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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Jul 25 2010 - 10:33:51 EDT
Somalia/Uganda: Profiteers of terrorism other than those labeled
"terrorists"
25Jul, 2010 - 6:49:43 PM
by Kiflu Hussain
“Like many of my countrymen who tasted the brunt of brutal
suppression in the most cynical Machiavelli style rule under Meles Zenawi, I
do know that what he touches or where treads will not be peaceful. On the
contrary, what he does in collusion with the big powers of the world, may
turn Somalia into Africa’s Lebanon, and Ethiopia into Africa’s Syria.So,I am
afraid the bombs will go on to wreak much havoc.”
May 22, 2007 on The New Vision letter column, Kiflu Hussain
Introduction
What’s quoted above from my own letter was written
while I was a four month novice in Kampala. It was prompted by a high
ranking Ugandan officer’s remark wherein he belittled the action of the
Islamists that consumed five lives who went down as the first Ugandan army
casualties deployed in Somalia. The General dismissed the explosion that
killed these soldiers as “a kick of a dying horse.” To my utter
disappointment, the public which enjoys a free flow of information that is
unthinkable in my country didn’t react at all over the loss of fellow
citizens. No one seemed to have lost any sleep as to whether these young
servicemen died in vain or not. Also, those supposed to be opinion makers by
influencing situations for the better simply spouted on the Somali issue by
regurgitating what they have been fed by the powers of the “New World
Order.” Despite the immense disappointment, I wasn’t daunted by this. So, I
continued for some time to show the flip side of the coin to the best of my
abilities. Accordingly, Daily Monitor graced me with a column by publishing
“Is it peace mission or war business?” August 24, 2007.Then “The bleeding
Horn of Africa” October 1, 2007 to name but a few.
As it became crystal clear that the government of Uganda has
committed itself in Somalia to a point of no return against the backdrop of
its indifferent constituents, I gave up belaboring the point. Unfortunately,
the intractable problem of the Somali issue itself didn’t give up. Rather,
on the evening of July 11, 2010, it jostled me with a rude awakening. On
that fateful night, after watching the first half of the match for about
fifteen minutes, I retired to my bedroom, dead sure that the Dutch team
would never make it to the cup. Around 11; 30 P.M, my cell phone shrilled.
It was Arne Doornebal, a Dutch friend of mine who happens to be a freelance
journalist based in Uganda. I thought he called to tell me that his national
team won the trophy. Instead, he asked me in a somewhat agitated voice
“Where’re you?” When I told him that I was asleep in my place at Nakulabye,
he said “there’s a rumor of a bomb blast—a big one--at the Ethiopian
Village. Have you heard about it; do you know anyone there?” In my half
awake and hazy state, I only grasped two words; Ethiopia and bomb! I replied
while coming out of the haze “sure I know many people” whereupon he asked me
to get back to him as soon as I got detailed information.Then,I did the
funniest thing; I sent text messages to my folks in Addis./hope Zenawi will
still be gracious enough not to disable SMS again after debriefing one of
his goons who reads this/.Anyway, the reply I got assured me nothing of the
kind happened in the area where my folks live; nor have they heard anything
to that effect about other areas. When I relayed this message to Arne, he
called again and after making sure that I was wide awake, which I was by
that time, told me that the explosion happened right here in Kampala at the
Ethiopian Village Restaurant. That time, I have already abandoned my sweet
dream. Thus, I went to the living room and turned on the TV set.UBC was
still televising the victory of the Spaniards. The other channels were
either playing music or showing movie. However, the 11 o’clock news on NTV
was still on, albeit with no news about the explosion. Dying to know the
truth, I sent SMS to a Ugandan journalist friend of mine, Timothy Kalyegira,
who replied immediately with scary breaking news. He informed me that the
explosion didn’t only take place at the Ethiopian Village but also at a
rugby club called Kyadondo which was established to inculcate a culture of
rugger-buggers in Uganda according to Charles Onyango-Obbo, a renowned
journalist. As the saying goes that blood is thicker than water, my first
concern was for fellow Ethiopians, particularly my friends who are football
fans and also frequent the Ethiopian Village where the first bomb went off.
Upon the insistence of these friends, I myself watched the match between
Ghana and Australia there enjoying a cold Club under a big tree in front of
the big screen. Miraculously that night almost all of them changed venue and
watched the finals at Pickles. The few who were there survived without a
scratch. Tragically, however, I learned the next morning that some
acquaintances of mine perished in the blast; one from Ethiopia, one from
Eritrea. My wife too learned that two of her Ugandan acquaintances from the
Seventh Day Adventist Church she goes to every Saturday lost their lives at
the Kyadando Rugby blast.
Terrorism vis-à-vis Islamic extremism
Whenever the need arises, I hasten to explain that I know
nothing about the religion of Islam despite being born from a Muslim family
on the paternal side. My father himself/RIP/was no better than me in spite
of the fact that both his parents were devout Muslims. I think his induction
into modern education and later his exposure to the outside world through
the Ethiopian Air force that took him for further training to the United
States and other countries on various missions, combined to make him the
most liberal man. Education in the good old days had that kind of effect on
one who goes through it. If not enlightening completely, at least, it was
capable of freeing one from parochialism. However, this is not to mean that
those who were not educated were less tolerant of other people. It’s not to
imply either that those devout Muslims were fanatic to the point of
harboring ill will to others of a different faith. In fact, throughout my
upbringing in a mixed culture both ethnically and religiously, I witnessed
and enjoyed a higher degree of tolerance from my Muslim grandparents than my
Orthodox Christian grandparents on the maternal side. I am proud to say that
I saw this peace loving nature on other Ethiopian Muslims too. For this
reason, Chrisitians and Muslims coexisted peacefully in Ethiopia for many
centuries. I don’t think one can tell a different story about other Muslims
anywhere in the world. When one makes a cursory research on history, one is
likely to come up with the persecution of Muslims and Jews more than any
other sect in this world. In Ethiopia, for instance, Emperor Yohannes IV
accompanied his decree for a compulsory baptism to Orthodox Christianity
with his infamous epithet “The sky has no horizon; nor a Muslim any land in
his possession.”However, this in no way will diminish the fact that Ethiopia
was the first African country whereby followers of Islam sought refuge under
the edict of Prophet Mohammed when persecuted in Arabia. Save for periodic
minor frictions, perhaps that’s the reason Christians and Muslims are able
to coexist in perfect harmony. Of course, some incidents were recorded in
history here and there whereby Islam also enjoyed a field day by forcing
people to convert. Notable among them was the rise of Ahmed Ibin Ibrahim,
aka Gragn/left handed/Mohammed. Gragn rose to power with an Operation
code-named Habasha Al-fatwa or conquering Habasha to the will of Allah.
Apart from this exception in Ethiopian history, the official show has always
been Christian. With all its unsavory characteristics, it was Derg, the
military rule of Mengistu H/Mariam that gave recognition to the religion of
Islam by proclaiming Muslim holidays as national holidays. In so doing, Derg
effectively stamped out the notion that Ethiopia is an enclave of
Christianity thereby introducing genuine secularism.
The history of Islam elsewhere in the world is not that
different either. One of the people who were forcibly converted into
Catholicism during the Spanish Inquisition was followers of Islam. When one
delves into history books, one learns that those who refused to be converted
were condemned to be burnt at stake. Even books supposed to be heretic used
to be burned just like Al-shabab bans people in Somalia from listening to
music or watching football in this era of 21st century. Before venturing my
opinion on the reason that caused such a regression into egregious
fanaticism, I would like to deal with the brand of terrorism that’s linked
with Islam. On October 14, 2008, I saw the interview of an eighteen year old
Palestinian girl trained as suicide bomber for Hamas on BBC television. She
was married to a young man who was twenty three, also a suicidal Hamas
fighter. Because what she said fascinated me to this day, I jotted it down
in my diary. She said “Chances to become a martyr is a gift from God.” When
asked whether she has any concern for innocent civilians, among them could
be women and children, she replied coolly “that’s not important because the
children would become soldiers when they grow up.” We could easily have
dismissed this as a warped mentality of an individual. Yet, the number of
individuals who believe or brainwashed like this seem to be on the rise all
over the world. Why? Is Islam, the religion to be blamed for such heinous
fanaticism? Ironically, this type of firebrand fanatics for the most part
have been educated or trained in the West or have some kind of exposure to
the so-called liberal societies. Even during the cold war, most third world
revolutionaries hell bent to change the system in their respective countries
by badmouthing American imperialism with a slogan “Yankee go home!” were
often the byproducts of Western liberalism. At least, that’s how it was in
my country. At any rate, the young and beautiful Palestinian suicide bomber
set me to thinking for a long time. And guess what I came across one day
while searching on Google? Prophet Mohammed’s quip! Apparently, he said at
one time that “The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the
martyr.” This profound and insightful utterance not only renounces violent
and bloody martyrdom. But also highlights the importance of respect for
freedom of thought and expression.
Terrorism as a tool in other cultures
Before attempting to find out about terrorism
perpetrated by other people than Muslims, I searched for what acts
constitute “terrorism.”Although, different nations have come up with their
own version of terrorism depending upon the socio-political temperature in
their backyard, all agree that a violent act that deliberately target or
disregard the safety of non-combatants or civilians is an act of terrorism.
Seen in this context, one can hardly find an innocent party from those that
vowed to stamp out terrorism from the face of the earth. United States that
invariably postures itself as fountain of liberty, justice and democracy
always finds it difficult to condemn the excesses of Israel against innocent
Palestinian bystanders and other Arab civilians whose nations are in
perennial collision course with Israel. Until Saddam Hussein refused to be
at beck and call for Washington, his using mustard gas against Kurdish
civilians and America’s nemesis, Iran hadn’t only been ignored. Rather, it
was encouraged with the flow of weapons. The Taliban that America fights
today through indiscriminate bombing of civilians is its own creation during
the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the early 1980s.Almost all the
Western media glorified the Mujahadeens of that time. During my
impressionable age, I myself read a fictional work by Ken Follet whereby he
romanticized the Talibans in a book titled “Lie down with lions.” I wonder
if had authored today another fictional work that demonizes the same
Talibans so extolled to the sky during the rivalry in the cold war. While
this was how some of the intractable terrorism was hatched, history had
recorded sectarian terrorism right in the heart of Europe too. The Irish
Republican Army/IRA/, during its struggle against British rule from the
early 1960s up to the late 1990s, used all ruthless methods available by
targeting Protestant civilians. The British government directly and through
its surrogates whom the IRA dubbed as loyalists also retaliated by targeting
innocent Irish Catholic civilians. When one studies the methods used by IRA
to gain its objective, one can’t help but feel that Al-shabab and company
copied something from it. In a bid to turn British public opinion against
the government for deploying troops in Ireland, IRA took its bombing right
in the heart of London whereby it killed scores of civilians and destroyed
substantial property along with an attempt on the life of Margaret Thatcher.
Though, the “iron lady” survived, other dignitaries that had been with her
were not that lucky.IRA Carried out attacks in countries such as West
Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands where British soldiers were based. On
top of killing eight soldiers in one of these attacks, IRA also gunned down
six civilians including the British Ambassador to the Netherlands, Sir
Richard Sykes. Most amazing of all, one of the sources that IRA procured its
weapons was Libya! Yet, the State Department of America procrastinated to
label IRA as a terrorist group. The Basque separatist group in Spain and
France too had almost the same history of targeting indiscriminately. When
you read books by Noam Chomsky and John Pilger, you will be marveled by
revelations that exposes the hypocrisies of the Western world. Chomsky, for
instance, tells us that Bill Clinton flew with Al Qaeda and Hezbollah
operatives to buttress his side of the war in Bosnia./Hegemony or survival,
pg 35/.Apart from detailing the sponsoring of State terrorism in many Latin
American countries, Chomsky also exposed how the Bush I administration
pardoned in 1989 a notorious anti-Castro Cuban terrorist, Orlando Bosch, who
was accused of masterminding the bombing of a Cuban commercial airliner in
1976.Seventy three innocent civilians died due to this bombing on the Cuban
Airliner. Yet, the Bush/the father/administration granted asylum against the
advise of its Justice Department to this terrorist ./Intervention, pg
68/.While I am writing this, I witnessed how David Cameron, the new Prime
Minister of Britain and Barack Hussein Obama of America expressed their
regret over the release of the dying Libyan man convicted and jailed for the
Pan Am bombing at Lockerbie, allegedly through the lobbying of the oil
company, BP. At any rate, all the adventure America and its ally, Britain
engaged in since 9/11,didn’t make the world a better place to live in. If
anything, Al Qaeda supposed to be confined and obliterated by the bombings
of the Torah bora mountain, has spread from Afghanistan to Yemen, Somalia,
stretching all the way to Nigeria. Meanwhile, kids born in America,
Australia, Canada and the like who are supposed to embrace all the glamour
of Western values are shunning it to join either the rag-tag nomadic
Jihadists in Somalia or the Kaftan wearing Talibans in the mountains of
Afghanistan. Could the double standard of the Western society have reached
such a peak to drive otherwise sane and ambitious Western born kids to such
desperation? Contrary to Thomas Friedman’s assertion, these are not
super-empowered angry people from religious totalitarian States who did
their post-graduation in Madras. Leaving the Western “pundits” to reflect on
this, I would like to cite another example of the Western world’s deception
and subterfuge to invade Iraq on the pretext of dismantling weapons of mass
destruction/WMD/.To confuse public opinion all over the world in what
Chomsky aptly termed “consent engineering,” even thriller writers such as
Frederick Forsyth got involved in the deception by churning out a plausible
fiction that makes it difficult not to believe that Saddam Hussein had no
WMD. Forsyth’s book that I have come to regard as part of the grand
deception was titled “Fist of God.” Now to the thorny issue in our backyard,
Somalia!
Meles Zenawi’s Ethiopia fanning the fire in
Somalia
To be fair to the regime in Ethiopia that came to power in
May 1991, it’s imperative to state at the outset that the Somali problem has
always been there before its ascension to power. Like most similar problems
in Africa that causes fratricidal war, the genesis of the Somali problem
dates back to the colonial era. During the European Scramble for Africa,
there were three powers vying for Somali territory; Britain, France and
Italy. However, Ethiopia at the behest of Emperor Menilik II prevented the
colonial powers from having an easy ride by claiming Ogaden as part of
Ethiopia. Although, the Italians were active in Ogaden which lies between
Ethiopia and the coastal part of Somalia, no imperial power formally
controlled the region. The battle of Adwa in which the Italians suffered a
humiliating defeat settled the matter, at least temporarily. The colonial
powers acceded to the demands of Ethiopia on Ogaden since Italy had been
rendered irrelevant by the defeat. Unfortunately, there came World War II,
where Fascist Italy managed to get even by occupying the whole of Ethiopia
for five years. When Ethiopia regained its independence, the issue of
Eritrea along with other former Italian colonies was tabled at the UN
tribunal. Along the way, the issue of Ogaden was resolved and once again
made to be incorporated with Ethiopia. Prior to that, however, Britain in
its grand imperial strategy had the desire to gobble up all territories
adjacent to the British Somaliland whereby the idea of “The Greater Somalia”
germinated. Although, all colonialists including Britain left Africa, the
time bomb they left behind started exploding after independence.
Accordingly, Somalia contrary to the African Union/AU/-then it was OAU-
charter and other international laws, immediately embarked in the
realization of the dream to unify all Somali speaking people under the same
banner. In spite of the fact that Kenya and Djibouti too have a substantial
number of Somali communities, and thus supposed to be incorporated within
“The Greater Somalia,” Somalia had never launched a military adventure into
these countries. Conversely, Somalia had twice blundered into Ethiopia; in
1964 and 1977. Red sea and the Nile river made it a top priority for various
external powers to goad Somalia into invading Ethiopia.
The second incursion of Somalia into Ethiopia
posed a real danger for it took place while Ethiopia was in the crossroads
due to the 1974 popular revolution that accidentally brought the military to
power. The Provisional Military Administrative Council/PMAC/a.k.a Derg was
confronted with a myriad of problems before it resolved its legitimacy
problem through the emergence of a strongman called Mengistu H/Mariam. The
Eritrean rebels controlled many areas in Eritrea while other forms of
insurgency mushroomed in provincial towns as well as in the Capital city.
United States that had been an ally of Emperor Haile Selassie suspended the
delivery of weapons, such as fighter aircrafts and tanks, allegedly paid for
in advance. Using this opportune moment, Somalia launched its invasion and
caused havoc for some time until the tide of war soon tilted to Ethiopia’s
side. Although, Siad Barre’s force was routed and expelled, it still went on
mounting hit and run attacks directly and through a rebel force called
Western Somali Liberation Front/WSLF/. To minimize the battle fronts that
stretched Ethiopia’s resources from Eritrea to Ogaden, Derg apparently came
up with a plot that drove a wedge between Somalis. Consequently, Siad Barre
got toppled whereupon all the floodgates of anarchy were opened. As a
result, Somalia ceased to be a security threat to Ethiopia worthy enough to
send troops into its territory. Of course, this conspiracy theory allegedly
spun by the then rulers of Ethiopia to the detriment of Somalia, has never
been confirmed officially by those privy to the inner council of the
Derg.What can’t be disputed is that many Somalis have been victims of the
“Greater Somalia” propaganda and that most feel that Ethiopia is their
“historical enemy.” Thus, to them the invasion of Ethiopia by Somalia was a
righteous and sometimes holy war. At any rate, right after Somalia became no
more as a State, the military regime in Ethiopia too crumbled paving the way
for today’s rulers that postured themselves as ally in the war against
terror. In the bush war that catapulted them to power, they used all
ruthless methods imaginable, ranging from recruiting children, using
civilians as shields from air bombardment that they knew would surely come.
In fact, they videotaped these bombardments with the foreknowledge they had
instead of evacuating the villagers or advising them to take shelter. They
used the films to rouse the anger of the peasantry for en masse voluntary
recruitment while swindling money from those living in exile. On top of
destroying infrastructures and storming banks, they also committed a crime
of kidnapping of foreigners for publicity and extortion purposes, without
mentioning their diversion of funds meant for victims of famine. One of the
kidnapping victims, Jon Swain published a book about his own and an entire
British family’s experience as hostages in the hands of today’s Ethiopia’s
rulers./For further detail, see The Sunday Times, November 22,2009/. Martin
Plaut of the BBC, on the other hand, uncovered how they diverted aid money
for the purchase of weapons during their Stalinist days. In short, one can
come up with a voluminous history of the terror tactics applied so
ruthlessly during their insurgency. To be pertinent for the matter at hand,
though, I would cite a couple of examples on how the Meles Zenawi regime
thrives on State terrorism.
When TPLF/Tigray People Liberation Front/took over
Addis Ababa in tandem with EPLF/Eritrean People Liberation Front/, then
comrade-in-arms, made it their first priority to instill fear among the
cosmopolitan populace whom they regard as a bastion of “Amhara chauvinism.”
Among the tactics they used were to ignite the various ammunition depots
situated long ago in what’s supposed to be the peripheries of the Capital
whereby they were neglected to be relocated as the city expanded due to the
growing size of the population. The similarity in which all of these
ammunition depots turned into a ball of fire was uncanny. In one of this
explosion, the BBC photographer, Mohammed Amin a.k.a Mo lost his arm.
Ironically, a few years later, Mo lost his life in a hijacking drama on an
Ethiopian Airlines flight that ended up by going down in the Indian Ocean
near the Comoros Island. The hijacking of that flight is still shrouded in
mystery wherein the surviving cockpit crews are still ill at ease to talk
about it in detail. At any rate, TPLF which transformed itself as the
Transitional government blamed the explosion on an opposition group formed
in exile some of whose members hadn’t seen their country for over three
decades. When a conference took place in June 1991 to form the so-called
Transitional government, TPLF handpicked the participants while excluding
others. Among those excluded was the exiled opposition group blamed for the
explosion on the ammunition depots with a label as “terrorist and warmonger”
therefore unworthy to take part in the “democratization” process. Without
mentioning the purge that took place in the jungle by consuming the life of
its own members, TPLF also eliminated some renegades after coming to power.
First among this was Mulu Alem who challenged the leadership over its
tribalism that sought to impose the minority Tigray ethnic group over the
majority. He paid dearly for it by a bomb detonated in his office which was
blamed on Chauvinist Amharas and “anti-peace” elements. And so whenever the
regime feels that the public is about to go out of control, it inspires fear
by fabricating terror stories which at times is carried out by stage
managing it through its own agents. Then, the blame will be shifted on those
dissidents and opposition groups that won the respect of the people. In this
way, Prof.Asrat Woldeyes, Mr.Berhane Mewa, Dr.Taye Woldesemayat, Dr.Berhanu
Nega, Mr.Andargachew Tsige and prominent Ethiopians from the Oromo ethnic
group along with the political or civil society they led were effectively
ostracized. When the international community refused to be swayed by this
tactic of Meles and company during the 2005 rigged election; in fact, when
it was on the verge of passing sanction, Meles Zenawi grabbed the
opportunity that appeared out of nowhere like a manna from the heaven. The
Islamic Courts Union/ICU/, to the distaste of the Western world,
particularly, United States, captured Mogadishu.
Despite the understanding between IGAD member countries that
whatever peacekeeping force is needed in Somalia that it shouldn’t be from
neighboring countries, Meles Zenawi was given the green light to meddle in
the affairs of Somalia. In so doing, he went down in history as the first
Ethiopian ruler who invaded other people’s territory without any mandate
from the Ethiopian people. As there was no justification for poking his nose
in Somalia, he gave contradictory statements for unleashing his henchmen in
Mogadishu. Initially, he said he was there to nip an imminent terrorist
attack in the bud. Then, he changed tack and said he was there at the
invitation of the Transitional government. The real motive was to deflect
the international community’s attention from his gross human rights
violation following the election debacle. It was also to ingratiate himself
with the Western world by posturing as a key ally in the war against terror.
Because, the international community has totally underestimated to what
extent bad blood run between Somalis and Ethiopians on account of Ogaden
vis-à-vis The “Greater Somalia”, Al-shabab has been strengthened by those
young Somalis previously indifferent, even opposed to Islamic extremism.
And, then there is the Eritrean factor which not only emerged as a newly
State in the past twenty years but also another problem child of Africa
thanks to the myopic sight of the “international community.” As Issayas
Afeworki of Eritrea has an axe to grind with Meles over a senseless border
issue for which he feels the international community has let him down/on
this point truth is with Issayas, for the border commission awarded him with
a decision/he thinks it serves his purpose to take a stance against Meles on
the Somali issue. Although, I don’t believe Eritrea is in any position to
finance and arm Al-shabab to the teeth as alleged by the UN resolution to
pass sanction on Asmara, it’s obvious that Eritrea has been using Meles’s
blunder in Somalia to its advantage. Still, I am of the opinion that the
role of Eritrea in Somalia hadn’t been that significant to the extent of
strengthening Al-shabab thereby warranting the sanction on Asmara. The
so-called international community picked an easy target to vent its
frustration on Somalia. Because of this failure to face the truth squarely;
Al-shabab brought the war on our doorstep right here in Kampala.
Multifaceted profiteering on
terrorism
At this juncture, I would like to make myself clear on
one crucial point. Despite Al-shabab’s belated claim of responsibility on
the gruesome mass murder of July 11, I share the sentiments of those who
doubt as to whether it was really the workings of Al-shabab. My reason is
simple.
1. Those who calls the shot in the “New World Order” have been engaged in
deception and subterfuge for long that I can’t trust them anymore until I
see that their and their adversaries allegation withstand the test of time.
To name but a few, they told us that there was WMD in Iraq and that Saddam
Hussein was a threat to international security. And, it turned out to be a
blatant lie.
2. I have seen time and again that the Western world can do business with
any form of dictatorship or extremism without any qualms so long as it
doesn’t run counter with its interest. After all, Sheik Sharif, the current
“President” of Somalia has once been branded terrorist. The Western world,
particularly America, has never condemned a dictator on the lofty grounds of
human rights or good governance. If that was the case Robert Mugabe wouldn’t
have been painted so black while Meles Zenawi is allowed to hobnob with the
big wigs in the power corridors of the Western world. The cordial
relationship between the Western world and the religious totalitarian State
of Saudi Arabia vis-à-vis the souring of relations with Iran cannot be
explained in any other way either.
3. The Western world always finds it alright to fight “terrorism” with those
dictators who terrorize their own people. As it transpires now, some of
these dictators such as the late Ferdinand Marcos of Philippines
masterminded their own terrorist attacks by bombing department stores,
private companies, water works even government buildings to impose martial
law on the pretext of averting a communist takeover thereby gaining the
sympathy of Washington. /see “World on Fire” by Amy Chua pg 154/. I have no
doubt in my mind that Meles Zenawi has been engaged in this type of
ruthlessness ever since he came to power. If there was any security threat
from the war torn Somalia, Ethiopia was perfectly capable of preempting it
without the need for incursion into other people’s territory.
4. If the rugby club and Ethiopian village had been blasted by suicidal
bombers, why the need to make mass arrest on foreigners? After all, one of
the reason suicidal bombers are sent to this sort of mission is because of
the need to maintain absolute secrecy, before and after the mission.
Suicidal mission is not only about finding those who are willing to be
martyred. Since a suicidal bomber is happy to blow him/herself, there is no
need to share the details of the mission with anyone except those who give
the command from the headquarter. Obviously, Al-shabab’s or Al-Qaeda’s
headquarter is not in Kampala, at least, not yet. Therefore, I consider the
sweeping arrest of people of various nationalities as a desperate action
taken to propitiate the simmering wrath of the Ugandan public. In the name
of sharing information on intelligence, it’s also a perfect opportunity for
the Ethiopian regime to witch hunt dissidents who sought refuge in Uganda.
Particularly in danger are those from the Ogaden, a Somali region of
Ethiopia and Ethiopians of Oromo ethnic group with an Islamic background or
Arabic sounding name like this writer has. There is ample precedence for
this sort of gross human rights violation on the pretext of fighting
terrorism. Notable among them was the case of Binyam Mohammed, a former
Ethiopian turned a British national, who was arrested and tortured on the
basis of a confession of another man obtained under duress. The “civilized”
British intelligence officers played a great deal of part in the sad story
of Binyam.I also remember the case of a Sudanese photographer for Aljazeera
who had been interned in Guantanamo only to be found innocent years later.
Among the terror suspects detained in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in
Iraq whereby American soldiers abused them with impunity, it now emerged
that ninety percent of them were innocent.Therefore,dictators who are in the
habit of persecuting and witch hunting benefit in many ways out of
terrorism; real or stage managed terrorism by their own agents.
As I always maintain, it has been bad enough for Uganda to rush
into Somalia where angels even fear to tread without considering many
variables. All I hope now is that it’s President hasn’t taken any bad advice
from his counterpart, Meles Zenawi, during his last brief stay in Addis
Ababa to attend a meeting called by IGAD. From his past record, there’s no
doubt that he would dare to whisper into Mzee’s ear “you can shake off this
Americans who nag you to fire the chairman of your election commission for
“free and fair election” by deflecting their attention like I did.”
Thankfully, I can vouch for Mzee that whatever problem he has he wouldn’t
stoop this low due to a certain quality I noticed as a statesman that
unfortunately the man in the Menilik palace in my country never had and
never will.
Why postpone, what’s inevitable?
The war in Somalia can be summed up as “rich man’s war,
poor man’s fight.” If the Western world finds a means to tame Al-shabab
fighters into working for its benefit so that the passage for oil and other
sources of interest will be free from security threat, I am sure it’s ready
to bury the hatchet and do business with it regardless of its extreme form
of Islamism. As I was concluding this writing, a conference was taking place
in Kabul, Capital of Afghanistan. In a bid to find an honorable exit for
those Western nations involved in Afghanistan, Taliban fighters were offered
money and job if they lay down their guns. This shows that the Western world
is unable to conquer the Talibans through its sheer technological might.
After the July 11 bomb blast in Kampala, President Museveni indicated that
the forces behind Al-shabab are somewhere in the Middle East. Unlike Eritrea
whom Uganda and its “partners” in the fight against terror blamed for the
sake of venting their frustration over the failure in Somalia, the President
shied away from naming who exactly backs Al-shabab in the Middle East.
Whichever way you look at it, Uganda and Burundi, two poorest nations of
Africa, are up against an invisible enemy which they are even afraid to
name. Yet, they still obstinately maintain that they got involved in
Mogadishu in the spirit of Pan-Africanism. Rather than assessing the Somali
issue objectively, Uganda in particular is readying to clamor for mandate
change from “peacekeeping to peace enforcing in the upcoming AU summit.”
Although, it’s not clear for me what one can enforce what’s not there, I
take it to mean a demand for permission so that UPDF/AMISOM/ engages
Al-shabab in a counter attack. Believing Norbert Mao’s assessment of the
President at one time, I thought the Ugandan government would refrain from
manifesting sheer bravado. Mao said “He/President Museveni/does not fight
many wars at a go or open many fronts at the same time.”/Sunday Vision
September 2, 2007/. Without concluding the war with LRA decisively, how does
the Ugandan government expect to flush out Al-shabab whose rules of
engagement is senseless and devoid of humanity. Ayn Rand author of ‘The
Fountainhead’ observed “The trouble with you, my dear and with most people,
is that you don’t have sufficient respect for the senseless—You have no
chance if it’s your enemy.” But who is senseless here? At any rate, while
the big powers are readying to pack and leave from the Middle East, I don’t
think it’s right for Uganda to sink further into a quagmire for which the
international community is reluctant to find a solution by addressing its
root cause. I am afraid, Uganda’s further staying with more involvement in
Somalia would only postpone what’s inevitable; and that’s fleeing ultimately
like Meles’s henchmen after sustaining heavy casualty in vain.
May the dead as well as the living rest in
eternal peace
An Ethiopian Refugee in Uganda
E-mail: kiflukam@yahoo.com
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