Delusions of Grandeur: Abdullahi Yusuf

By Guled Farxan Koshiin - (Gkoshiin@yahoo.com)

I was reading Hiiraan.com when I saw the article, "Mogadishu, the Kill Zone.” by Ali Bahar. I felt obligated to write a response to Mr. Bahar’s article. First of all, I am not a fan of Muse Suudi Yalaxow or any other Somali “politician.” I am against the notion and idea, being perpetuated by the “President” Abdullahi Yusuf, that AU peacekeepers can bring peace to Somalia.
Mogadishu is a city that has suffered greatly. In the early 1990s, it was the scene of the some of the heaviest fighting known in Somali history as USC rebels overthrew the government lead by the former President Mohamed Siyaad Barre and then proceeded to fight each other. In 1993, it fell victim to another deadly conflict between the late General Mohamed Farah Aideed and the coalition of the US & UNOSOM II “peacekeeping forces.” The little infrastructure left in the city was destroyed by the so-called “peacekeepers” in a bloody conflict which cost 13,000 Somali lives in a period of only 5 months (June to November 2003). The deadly arithmetic works out to approximately 2,600 Somali deaths per month or 30 Somalis per day in a city of 2 million people. This heavy price was charged to provide “law, order and peace” to the residents of Mogadishu.

Now imagine, a peacekeeping force consisting mainly of Somalia’s principal enemy, Ethiopia, under the “command” of its proxy “President” Abdullahi Yusuf, a man well known for his brutality and human rights abuses. As President of the Puntland, Mr. Yusuf ordered the murder of his opponents. He was implicated in the assassinations of his fellow clansman, Sultan Hurre, his fellow SSDF comrade, Abdirahman Caydiid and other political colleagues. After losing the Puntland Presidency to Mr. Jama Ali Jama, Mr. Yusuf orchestrated a “scorched earth” campaign to regain power at the cost of many innocent lives. You would assume that Mr. Yusuf would relinquish power and obey the will of the people. His failure to do so leads many to question his sincerity to the democratic process.

Why would Mr. Yusuf make getting foreign peacekeepers a priority in his agenda ? It seems very strange that a man who stacks his cabinet with warlords, including those of the capital of Somalia like Muse Suudi Yalaxow, yet fails to trust them. After all why make alliances and deals with someone you would not trust ? Of the 18 regions of Somalia, Mr. Yusuf says that the AU peacekeepers are to be deployed in areas outside the Puntland region. Why would the “President” be selective in picking such locations ? Mr. Yusuf is calculating that these areas outside Puntland are where he will meet future resistance to his political ambitions and delusions of grandeur of establishing a “Siyaadist” dictatorship. Another disturbing observation about the so-called AU peacekeeping forces is their make-up. In January 2004, it was agreed by all Somali delegates at the Nairobi conference that any future peacekeeping force would not consist of the IGAD frontline states of Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya who all have vested interests in Somalia. Yet, Mr. Yusuf is now clamoring to include Ethiopia in such a force with the knowledge that thousands of Ethiopian troops are amassed along the border with Somalia ready to invade at the request of the invitation of their Proxy President. In order to get closer to his Boss in Addis, Mr. Yusuf lobbies day and night for moving the capital from Mogadishu to Baydhaba.

Muse Suudi and his fellow Mogadishu warlords have failed their constituents, the inhabitants of Mogadishu and its environs. Never the less, the so called peacekeepers under the direction of Ethiopia’s Proxy President Yusuf are more of a danger to the inhabitants of the city and Southern Somalia in general than the militias of these warlords. Mr. Suudi and the other warlords are directly or indirectly answerable to their constituents who will bear the brunt of the causalities in any future conflict with AU troops. When a vast majority of Mogadishu residents reject the notion of having foreign troops in their city and southern Somalia, the warlords listen. Why ? Failure to do so would result in their power base being further eroded.

In Somalia, there will be a day of reckoning. Every two bit Somali politician, military man and warlord shall be held accountable for their crimes against the Somali nation. In those courts, many will be tried and judged. Mr. Yusuf and Mr. Muse Suudi will seat on the same docket for their crimes.

Mr. Bahar takes a swipe at the Islamic courts in Mogadishu. He seems to be toting the line of Abdullahi Yusuf who has bastardized the Global War on Terror as a means to finishing off his opponents. In Puntland, many sheiks were arrested and shipped off to be tortured in Ethiopian jails. The influence of Islamic religious leaders has increased across all areas of Somalia from the North to the South. It is unfair of Mr. Bahar to point at Mogadishu as the only area where sheiks hold significant influence.

All in all, Mr. Bahar is suggesting that AU peacekeepers are the salvation of the residents of Mogadishu. In a democratic society, it is the will of the people that rules. In our capital, the majority objects to foreign troops and still remembers the carnage inflicted by UNOSOM. If Abdullahi Yusuf is frightened to come to Mogadishu, why did he stand for the Presidency knowing that he will have to go to the capital ? If he can not trust the Somali people, how can we trust him to lead us ?

Guled Farxan Koshiin
Las Cruces, New Mexico
E-mail: Gkoshiin@yahoo.com