TAKING POINT BY
M.M. AFRAH
Toronto (Canada)
25th November 2001
DANGLING A CARROT IN FRONT OF IMPOVERISHED AFRICAN
COUNTRY |
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| Email:
afrah95@hotmail.com |
M.
M. Afrah
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Wow!
The Americans really know how to dangle a carrot in front
of an impoverished African country. But do they also carry
a stick? Remember their failed mission (Operation Restore
Hope) in Somalia? Neither the carrot nor the stick worked
there. They would have worked had they stayed put and stuck
to their guns against a ragtag army of militia gunmen, analysts
say. They blame lack of clear guidance from the State Department
and the Pentagon. The analysts say there was also lack of
communications between the various UNITAF and UNOSOM contingents,
particularly the Italian contingent and the Americans. Because
for one thing the Italians wanted to run the show, just because
Somalia was their former colony and knew how to deal with
all the political honchos and warlords. They claimed that
the warlords are graduates from Italian military academies
in the 1950s and 1960s and spoke perfect Italian. That was
before the Soviet Union snarled Somalia. Then we became giddy
with Scientific Socialism and Marxism and Leninism.
But now
it seems Ethiopia, our ancient neighbour and rival in the
Horn of Africa swallowed the carrot with a promise of economic
assistance and the old fashioned label of "Good guys," taking
a leaf from old Haile Selassie policy who successfully trumpeted
anti-Somalia shrill within the OAU in the 1960s and 1970s,
only to be taken over by his predecessors in Addis.
As I write
this dozens of TV and newspaper stories raced through my head.
I watched B52 bombers discharge their deadly "Daisy cutters"
and "smart" bombs over Afghanistan. Would they do the same
to poor Somalia? I know now how it feels to be bombed by people
who do not care about the sanctity of life. I know enough
to be scared as hell. I know because I had covered Somalia
with Katyusha (BM) rockets zooming over my head. It was like
an earthquake. Unlike Afghanistan there are no mountains,
caves or tunnels in poor Somalia. In hindsight, are there
caves and tunnels in Buur Hakaba and Gacan Libaax? Thinking
about the B52s and the "Daisy cutters" dropping on poor Somalia
I broke into cold sweat. The same cold sweat poured from all
over my body when the terrorists (whoever they were) slammed
the two commercial airliners into the twin towers of the World
Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon September 11. But
linking those terrorists to the Somalis makes me dizzy. I
fretted. I tossed and turned.
An old
man in Toronto told me that he was insane with fear for his
family in Central Somalia. "After closing the Hawaalla lifeline,
now they want to finish the job by dropping bombs from the
sky," he lamented. There was nothing I could do to suppress
a shudder.
I know
the ordinary Somalis, with the exception of the few with guns,
are harmless. They're playing cat and mouse with homegrown
terrorists who are as lethal as the international terrorists.
I also know that no one in the world had a single good word
about us. We are misrepresented in the world arena, yet we
are quick with supportive comments and warm smiles. Take for
example the Somali businessman at the sprawling Bakaaraha
Market who told a visiting American journalist that he had
a lot to worry about Somalia's homegrown terrorists than Osama
bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda network. Like many Somalis he said
he never heard Osama bin Laden until the Americans gave him
unprecedented media blitz.
A Message
to Meles Zenawi. Let me take this opportunity to remind
you that you have been traveling all over the world on a diplomatic
Somali passport during your struggle against the successive
regimes in Addis. The Somalis also allowed you to open an
office in Mogadishu after the Saudis threw out your representative
in Jeddah. During an interview at Mogadishu Airport in 1981
you personally told me that you are a Somali by adoption,
using the Somali word "Walaal". I am sure you will remember
that interview.
You must
understand our history, how many attacks we have suffered
and how much adversity has been unfairly thrust upon us. It
is difficult to deal fairly when that person will not deal
fairly in return.
We are
not asking for magnanimity. We only want to survive as your
neighbour without interference and sabotage. You should not
take foolish risks by invading our country and finish what
was left of our people - a people you called Walaalayaal (brothers
and sisters). Don't take adventurous risk that you would later
regret.
As I said
before, you cannot choose your neighbour.
M.M.
Afrah © 2001
Email: afrah95@hotmail.com
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Mr. Afrah is an outspoken Author/Journalist and a member of
the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) and the
New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). He
contributes hard-hitting articles to Canadian and international
newspapers and magazines on the Somalia situation "through
the eyes of a man who covered the country for more than two
decades".
Many
of us remember his critical articles in his weekly English
language HEEGAN newspaper, despite a mandatory self-censorship
introduced by Guddiga Baarista Hisbiga Xisbiga Hantiwadaagga
Somaaliyeed in 1984 and the dreaded NSS. I am very proud to
know that Mr. Afrah openly defied the draconian censorship
laws and went ahead to write what he thought was wrong in
the country. He received several death threats from the warlords
and was briefly held hostage by gunmen in 1993. But he remained
defiant and continued to send his stories of carnage and destruction
to Reuters news agency. He still is!
info@banadir.com
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