My Thoughts

"power concedesnothing without a demand. But power won't even concede to a demand if the demand is coming from a weak constituency that looks like they lost their testicular fortitude."

Fredrick Douglas

An Advice to Ahmed, Sheikh Sharif


An Advice President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed

Today, the Somali government does not have any Somali enemies except a handful of power-hungry individuals who can be neutralized within days, and there is no civil war because, Somalis in Somalia are tired of war and are yearning to live in peace, and those in the Diaspora, wherever they live, are longing for the place that they used to call home—the place which they used to visit, rest, and forget the miseries and the stress of living in a foreign country—but the main enemy is a foreign entity that erroneously calls itself Islamic Warriors, who took over the country twenty years ago. In fact, Somalis do not support extremism of any kind even if it’s presented as it is ostensibly good intentions. Thus, Somalis resent the fact that their country is taken over by entities that they do not endorse. They are ready to fight back.

This feeling of unity of all Somalis and their willingness to support the Ahmed's government against the foreign terrorist enemies is an unprecedented stage for Ahmed’s government; today, most Somalis will support any organization that resembles a government, so that the population can be served, and any foreign entity be accounted for. Moreover, Ahmed’s government is geared to succeed, because it is different from both previous failed governments for the following two reasons:

  1. Abdiqasim’s government failed because it came during the worst time of the Somali civil war; Hawiye alone were fighting on five fronts among themselves. And despite the Somali peoples’ wishful hopes, his government had no chance, because of the civil war.
  2. In contrast to Abdiqasim’s government, Abdillahi Yussuf’s government failed, because it should never have been there in the first place. Abdillahi Yussuf was perceived by all Somalis, that he was only interested in avenging for the Darood clan against the Hawiye clan. And to add fuel to the fire, he used Ethiopians to do the Hawiye genocide for him. No one trusted him. That situation alone helped the few sleeping Al-qaeda cells in Somalia to recruit the unsuspecting youth, and whole World is paying the price tody. Therefore, if the government plays its cards right, takes advantages of the Somalis current mind set, and explains truth of the situation to the international community; it can secure peace and establish a stable administration in the country.
Currently Ahmed’s government has the support of almost all Somali clans inside the country and an overwhelming majority of the Diaspora. Now, if President Ahmed seizes this momentum, the prevalent show of support by all Somalis can empower his government and encourage it to develop a strategic long term plan that anchors on the philosophy of ‘Somalis defending Somalia.’ Hence, if the government wants to benefit from this Somali mindset and use it to lead the country into a peaceful one, it must engage in the following two fronts vigorously:
  1. First, the Somali government must convince the international community that civil war does not exist in Somalia anymore, that all Somalis are in peace except a few power-hungry individuals, that all the attacks against the public and the government of Somalia are from foreign entities such as Al-Qaida which cemented itself to the Somali soil and drilled their sick agendas in the minds of the desperate Somali youth, and that any defense against such powerful enemies can be accomplished with global efforts only. The government should seek for finances to tackle the issue. And, if the international community agrees with them and decides to finance the endeavor, the government should proceed.
  2. After the government receives donor pledges, they can compete with Al-Shabab for the Somali youth, recruit them from all regions of Somalia, and re-establish the Somalia military. Most young Somalis will be proud to be part of a new Somali military. These recruits could be trained in historically friendly countries to Somalia like Egypt, Uganda, Libya, and South Africa; Ethiopia and Kenya must be excluded to minimize any friction. The recruitment can be scheduled on six month intervals.
If the Somali government adopts this strategy, convinces the international community, and recruits the desperate youth from all Somali regions, they can easily dilute the insurgents’ local recruits and can eventually defeat any foreign elements.
The government can succeed if the international community comes forward strongly and provides the required budget to save Somalia. In fact, the amount of money spent by the donors will definitely be a fraction of the amount which can be saved through the reduction of global risk, and the enhancement of international trade.

E-mail me at hdobsiye@hdobsiye.com


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