^^ The camels are understandable, saaxib. Waa qabyaalad uun. They have these competitions to flush out the real bedwins that understand the life of a "geel jire" and the "mixed-origin" wannabees. Not really different to any "reer magaal" randomly mentioning a part of a young she-camel and asking (importantly) "Somalidu waxay bahalka o bixyaan, ma garanaysa?" or some such questions...

^^ Che does not dispute the fact that the goat is beautiful, he just thinks that grown men should hide such admiration. Actually, it is just a beauty contest. They have one for camels too (taa na maxaad ka sheegaysan?)...

Wednesday, 29 February 2012 Abukar Arman, Contributor If there is any consensus on the nature and the outcome of the London Conference on Somalia—which brought together representatives of over fifty nations that included a number of Muslim ones—it must be the fact that it was a puzzling event that raised much speculation. Now that the fanfare has ended, it is time for an objective appraisal. However, I must confess it would not be easy to remain steadfast in that quest when most—nations, groups, and individuals—already espoused one preconceived notion or another. Their notions were fueled into skepticism by traceless non-papers by the UK and Italy that made their way to the public domain and had certain objectionable propositions. Whether by design or otherwise, the conference’s would be communiqué was subsequently leaked days before the actual event, an act that surely defused any potential for drama or to manage emotive political impulses of the stakeholders and the populace. Was the conference a success? Would it go down in history as the “turning point” in the seemingly endless Somali political and other related crises? The answer, of course, depends on one’s perspective and expectations. Therefore, success remains fluid, both in definition and impact. However, it is fair to say that the outcome of the conference is a mixed bag of positives and negatives, though the former outweighs the latter. The international community (IC) seems to have finally decided to reclaim its legitimacy from those to whom it has outsourced since the early 90s when Somalia was left to deal with its own problems, a dysfunctional outfit made of countries and interest groups with zero-sum interests that I call the “Ghost-lords.” The conference, which by far was the largest gathering of nations to address Somalia’s political problem and the subsequent symptoms, gave the IC the right platform to reassert its moral authority. Furthermore, to underline its collective will to streamline the leadership piloting this direct engagement process and maintaining its momentum. How is this new approach any different than the previous ones? First, at least in theory, there seems to be a change in the method of operation in dealing with Somalia. “We are not here to impose solutions on a country from afar. Nor are we here to tell you, the Somali people, what to do. But rather, we’re here to get behind your efforts and help you to turn things around,” said UK Prime Minister David Cameron. The agency or the catalyst force toward lasting peace and reconciliation must be indigenous. The aim must be to marshal all parties to the conflict into a new threshold and a new frame of mind that requires holistic inclusiveness, positive thinking, sincere negotiations, and benevolent compromise. It must be a genuine effort lead by Somalis for Somalia. Second, the conference brought Somaliland as a stakeholder. While it was granted the recognition it very well deserved for its accomplishments in the past two decades since it declared secession, it (as well as all other Somali political actors) was reminded that the fate of the Somali people within the broken state known as Somalia is interdependent. And the onus to reach out for dialogue rests upon the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). It is time for the TFG to step outside its comfort zone and seek political dialogue with its brethren in Somaliland. This could be done through direct engagement, or by way of a mutually agreed upon peace facilitating committee. The committee must be made of credible, non-partisan men and women of impeccable record. The conference is, at best, a skeleton and an initiative with great potential, though not without certain weaknesses. For example, the conference downplayed the importance of rebuilding the Somali security apparatus. It created a Joint Financial Management Board, but limited its duty to guard the crumbs and not the cookies. They are charged to “eliminate diversion of revenues” by internal corrupted individuals (good news), but are not to scrutinize how the notoriously corrupted international institutions charged in the Somali affairs handle the $1 billion donated to Somalia each year in foreign aid. Corruption must be dealt with in all levels, regardless of the perpetrators. The conference calls for ending the charcoal trade and highlighted the importance of dealing with the piracy and investing in building the judicial system of Somalia, but made no mention of the illegal toxic waste dumping and hyper-fishing by international profiteers. Furthermore, in a decision that clearly contradicts its reaffirmation that the political process should be left to the Somalis, the conference took a clear position declaring the Transitional Federal Parliament members who exercised their authority and followed the democratic process to vote out their speaker are considered “spoilers” of the peace process who should be sanctioned. And lastly, the conference rejected any possibility of making a space for al-Shabaab to join the political dialogue, thus giving endorsement to the continuation of the current military option lead by AMISOM, Ethiopia and the TFG force along with the U.S. “Drone Diplomacy.” Understandably, from the modern day military strategic perspective, you do not engage your enemy in dialogue when they are at their weakest point (al-Shabaab has been on a losing streak for several months now). However, this surely flies in the face of the Islamic perspective that keeps the space for dialogue and peace negotiation readily available for any group or nation ready to fill that space. And this could trigger an internal backlash that could undermine the holistic peace process that the conference was to inspire. In order for the London Conference to reach its potential, a certain level of tweaking must be applied between now and the second phase conference scheduled to take place in Istanbul in June. And Turkey, as a nation that delivered the most tangible services and earned profound public confidence and political capital in Somalia should lead the facilitation effort. Abukar Arman is the Somalia Special Envoy to the United States. Wednesday, 29 February 2012 Abukar Arman http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/131776/the-enigma-of-the-london-conference-on-somalia.html ------------------------ God bless Turkey?

Sabaax al kheer ya naas.

^^ I see an open goal but I can't make jokes about my son's future mother-in-law or her mother.

^^ Beauty contest! :D

^^ I like to say whatever crosses my mind. I was worried that having 'family' on my FB account will stop me from 'feeling free'. Strange enough, I ended up posting more on the 'family' one than the friends one. So, now, I decided to merge the two. p.s. The last time I posted anything was Sunday..I posted this:

^^ South-Central Somalia has only produced asbaaro experts and made warlords, saaxib. If your argument is of the Courts, I say don't look at what they did for six months and look at what became of them, saaxib (by the way, did you notice how president Sharif has dropped the word 'sheikh' from his title these days?). As for a Somali-owned solution taking place, well it's a bit of both really, is it not? The Somalis are trying to mature into political groupings and the West is ensuring that the experiment works by holding the purse strings and controlling security. Something akin to what happend to Iraq before the American withdrawl (now the Iraqis are still fighting but, at least, there is a semblance of some kind of government in place). Trusteeship is good. Hail the trusteeship.

^^ We're the "men in white coats". Showqi;796111 wrote: Loooool@nala qabo yaanu baxsan Sorry NGONGE you are forgetting I'm supporting Carafaat on this one. That's because you don't know yet inuu waalanyahay dee. I will remind you when the time comes.

^^ I have only one now. Did you add me?

Norf, the plan is to come but I'm too lazy to renew my passport and without passport there is no travel. p.s. War caashurta bixi.

^^ Showqi, hadalkaaga waxay ka muuqata in aanad waliga nin waalan arkin. Hadi kale 'goobashu' ka maad hadli laheen. Waa nin waalan ban ku idhi, nala qabo yaanu baxsan warya.

^^ Actually, the (roving) Somali ambassador to Qatar is the one that suggested this last week. Qatar has played a part in helping Hamas & Fatax in the past and took part in solving many disputes. Not a surprise that someone will mention it now (though doubt the UK will announce such a thing).

^^ Didn't sum up much. He's moaning over nothing and offers no better solutions. The conference, even without the "controversial" point about Somaliland, has actually come up with lots of useful solutions. Mr Uluso talks about some trick involving the increase of AMISOM forces before the conference but he forgets that most other arrangements (such as the banning of the export of Charcoal, etc) were also passed through before the conference. The whole idea of the conference was to inform and reinforce such deals. In addition, does he trust in the TFG to tackle corruption on its own? Does he have the time for a slow build up of institutions or Somali national forces? Surely, the recent advances AMISOM made in Somalia (and the TFG fortunate control of the whole of the captial) shows that AMSIOM works and increasing the number of AMISOM forces is simply a natural progression here. p.s. Mintid, I know you are looking at all of this from the point of view of Somaliland. However, if you forget your a Somalilander for a minute and put yourself in the shoes of a Somalia-Somali, what are your views on this conference and its results, saaxib? Go on, amuse yourself and play devil's advocate for a bit. This conference is the nearest Somalia came to fixing itself in over twenty years. Would Mr Uluso prefer that it goes back to the hands of asbaaro experts and mad warlords? Beggars can't be choosers O Mr "Pledge for the disbursement of at least 10 billion dollars in the next 4 years".

N.O.R.F;796062 wrote: Saxib, if I was to show you how a VAT invoice was put together by the Ministry of Finance you would probably laugh. It was without basis and full of assumptions. Since when did governments assume how much a company produced and sold and issued a VAT invoice? If the $107m amount includes future collections of VAT then I think they will be falling well short as no one is going to pay their ludicrous invoices. The minister knows exactly what I think of his department Oh look a business owner complaining about taxes! :D

God bless Turkey is a shout that can be heard all the way from Cairo to Baghdad, from Khartum to Xalab and now the Turkish good well flight has landed in Somalia. Erdogan and his party are doing far too much in order to increase and strengthen Turkish influence around the world. Many people (Somalia amongst them) are benefitting from this new policy. However, will the Somali leaders let Erdogan down like Bashar Al Asad did? Will they forsake him like Al Basheer is bound to do? Or will they openly fallout with him like Iraq's Al Maliki is doing? For the same of the ordinary Somalis in the street, I truly hope not.

^^ Dee waan ku amaanay (as part of our new peace deal). By the way, the sun is out now. Nice and warm. Carafaat, adiga ma sharci baa lago diiday?

Showqi, you'll join kuwa cabaadaya soon enough, saaxib. Carafaat waa nin waalan.

Eedo Hillary said she'll accept no "spoilers"....

^^ Sharciga loo diiday, saaxib. Waxa la yedhi Falastiini ayuu sheegtay, axmaqa xun (maxaa Somali o diiday).

** Puts hand on desk ** ** Pushes chair back ** ** Stands up ** ** Pushes glasses back ** ** Takes a deep breath and says...** Technically speaking, Obama is dancing TO Somali music. Obama could, given the opportunity, dance with a Somali woman, man, dog or even the less spotted (Somali) Golden Mole (a species only found in Somalia by the way) but when it comes to music, Obama can only dance TO the music and not with it. ** Pushes glasses back once more and sits down **

Ubax (-a Kacaanka) is giving us all hayfever.

^^ I did not call you 'ubax'. You called yourself that and Somalina wanted to deny you that right. I was on your side warya! As for you "Eurotrash", you only become that when you cross the border and as far as I know, you are still in Holland (aren't you?). p.s. Laangaab & laandheer are terms that only hurt a Somali who grew up in Somalia/Somaliland. I need not worry myself about such terms, geeljire waaxid.

Juxa used to be like you, Carafaat but we managed to turn her into a nice "English" lady. Rostokh, adeer. Jacaylbaro, was it the shops that stopped doing it or has the government got anything to do with it?

There goes Carafat with his half cooked questions! War if they dislike Farole (as you claim) they will be happy to see the back of him and will be the first to support the Imam in his bid to become Somali president. It's a federal thing, wax fahan.