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- Title: [SW Column](S. M. Timir) What Happened to the Moral Compass
of the Geography Professor?
- Posted by/on:[AMJ][Wednsday, February 7, 2001]
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Opinions expressed in this column
are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of SW.
It appears that the truth
serum in Emeritus Professor Lewis’ article “UN Paperclips for
Somalia” did not sit well with some Somalis whose mental and moral
erosion has clouded their judgment regarding the Somali political saga.
To them, David Stephen and Randolph Kent are the saviors of the
Somalis, because they were instrumental in producing the Arta Faction.
A faction that is currently reeking havocs everywhere it tries to
set a foot in. To them, any
foreigner who tells the truth about the true nature of the Arta
concoction is an imperialist and colonial minded.
You be the judge.
v
UN
Paperclips for Somalia, Ioan M. Lewis, FBA
v
[SW
Column](Prof Abdi I.Samatar) I.M.
Lewis's Retired Ideas and Somalia:
v
[SW
Column] (Ali A.Jama - SW) In Response
to Prof Abdi I. Samatar - I.M. Lewis's Retired Ideas and Somalia
v
What
happened to the moral compass of the geography professor? Saeed Mohamed
Timir
v
Saeed Mohamed Timir
stimir@netscape.net
In this response, I take issue with
Professor Abdi Ismail Samater's "response", I.M. Lewis's
Retired Ideas and Somalia, http://www.hiraan.com; the emphasis on the
word "response" is intentionally made as a token to observe
the addressing etiquette and respect debating atmospheres crave for;
Etiquette not demonstrated by professor Abdi I. Samater for lack of
"self-control" when he inferred as "diatribe" the
article by I.M Lewis, "UN Paperclips for Somalia."
I will limit my response only to show the incongruities in Professor
Samater's three principal arguments, which are: 1) the progress made by
Somaliland since it reclaimed its sovereignty, 2) UN's interest in Arta
conference, and 3) the rejection and fall of the Arta outcome.
Before I embark on my elucidation it is first necessary to understand
the works and the base from which Professor Samater's ideas originate.
Professor Samater, a Somalilander himself, is a Marxist as evidenced in
his prior works. He
subscribes to the theory that a centralized state should dictate for the
people. That couldn't be more evident in his defense of the Arta faction
of which he is an architect along with David Stephen of the UN. As a
Marxist he believes that the will of the people should be directed and
dictated by the impulses of a totalitarian state and not by the liberty
of the people.
Given this background I can now proceed to show Professor Samater's
inconsistencies:
- Professor
Samater, in order to score a point, wants to brag about the postal
services provided by centralized government services which took
months to deliver a simple mail. However, because of his Marxist
preoccupation he deliberately chooses to shelf and ignore the
superior and speedier postal services that deliver our mail today
both in Hargeisa and Garowe within a week or two, not to mention the
DHL international express service that is also available. All
credits are due, I must add, to the free enterprising entrepreneurs
in Hargeisa and Garowe who provide this service. Not only is the
service efficient but you can also have the latest communications
gadgets installed in your home including phones and the Internet. On
the education side, two Universities, Amoud University and the
University of Hargeisa have been established. Burao hospital has
been rebuilt, Lasanod hospital is under renovation, Hargeisa and
Sheikh hospitals have been expanded, and the Galkacayo general
hospital has surpassed Siad Barre era in the range of services it
provides. Professor Samater for lack of "fairness" asserts
that, "No such services exist today in the North (Somaliland)
and North East (Puntland)." Such assertions are ludicrous at
best and clearly not supported by the facts as reported in the
international newspapers, New York times, Washington Post, just to
mention a couple.
- Professor
Samater argues that the UN and Djibouti did not impose the Arta
conference on the Somali people. As customary for Professor Samater,
in this denial, he is again choosing to ignore, for lack of a sense
of "duty", the statements issued by the administrations of
Somaliland and Puntland. The administration of Somaliland stated
that the Arta conference does not concern them since they are not a
parcel and part of a state called Somalia; not because they wanted a
power to draft the conference agenda or to veto its outcome as
Professor Samater would want us to believe in his argument but the
fact is that it is well known, as has been reported, in various
analysis in the media that the participants would want to elect Egal
as the president of a new Somalia provided he denounced Somaliland's
reclamation of its sovereignty. Similarly the administration of
Puntland issued a statement in which they affirmed participation on
the condition that all participants of the Arta conference must be
legally and democratically elected representatives of their
respective regions.
Having failed to secure the two most important parties to this
conference and with the United Nations being pressured to come up
with a solution to the Somali crises, David Stephen along with
Samater and President Gelleh of Djibouti crafted a new scheme by
creating an unpopular bunch that makes the who is who list of
notorious war criminals, thugs and corrupt public funds embezzlers
like Morgan, Gabyow, Ganni, Abdiqasim Salad, Galaydh, Ina-Bubba and
Ali Mahdi just to mention a few. A Somali adage succinctly describes
this bunch in this way, "Kabaha itaadan tolan, ninka aad ka
tolanysid baa kabahiisa la eegaa.", paraphrased it means,
"Before you order your pair of custom-made shoes you must first
check those the Shoemaker is wearing." That is the quality of
leaders Professor Samater promoted in Arta, which he so vigorously
and shamelessly defends. The very people who were responsible for
the destruction of the Somali State. Clearly, what Professor Samater
does not comprehend is the basic axiom which holds that unpopular
ideas and governments hardly last for long. Perhaps the Professor
believes that Africans cannot freely rule themselves without a blue
print from the "likes" of David Stephen, his co-defender
of the Arta outcome.
Certainly the UN has motivations to create a government for Somalia
by any means necessary, not only limited to the failed UNISOM,
regardless of the quality or integrity of the leader or leaders to
be. First and foremost reason is because Somalis are Africans and
experience has shown Western governments, who control the UN don't
give a hoot when it comes to African issues. However, were
Somaliland in Europe or part of former Yugoslavia it would have had
a different tune played for her in the world stage. The other major
UN motivation is that they are afraid it will encourage civil war
and secession in the quilted African continent. Despite all these
relentless campaigns being waged against her by the UN and
neo-colonialist Italy in particular, Somaliland meets all the legal
requirements of a sovereign state per montevideo convention. Luckily
sovereignty of Somaliland is undisputable and legally intact meeting
OAU charter AHG/Res. 16. But who would know, fate might have it,
with grace, professor Samater might personally hoist up Red, White
and Green right in front of the tower in Second Avenue, though for
the moment he is committed to it's foiling.
- Professor
Samater argues that tens of thousands of Mogadishu residents
welcomed Abdulqasim when he arrived in Mogadishu airport. The fact
of the matter is Mogadishu airport was closed and is still closed to
this date because it is held by one of the other faction leaders.
Abdulqasim arrived at Balidogle airstrip that is held by the Islamic
courts militia who belong to Abdilqasim's Ayr sub-clan. This airport
is 90 KM from Mogadishu and given this distance and the tremendous
security risks the residents will face, it couldn't be true that
tens of thousands have endeavored to risk their lives for this
lengthy trip. The truth is he was welcomed by handful supporters
from the Islamic courts and hired freelance gunmen financed by none
other than David Stephen and some other business interests.
Apparently one would wonder as to
the motivations of Professor Samater as to why he is aggravated by
Professor Lewis's eloquently presented facts. Of course, irritated, and
for better lack of answers, Professor Samater retorts to attacking
Lewis's age and labeling him as an old anthropologist with retired ideas
and worst yet a foreigner. This obviously only demonstrates frustrations
and irrefutability of the facts presented in Professor Lewis's article.
Professor Samater accuses Lewis of not being initiated in reconciliation
and yet he implies to be so well versed in the area of reconciliation. A
reasonable question for the Professor is then why is there fire every
where the Arta faction touches? e.g, Balad, Tiyeglow, Balad Hawo,
Garbaharey, etc. if reconciliation has occurred as you would want us to
believe.
Finally for lack of "sympathy", Professor Samater wants to
re-victimize the thousands of innocent civilians that have been murdered
in Somaliland by members of the Arta faction he is selflessly defending.
Without a doubt his "conscience" is permitting him doing just
that, while on the other hand he is going to great pains in repressing
the facts in Mogadishu today and the failure of the Arta conference.
Mogadishu, he should admit, is still a divided city ruled by various
factions and unsafe for the Arta faction or the TNG, who are now
barricaded in two hotels against their will. Those who venture outside
the hotel yards, do so at their own peril as they will be kidnapped for
ransom by the same militia guards that are supposedly protecting them in
the hotels.
In conclusion, morality experts have established that the "moral
sense" comprises of four components, which are: self-control, duty,
fairness and sympathy, therefore, as the title of this response reflects
the question that begs to be answered is, "What happened to the
moral compass of the geography Professor?" In retrospect it can
clearly be concluded that it is screaming for a major tune up.
[Column]
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