Archive for the ‘Blogroll’ Category

Stonning in Somalia – Shame of I"slamism" and Al-Shabaab

In Blogroll on October 28, 2008 at 7:43 pm

In Kismayo, in lawless Somalia a group of men who hide behind the beautiful and peaceful religion of Islam stoned young Somali women to death. Why? Because she had sex. That is it. That was the alleged crime. I am sure that some of these fanatics were ex-militia men who raped many innocent women before. They said she confessed to it and but when she was dragged to the spot or the bloody spectacle. She was crying and screaming. They tied her hands and legs and stormed her with stones until she died. One would have to ask?

Even if they want to kill someone and implement their perversion of Islam, can’t they use bullets? We must ask ourselves is this really what our religion dictates or just a misogynistic interpretation of the Shariah by fanatics, by charlatans, by warlords? Why is it women who have to be sacrificed and punished first? how many evil men commit acts of crime daily in that town? countless! These barbaric men are corrupt and hide behind religion. They know no Islam and not representative of the religion. They are thugs, ex-warlords and roadblock bosses. We all know them. They were clan militias who now call themselves Islamic militants. It’s a ploy to usurp power and scare people. Stoning a human being to death in this age is incomprehensible and inhumane. No religion or GOD condones or commands such act of barbarism.Isn’t GOD merciful and compassionate? How could they miss that? isn’t religion supposed to nourish the spirit and purify the soul? these fanatics have no spirit or soul. they are blood-thirsty and cruel.They work for the devil and not Islam or GOD. The men who did this are manifestation of the diabolical cruelty of men. – my two cents.

Islamists stone to death Somali woman for adultery

Reuters

October 28, 2008 at 5:56 AM EDT

KISMAYU, SOMALIA — Somali Islamists have stoned to death a woman accused of adultery in the first such public killing by the militants for about two years.

The 23-year-old woman was executed late on Monday in front of hundreds of people in the southern port of Kismayu, which the Islamist insurgents captured in August, witnesses said.

Guards opened fire when a relative ran forward, killing a child, they said.

“A woman in green veil and black mask was brought in a car as we waited to watch the merciless act of stoning,” one local resident, Abdullahi Aden, told Reuters.

“We were told she submitted herself to be punished, yet we could see her screaming as she was forcefully bound, legs and hands. A relative of hers ran towards her, but the Islamists opened fire and killed a child.”

The Islamists last carried out public executions when they ruled Mogadishu and most of south Somalia for half of 2006. Allied Ethiopian and Somali government forces toppled them at the end of that year, but they have waged an Iraq-style guerrilla campaign since then, gradually taking territory back.

As when they ruled Mogadishu in 2006, the Islamists now controlling the Kismayu area are again providing much-needed security, but also imposing fundamentalist practices such as banning entertainment seen as anti-Islamic.

Relatives of the woman executed in Kismayu, whom they named as Asha Ibrahim Dhuhulow, said she was unfairly treated.

“The stoning was totally irreligious and illogical,” said her sister, who asked not to be named. “Islam does not execute a woman for adultery unless four witnesses and the man with whom she committed sex are brought forward publicly.”

Islamist leaders at the execution said the woman had breached Islamic law. They promised to punish the guard who had shot the child in the melee around the execution.

“We apologize for killing the child. And we promise we shall bring the one who opened fire before the courts and deal with him accordingly,” one unnamed Islamist leader told the crowd.

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Can They Speak Here?

In Blogroll on October 28, 2008 at 6:43 pm

Dol Hassan protested the school’s policy on political speakers at the College of St. Catherine by putting duct tape on her mouth. She and other students protested in front of Derham Hall.

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Published March 14, 2000

About 30 students decried the school’s decision to keep politics in “balance” and, in the process, decline to host appearances by Hillary Clinton, Bay Buchanan and Al Franken.

By JENNA ROSS and PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune staff writers

Last update: October 28, 2008 – 12:13 AM

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That tape is permanent is it? Couldn’t resist asking….

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Moved by a Crescent

By MAUREEN DOWD

Published: October 21, 2008

Colin Powell had been bugged by many things in his party’s campaign this fall: the insidious merging of rumors that Barack Obama was Muslim with intimations that he was a terrorist sympathizer; the assertion that Sarah Palin was ready to be president; the uniformed sheriff who introduced Governor Palin by sneering about Barack Hussein Obama; the scorn with which Republicans spit out the words “community organizer”; the Republicans’ argument that using taxes to “spread the wealth” was socialist when the purpose of taxes is to spread the wealth; Palin’s insidious notion that small towns in states that went for W. were “the real America.”

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But what sent him over the edge and made him realize he had to speak out was when he opened his New Yorker three weeks ago and saw a picture of a mother pressing her head against the gravestone of her son, a 20-year-old soldier who had been killed in Iraq. On the headstone were engraved his name, Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, his awards — the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star — and a crescent and a star to denote his Islamic faith.

“I stared at it for an hour,” he told me. “Who could debate that this kid lying in Arlington with Christian and Jewish and nondenominational buddies was not a fine American?”

Khan was an all-American kid. A 2005 graduate of Southern Regional High School in Manahawkin, N.J., he loved the Dallas Cowboys and playing video games with his 12-year-old stepsister, Aliya.

His obituary in The Star-Ledger of Newark said that he had sent his family back pictures of himself playing soccer with Iraqi children and hugging a smiling young Iraqi boy.

His father said Kareem had been eager to enlist since he was 14 and was outraged by the 9/11 attacks. “His Muslim faith did not make him not want to go,” Feroze Khan, told The Gannett News Service after his son died. “He looked at it that he’s American and he has a job to do.”

In a gratifying “have you no sense of decency, Sir and Madam?” moment, Colin Powell went on “Meet the Press” on Sunday and talked about Khan, and the unseemly ways John McCain and Palin have been polarizing the country to try to get elected. It was a tonic to hear someone push back so clearly on ugly innuendo.

Even the Obama campaign has shied away from Muslims. The candidate has gone to synagogues but no mosques, and the campaign was embarrassed when it turned out that two young women in headscarves had not been allowed to stand behind Obama during a speech in Detroit because aides did not want them in the TV shot.

The former secretary of state has dealt with prejudice in his life, in and out of the Army, and he is keenly aware of how many millions of Muslims around the world are being offended by the slimy tenor of the race against Obama.

He told Tom Brokaw that he was troubled by what other Republicans, not McCain, had said: “ ‘Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.’ Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim. He’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no. That’s not America. Is something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?”

Powell got a note from Feroze Khan this week thanking him for telling the world that Muslim-Americans are as good as any others. But he also received more e-mails insisting that Obama is a Muslim and one calling him “unconstitutional and unbiblical” for daring to support a socialist. He got a mass e-mail from a man wanting to spread the word that Obama was reading a book about the end of America written by a fellow Muslim.

“Holy cow!” Powell thought. Upon checking Amazon.com, he saw that it was a reference to Fareed Zakaria, a Muslim who writes a Newsweek column and hosts a CNN foreign affairs show. His latest book is “The Post-American World.”

Powell is dismissive of those, like Rush Limbaugh, who say he made his endorsement based on race. And he’s offended by those who suggest that his appearance Sunday was an expiation for Iraq, speaking up strongly now about what he thinks the world needs because he failed to do so then.

Even though he watched W. in 2000 make the argument that his lack of foreign policy experience would be offset by the fact that he was surrounded by pros — Powell himself was one of the regents brought in to guide the bumptious Texas dauphin — Powell makes that same argument now for Obama.

“Experience is helpful,” he says, “but it is judgment that matters.”

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In Blogroll on October 22, 2008 at 7:16 am

Op-Ed Columnist

Moved by a Crescent

By MAUREEN DOWD

Published: October 21, 2008

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“I stared at it for an hour,” he told me. “Who could debate that this kid lying in Arlington with Christian and Jewish and nondenominational buddies was not a fine American?”

Khan was an all-American kid. A 2005 graduate of Southern Regional High School in Manahawkin, N.J., he loved the Dallas Cowboys and playing video games with his 12-year-old stepsister, Aliya.

His obituary in The Star-Ledger of Newark said that he had sent his family back pictures of himself playing soccer with Iraqi children and hugging a smiling young Iraqi boy.

“Experience is helpful,” he says, “but it is judgment that matters.”

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In Blogroll on October 20, 2008 at 3:24 am

Colin Powell Invokes Image Of Fallen Soldier

October 19, 2008 03:29 PM

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Colin Powell has officially endorsed Barack Obama for President. But the big news is that this was not even his most important endorsement of the day. As it turns out, the most important thing endorsed by Colin Powell today was an America that’s worth leading and worth fighting for, an America that encapsulates the idea of what some might call a “more perfect union.” To that end, Powell invoked a picture to illustrate his point.

“Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That’s not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that he is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel particularly strong about this because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay, was of a mother at Arlington Cemetery and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone, and it gave his awards – Purple Heart, Bronze Star – showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death, he was 20 years old. And then at the very top of the head stone, it didn’t have a Christian cross. It didn’t have a Star of David. It has a crescent and star of the Islamic faith.

And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he could serve his country and he gave his life.”

This is the picture of Elsheba Khan, taken by Platon for the New Yorker:

So, yeah. Sometimes, America does benefit when we share our wealth with one another. And some people, in fact, do have it harder than Joe The Plumber.

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In Blogroll on October 20, 2008 at 3:24 am

Colin Powell Invokes Image Of Fallen Soldier

October 19, 2008 03:29 PM

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“Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That’s not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that he is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel particularly strong about this because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay, was of a mother at Arlington Cemetery and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone, and it gave his awards – Purple Heart, Bronze Star – showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death, he was 20 years old. And then at the very top of the head stone, it didn’t have a Christian cross. It didn’t have a Star of David. It has a crescent and star of the Islamic faith.

And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he could serve his country and he gave his life.”

This is the picture of Elsheba Khan, taken by Platon for the New Yorker:

So, yeah. Sometimes, America does benefit when we share our wealth with one another. And some people, in fact, do have it harder than Joe The Plumber.

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In Blogroll on October 4, 2008 at 5:47 am

Italiani di merda, Italiani bastardi

Noi Voi non riuscite nemmeno a immaginare quanto sia difficile per me scrivere, tentando di non ferire le vostre povere sensibilità di piccoli bianchi, totalmente ignoranti del loro passato di carnefici di neri, ebrei e musulmani.

Non conoscete nulla di quello che avete nel vostro DNA storico, vi riempite la bocca di ebrei solo per salvarvi la coscienza, raccontando di come gente tipo Perlasca – un fascista di merda che dovrebbe morire mille volte solo per essere stato fascista ed aver sostenuto fossanche per un solo minuto quel regime – ne ha salvato alcuni.

Siete un popolo senza futuro perché siete un popolo senza memoria.

Me ne fotto degli italiani brava gente. Anzi, mi correggo, me ne fotto degli italiani bianchi e cristiani, naturalmente brava gente.

Non lo siete.

Siete ignoranti, stupidi, pavidi, vigliacchi.

Siete il peggio che la razza bianca abbia mai prodotto.

Brutti come la fame, privi di capacità e di ingegno se non nel business della malavita organizzata e nella volontà delle vostre donne (studentesse, casalinghe, madri di famiglie) di prostituirsi e di prostituire le proprie figlie.

Anche quando dimostrate un barlume di intelligenza, questa si perde nei rivoli del guadagno facile e del tirare a fregare chi sta peggio di voi.

Nessuna delle vostre battaglie ha un senso per altri se prima non produce un tornaconto per voi stessi.

Dalla politica alla religione, dal sociale alla cultura, siete delle nullità.

Capaci di raccogliere firme e manifestare, salvo poi smentire con ogni vostro atto quotidiano quello che a grande voce dichiarate pubblicamente. Andate a marciare da soli, che marci siete e marci rimarrete e non vi voglio profumare.

Non avete una classe media, siete una penosa e noiosa classe mediocre, incivile e selvaggia. I giornali più venduti sono quelli che trattano di gossip e i programmi televisivi più gettonati – al fine di vendere le proprie figlie come bestiame, come le vacche che sono destinate inevitabilmente a diventare, vista la vostra genia – sono i reality.

Avete acclamato qualsiasi dittatore e sottoscritto qualsiasi strage, salvo poi dimenticarvene ed assurgere come vittime di un élite. Non avete un’élite, coglioni, fatevene una ragione: i vostri deputati e senatori sono delle merde tali e quali a voi, i vostri capitani d’azienda sono dei progetti andati a male dei centri di collocamento, ma che o avevano buoni rapporti famigliari o il culo l’hanno dato meglio di voi.

Non solo quelli al governo (o che fanno capo all’area governativa), anche e soprattutto quelli che fanno capo all’opposizione.

Da quelli oggi al governo non ci aspettiamo nulla se non quello che da anni ci danno: razzismo, esclusione, spedizioni punitive, insulti ed umiliazioni.

Ma da quelli all’opposizione, quelli che si sono arricchiti con anni di Arci, Opere Nomadi, Sindacati Confederali, e sempre sulla nostra pelle, facendoci perdere diritti che ormai davamo per acquisiti, ci aspettiamo che si facciano da parte.

Sono ormai troppi anni che deleghiamo le nostre lotte a persone che in teoria dovrebbero averle fatte proprie, dimenticandoci l’infima qualità dell’italiano pseudobianco e pseudocristiano: non vale un cazzo perché non ha valori che valgano.

Un popolo di mafiosi, camorristi, ignoranti bastardi senza un futuro perché non lo meritano: che possano i loro figli morire nelle culle o non essere mai partoriti.

Questo mondo non ha bisogno di schiavi dentro come lo siete voi, feccia umana, non ha bisogno di persone che si inginocchiano a dei che sia chiamano potere e denaro e nemmeno di chi della solidarietà ha fatto business.

Ha bisogno di altro, che voi non avete e quindi siete inutili.

Dite che non è così?

Ditelo ai Rom perseguitati in tutta Italia, ditelo ad Abdoul, ditelo ai 6 di Castelvoturno, ditelo a Emmanuel, ditelo ai gay massacrati da solerti cristiani eterosessuali.

Ditelo a mio fratello, bastardi.

Ditelo alle decine di persone vere, non zecche e pulci come voi, che non denunciano perché sanno che se vanno dalla vostra polizia bastarda e assassina li umilieranno e magari li picchieranno di più e forse li uccideranno come l’Aldro [ammazzato come un cane perché pensavano fosse un extracomunitario], e se sono donne le violenteranno, e non avranno nessuno a cui rivolgersi per essere difesi.

Ditelo a quelli che rinchiudete per mesi nei vostri campi di concentramento senza alcun genere di condanna, solo per gonfiare le casse di qualche associazione che finanzierà un qualche partito, generalmente di sinistra, ditelo a quelli che lavorano per i vostri partiti e sindacati da lustri senza avere un contratto ma in nero, ditelo a quelli che si sono fidati di voi per anni, ditelo a quelli che raccolgono l’ultimo respiro di quei maiali dei vostri vecchi, e a quelli che si sfilano dalle fighe delle nostre ragazze per infilarsi in quelle larghe e flaccide delle vostre donnacce, ditelo ai nostri ragazzi che vincono medaglie e che saranno il futuro di questo paese, ditecelo, figli di puttana.

Ditelo col cappello in mano, e gli occhi bassi, cani bastardi. Ma sappiate che la risposta ve l’hanno già data a Castevolturno: Italiani bastardi, Italiani di merda. Io ci aggiungo bianchi, perché il discrimine è questo. Valete poco perché avete poco da dire e nulla da dare.

Dacia Valent

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Human trafickers and leg-less assassins of Mogadishu

In Blogroll on July 31, 2008 at 7:06 pm

human trafickers and leg-less assassins of Mogadishu

I heard this as urban legend joke before but i couldn’t stop laughing reading this story posted first at Isseh’s Enclave – A Somali man’s blog

What is this?

Imagine you are in Mogadishu, and walking down the street, your eyes catch those of a crippled beggar sitting along the road. You see him, he sees you, then you feel empathy towards him, and so you decide to throw a coin in his begging bowl. While leaning forward to drop the coin in his bowl, you get the feeling that he is trying to tell you something. You become attentive, fix your eyes on his whispering lips, and wait to see if he was trying to say something. Surprise, surprise! He is indeed talking, and talking to you but you still can’t make out exactly what he is saying. So, you curiously ask, ‘een maxaad tiri? (urm what did you say?)’. The crippled man wets his lips, clears his throat and with a faint voice says, ‘waxaan ku iri, fadlan ii soo dhowoow waxbaan kuu sheegiye’ (I said, please come closer I want to tell you something)’.

Now you are standing, looking around at others passing by, scratching your head, thinking ‘muxuu ii sheegi rabaa ninkan? (What does this man what to tell me)? Then, within the minute, you make your decision, go down on one knee just in front of the crippled man, at the same eye level, and ask him ‘maxaa jira sxb? (What’s up my friend?). He looks at you firmly, and requests once again, ‘aan kuu sheege bal sxb horey u soo siko nooh (I will tell you but please move forward a little bit more). Now you are close to him, real close that you could smell the onion in his breath. You are looking at his face, mouth to be precise, anticipating him to reveal the biggest secret in the world. He notices that you are looking at him quite closely at the area of his mouth, and then he lets off a smile. You can’t help but smile too. You warm up to the idea of helping him out with whatever problem he has. You start to feel good in your heart because of what you can do for him. At that particular moment you feel like a saint for having such a noble disposition to come to the aid of a fellow human being who needs you. All this time you are feeling this way, his smile hasn’t died down. He is still smiling, and you are. And then he looks at you right in the eyes. He stretches his left hand to your right shoulder, as if to bring your ear close to his mouth so as to whisper things to you.

You look at the motion of his stretching arm and feel on your shoulder that his hand has a strong grip to it, and slightly feel uneasy. Then you ask again, what’s up? Then he says, ‘I’ll tell you what’s up’ and quite suddenly grabs your left shoulder. His right arm swings forward swiftly, pulling out a revolver to your FACE and says ‘this is what’s up my friend’. You scream out ‘Fluking hell!’ and try to jump backwards but you can’t. He is holding your shoulder tightly and sticking a pistol on your face. You desperately retort ‘what? …what? I was only trying to help you man!’ He looks at you seriously and says, ’stop being a wuss man! You wanted to help me? Well, good. Now you can’. And you ask yourself, ‘WTF! He is holding a revolver to me and he still thinks I can help him? What does he call this? Charity? I call this a ’stick-up’. That’s what this bloody is!’ But he rudely slaps you when he realizes you are getting lost in your own thoughts. ‘Up we go!’ he commands. ‘Up goes where?’ you ask puzzled. ‘I go on your shoulders. You will be carrying me to my destination’ he replies.

‘What? Me carrying you on my shoulders? Oh no, man! Over my dead body!’ you exclaim! ‘And do you think I have any quarrels shooting you dead, huh?’ he yells out. ‘I don’t fcuking know, do I?’ you shout back! ‘Listen man, the sooner you put me on your shoulder and be on your way the better he’ tells you. You look around, desperately hoping someone would somehow help you out of this catch 22 you are in. But there is nothing around. People fled when they saw the crippled man pulling out a gun on you. The TV and Radio newsmen have been lately reporting the new phenomenon of the ‘armed crippled men’ take people their ‘human transportation’ since they can’t afford to pay normal bus fares… So everyone is afraid of the crippled men.

You resign yourself to your fate, and decide that you might as well carry the man to his destination. You try to lift him but he quickly hops on your shoulders. No sooner than 2 minutes of carrying him, the crippled man pulls out a mobile phone from his pocket and speed dials a number. ‘I am on my way friend’ he says down the phone and hangs up the line. You carry him for almost 2 miles until you reach his destination. He commands you to ‘pull over here, just by this door’ and you do. But before you could put him down, another crippled man hurries out of the door, yet holding a gun! The first crippled man gets down and thanking and threatening, ‘thanks you for the transportation. Now be a nice boy and take my friend to his destination. If you don’t he’ll shoot you down like a dog’. You cringe. You sweat hot. You feel cold and then hot. Tears of vengeance swell in your eyes. Your throat feels like it’s been cut with a rough knife. At that moment, if possible, you could kill all the crippled men in Mogadishu. But that isn’t possible to you now. Then again, you resign yourself to the fate in hand. You bite your lips with CIIL and get on with being a human transportation. You go absolutely quiet.

So, while on your way carrying him, the second crippled man decides to tell you a nice little story to lighten your burdens. He goes, ‘do you know what we (the armed crippled men) are called?’ You don’t want to speak to him but then again you must. You need the information. So you ask, ‘what are you called?’ “Legless Assassins’ he proudly tells you. ‘Legless what?’ you laughingly ask again. ‘Legless Assassins’ he confirms. You laugh out loud. You laugh again and again until you get teary. At first he resents your mocking laughter but then he joins you and laughs out too. So after few minutes of laughing at each other you ask, ’so how do you go about assassinating people when you are immobile?’ He keeps silent for few seconds, then chuckles to himself, and says ‘well, you see, our disability isn’t always a negative thing. At most times due to our legless ness, the functions of our hands improve. So we become good sharp-shooters, and that is what you need in this business. Our clients give us the particulars of who should be taken out, such as which roads he passes, what cloths he wears what his height and weight is and that’s about it. We pick him out clean.’ ‘But how, how?’ you ask.

‘Simple’ he says, ’someone picks us up and puts us on a roof along the road the target uses. We also make sure our gateway Xaajiyo Khamsiin car is parked below us, inside it either mattresses to reduce the impact. From then too we sit and wait for the target and when he appears we take him out, and quickly throw ourselves off the roof landing inside the car, which is driven the next second the driver feels we are in’ he explains…..

To be continued……..

(That’s what a lazy Sunday makes you write down Forgive me if you find some mistakes, ‘cos I can’t be bothered to edit it)

As posted on: Isseh’s Enclave

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In Defense of the Good Sheikh

In Blogroll on July 27, 2008 at 5:11 pm

In Defense of the Good Sheikh

The Alliance of the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) split up into two rival splinter groups after the tardy attempt to patch things up failed in Yemen. Hassan Dahir Aweys, the hardliner Islamist boss sacked Sheikh Sharif, his moderate Islamist sidekick and crowned himself as the ultimate leader of the Somalia’s Islamic opposition movement. What was Sheikh Sharif’s cardinal sin? He talked to the enemy and signed a dubious agreement with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) that, according to the hawkish elements within the ARS, is not practical and objectionable to the Somali and Islamic cause.

From the outset, many Somali observers were unconvinced about the marriage of unlike groups of moderates, hardliners and nationalists with divergent agendas. Their effectiveness was questioned and it seemed that the whole thing of forming such shaky alliance was rushed and not well-thought of.

Some followers of the messy Somali affairs believe that Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who is the face of the Islamic movement in Somalia and the man behind the establishment of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in Mogadishu and Southern Somalia opposes any peace deal with the warlord-infested government of Somalia as long as he remains in Bush’s terror list. Others suggest that the hardened Sheikh, by strongly opposing the same group he shaped and molded, is committing political suicide and is risking playing into the hands of his enemies whose sinister plot was to craft a wedge within the Islamic movement. Who knows, maybe, Sheikh Aweys and his Asmara wing seem to have stronger convictions in their pursuit of liberating Somalia. Probably they oppose the peace initiatives of Sheikh Sharif and his Djibouti wing for the fear that their liberation program and their political agenda would be eclipsed under the rubric of spurious call of reconciliation that promises nothing other than legitimizing collaborationist warlords whose mandate is running out in 2009 without accomplishing anything except to create more havoc and carnage in the capital.

The conduct of Sheikh Sharif, so far, shows that he is a different kind of leader, good natured, softly spoken, highly intellectual and convincing in his arguments. Despite these admirable qualities, some of his detractors say, in politics, especially the messy ones in Somalia, where alliances shift and loyalties are improvised; he is a neophyte who is out of touch in the Somali reality. They accuse Sheikh Sharif of being a flip-flop and political gambler and that he sometimes conforms to pressure. The political pragmatism of Sheikh Sharif is not a liability and is indeed what is needed to save Somalia today. Sheikh Sharif has not betrayed the Islamic Courts and in fact he advances them and promotes their name and cause. Talking to the other side of the Somali conflict, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) when they are specially represented by equally good natured and compromising individuals like Prime Minister Nur Adde and his deputy Ahmed Abdisalam is not a betrayal of the Islamist cause. Realizing that the Ethiopian occupation is supported and bankrolled by the powers-that-be and that Meles Zenawi is not alone in this “war on terror” is perceptive prudence and not a betrayal of Islamic principles.

Now the question many people are asking is what would happen to the good Sheikh Sharif and his peacenik group? Would he still be able to represent himself as the face of the opposition? Would Sheikh Sharif’s perceptible passivity, diplomacy and good intentions affect a change on the ground? So far, things seem to be not working in his favor and his only vindication rests with the implementation of the accord he signed by the powers-that-be. If that fails, then the good Sheikh would have to re-invent himself again and join hands with the hardliners once again. Until then I would advise the supporters of the Asmara group to halt their rash criticism of the good Sheikh and give him a chance to pursue his admirable goal of driving the occupying forces out of Somalia through diplomacy and negotiations.

The collapse of the ARS hasn’t produced any tangible gains for the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and its backers, the occupiers from Ethiopia. Al-Shabaab group, the young Somali freedom fighters, is more or less independent of the political separation and constraints of the splinter groups of the ARS in Asmara and Djibouti. Any residual influence the ARS, or what is left of it, may exercise will have negligible effect on those in the ground, fighting inside Somalia against the Ethiopian occupation and the warlord-infested government militias.

The fighting would go on, blood would be shed, suffering of the innocent Somali people would continue and the world community, as usual, would close their eyes to the worst humanitarian disaster in Africa and the carnage in Somalia.

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In Blogroll on November 4, 2007 at 11:36 pm

Dancing with the warlords

Within the past three days, Ali Ghedi, the Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), pompous with a premature jocularity, declared a godless victory over a crushed and tired Mogadishu populace. Ahmed Dirie, the spokesperson of the Hawiye elder’s group, aware of overwhelming casualties, capitulated to the traitor camp.

The irony of the sunken statements of these men is that the two were indeed mere spectators in a very brutal and bloody theatre set up by Bush and his “war on terror”.

And with these proclamations, we have been promised that the Mogadishu inferno of the past weeks is over. However, the killing fields of Mogadishu are far from done and defeat. Neither party; the occupying Ethiopian troops and their warlord clients, nor the insurgent Islamist and their loyal clan militias, laid their guns down for good. According to General Gabre, who is the de-facto governor of the Sixth State, the threat of “terrorism” is there and until “terrorists” are wiped out of Mogadishu, there is no letdown of the Ethiopian assault. Mesfin, the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, while in visit to Washington concur Gabre’s effrontery and reassured his American patrons that what is left is the “mop-up operation” of few rebel clans and areas.

The insurgents and their leaders in Eritrea, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the executive chairman of the ousted Islamic Courts Union, and Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, the fired former speaker of the TFG parliament, stated that the armed struggle is not over as long as the Ethiopian occupiers are in Somalia. Both leaders justified the insurgents pull-back as a tactical change from the face-to-face fighting to a guerrilla hit-and-run struggle. This could mean suicide bombings, sabotage and whatever tactic it takes to drive the Ethiopian enemy out of Somalia.

It is the reality on the ground that forced the Somali insurgency to back away. Putting civilian in the crossfire was a price the weary insurgents couldn’t keep on any more.

The fighting between the occupying Ethiopian troops and the Somali insurgents had caused the death of more than 1,500 people in less than 10 days, more than 5,000 people injured, whole neighborhoods razed to the ground, more than half a million people out of the two million residents in the capital, displaced. The violent “ethnic cleansing” caused a major humanitarian crisis: outbreaks of serious diseases, including cholera and malaria, shortage of food and water. That is insupportable price to stomach.

The silence and apathy of the International Community was also another tip-off for the insurgents to change course. Jendayi Frazer, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs of the State Department, sealed this international indifference with a kiss and hug to the warlords for “job well done”.

Since then, there seems to be a lull in some areas of the capital but a horrendous tale of elimination, looting, intimidation, arbitrary arrests and hostage-taking is taking place.

At the same time, the world government is flexing its illegitimate force by bringing estranged warlords into the fold. Two of the warlords the Islamists ousted last year, are now appointed as the Chief of the Police and the Mayor of the Capital. The other notorious Mogadishu warlords are being groomed for governmental positions while opposition parliamentarians are being replaced with door-knobs and yes-men.

The preparation of the fake reconciliation congress to dupe the International donors and swindle their funds is in full gear. An Inclusive clan political participation and power-sharing is promoted as a panacea to the Somali predicament. This is what the illegitimate Transitional Federal Government patrons would like to happen so as to keep other Somali ideological alliances and actors who eschew clan-based politics out. The 4.5 clan formula is the only criterion for participation in this congress. The moderate elements of the courts and those who reject violence are summoned and courted to sit with the brutal warlords. There is no hope that Somali warlords and their opponents will comprise. How can one accept the ruthless Somali warlords as partners for peace? How can one negotiate with warlord traitors who have blood on their hands? Aren’t these the ones who brought our enemies to mutilate our innocent masses?

Another hurdle is how to deal with this practical joke put on the plate? The International community seems to buy it and benevolently endorsing a primordial plan to build what is supposed to be a 21^st century nation-state.

The dilemma is all ours. Since the day of independence Somalis put the clan at the center of the political process. And now that we are close to the 50^th anniversary of our independence, some still prescribe to this deadly clan idea and interpret the latest Mogadishu massacre as a clan power-struggle. No group or clan, even with foreign military force, can subjugate others into submission. The long and disastrous Somali civil war should have taught us that the Zero-sum game mentality where the winner takes all is the original sin of the Somali misery: a deadly failure in the first order.

The chorus from every circle and every corner is to have an all inclusive and comprehensive government and a TFG commissioned reconciliation conference is staged as the one to reach that goal. There is no question that the way forward is through dialogue and negotiated settlement. That is a lofty mission but is the warlord government has any proclivity to concede and sit down with its opponents? The Transitional Federal Government (TFG, of the warlords) is only interested to quell its opponents by force. To save face and secure funds, they may forgo the violent approach for now. The patrons of the TFG will never allow the Islamists to have a political party and legality in Somalia. To prevent that happening, the International Community has to prolong the Ethiopian presence in Somalia.

There is no prospect that Ethiopia will withdraw its troops out of Somalia for the near future. Ethiopia is determined to keep Somalia under its radar and fashion the future government of Somalia to its liking. As a landlocked nation with a huge population that is expected to double to 140 Million by 2050, must have a corridor to the sea for economic reasons. So, the balkanization and warlord empowerment is seen Ethiopia’s national interest and guarantee to the Promised Land of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Forgone is the idea of pursuing a regional economic integration with neighbors. Such pursuit could cost-effectively warrant an access to the sea to the Ethiopians. But for now, the Tigre Junta in Addis has another agenda. The detrimental clannish nature of the Somalis is an attractive blueprint to get to the sea. The perceived threat of Islamists is another winning formula to petition for foreign support and patronage and to buy time in power.

The above murky set-up doesn’t sound good, so is there a way out of this Somalia doom?

Even though, it is a far-fetched pipe-dream, the downfall or ouster of the three current drivers of our suffering: Somali warlords, the Tigre Junta and Bush Administration; could precipitate a quick fix to our short-term problems.

Let us start with the obvious: Bush’s term is done at the end of 2008. A new American president will be sworn into office on January 20^th, 2009. The new president, regardless of gender, color and party affiliation will probably re-visit the neoconservative doctrine of unilateralism and hegemonic global adventure. The “war on terror” discredited thanks to the catastrophic Iraqi invasion could be the catalyst for this change of course. Besides, the perceived “Islamic threat”, America will have other issues to take care of first: its domestic affairs and its important geo-political interests which obviously have much precedence than Somalia. Would the strategic Horn of Africa be a second-thought to the new admin? Somalia could gain a better treatment from America’s new foreign policy.

Secondly, the current Tigre Junta in power in Addis Ababa could only be brought down by combination and escalation of the mutinous activities of the many disenfranchised ethnic groups and opposition parties in Ethiopia. The latest rebel attack on the Chinese oil-exploration field in the Somali region by the Ogadeni rebels was only the tip of the iceberg of the many uprising the Zenawi regime has to ward off. An overstretched army in the Somali quagmire, the Oromia’s quest for self-determination and the border conflict with Eritrea all prefigure bad luck for the minority Tigre Junta. So, how does that help Somalia? Meles Zenawi might have his hands full to protect the Tigre reign and as a result might forgo the Somali adventure. To sustain the occupation of Somalia, Ethiopia has to have a steady follow of funds from its donors.

Lastly, the downfall of the warlord dominance and the clannish rivalry in Somali politics and society could indeed be the god-sent miracle that will rescue Somalia from its self-inflicted misery. The Ethiopian invasion and the Mogadishu massacre were the last straw that broke the acquiescence of the warlords as tolerable politicians. Somalis now loathe the warlords and their selfish pursuit of power at the expense of the nation and its people. Majority of ordinary Somali are fed up with these bloody maniacs and as well look down on the current warlord government as an illegitimate foreign imposed entity. Only few clannish chauvinists and cheerleaders follow the warlords.

In their wisdom, some optimistic and practical Somali groups may choose to engage the warlords until Somalia transitions to a warlord-less time so that the failed state of Somalia could be re-established.

After legitimizing war criminals and imposing them on the Somali people, after supporting the violent ouster of Islamists who have shown a proven record to bring peace with no cost and after being a questionable complicity to the Mogadishu carnage, the International Community, in its shared interest, is promoting and expending millions of dollars on yet another farcical reconciliation conference; one whose participants are hand-picked by the warlords and sidelines Somali intellectuals, civil society groups unless they subscribe to despised 4.5 clan formula.

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EID Mubarak Mogadishu.

In Blogroll on October 23, 2006 at 11:57 pm

EID Mubarak, Mogadishu!

Xayaabkii cir da’ayeey, daruur shalka xayddaay
Xulad geenyo ugubeey, darmaan xoosh u dhalataay
Xil-dhibaanka nabaddaay, xajkii Geeska Bariyeey
Cadceeddoo xab-bururtaay, marna xabag barsheedkii
Nafta xiisa gelisaay!
Xiddigtii bahdeediyo, xubnaheeda kala maqan
U ahayd xusuustee, sumaddooda xaynkiyo
Shanta gees u xidhataay!
Xudduntii dhulkaygaay, xaruntii dadkaygaay
Xamareey ma nabad baa? – Poet leaureate Hadraawi!

Like most of Somalis in the Diaspora, it has become a daily routine for me to daily surf and check Somali sites for news back home. Mostly such news is not that pleasant and promising. News back home usually encompasses doom and despair. Most of the Somali sites report biased half-truths of senseless wars, of clan conflict, of pessimistic rhetoric, of feuding factional leaders, etc.

But this Monday morning, my daily cyber-surfing had a different feel of joy and ecstasy. For beginners, it is Eid and I am on festive mood. But wait, it will get better when, by my virtual surfing of few of my favorite Somali sites, I come across of colorful images, of festive manners, of merry faces, of Mogadishu masses congregating and praying in the majestically beautiful Mosque of white marbles that embodies the unity of the Ummah.

A glimpse of some awe-inspiring images of large Mogadishu crowds praying at Isbaheysiga Umadda Masjid is without doubt priceless.

Like Muslims all over the world, more than million and half of Mogadishu residents are celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr to conclude the month-long fasting of Ramadan for the first time in sixteen years with peace and tranquility. This is their first Eid without the merciless warlords, without the marauding Mooryaan militias, without the taxing roadblocks and above all without the sound of the crashing mortars.

Indeed, this is a miraculous feat in the making that deserves to be rejoiced. Mogadishu residents were deprived of such spiritual and peaceful gatherings for many years.

All praises are due to Allah for this great blessing and for awakening up among Mogadishu’s many daughters and sons such heroic and revolutionary forces of the Islamic courts that made it possible for the city to experience this momentous peace. The Union of Islamic courts have indeed rescued the city from an infernal abyss and from the shackles of warlord banditry.

Those appalling warlords made Mogadishu one of the most violent capitals in the world. But that evil era is history. Mogadishu is back and will soon be a model city of peace and progress.

Mogadishu deserves to gain back its magnificent past and its cosmopolitan makeup. It was once dubbed as the jewel of the Indian Ocean for its colonial and arabesque architecture and used to be one of the safest capitals in the world where unaccompanied women were able to peacefully walk city’s downtown promenades without being harassed let alone violated.

But now Mogadishu is hopeful and things seem to be working at her favor.

Its international airport, though in dismal shambles and in need of repair, has been re-opened and is at least serviceably working. Flights from Nairobi and beyond carrying of extraordinary people who had forsaken the city in its worst times, because of instability are for the first time coming back. And with this homecoming, they intend to stay for good this time around. Flights from Dubai and beyond carrying of enterprising business men and women who want to invest capital and labor into the city because of its sudden return to peace and stability are landing day in, day out at Mogadishu Airport.

The Mogadishu seaport, though not fully functional and in need of intensive rehab, is open for business. Ships and boats importing rice, tea, sugar, clothes, and furniture, fuel and construction materials are in queue along the oceanic horizon to dock and unload goods. No more are needed the ad-hoc warlord ports that used to load and unload contraband goods, coal, drugs and weapons. Instead Mogadishu business men and women are now exporting shark fins, lobsters, leather and livestock.

Mogadishu had long suffered unthinkable misery at the hands of warlord criminals with no mercy and no faith. Thank God and to the soldiers of the heroic Islamic courts, the bloody warlords are no where near Mogadishu and have been chased out of the city.

Sadly, they are not fully out of the picture. Some of the stubborn and violent ones like Qaybdiid seem to be resurfacing as they were given asylum, arsenal and aid by the enemies of peaceful and stable Somalia. Warlord Qaybdiid with Ethiopian patronage and other unruly local actors has been spotted in Central Somalia. Warlord Hiiraale, like his buddies of warlord-cum-ministers in our Ethiopian backed transitional federal government, is determined to recapture his vanished powerbase and fiefdom in Lower Juba. News has it that he is now wreaking havoc in Bu’aale.

All of these warlord pest and belligerence is meant to frustrate the Islamic courts and to thwart the newly found peace and stability in Mogadishu and environs. Unfortunately the weak and corrupt TFG in cahoots with the Tigre junta is working against Mogadishu to spoil and reverse the emerging peace in much of southern Somalia.

So, the heroic soldiers and noble leaders of the Islamic Courts need to be on guard and cautious to not let the enemies of Somalia and their unfaithful puppets impede the miraculous and momentous revolution of peace and stability in Southern Somalia.

The Islamic Courts challenge is to let Mogadishu be what it used to be: a very liberal and tolerant city with cultural mores, tolerant milieu and urbane mutation. There is no need to impose alien, strict and imported style of life on the blasé Mogadishu populace. There is no need to ban music, movies and sports. Mogadishu residents are known to value and enjoy culture and entertainment. Mogadishu used to be and still is a city of sports fanatics. People used to fill soccer stadiums in teeming numbers. Beach going on Friday mornings was a well-cherished and popular Mogadishu pastime. It’s off-putting to hear reports of extremist charlatans masquerading as pious men preventing families have seaside picnics. Banning people to enjoy the right to stroll on the sandy beach of Lido, Jaziira and Sambusi beaches is not soothing and gives a negative picture of the Islamic courts hitherto immaculate enterprise. Implement a strict interpretation of our beautiful and tolerant Islamic religion is uncalled and unwise to say the least. So the courts must not only tolerate but embrace people of Mogadishu’s many pastime predilections.

The Islamic courts instead need to embark on projects such the renewal of basic infrastructure like power, water and sewage. So far the garbage collection and sanitary campaigns going on in some districts of the capital highlights the courts’ plan to overhaul Mogadishu’s rubbish-ridden neighborhoods and streets. The focus should be on revamping Mogadishu’s infrastructure and giving a face-lift to the many destroyed buildings. Parts of the city, specially the old Arab quarters in ex- downtown Mogadishu have been reduced to rubble by the decade long bomb shelling and fighting. This part of the capital needs some kind of restoration.

Societal regeneration and rebirth depends on granting individual freedom and space but not imposing strict lifestyle that people of Mogadishu are not accustomed to. Mogadishu needs urban planning not zealous policing.

I hope many joyous Eids to come for Mogadishu’s residents so that they can rejoice and celebrate life and its beauty and blessings. Hopefully, with the permission and will of ALLAH, the great city of Mogadishu will rise from the ashes and shine like a real cosmopolitan city with culture and life. Happy Eid Mubarak, Mogadishu!

Shaacir Mataan

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Italian Election

In Blogroll on April 12, 2006 at 7:38 pm

This week, I was following the italian election with keen interest. I have visited and lived Italy different times. Even though, I like watching Italian football and love the fine Italian cuisine, I have never understood the Italian political system and how unpredictable it is. My familiarity with Italy has to do with colonial legacy. Somalia was an Italian colony.
Italy had short and unstable coalitions to form governments for about four decades. Its Prime Ministers such Bettino Craxi and Giulio Andreotti were known to be somewhat corrupt. Then came the rich cavalier Berlusconi who was the longest serving PM for 5 years.
Back to the election results. Romano Prodi, a former Italian prime minister and former president of the European Commission and his centre-left party had a narrow margin to win the elections. However, this victory is being challenged vigorously by Berlusconi.
According to the latestst news from BBC “Italy’s centre-left opposition leader Romano Prodi has been declared official winner of the parliamentary election after an extremely close race. But his rival, centre-right PM Silvio Berlusconi, refused to admit defeat, saying there had been irregularities.”
This challenge from Berlusconi shows how Italy is headed to uncertain times and how it will be difficult find a way out of this mess. What is even worse is the Italian electoral system is more complicated. I tried to understand how it works but to no avail. Here is what I got from extensive reading on newspapers in both Italian and English.
The Italain electoral system is based on a proportional representation. They have two houses like the Congress and the Senate here in United States of America:
Chamber of the Deputies or as it is known the “Lower House” has 630 seats and 617 of these seats are elected according to the “popular Vote” 12 seats are elected by Italian citizens abroad and the reamining seat is for the semi-autonomous region of Valle D’Aosta in the North. The “Upper House” or the Senate has also a similar system.
The margin of victory of Mr. Prodi is so small. According to The New York Times: “The final results, released late Tuesday, showed Mr. Prodi winning the lower house with 49.8 percent of the votes, compared to Mr. Berlusconi’s 49.7.”
Prodi will form a government with a sizeable majority even though he only beat Berlusconi by 0.1 percent of the popular vote of 38 million. That amounts to a difference of just 25,000 votes.
The American Florida election blunder in 2000 that bidded Al Gore against Bush would look like nothing compared to the looming Italian vote contest. This contest is much bigger. Berlusconi will not concede that easily. He has several TV stations and newspapers and a lot of money at his disposal to keep on contesting. It may continue for weeks until they count all the ballots. Maybe the Italian Supreme Court just like its American counterpart will have the final say of who is the victor here and what ballots to count or not.
Italy’s problems is not only about this political nightmare and uncertainity. The Italian economy is in shambles. Italy’s economy was declining for the past decade especially the years Berlusconi was in power. Some economists blame Berlusconi for this economic stagnation.
According to the Economist: “Italy is caught in a long, slow decline. Reversing it will take more courage than its present political leaders seem able to muster”

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French Riots

In Blogroll on April 4, 2006 at 7:29 pm

Reflections on The French Riots

I am little bit hesitant to at least make sense on the continuing French riots over new employment laws.

There have been large demonstrations in which millions of people took to the streets to voice their opposition of the new job regulations. The new law dubbed the First Job Contract (CPE) gives firms the right to lay off those under 26 any time during a two-year period. This new law was initially promoted as a means to improve the youth unemployment.

The government thought that the new laws would encourage companies to hire young. The French youth unemployment is estimated to be at 22 percent. The number of the unemployed youth is even higher when you consider the unemployment rate among the children of North African immigrants. The unemployment rating for this group is 40 percent according to many sources and a big part of this is because companies are reluctant to hire younger workers.
There were more violent riots last year from this underprivileged youth group about the death of two young French-African teenagers. However, the riots were also a symptom of the dissatisfaction of these jobless alienated youth had with the France’s employment system. At the time of these riots, I was very sympathetic to the cause of these young people. There is a prevalent racism in French society against African Muslim immigrants.

But I am not sure how I could give support to a protest that seems so unreasonable.

I am little bit confused about the French government or system but from what I read of the riots, the French government is supposed to act both as welfare socialist state and capitalist one. The government employs a large number of these rioting kids parents. The kids know their parents had guaranteed life employment with the state and perhaps that is what they want and used to. Things have changed and now the government cannot continue being a welfare state and is no longer going to guarantee jobs.

The government seems run out of money and that is why they reforming the system and letting companies fire any employee as they see it fit. The government is possibly wanted to follow suit and reduce their large public employees. There is little public government-run enterprise. However, the government wants the private sector to follow suit and at the same time they don’t want to restrict these companies and thus they want to implement these laws so as not to cancel the competitive advantage of the market-based economy.

The unemployment problem in France is nothing. France had high unemployment rates since the eighties. France has to put into practice some employment and economic reform that truly reflects the free market economy.

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