allAfrica.com                                                                               *


One Year After TPF Invasion - Part II


Shabait.com (Asmara)


EDITORIAL
17 December 2007
Posted to the web 17 December 2007
Asmara

The UIC, a movement born out of the Somali people's bitter experience, had not
only gained more popularity than the interim government, which was formed in
Kenya in 2004, but was also able to drive out the notorious warlords within a
very short time and establish relative peace in Mogadishu and other parts of
the country. There are many reasons to why this happened.

Established outside Somalia by external forces, the interim government mainly
constituted of the disloyal warlords that, while receiving international
subsidy, did not accomplish anything substantial in the following two years.
The new movement, on the other hand, was organized on Somali ground by Somalis
themselves and was able to, within a short period; succeed over the warlords
with nation-wide popular support.



As could be recalled, the arrangement of the externally established interim
government was clan-based. By this time, the Somali people had had enough of
sub-national and clan-based politics, and hence such a political approach was
no longer acceptable. On the contrary, the UIC had embraced the new awareness
of unity and, leaving behind all sub-national sentiments, earnestly set out to
work for national unity and reconciliation. Thus, it is only natural for this
movement to gain strong popularity among the Somali people who had been worn
out by the continuous clan-based clashes.

Although internationally recognized, the interim government is a foreign body
to the Somali people. Hence, rejected by the people, this government was
limited to Baidoa only, a place near the Ethiopian border, where it was
protected by Ethiopian forces. On the other hand, the new movement gained
complete acceptance among the entire Somali people, including in areas like the
Somaliland and Punt Land . Hence, unlike the externally installed government,
this movement was able to establish peace and stability in the country within a
short time.

The international community, in general, and the US Administration, in
particular, had attempted to enforce on the Somali people a government formed
out of the unification of warlords who do not even have understanding among
themselves. After the experience of 15 years of civil war under the reign of
these very warlords, the Somali people's primary aspiration was to break free
of the warlords. Thus, one cannot in all good reason expect them to happily
accept such a government.

One of the reasons that prompted the Somali people to support the movement for
national reconciliation was the discipline and good conduct the members
exhibited while gaining control of different parts of the country, which was
far removed from the indecency and corruption of the warlords.

In view of the aforementioned facts, shouldn't the international community have
supported and encouraged the people who had after 15 years of chaos found their
own way towards peace and reconstitution? The people of that country should at
least have been left alone to keep on with their internal political process and
make their own decisions. Yet, this was not to be. Instead, in an unstudied,
reckless and dangerous measure, a foreign and unwelcome government was enforced
on a people who had made their choice quite clear.

As immediate consequences of this reckless measure, the Somali people's own
initiative towards peace was thwarted, the Ethiopian people and their resources
was plunged into an inescapable quagmire and Somalia was subjected to an
incomparable humanitarian crisis. The appalling developments in Somalia over
the past year are then a shameful chapter in the history of a world which
prides itself on civilized principles of human rights. History will hold
responsible not only the US Administration and the TPLF regime but also those
international organizations whose mandate is to uphold peace and international
laws for the crimes against humanity committed in Somalia.


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