BebsiBolice
Suicidal men adore me.
wrote this for the cadaans that don't understand
To be honest, the reason the troops are here is to get rid of Al-Shabab because our nation did not have the resolve to remove them.
The complexity lies in the fact that Al-Shabab isn't just one side of the conflict. Somalia is run primarily through the Clan system. In my honest opinion, The Federal Government is only the second, less important layer of power. It gives Somalia a face to present to the world, now that we've got the attention of Donor nations because of the piracy problem a few years ago. Most countries would not assist in rebuilding without a recognisable government in place, and not just the Clan system. This is a clan system where you can enquire about any specific guy, and be told where his sub-clan lives, what he does for a living, etc. This makes it easier for law enforcement; Clans pay for their transgressions in blood money or a life-for-a-life.
It’s not a great system, but Somali’s have used it since ancient times. The problem, with regard to Al-Shabab, is that in this system, where a man can tell you the name of all of his forefathers, paternal uncles, their jobs, the area they live in but apparently has no idea which Clan members are also Shabab members.
In my opinion, and many other Somalis, that is an impossibility.
The Ugaaso (Sultans) know who in their clans is a member of Al-Shabab, and until the notion of “protecting your clan” turns into the notion of “protecting your nation”, this problem will never go away. Al-Shabab can be destroyed overnight if the Ugaas of each clan resolved to do so.
That said I am not entirely happy at the troops of other East African nations being in our country. The last time Somalia lost land, was due to the British "mistakenly" selling a region to Ethiopia and failing to buy it back.
So, with regards to Kenya & Ethiopia, analysts are right to suggest that they are following their own interests (not the obvious interest of preventing Al-Shabab from carrying out attacks in their countries, but secondary interests that are historical) and Somalis are wary that they will attempt something as this would be the perfect climate for them to do so.
Ethiopia, especially, has a desperate need to alleviate the problems of being a landlocked nation. One way would be to annex a part of Somalia where they can install a coastal city.
The second part of your question is also very complicated to answer.
The Somali National Army are not developed enough to secure the nation. The US trained Elite units are the most effective of our defenses, but even they are purely reactionary. They react to suicide attacks, and simply kill men who intended to die that day after inflicting as much damage as possible.
Reactionary forces cannot really contain the problem of Shabab.
Our Intelligence services, NISA do all of the groundwork regarding Shabab reconnaissance. They arrest suspected members, and foil an attack or two every month. Even that isn't enough, as AL-Shabab simply regroup to anywhere outside of Mogadishu and plan another attack.
All of our security services could do with better information from the Sultans, but each Sultan is too busy trying to one-up the other.
I don't like having to have foreign troops in my country to quell the insurgency caused by people I'm supposed to consider my brothers. Somalia is one culture, one people, and one religion. This makes this so much more difficult to understand. As far as we are aware, Al-Qaida is just another outside force meddling in our affairs. Something we've been used to since ancient times.
Sorry for the length: TL:DR It's a complicated problem in a fairly uncomplicated environment (everyone is the same religion, culture, people).
EDIT: glaring writing errors.
This is the 2 time im seeing Somalia on the worldnews subreddit. I've been there for some months. Somalia getting more covarage don't know what that will mean in the long run
To be honest, the reason the troops are here is to get rid of Al-Shabab because our nation did not have the resolve to remove them.
The complexity lies in the fact that Al-Shabab isn't just one side of the conflict. Somalia is run primarily through the Clan system. In my honest opinion, The Federal Government is only the second, less important layer of power. It gives Somalia a face to present to the world, now that we've got the attention of Donor nations because of the piracy problem a few years ago. Most countries would not assist in rebuilding without a recognisable government in place, and not just the Clan system. This is a clan system where you can enquire about any specific guy, and be told where his sub-clan lives, what he does for a living, etc. This makes it easier for law enforcement; Clans pay for their transgressions in blood money or a life-for-a-life.
It’s not a great system, but Somali’s have used it since ancient times. The problem, with regard to Al-Shabab, is that in this system, where a man can tell you the name of all of his forefathers, paternal uncles, their jobs, the area they live in but apparently has no idea which Clan members are also Shabab members.
In my opinion, and many other Somalis, that is an impossibility.
The Ugaaso (Sultans) know who in their clans is a member of Al-Shabab, and until the notion of “protecting your clan” turns into the notion of “protecting your nation”, this problem will never go away. Al-Shabab can be destroyed overnight if the Ugaas of each clan resolved to do so.
That said I am not entirely happy at the troops of other East African nations being in our country. The last time Somalia lost land, was due to the British "mistakenly" selling a region to Ethiopia and failing to buy it back.
So, with regards to Kenya & Ethiopia, analysts are right to suggest that they are following their own interests (not the obvious interest of preventing Al-Shabab from carrying out attacks in their countries, but secondary interests that are historical) and Somalis are wary that they will attempt something as this would be the perfect climate for them to do so.
Ethiopia, especially, has a desperate need to alleviate the problems of being a landlocked nation. One way would be to annex a part of Somalia where they can install a coastal city.
The second part of your question is also very complicated to answer.
The Somali National Army are not developed enough to secure the nation. The US trained Elite units are the most effective of our defenses, but even they are purely reactionary. They react to suicide attacks, and simply kill men who intended to die that day after inflicting as much damage as possible.
Reactionary forces cannot really contain the problem of Shabab.
Our Intelligence services, NISA do all of the groundwork regarding Shabab reconnaissance. They arrest suspected members, and foil an attack or two every month. Even that isn't enough, as AL-Shabab simply regroup to anywhere outside of Mogadishu and plan another attack.
All of our security services could do with better information from the Sultans, but each Sultan is too busy trying to one-up the other.
I don't like having to have foreign troops in my country to quell the insurgency caused by people I'm supposed to consider my brothers. Somalia is one culture, one people, and one religion. This makes this so much more difficult to understand. As far as we are aware, Al-Qaida is just another outside force meddling in our affairs. Something we've been used to since ancient times.
Sorry for the length: TL:DR It's a complicated problem in a fairly uncomplicated environment (everyone is the same religion, culture, people).
EDIT: glaring writing errors.
This is the 2 time im seeing Somalia on the worldnews subreddit. I've been there for some months. Somalia getting more covarage don't know what that will mean in the long run
