training and cash for the Transitional Government, but will not directly support them. The aid is passed via third parties (like the UN or AU). The clans and warlords that comprise the Transitional Government are considered too unpredictable. The Transitional Government would like direct military assistance from the United States, especially Special Forces and missile armed UAVs. But they are not going to get it, because the clans are too prone to labeling traditional enemies as Islamic terrorists, just to get the American missiles to do the dirty work. The Somalis are not trusted by foreigners.
The Somali expatriate community supplies a lot of cash. In addition, there is a lot of economic activity in Somalia, and the GDP is believed to be at least $3 billion, with nearly a third of that in the form of money sent by expatriates. Pirate ransoms are, at most, about three percent of GDP. The ransom money would be an equally small portion of money spent to buy residential property in Nairobi.  It's dangerous to be wealthy in Somalia, so businessmen, and even warlords, park some of their assets in Kenya. Even al Shabaab leaders park their families outside the country.
Meanwhile, at sea, the anti-piracy patrol is on the offensive. In the last week, two mother ships have been sunk and over 40 pirates captured and turned over to local governments for prosecution. The loss of mother ships hurts, the loss of low ranking pirates, not so much. But the anti-piracy patrol believes they are beating the pirates down. The success rate of pirate attacks has gone down from 63 percent in 2007, to 34 percent in 2008 and 22 percent last year. The pirates are making more attempts, but it's getting expensive. Much of the ransom money goes to just keep the minimum wage pirates at sea and seeking vulnerable ships. There are far fewer vulnerable ships. But naval commanders recognize that this sort of thing can go on indefinitely, unless something is done about the chaos ashore. But no major nation wants to go ashore, where the chaos and corruption seems endless.

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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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