Mercenaries can’t build a nation [Archives:2006/972/Letters to the Editor]
Abdurahman Nageye
[email protected]
After Siad Barre's ruthless and tyrannical regime was uprooted in 1991, most Somalis expected a new democratic government able to control all of Somalia and pave the road to creating a sustainable economy. Unfortunately, all of these ambitions and predictions were like a fish taken from the water because a bloody tribal civil war erupted among Somalis, causing a quarter of Somali natives to emigrate hopelessly around the world to gain refugee asylum.
New warlords seized authority in the capital, Mogadishu, and used it to inflict various types of brutality and barbaric actions upon their innocent Somali citizens, who were suffering terrible poverty and famine.
Killing, looting and abducting were habitual in Mogadishu life and chaotic situations prevailed in every aspect of life. These shameful human violations and repressive iron-fist actions by the warlords over vulnerable Somalis caused Somali religious scholars to establish Islamic courts in Mogadishu to restore the city's security and stability. The Somali Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) began to impose Islamic sharia law in Mogadishu.
Local warlords didn't like to see such progress and developments in their city and established a so-called counterterrorism group under the patronage of the United States so as to prevent and destroy Islamic sharia. The U.S. financed and armed the so-called counterterrorism group, claiming that Mogadishu was a safe haven for Al-Qaeda insurgents. The counterterrorism group launched severe attacks against the UIC, which is gaining civil society's confidence day after day.
The UIC now controls Mogadishu and other southern Somali provinces, restoring security and stability. It's the first time Mogadishu citizens have enjoyed complete security and peaceful tranquility since Barre's regime was removed. Residents move everywhere in Mogadishu, doing their work without restrictions and barriers.
The UIC disarmed Mogadishu's armed militia, which was loyal to the defeated warlords, and opened Mogadishu's port and international airport. The people of Mogadishu and the southern provinces have strong and transparent confidence in the UIC. The fragile interim Somali federal government released joint statements by the president and prime minister condemning the UIC's victories and alleging that they are terrorists acting for foreign interests.
In my view, the UIC are real Somali patriots, doing their best to restore sovereignty and solidarity to Somalis, whatever it costs. Interim federal government officials are mercenaries who don't care about their homeland's dignity and reputation because thousands of Ethiopian troops deliberately crossed Somali borders and entered the provincial town of Baidoa, where the warlords have relocated, claiming they are defending the interim government from the UIC.
Reliable Somali sources have revealed that the president and prime minister have requested Ethiopia send and defend their government from advancing UIC forces. I'm expressing here that the interim Somali federal government is independent of Ethiopian political interference by prominent officials, who are pro-Ethiopian stooges and mercenaries who can't build a nation.
The best solution for Somalis is in the hands of the UIC, so I'm requesting Somali nationals throughout the diaspora support the UIC to verify our common interest – building a new Somali.
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