19 May 2007 04:27

SOMALIA WATCH

 
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  • [SW Column] (Burhan Alas ) Deepest Condolence to the Victims of TNGs Covert Operations  :Posted on 1 Aug 2002

Opinions expressed in this column are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of SW.


Deepest Condolence to the Victims of TNGs Covert Operations

 

On behalf of the voices that promote peace and justice, I stridently deplore the self-proclaimed, Transitional National Governments covert brutality and sinister activities of fueling horrendous clan fighting that bedeviled what is left from the dilapidated city of Mogadishu.  

 

I extend my deepest sympathy and condolence to the thousands of civilians who have been misplaced, and their loved ones killed under these ubiquitous clashes masterminded by the so-called Transitional National Government under the command of Mr. Abdikassim.

 

The TNG leader, under the guise of securing stability in Mogadishu, is surreptitiously devastating communities in retribution for not supporting his failing popularity.  Unfortunately, the Mudolood clans were the latest victims as they are the predominant indigenous group in that region that lost rapport with him and his infamy political agenda.     

 

The financial and military support given by foreign countries is what made Abdikassims immoral and stealthy clan atrocities materialize.  The money is used to recruit political stalwarts who mobilize and incite zealots to murder. 

 

This is a common philosophy among African dictators or warlords obsessed with power, to use the most notorious and oppressive strategies.  Their optimum goal is power. They would do everything in their power to achieve this goal, not an iota of moral values has place in their logic. 

 

When these dictators loose popularity that depletes their likelihood to remain in power, or get to the throne, to the propensity of their ravenous attitude for authority, the consequence is always a grave one for the poor society.  A famous saying by the late dictator, Mr. Siyad Barre, in response to his death wishers said,  On my death (departure from power), I shall be survived by land, but not people, typical heinous mentality of African dictators.

 

Mr. Abdikassim, the most favorable minister of the late dictator, the head of five successive Ministerial Cabinets in the dictators tyrant regime, and the Interior Minister who had approved the carnage in the Northern regions (now Somaliland), is applying the same philosophy as his late mentor, but in the wrong time.

 

The General (Mr. Barre) had a golden opportunity that would not repeat for any other dictator.  As the Commander in Chief of the Somali Army Forces, using state forces, not clan marauders, he high jacked a functioning state, with all institutions in tact, and was not able to maintain his reign of terror.   How would, a despot, with reputations tainted by severe scandals in the past thirty years, sitting on ground zero, could imagine repeating the autocratic regime of 1969? 

 

The power is the people, and not the dictators.  As a society, we are paying the price of not owning up to our mistakes and not learning lessons from them.  Neither major changes nor improvements will take place, unless as a society, we first make reasonable changes in terms of our attitudes and convictions. 

 

The Almighty God says, God does not change the conditions of a nation, unless they first change what is in themselves.   Nothing will change in over night, but two things are vital for practical change.  First, all criminals (warlords) have to be eliminated; secondly, people with transcendent vision and verve, not recommended by foreigners, have to be encouraged to take the lead.  

 

This is not a matter of holding anyone in abomination.  It is a matter of telling the truth, par excellence.   Once more, I would like to express my sympathy to those bereaved families.   May God give them perseverance in the face of these extreme difficulties, and give them a way out, aamiin.

 

By: Burhan Alas


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