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Now is Not the Time for Triumphalism in Somalia
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On January 9, 2007, following the decisive defeat of the once recalcitrant United Islamic Courts (UIC) by tripartite forces (Transitional Federal Government (TFG), invading Ethiopian forces supported by massive US air and naval warships), Somalia has entered into an uncertain period once more. The unexpected relocation of the TFG’s president and his call to disarm warlords in Mogadishu make Somalia’s affairs as fragile as it gets.
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Interim Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (C) sits with his Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi (R) and Deputy Defense Minister Salad Ali Jelle inside the presidential palace in Mogadishu. |
To ameliorate a potential triumphant’s move on the part of the TFG, Jendayi Frazer, under Secretary for African Affairs, called on the victorious President, Abdullahi Yusuf, and his government to open up dialogue with the moderate elements of the defeated UIC.
We think that call is a valuable advice to have come from the representative of the United States Department of State. This advice must be heard by the triumphant TFG, only, and only, if it were to create and promote sustainable reconciliation within the disparate Somali society.
To encourage the TFG leadership to have an open attitude to her recommendation, Jendayi Frazer said on January 4, 2007 that the United States would use its diplomatic and financial resources to support the government. To the effect, an important conference which is to commence on January, 17, 2007 would be held at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), featuring Jendayi Frazer and Senator Feingold, the incoming chairman of the African Sub-committee of the US Senate, to deliberate what Washington DC can do for the security, reconstruction and stabilization of Somalia, after the defeat of the UIC.
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Assistant Secratary Jandayi Frazer |
As WardheerNews has been following the undersecretary’s work on Somalia for some time now, she has consistently proven to stay on course on the Somalia issue. In the face of reckless academics, who approached here at the last Convention of the African Studies Association, notably Peter Shroeder, she affirmed her believe in maintaining and protecting the territorial integrity of Somalia. We therefore consider her a dependable player in the Somalia affairs, whose advice needs to be heard both as a friend to Somalia and as a high ranking official in the most powerful nation on earth.
President Yusuf and his government won the battle over an intransigent Islamic radical group who quickly helped erode its own hard-won popularity among the Somali people by orchestrating unpopular acts and extreme interpretations of the sharia provisions. The defeat of the UIC notwithstanding, the underlying cause of Somalia’s long civil war, inter clan conflict at minimum, is still there and vibrant.
Many in the Somali community, right or wrong, view president Abdullahi’s victory one that is won by his Darood clan, while the other side views the defeat to the UIC as a defeat to the Hawiye , whose Ayr sub clan dominated the leadership of UIC. This view of current development in Somalia, right or wrong, may fuel the rage of those political peddlers (afmisharis), who prey on the fragile social structure that lies beneath the apparent victory of the TFG.
As demonstrated by the chaotic conditions prevailing in pockets of Mogadishu, which is quite opposite to what is prevailing in many of the more tranquil sections of the city, the work of reconciliation in Somalia is far from over.
President Yusuf, who is at critical juncture in making or breaking a new chapter in Somalia’s history, should not loose sight that he is presiding over extremely fragile conditions. As such, he must show professionalism and understanding of the fragile nature of his society as well as his limited mandate which he was given 27 months ago in Embagathi, Kenya.
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| A Somali man walk past two Ethiopian tanks in the capital, Mogadishu. |
He must realize that the Washington voice counts; so does the advice of Jendayi Frazer. It is also worth remembering the Pope Benedict XVI, in a speech on January, 5, 2007, to diplomats at the Vatican, urged all sides in Somalia to lay down their arms and negotiate. “Recalling an Italian nun who was slain in Somalia in September, Benedict said he hoped she would inspire efforts to end conflict in the Horn of Africa.”
Heading the call from the holiest figure in the Christian faith, the president needs to reach out across the aisle and welcome moderate elements from the defeated UIC leadership. He must stay away from any thing that appears to be vindictive towards those he had just defeated, and concentrate on recommitting himself to the mandate of reconciliation of the fractured Somali society. A lesson to draw would be America’s magnanimity towards the leadership of Japan, when the later was defeated at the closing of the second world-war.
President Yusuf must not show a modicum of victorious’ arrogance, but must clearly be generous to show the virtues of a statesman’s peace making in his community.
Last but not least, the president needs to further down-size his over-bloated government in favor of a smaller one as part of his move to impose order in Mogadishu and within his haphazard government. Moreover, the rescinding of the sudden banning of three free media outlets based in Mogadishu only three days ago, especially if such a ban were carried beyond the goals of the recently declared marshal law whose objective is to pacify the uncontrollable city of Mogadishu, is a welcome sign of the government’s flexibility in policy implementation.
Read our Earlier Editrial
Cabdullaahi Yuusuf's Government is not a Government of Scope.
WardheerNews Editorial
December 3, 2004
