Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Placeholder for a post on the invasion of Somalia. I haven't seen any coverage in the western press from a Somali point of view. The players getting press include the Ethiopian troops, who want to leave soon, the puppet government, organized in Keyna probably by Ethiopean interests, the Islamicist militia which had been gaining power last year, and the UN, which would like a central government to which it can send a bill for UN funds looted by the former dictator.
Somalia is a union of two former colonies, Italian Somalia, the Mogadishu area, and British Somalialand, the relatively stable northern area. The country contains about half of the Somali culture and language region, which extends into Kenya and Ethiopea. (I just learned the northern area is currently spelled Somaliland; I've been misspelling it.)
The culture is organized by extended kinship networks. When two Somalis meet, they first establish how they are related to each other. Tribal councils of elders mediate disputes under a set of laws called Xeer ("hair".) The "Warlords" one hears about are usually a son of a member of the tribal council who acts as a general.
This is a different role than the dictators of puppet governments which come and go.
Centralized national leaders have not been an appealing model - Siadd Biarre (sp), Mussolini, Idi Amin, Bush, Stalin. The repeated efforts by the UN to impose puppet governments have been disruptive. The UN faction are not peacekeepers; they are warkeepers. The UN invasions of Somalia help show why a world government is not a positive step, but is a threat to world peace and stability. OK, end of rant for now.
www.awdal.com might have more.
Somalia is a union of two former colonies, Italian Somalia, the Mogadishu area, and British Somalialand, the relatively stable northern area. The country contains about half of the Somali culture and language region, which extends into Kenya and Ethiopea. (I just learned the northern area is currently spelled Somaliland; I've been misspelling it.)
The culture is organized by extended kinship networks. When two Somalis meet, they first establish how they are related to each other. Tribal councils of elders mediate disputes under a set of laws called Xeer ("hair".) The "Warlords" one hears about are usually a son of a member of the tribal council who acts as a general.
This is a different role than the dictators of puppet governments which come and go.
Centralized national leaders have not been an appealing model - Siadd Biarre (sp), Mussolini, Idi Amin, Bush, Stalin. The repeated efforts by the UN to impose puppet governments have been disruptive. The UN faction are not peacekeepers; they are warkeepers. The UN invasions of Somalia help show why a world government is not a positive step, but is a threat to world peace and stability. OK, end of rant for now.
www.awdal.com might have more.
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