Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The symbiosis between terrorists and our leaders

How do politicians benefit from terrorism? Do terrorists garner support from their sympathizers by provoking political leaders? Is there symbiosis between the two despite the fact that politicians would rather not have a terrorist attack on their watch?On July 11, Uganda experienced what the U.S. went through on Sept. 11, 2001. As my friends, family and I returned home from the World Cup finals game, my car radio was reporting several terrorist attacks in the capital, Kampala. Like the attacks on Sept. 11, the July 11 suicide attacks were spectacular and devastating. Scores of revelers had been injured, killed or maimed.In less than 48 hours, the Somali-based militia, al Shabaab, with known links to al-Qaida, had claimed responsibility. The attacks, they proclaimed, were in response to Uganda's peacekeeping role in Somalia where the Kampala government, with the support of Washington, is propping up Sheikh Sharif's government -- a sworn enemy of al-Qaida.On July 12, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni visited the sites of the terrorist attacks and ordered the Uganda Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force to apprehend the perpetrators. He defiantly announced the deployment of 2,000 more troops to Somalia. The U.S. government immediately sent FBI agents to help with the investigations -- one American died in these attacks and several were injured.Notwithstanding the tragic nature of these two events, politicians often glean benefits from them.
Uganda's Museveni (not unlike America's President Bush) declared war on the terrorists and both men experienced a bump in their popularity ratings in what is known as the rally effect. This is where the chief executive receives inordinate support from the people following a crisis. In a poll done four weeks later, a good majority of Ugandans felt that of the candidates running for president in next year's election, Museveni was the only one who could defend Uganda from terrorist threats. His ratings compared to opposition candidates regarding national security were very high.In the U.S., Republicans got a boost as national security gained prominence on the policy agenda. The 9/11 attacks united the country and distracted Americans from long-term challenges such as health care and unemployment.
July 11 cast the following into the background in Uganda: unemployment rates of 45 percent, rising political repression and a president seeking a mandate for another five years in addition to the 24 years he has served thus far.Washington sees Uganda's peacekeeping role in Somalia as vital to the global fight against al-Qaida. Consequently, Kampala receives financial, military and logistical support from the U.S., not to speak of vital diplomatic support. In a developing country such as Uganda where fiscal accountability is lax, the securitization of aid provides a conduit through which funding for political campaigns (especially for the incumbents) might be funneled.
In the United States, Pentagon spending following the 9/11 attacks received limited scrutiny. Following passage of the Patriot Act, Uganda passed the 2002 Anti-Terrorism Act, which invariably circumscribes civil liberties/rights and has no sunset provisions.How do the terrorists benefit? It depends on the responses by the politicians in the attacked countries. In most cases, leaders choose not to appease the aggressors and to (as both Bush and Museveni did) escalate the war, hunt down the perpetrators and smoke accomplices out of their hiding places.Said Museveni on July 13, "We shall get them and make sure that the law of Moses is supplied to them."
But when leaders respond in moralistic terms, depicting the terrorists and their sponsors as the agents of evil against good, the latter strengthen their appeals to sponsors. And when sections of civil society such as the Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center announce plans to mark 9/11 by burning the Quran, they open the terrorists' financial supply lines. This is partly because such characterizations trigger images of a 21st century crusade and partly because this is one of their intended outcomes.
Is there an unwitting symbiosis in this dynamic? Perhaps so, because terrorists leave no room for a viable political solution, especially given their seemingly irrational conduct in the world. The natural and only response from the political representatives of the modern state is to defend its sovereignty. The other benefits are natural corollaries of this reality. Likewise, the raison d'etre of terrorism is to alarm victims, instill terror and guarantee their own survival and reproduction. Joshua B. Rubongoya
Rubongoya is a professor and chairman of the Department of Public Affairs at Roanoke College.

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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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