Comments by Liberty99

Obama administration is expanding US counter terrorism efforts in Somalia such as deadly drone attacks and expending vast resources--approximately $200 millions a year for the 9,000 African Union peace keeping forces, mercenaries, and arms to prop up a fictional Somali government,which offers no security,governance and even reconciliation.

While, for political reasons, the Obama administration refused to support and recognize, a source of strength in the area-- stable functioning, and democratic nation of Somaliland .This is an example how American foreign policy is such a mess under Obama presidency.

A genuine, sustainable political reconciliation is needed in order to find a lasting solution for the recurring disasters and the chronic instability in Somalia.

But as the past experience of UN and US intervention in Somalia suggests, without any reliable, indigenous political partners for governance and reconciliation, and as long as the rival war profiteers and clan warlords fight among themselves for controlling the inflow of humanitarian aid and the power of that money enables, there is a little chance of stable functioning authority emerging from Somalia, even if the proxy,casualty resistance Kenya/Ethiopian troops invade Somalia.

America is relying Proxy Ethiopian Kenya and Uganda,who are perpetuating and benefiting Somalia quagmire.

America and EU must find a new pragmatic approach, which reflects the realities in Somalia. That realities includes understanding that Somalia is a place in which home grown, grass-roots and bottom-up reconciliation solution for its problems offers more chance of success than do quick UN imposed political fixes and costly foreign military intervention.

US Should Lead the World in Recognizing Democratic Somaliland

Your article was very informative but I want correct you that Somaliland is not secessionist. Instead,Somaliland briefly was a sovereign country before joining with Italian Somalia in July 1960.they have right to reclaim their independence based on their historic status as former British Somaliland.And their sorrow union with Somalia should held against them,any more than the one between Gambia and Senegal or Egypt and Syria.

Now,Somaliland is a stable,productive and functioning democratic state while with the all vast resources international community spent on Somalia,still it continues mired in violence,chaos,humanitarian disaster and terrorism.

For the last two decades, over and over again,UN|(which, by the way, do not promote American interest and values) was mainly concentrating on Mogadishu, the ground zero of the failed state of Somalia. And for diplomatic reasons, the International community was ignoring the beacon of hope in Somalia--the northerly part--Somaliland, which is entity that sustains commerce with its neighbors and with political institutions that are able to maintain order with its defined borders.

This country has never been involved any United states, United Nations, or AU led military intervention, but has succeeded establishing a fledging, secular Muslim democratic state from scratch, without massive aid.

Unlike the brutal warlords,pirates, war profiteers and terrorists fighting for power in Somalia,development has been built on bottom-up reconciliation process, amnesty and peace. Today,it has a legitimate multiparty representative democracy,an ill equipped but a functioning police and a free-market economy operating under the rule of law.

Despite all these achievements, yet, for political reasons, the Obama administration has refused to support and award recognition it deserved. Instead, US is providing money, training and arms for a fictional Somali government run by a bunch of ineffective, corrupt individuals, who regard the misery and humanitarian disaster as an opportunity to make money.

The current State Department policy toward Somalia of backing Sheikh Sharif as leader of Somalia, controls small pockets of Mogadishu and is protected by a contingency of African Union force of Ugandan and Burundians. Absolutely,he has no power and following among ordinary Somali population, has been abject of failure and is not accomplishing President strategy’s to “disrupt, dismantle and defeat” the violent Al-qaeda franchise in Somalia, nor does it make the region more stable. In an ideal world, Sheik Sharif is not someone US would like to be doing business with. This absurd policy should stop.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would do America and the world a big favor if she Could come out a new US strategy dealing with anarchy and misery that plague southern Somalia as well as defeating extremist elements. However, everything depends on how Southern Somali clans manage their own affairs and sort their differences .Any new US initiative should be based upon political and security realities on the ground.

America should rather empower and reward Somaliland leaders who acted responsibly and have delivered good political hierarchy to its citizens. Somaliland which has 475 miles of coastline is doing right and it can play significant role in helping US and the West to combat extremism in the Horn of Africa, as well as piracy in the Gulf of Aden—one of the busiest shipping lines in the world.

America, European Union and Africa should engage and give Somaliland the diplomatic recognition it deserves. Doing so would make the region more stable, stop the spread of radical elements, promote good governance and lead to the rest of Somalia to reconciliation and peace. If America is not recognizing Somaliland fully, US should at least pay substantial attention to the needs of Somalilanders and lend it a helping hand in the areas of counter terrorism efforts, police and coastguard.

Somaliland people and their political parties are yearning for full independence and freedom, and they want to forge ties with the west. The 3.5 million Somalilanders can not tolerate more years of uncertainty about what country they live in and what the future holds for them.

America may not impose democracy on the rest of the world. But, where there are people who embracing democracy,like Somaliland, America has moral obligation to support them.
It is the time PresidentObama to lead the world and do the right thing and accept the only viable and sustainable solution, which is independent and sovereign Somaliland,anything less would never work nor be just.

Somaliland Freedom Foundation
Lewis center,Ohio
aliadm@aol.com

Dear Sir,

Following the collapse of the tyrannical regime of Somalia, there have been more than 17 reconciliation conferences among warring Somali Clans which resulted the formation of several So-called Transitional Federal Government (TFG).The most recent The TFG, which has the backing of the US,offers no governance and itself depends its survival on a contingency of African Union force of Ugandan and Burundians.TFG controls small pockets of Mogadishu and has no popular support among the ordinary Somali population.

So far, it is not a functioning a government and the TFG leadership is ineffective,corrupt and they spent most of their time squabbling and is led by the US supported Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed,who few years ago advocating Jihad and calling for the death penalty anyone celebrating for the new year.

The TFG is using child soldiers for its war against Al-shabaab,a Somali Islamist youth group with ties to Al-qaeda that controls most Southern Somalia. The Obama administration is providing money,training and arms for the weak transitional Somali government.

The current US policy toward Somalia is not really dismantling and defeating the Al-qaeda franchise in Somalia,nor does make the region more stable.Our Secretary State Hillary Clinton will do America and world a big favor if she Could come out a new strategy dealing with anarchy and misery that plague southern Somalia, which is totally different the United Nations policies and strategies that have failed again and again for the last two decades. Any new US initiative should be based upon realities on the ground.

So,for the last 20 years,UN was mainly concentrating on Mogadishu,the ground zero of the failed state of Somalia. And for diplomatic reasons, the International community was ignoring the beacon of hope in Somalia--the northerly part--Somaliland, which is entity that sustains commerce with its neighbors and with political institutions that are able to maintain order with its defined borders.

This country has never been involved any United states, United Nations,or AU led military intervention, but has succeeded establishing a fledging, secular Muslim democratic state from scratch, without massive aid.

Unlike the brutal warlords,pirates,war profiteers and terrorists fighting for power in Somalia, Somaliand's development has been built on bottom-up reconciliation process, amnesty and peace. Today,it has multiparty representative democracy, an ill equipped but a functioning police and a free-market economy operating under the rule of law.

Somaliland has held several successful free and fair elections for President, legislative and local government. On June 26, the 50th anniversary of Somaliland’s independence from British, the next presidential election will be held, in more than 2,500 polling stations across the country. And the Presidential campaign is already in a full swing, a course giving Somaliland more impressive democracy than most African and Middle Eastern countries that enjoy International diplomatic relation and receive millions of American aid year after year.
international Community has denied such recognition to Somaliland, for political reason.

The UN tactic of searching for a united central Somali government is not working because of the criminals elements, who for a long time profited from the lawlessness are not interested setting up a stable government. There is a very limited options available for international community. Everything depends on how Southern Somalis sort out their differences.

The international community should rather help the most stable and peaceful area—Somaliland. America should empower and reward Somaliland leaders who acted responsibly and have delivered good political hierarchy to its citizens.
Somaliland which has 475 miles of coastline is doing right and it can play significant role in helping US and the West to combat extremism in the Horn of Africa,as well as piracy in the Gulf of Aden—one of the busiest shipping lines in the world.

America,European Union and Africa should give Somaliland the diplomatic recognition it deserves.Doing so would make the region more stable, promote good governance and lead to the rest of Somalia to reconciliation and peace. If recognizing Somaliland is politically sensitive, US should at least pay substantial attention to the needs of Somalilanders in the areas of Security, Water, health and education.

Somaliland people and their political parties are yearning for full independence and freedom. The 3.5 million Somalilanders can not tolerate more years of uncertainty about what country they live and what the future holds for them.

It is the time America,EU and Africa did the right thing and accepted the only viable and sustainable solution,which is independent and sovereign Somaliland,anything less would never work nor be just.

Dear Sir,
Democratic Somaliland Deserves International Recognition.

Following the collapse of the tyrannical regime of Somalia,there have been more than 17 reconciliation conferences among warring Somali Clans which resulted the formation of So-called Transitional Federal Government (TFG).The most recent TFG offers no governance ad itself depends its survival on a contingency of African Union force of Ugandan and Burundians. TFG controls small pockets of Mogadishu and has no popular support. The debate should rather be,do the International community should follow policies and strategies that have failed again and again for the last two decades,or do they should fellow initiative that would make difference ?

There is a very limited options available for international community.The success of any kind of intervention in Somalia depends on how Somalis sort out their differences.And any intervention should be based on the reality on the ground.

But for political reasons,the International community is ignoring the beacon of hope in Somalia--the northerly part,which is entity that sustains commerce with its neighbors and with political institutions that are able to maintain order with its defined borders.

This country has never been involved any United states,United Nations, or AU led military intervention,but has succeeded establishing a fledging, secular democratic state from scratch,without massive aid.

Unlike the warlords,pirates and terrorists fighting for power in Somalia,Somaliand's development has been built on bottom-up reconciliation process, amnesty and peace. Today, it has multiparty representative democracy, an ill equipped but a functioning police and a free-market economy operating under the rule of law.

Somaliland has held several successful free and fair elections for president,legislative and local government.On June 26, the next presidential election will be held. And the Presidential campaign is already in a full swing, a course giving Somaliland more impressive democracy than most African and Middle Eastern countries that enjoy International diplomatic relation.

The international community should empower and reward Somaliland leaders who acted responsibly and have delivered good political hierarchy to its citizens. Somaliland which has 475 miles of coastline is doing right and it can play significant role in helping US and the West to combat extremism in the Horn of Africa, as well as piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

America,European Union and Africa should give Somaliland the diplomatic recognition it deserves. Doing so would make the region more stable,promote good governance ad lead to the rest of Somalia to reconciliation and peace.

Somaliland people and their political parties are yearning for full independence and freedom. The 3.5 million Somalilanders can not tolerate more years of not knowing what country they live and what the future holds for them.

It is the time America,EU and Africa did the right thing and accepted the only viable and sustainable solution,which is independent and sovereign Somaliland,anything less would never work nor be just.

Dear Sir,

Democratic Somaliland Deserves International Recognition.

As we debate whether foreigners should intervene Somalia. There is a very limited options available for international community.The success of any kind of intervention in Somalia depends on how Somalis sort out their differences.Ad any intervention should be based on the reality on the ground

But for political reasons,the International community is ignoring the beacon of hope in Somalia--the northerly part,which is entity that sustains commerce with its neighbors and with political institutions that are able to maintain order with its defined borders.

The people over there have established a fledging,secular democratic state from scratch,without massive aid.

Unlike the warlords,pirates and terrorists fighting for power in Somalia,Somaliand's development has been built on bottom-up reconciliation process,amnesty and peace. Today,it has multipary representative democracy, an ill equipped but a functioning police and a free-market economy operating under the rule of law.

Somaliland has held several successful free and fair elections for president,legislative and local governments.On June 26, the next presidential election will be held. And the Presidential campaign is already in a full swing, a course giving Somaliland more impressive democracy than most African and Middle Eastern countries that enjoy International diplomatic relation.

The international community should empower and reward Somaliland leaders whoa acted responsibly and have delivered good political hierarchy to its citizens.Somaliland which has 475 miles of coastline is doing right and it can play significant role in helping US and the West to combat extremism in the Horn of Africa, as well as piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

America,European Union and Africa should give Somaliland the diplomatic recognition it deserves.Doing so would make the region more stable,promote good governance ad lead to the rest of Somalia to reconciliation and peace.

Somaliland people ad their political parties are yearning for full independence and freedom.The 3.5 million Somalilanders can not tolerate more years of not knowing what country they live and what the future holds for them.

It is the time America,EU and Africa did the right thing and accepted the only viable and sustainable solution,which is independent and sovereign Somaliland,anything less would never work nor be just.