The Fall of Mogadishu A Black Day in Somali History

rudy-Diiriye · January 1, 2008

December 30th, 2007 The Fall of Mogadishu A Black Day in Somali History. ImageThe sudden and apparently unexpected capture of Mogadishu by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces has angered every Somali who has a sense of dignity. On the other hand, the fall of Mogadishu brought a sense of relaxation only to Somalia warlords (or shall we say: Somali traitors) and they supporters who betrayed their The fall of Mogadishu marks a black day in Somali history. Somalia would be hollow and worthless without Mogadishu which is the heart of the nation. Mogadishu is where every Somali feels that he or she is superior to anyone. It is the city that refused to accept the tribal allegiance and labeled itself as the loving home for every Somali. History tells us that Mogadishu is an accommodating city should its inhabitants behave as city-dwellers not as ********.

If you are a Somali by race, either hailing from the republic or beyond, Mogadishu is the only city that can carry all Somalis together on her back, and what a caring back Mogadishu to offer!

But after watching the Somalia capital falling in the hands of the invading Ethiopian troops, it is no surprise, therefore, that sings of anger, sorrows and frustrations were felt equally in Somalia, Djibouti, the ****** region, as well as the Northern Frontier District (NFD), the Somali-inhabited region in Kenya. There are news that fighters are still coming from Somaliland, Puntland, Baidoa, Kismaayo, NFD, and from the ****** region to participate the liberation of Mogadishu.

In my opinion which I share with many Somalis, Mogadishu is not like any other Somali city. It is not just the capital of the nation, it is more than that. Mogadishu is our safety net. It is the calm centre around which all Somali people swirl and which is the most precious part of our sovereignty. And because of this, the capture of Mogadishu by the Ethiopian forces was something too unbearable to contemplate.

If we look back, we can all remember that since the collapse of the Somali government in 1991, bloodthirsty warlords began vying for control, and as a result of that, Somalia collapsed into war and anarchy, and since then, the country has been falling into pieces with nothing good ever being said about it.

And because of a bunch of warlords, the Somali nation had suffered a cataclysmic disaster. The clan-warfare led ultimately to the collapse of all institutions and the destruction of the country’s infrastructure. Thousands were killed and wounded, a million or so – including myself – were driven into exile against their will.

In such climate and in the vacuum of a failed state, Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) appeared on the screen. And after getting a financial support from Mogadishu business community as well as moral support from the society and some influential tribe leaders, UIC has formed well trained and disciplined young fighters capable of defeating Mogadishu’s notorious warlords.

In just a short period of time, the UIC fighters have captured Mogadishu and most of the central and southern part of Somalia after defeating all Somali warlords in a humiliating way. They reopened both the port and the airport and restored law and order in a city bedeviled by wars in more than a decade. .

Praising the victory of the Islamic Courts, Saverio Bertolino, a U.N. official said in an interview with the Newsweek magazine in July 2006: “In 15 years, no one was able to do what the Islamic Courts did in 15 days”.

But the miracle victory of the Islamic Courts and the defeat of the warlords gave Addis Ababa regime the jitters and put the US policy in East Africa in ruins.

Today, the war that is raging in Mogadishu is not just a recent conflict between the Ethiopian troops and UIC fighters, its roots go deeper.

Since the failed US military invasion in Somalia in 1993, and the growing influence of the Islamic groups in Somalia in many aspects, Somalia began to take a centre stage in Washington’s policy in East Africa. Ethiopian secret agents as well as CIA operatives in the horn of Africa have been trying for many years to kill or capture suspected Somali Islamists through their puppets, the Somali warlords. But in most cases, they couldn’t succeed. And worse came to worse when their puppets were severely defeated and the UIC fighters took over the Somalia capital in June 2006. As a result of this, Washington decided not to risk its elite marines again back to Mogadishu to avoid another Black Hawk Down scenario.

Describing the dilemma that faced the Bush administration after UIC fighters captured Mogadishu, Ken Menkhaus, associate professor of political science and Somalia expert at Davidson College, North Carolina said:

“This is worse than the worst-case scenarios, the exact opposite of what the US government strategy, if there was one, would have wanted,”

After this unexpected scenario, the US needed someone who can do the job. And obviously, Ethiopia stood among the crowd as the only and the preferred suitable candidate for that job, the invasion of Somalia.

Taking advantages of the so-called “the war on terror” and being the most reliable US agent in the region, Addis Ababa regime agreed to risk its troops in Somalia for two main reasons: firstly, to fulfill US interest in Somalia, and secondly, to settle some old scores with Somalia, its most feared enemy.

With that in mind, and on behalf of the United States on the pretext of cleansing Islamic fundamentalism from the horn of Africa, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) regime in Addis Ababa invaded Somalia with military, financial and political support from America and a nod of approval from the African Union.

Shame on the African Union and its Secretary General, shame on the Arab League, shame on the members of the Organization of Islamic Conference, shame on all these leagues of which Somalia is a member. Indeed, it is a worthless membership to hold.

As though they are giving their end-year extravaganza, nearly 50,000 Ethiopian troops backed by US air and sea powers have captured Mogadishu on Thursday, 28th December 2006. Somali warlords and their militia – in a government uniform – were acting only as “interpreters & guides” for the invading forces. They were informing the Ethiopian troops the names of Somali villages and which town is more pro-Islamist than other.

The moment the UIC fighters left the city, lawlessness has returned to Mogadishu and freelance militia started looting and killing civilians and immediately, the situation started descending back into total anarchy.

But who would have thought that one day Mogadishu will be captured by Ethiopian troops, let alone they will shit inside its mosques?! The answer is: “this thought is something that never crossed our mind.” And this brings me to raise this question:

Who is responsible that Mogadishu fell in the hands of the Somali enemy?

Sometimes it is easy to raise a question than to find the answer. But this question must be raised and it deserves to be answered.

Although some of the inherent ills that have caused the fall of Mogadishu have had their genesis primarily in Addis Ababa and Washington, but the fact remains that the fall of Mogadishu is – first and foremost – one of its people’s making.

I place the responsibility for the fall of Mogadishu firmly on the Somalis themselves, especially Mogadishu warlords and their supporters. I would like to remind all Somalis that the traitors within are more dangerous than the declared enemy.

The fall of Mogadishu has left a hole in my heart and the hearts of all true Somalis, but the wound had began to heal now after we watch young Somali fighters dragging the dead bodies of the Ethiopian soldiers in the streets of Mogadishu. Somalis should do everything to chase TPLF forces and their puppets out of Somalia. They should use all their available means to achieve this end.

And although the fall of Mogadishu marks a black day in Somali history, but I am confident that the city of Mogadishu which succeeded in humiliating the American elite forces on October 1993, is also more capable in defeating the un-mourned Ethiopian soldiers.

Mohamed Abbas

http://free-somalia.org/?p=492