Continued backing of weak government in Somalia is a mystery.
LEWIS CENTER, Ohio — Recently the Obama administration
recognized the United Nations-backed nominal Somali government.
The so-called government was the by-product of a
UN-sponsored peace process that has been going on for more than 10 years. It
involved billions in foreign aid, and some 17,000 African soldiers, who are the
proxy of the United States military in Somalia. Yet Somalia is not better off
than when the US intervened in the early ’90s.
Somalia’s agony continues. Today, 3 million people are
desperately in need of food, 1.6 million have been displaced from their homes.
In Mogadishu alone, 300,000 people survive on humanitarian relief. In addition,
many people are suffering from chronic violence, the government’s inability to
curb the unpaid and undisciplined soldiers who terrorize, loot and rape the
population more than they protect.
Recent promising signs are present, such as Al Shabab, Al
Qaeda affiliate militant group, retreating from urban centers in south central
Somalia. Mogadishu, the capital, is also less dangerous than it was a year ago.
Survival of the-US backed weak government still depends
on African troops, despite significant training and equipping of the Somali
army by the US. Its leader Sheikh Mahamud, like his predecessor, Sheik Sharif,
has absolutely no power and little following.
In contrast, out of the gaze of international media, the
Somaliland entity, the former British Somaliland in the north, has shown all of
the attributes of nationhood since 1991. These include a functioning
government, constitution, defined borders and a flag. It even had two
presidential elections, in 2003 and 2010, with a peaceful transfer of power.
Tragically, the US has not recognized Somaliland
independence, because the UN and the African Union (AU) bias toward preserving
artificial and inherently unstable states like Somalia and Congo.
The decision of the Obama administration to recognize a
fictional government is more likely to complicate US efforts to stabilize
Somalia. This position only rewards Somalia’s rapacious politicians and their
militias at the expense of the 3.5 million Somaliland people that have largely
managed their own affairs — not only to avoid to avoid chaos, terrorism and
piracy, but to build a functioning democratic state.
Somalia’s tragedy will continue unless the new secretary
of state, John Kerry, or the US Congress addresses this futile new policy of
dictating political outcomes in this war-torn country.
Kerry also could contribute by defining the US long-term
political objective in Somalia.
Outsiders have always made things worse by supporting the
wrong groups for their own strategic interests. During the Cold War, America
put nearly $1 billion in arms and economic aid into Somalia to prop up a cruel
dictator, Siad Barre, who held power for 21 years through brutal military
domination. The US-backed Ethiopian invasion six years ago created the
environment in which Al Shabab is still wreaking havoc on south central
Somalia.
Today, a weak government that cannot protect itself wants
to monopolize Somalia. Sheikh Mahamud wishes to strengthen his Al
Shabab-infiltrated military made up of rival local clan militias, and he is
seeking more money and arms from the US and Turkey.
The more the US contributes to reconstituting a Somali
government dominated by one faction of Somalia’s previous civil war, however,
the greater the chance of dictatorship and bad governance returning to Somalia.
It would be a grave mistake for the US to lift the arms embargo from Somalia.
Somalia needs a genuine political reconciliation, not
more arms. The conflict and its politics in the country are always local. There
is no military solution for this conflict.
Yet the Obama administration continues its deadly drone
attacks against suspected militants in Somalia, which have caused collateral
damages of civilians or even deaths.
Moreover, the options for US in Somalia are very limited;
everything hinges on how Mogadishu’s politicians, warlords and war profiteers
cooperate with Sheik Mahamud’s government. However, many Somalis are skeptical
about the chance of a functioning regime emerging in Somalia with Mogadishu as
its capital.
Rather than reinforcing a central government with no
legitimacy, the US should support the only sources of strength in the area,
democratic Somaliland and Puntland, an autonomous region. These entities have
functioning political institutions that are organic, having organized by the
local people.
More investment and trade instead of aid would offer the
Somalis more opportunities to rebuild their shattered economy. America could
also help Somaliland to create a free-trade zone with eastern Ethiopia at
Berbera port — on the Gulf of Aden. These efforts, with the US forcefully
supporting freedom and democracy in the region, would help to diminish or
defeat radicalism.
However immensely difficult the mission of fixing Somalia
might be, the US must engage and help the Somalis lift up from the agony. Only
by following their aspirations and desires and not dictating the political
outcomes would end Somalia’s tragedy. Moreover, diplomatic recognition of
Somaliland is long overdue.
Ali Mohamed is co-founder of the Horn of Africa Freedom
Foundation, a grassroots organization, located in Lewis Center, Ohio, that
advocates for the advancement of freedom and democratic values for the
indigenous people of the Horn of Africa.
