Editorial
Somalia: The face of resistance, or resistance without a face
By
May 4, 2008 - 6:53:14 AM

SUNDAY EDITORIAL | Is the U.S. governments 'air strike diplomacy' a policy capable of achieving Washington's long-term strategic objectives?

The fact that U.S. government warplanes bombarded a small town in central Somalia to kill one of the country's fiercest guerrilla leaders emphasized, to say the least, the key role the Bush administration continues to play in the chaotic Horn of Africa country some 15 months after the Ethiopian army's initial invasion. Sheikh Adan Hashi Ayro, a rebel who was allegedly trained by Afghanistan's Taliban, was the target of the U.S. bombing in Dhusamareb, the capital of Galgadud region. According to media reports, more than 20 other Somalis were killed in the air strike in the early hours of Thursday, May 1, 2008, including women and children and entire houses demolished to dirt. The death of Ayro was portrayed, rightly or wrongly, as the death of Somalia's al Qaeda leader and, therefore, a minor victory in President Bush's ongoing global "war on terror."

Is the U.S. governments 'air strike diplomacy' a policy capable of achieving Washington's long-term strategic objectives in the Horn of Africa region? Does such militarist policy do more harm or good to the American leader's self-professed desire to spread liberty and freedom across the world, and especially in Muslim lands? Did Ayro's death bring any tangible results on the ground, or merely reinforce the Islamist guerrillas' hardline resolve to continue the bloody insurgency?

These are questions that arise from the ashes of Tomahawk missiles that torpedoed rudely into the sands of Somalia and in the conscience of a suffering people. Many analysts and insiders have suggested that Ayro's assassination will not bring peace to Somalia, mainly because the essential ingredients that led to the rise of men like Ayro and continue to swell the number of young fighters joining the insurgency remain tacitly in place. That is to say, as long as U.S.-backed Somali warlords continue to selfishly hold on to the country's highest positions of power, and their authority is brutally reinforced by Ethiopian occupation troops, the insurgency will gain strength and spread by the day.

In Somalia, there is a new generation of youth who have known little but poverty and drought, armed conflict and disorder, lack of public services and employment opportunities. The U.S. policy of bombarding the enemy is a tunnel vision of the country's numerous troubles that, while terrorism is a deadly factor, include a more complex web of domestic and regional issues that must be addressed in the application of a comprehensive foreign policy. Naturally, that would include investment not only in the country's ruling class, i.e. warlords, but also investing resources directly in civil society with the long-term aim of creating sustainable development initiatives that help tackle the pressing issues of unemployment, economic stagnation and the lack of public services.

There is no single 'face' that represents the type of armed resistance we are now witnessing in Somalia. Nearly two decades of conflict have created a dangerous environment for any political force to function regularly. Unless the structure of the current system is dismantled and educated Somalis with no criminal history are given an opportunity to lead, Somalia will remain a minor mirror image of Iraq. The resistance will get new faces as the days of occupation progress, and as the Somali people feel as if they have no choice but to wage war on the hated warlords and their foreign backers.

Garowe Online Editorial, editorial@garoweonline.com