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Somalia: Opportunity Knocks Once, But Not Twice

Kamal Hana - 2/1/2007

Somalia is a coastal country at the Horn of Africa in East Africa. It is the only one nation in the world that hasn' t had an effective government since 1991, when the dictator Siad Barre was overthrown. This has been a paradox in the 21th century. Sadly but fact. In the past few months the country has been an arena for fierce fightings between Islamic militias and warlords from the Alliance for theRestoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism. The results have been more than tragic: about 300 people have been killed, the capital has been destroyed.

The civil war has become almost normal to Somali people, full of fears for tomorrow' s day. Their hope has gone; it has been replaced by dark pessimism. They are dying with hunger and from bullets in a lawless country where the chaos and anarchy are complete. Without a functioning government, a lot of Mogadishu's buildings, schools and universities have been transformed into refugee camps. Life there has been a real nightmare because, at the same time, most of the Somalians have been suffering from starvation and different diseases.

Who has been responsible for that; how can be allowed to happen something like this!? It seems Somali people will not succeed to solve the present situation, unless a foreign power decides to take part. Actually, there was such an intervention from the U.S. in 1993, when 18 American soldiers were killed.

Some believe that America is funding the Somali warlords as part of its "war on terror", which from its side, neither deny nor confirm this statement. The U. S. has an anti-terror base just across the border in Djibouti. These new fights in Mogadishu are seen by Somalis as a war between Islamists and the U.S.

During a demonstration that took place on the 2nd of June, there could be noticed many slogans against Americans, who have been proclaimed as an enemy of Islam. Whether misunderstanding or deeply striking terror into people, this could mean only one thing: irreversible losses of innocent lives.

Truth should not be avoided. Also, it should be considered that Somalis need to take a sober view of things and try to help themselves. As long as they choose weapon as tools for negotiation, they will keep killing each other. Then the situation will be similar as in Afghanistan, while it was in the hands of Talibans.

A Somali proverb says, "The opportunity knocks on the door once but not twice." Let's allow the opportunity for peace knocks on our door...