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The Somali people thus came face to face with the duplicity of international law, which on the one hand recognized Britain’s right to administer their land because of those treaties of “protection,” but then on the other hand turned around to argue that because the clans were “not sovereign,” those same treaties did not have the force of law. Following that shocking revelation, the logical thing to do was to abrogate those treaties and get rid of the British as soon as possible and thus achieve sovereignty.
Many Somalis (educated as well as uneducated) have been blaming what has been going on in the country on the clan system. What has actually been going on is madness in a favorable situation of anarchy. It is universally agreed that Somalia is ruled by anarchy; and anarchy is a negation of system - the very opposite of system. It is actually the apostles of modernity in Somalia, the deranged faction leaders, who debased both the clan system and modernity. Nations do not destroy their traditions: they build on them. If I were to write an obituary on Barre’s regime, I would definitely say that there is a record to condemn, but also a record to praise and defend. It is a matter of record that no body before it—let alone after—built Somalia as that regime built it, and history will judge Barre more judiciously than his contemporaries did and still do. All this, however, has been eclipsed by a record which is worthy of condemnation, because the regime trampled human rights and destroyed innumerable human lives. The most despicable of the regime’s actions was the targeting of individual clans, particularly the Isaq, for whom the regime reserved its worst punishment. Of the three fronts (SSDF, SNM, and USC) the USC was undoubtedly (as proved by events and internal struggle) the least disciplined, the least cohesive, and the most badly organized. It alone brought about the collapse of the regime; it alone could have saved the nation from the civil war; but it alone was responsible for the destruction, the devastation, and the bloodbath that followed the mob rule and anarchy that it spearheaded. Like the SSF, and later SSDF, SNM developed a military wing and had resolutely and implacably resolved to fight and bring down Barre’s regime; it was, likewise, clan-based, for it was an Isaq movement, which was dedicated to the “liberation” of the Isaq homeland. But it differed from the SSDF in three important respects: first, it was democratic, as its leaders were freely and fairly elected periodically; secondly, it was led by its best educated and most experienced professionals, politicians, and diplomats; and thirdly, its main revenue came from individual monthly contributions from Isaq professionals, workers, and businessmen in the Diaspora.” ___________________________________________________________________________________ We welcome the submission of all articles for possible publication on WardheerNews.com |
