Militarization Specter and Its Impact on Somali Women

Somalia, like many other African countries, has endured sustained militarization and armed conflict. This phenomenon has become a significant obstacle to Somalia's progress towards peace, justice, democratization, and development. As a rule of thumb: where militarization increases, so does death and destruction, and human rights abuses. And, yes, so does senseless wars.

Protracted wars, civil or otherwise, victimizes predominantly women and children; and nowhere is this fact more pronounced than in Somalia. Whether in refugee camps, or in the streets and neighborhoods of Somali cities, the grim images of women and children in profound state of anguish are evident. Nevertheless, their stories are seldom the dominant narrative.

Writes Sadia Ali Aden, Human rights advocate and freelance writer. Read More

Somalia: Manifestation of stealth trusteeship

Somalia is currently under what James Fearon and David Laitin of Stanford University call "a neo-trusteeship system". Various external powers, while disagreeing among themselves, make the important decisions for the Somali people.

On January 30, 2011, the Ethiopian-dominated Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional organisation comprised of seven East African states, called for an extension of the Somali parliament's mandate. The dysfunctional Somali parliament duly understood the message sent by Addis Ababa and within three days unilaterally extended its mandate for three years.

The US and UN rejected the unilateral extension, with James Steinberg, the US deputy secretary of state, arguing that it would strengthen al-Shabab and Augustine Mahiga, the UN special representative for Somalia, joining in the chorus of criticism. The disagreement within the international community over Somalia was exposed, with Ethiopia and IGAD lining up on one side and the US and UN on the other.

The fact that agencies within the US have at times pursued different policies in Somalia adds another layer of complexity. The defence department views Somalia through the lens of the 'war on terror' and, as a result, allies itself with Ethiopia, while the state department is aligned more closely with the rest of the international community.

Writes Afyare A. Elmi who teaches international politics at Qatar University and is the author of Understanding the Somalia Conflagration: Identity, Political Islam and Peacebuilding. READ MORE

Western analysts iron only corrugated pieces of Information about Islam and Muslims

I don’t know this writer but he is just among a biased group of western analysts who are scathing Islam and Muslims by spreading bigoted analysis and commentaries. Most of the guys like him are talking and writing about a topic that they know nothing to write about. Should they learn about Islam and live with the people before deciding to write corrugated pieces of information sourced from the diluted Web.

Click here to read to about him

Somalis are not safe even in the Mosques

In the past few hours mosques have been attacked in Southern Somalia where gunmen are indiscriminately aiming Muslim congregations. In what appears to be a new level of bloodlettings, targeting mosques is undoubtedly a testimony to how sour the conflict in Somalia had gone.

The billion dollar question is, who will be safe in Somalia, where even Mosques have seen a sharp rise of attacks. It will indeed be a matter of wait and see.Read more

Kenya’s evil hand spoils the broth in Azania

Azania has been created by the forces of evil, to destroy the efforts of innocent Somalis living and surviving in Gedo, Middle and Lower Juba regions. For now, these forces would want to see more mayhem and an exacerbation of the endless conflict in Somalia.

Does it help Kenya to extend its unyielding political interference to Somalia? The Sobbing Somali asks you to take part in its poll to show the unstoppable solidarity to safe the people of Jubaland.

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The Sapping Strength of Al Shabaab

By Abdullahi Jamaa
(Adopted from Somalia Report)
It is apparent from the events of recent weeks that Somalia’s radical Islamist group, Al Shabaab, is losing strength and ground due to the recent Transitional Federal Government (TFG) offensive, casting doubt on their ability to continue to control much of southern Somalia.

Following recent intensified fighting, Al Shabaab lost strategic towns in the south and a number of its military bases in the capital of Mogadishu. The latest loss of the towns of Bulla Hawa and Luuq is a powerful testimony to the sapping strength of the Islamists, both militarily and ideologically.

Even as Al Shabaab consolidates its power in large swathes of the land in Somalia, there is a growing concern over whether the group can still hold the power of its strongholds given the rising military opposition from the authority of Sheikh Sharif, backed by the international community and supported by African Union (AU) peacekeepers.

Al Shabaab provides the only significant opposition to the fragile western-backed Somali government, but if the current emerging signals are anything to go by, the present military onslaught seems to be an acid test for the group that has vowed to rule Somalia under Islamic sharia law.
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The War On Piracy Hits a Dead End

By Abdullahi Jamaa(Adopted From Somaliareport)

Indonesian Bulk Cargo Carrier MV SINAR KUDUS is the latest victim of a rash of hijacking conducted by Somali pirates on the 16th of March. Hijacked approximately 320 nautical miles North East of the island of Socotra in the Somali Basin, the attack bears a transformed hallmark of the dreaded Somali pirates who are carrying out more brazen attacks than ever before.

The escalating raids on vessels voyaging along the Gulf of Aden, East Coast of Somalia, Southern region of the Red Sea, Bab-El-Mandeb strait and the East Coast of Oman remains an enigma that envelopes one of the most strategic waterways of the world.

It is indeed a problem of huge monumental proportion that had stunned world leaders, policy makers and pressure groups who hitherto finds themselves unable to draw a clear battle line and a better strategy to win the war on piracy.

And to contain the situation they have tried their level best but in vain, the International community left nothing to chance in dealing with the piracy issue for instance various states and international organizations are actively engaged in stopping piracy.

There are currently three navy missions in the Gulf of Aden: Operation Atlanta under the European Union Naval Force, the US led Combined Task Force 151 and NATO’s ‘Operation Ocean Shield”. These missions have been aided by the presence of warships belonging to China, Japan, Iran, India and Russia.

Despite the presence of about 20 warships comprising of the world’s most powerful navies, the trouble of piracy is still huge and its predicament is mind-boggling than it was a few years ago and before the naval operations have began. Merchant vessels have now been put to the expense of passing through an endangered waterway where Somali pirates prowl mercilessly.
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