International Herald Tribune in its issue of Monday November9. 2009 reports that US suspended supplies over fears they were helping a militant group. The International Herald Tribune reports that the US suspended food supplies to
Somalia over fears they were helping a militant group. Meant is Shabab, groups of nationalists and islamists fighting against the pro Ethiopian regime in Mogadishu. US and Ethiopia lump them together as islamistic insurgency with strong ties to Al Qaiida. Parallel to the famine in Somalia runs a bigger famine in Ethiopia. Both are interconnected in many ways. The draught in both countries is systematically misused to achieve political objectives. In Somalia it is used to force the population to its knees so as to undercut the insurgency and consolidate the unpopular pro Ethiopian regime in Mogadishu. In Ethiopia the Tigray minority rulling clique uses famine to controll masses of people opposed to its brutal rule and to mislead world public opinion. The end to this game is not in sight. In the meantime the victims are innocent people.
Why do US and Ethiopia lump together the two main trends in Somalia? The aim is to discredit the nationalists in Somalia as terrorists allied to Al Qaiida. It is clear that Somali nationalists will never accept Ethiopian hegemony in the Horn of Africa for political and historical reasons.
Moreover, I have tried to show in my article ” Ethiopia at the crossroads “the connection between the Oromo qurestion and Somalia. No wonder then that the US is determind to establish in Somalia a regime subordinated to Ethiopia.
This policy has forced even very moderate secular nationalists and other democratic elements in Somalia to join hands with the islamist groups. It is to be remembered that after independence Somalia had an impressive democratic tradition till the military takeover in 1969. Somalia can revive that tradition sooner or later, which is unthinkable in Ethiopia, under Abyssinian domination. Double standards in policies of western democracies are hampering the growth of democracy in our region.
