Saturday, July 16, 2011

The Soldier: War in a Time of Warlords and Extremists

                             Abdi Karshe Abdi is a 75-year-old soldier, Photo by Omar Faruk


I was recruited as a soldier in 1967. I never thought Somalis would ruin their own country and destroy people`s property. Back then my salary was only 120 Somali shillings and with this I could feed my family well and save some cash in the central bank. Only 25 cents was enough to dine at a restaurant. Now we don`t have coins or notes of less than 1,000 shillings. See how illiterate Somalis have spoilt our life?
The worst moment in my life was the Somali-Ethiopian war in 1977, which lasted eight months. At that time, Somalia was called the lion of Africa. We had jets and T-55 tanks. Somalis had courage and dignity. We captured many towns from the mighty Ethiopians. Thousands of soldiers from both sides died, although Ethiopians died the most. As we neared Ethiopia`s capital, Addis Ababa, after capturing its highlands, Russian planes began unloading tanks to fight us. Fighting escalated and we were in hell. Our commanders were ordered to shoot any Somali soldier who turned back. We had to fight to the death. Anwar Sadat, Libya`s president, called our president, Honorable Mohamed Siad Barre , to warn him that we would be overrun by troops from Russia, Yemen and Cuba. Barre ordered us to back to Somalia and we finally had a chance to run for our lives. I appeared like a ghost to my family. When they hadn`t heard from me for eight months, they carried out my funeral ceremony. They never thought I was alive. My wife, kids and I hugged and shared tears of happiness in 1978. I was by then a captain.  more powerful revolution led by Hawiye clan and warlord General Mohamed Farah Aideed started from central Somalia. Hawiye clan and warlord General Aideed, Ahmed Omar Jees and isaaq clan warlord Abdirahman Tur together from secession of Northwest Somalia planned to topple the  Honorable Mohamed Siad Barre  and form a broad-based government for Somalia. They toppled him but the other dream did not come true. Hargeisa split and formed Somaliland, Bosasso split and formed Puntland. General Aideed struggled to pull the parts together but in vain. Somalis turned into wolves - camel herders, thieves, street boys and prisoners took up arms and started robbing, looting, raping and shooting. There was no reason for me and men like me to carry a gun. There is dignity in soldiering only when there`s discipline. The looting started at the central bank. They even dug up tarmac roads and took away the electric cables. The airport was destroyed and crushed rocks collected to build private houses. Government buildings were destroyed and their bricks looted. I threw down my gun and started selling watermelons on a wheelbarrow in the streets. Most of the literate men or those who depended on the government died of hunger in the streets, fled abroad or were killed in gunfire. They could not cope with the new life.Hawiye clan and warlord  General Aideed was patriotic and he hated extremists. I`m sure Al-Shabaab would not exist if he were alive. He was the only man in the world who made the mighty U.S. surrender. He dragged their corpses through the streets of Mogadishu. I never left Mogadishu. I kept on selling watermelons and lemonade as the season allowed. I will never forget my beloved wife who was devoted to helping me bring up our seven children. She used to sell tea. None of my family was killed or injured but the list of friends and relatives who were casualties is endless.
In 2002, an interim government led by Abdiqasim Salad Hassan was formed. Warlords were better than this government, which after three years were unable to control the same amount of territory that even a weak warlord had in his power. In 2006, the worst morning was born for Somalia. Somali extremists enlisted cursed foreigners. The Islamic courts led by the current president bred all evils. It was a strange culture of beheading, cutting lips, ears and limbs, digging graves of great sheikhs and taking the bones. They started beating any woman who wore no veil and any man who did not grow his beard. Extremist Islamists do not give a cent to their parents or relatives unless they conform to their ideology. Cockroaches breed in toilets and extremists in collapsed countries. A relative of mine leads a dog`s life. His wives and children were indoctrinated by Islamists in 2006. They told him he was not a good Muslim and threatened him with death. One of his wives and two daughters married jihadists and his sons became fighters, hunting down their old father. Since then, he`s been hiding in hotels in the areas under the control of the government and African Union forces. This is where I also hide. I cannot go to Al-Shabaab areas. They will obviously behead me. Somalis were deceived by these Islamists. They supported and helped them fight the warlords but afterwards the Islamists slaughtered them like animals, stole their money and took their wives and daughters. Most Somalis now regret ousting the warlords, but gone is gone. Only minority clans and two or three powerful sub-clans support Al-Shabaab and believe in the so-called jihad as a means of attacking the other clans. Al-Shabaab is totally hated but the current president, who was head of the Islamic courts in 2006, has deprived civilians of their weapons. He says, “Help me fight Al-Shabaab,” but people cannot fight weapons with their fingers. In January 2011, I said to myself: “You should join the military again”. I saw some dignity in this new government of Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi. I`m still a captain but now we are given $130 per month. There is a bit of law and order. Nowadays a military officer is saluted and his orders are followed. That is what I see.

No comments:

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

About Us

The Foundation is dedicated to networking like-minded Somalis opposed to the terrorist insurgency that is plaguing our beloved homeland and informing the international public at large about what is really happening throughout the Horn of Africa region.

Blog Archive

We Are Winning the War on Terrorism in Horn of Africa

The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.

Terror Free Somalia Foundation