U.S. must address Somalia crisis

www.nazrett.com Home of Ethiopian News and Blog Breaking News

By Farah Abdi, Ridwa Abdi,


and Jeremy Prestholdt

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent meeting with Somali President Sharif Ahmed was a reminder of his country's importance to American foreign policy and a step in the right direction. Yet it will take much more to address Somalia's desperate situation. A surge in piracy, a humanitarian crisis, and an increasing number of foreign fighters in the country all demand sustained attention.

Mention of Somalia conjures images from the film Black Hawk Down or media coverage of pirate attacks. These points of reference, as disturbing as they may be, limit our understanding of Somalia. They obscure the fact that since the country's civil war began in 1991, average Somalis - not outsiders - have paid the highest price. Intolerable conditions created by nearly two decades of conflict and ill-advised international interventions have pushed civilians to take ever more extreme measures, from piracy to militancy to perilous ocean crossings, to escape the war.
In 1991, the family to which two of us belong fled the fighting in Somalia on a boat filled well beyond capacity. We were fortunate enough to find refuge in Kenya. Most have not been so lucky.

Those still trapped in Somalia's shifting war zones have suffered unthinkable depredations and deepening despair. Contrary to prevailing American public opinion, these conditions are not entirely of Somalia's making. International intervention has played a significant role.

Perhaps the most notable such event was the 2006 Ethiopian invasion. That year, the Islamic Courts Union took power from a largely ineffectual Transitional Federal Government, bringing fleeting stability to the country. Soon thereafter, Ethiopia, acting on suspicions that the Islamic Courts Union had links to al-Qaeda, and with the tacit approval of the United States, invaded Somalia and removed the group from power.

Instead of securing a greater peace, the Ethiopian invasion pitched the country into chaos. It added fuel to the flames of a Somali nationalism long fed by conflict with Ethiopia over claims to the Ogaden border region. American air strikes and the later presence of African Union forces in Somalia further stoked nationalist sentiments and brought more recruits to the Islamic Courts' hard-line fringe, al-Shabaab.

In the past year, al-Shabaab has enjoyed considerable military success and faced international condemnation for its links to al-Qaeda and institution of strict Islamic law. This combination of military success and Western condemnation has led the group to rebuke the international community by denying the legitimacy of the recently elected president, Ahmed. It has also given al-Shabaab incentive to develop a closer alliance with al-Qaeda.

The fighting in Somalia over the last year has contributed to a situation that Oxfam's humanitarian coordinator in Somalia, Hassan Noor, recently summed up as "the worst kind of humanitarian situation." Hundreds of thousands have fled the fighting, raising the estimated number of internally displaced people to 1.3 million. Many have no reliable source of water or food, and most have no way to earn a living.

This worsening humanitarian situation has only compounded Somalia's other crises, and it is directly related to the rise in pirate attacks. Facing desperate conditions in displacement camps and few opportunities beyond joining a military faction, young men have increasingly sought their fortunes in piracy. The surge in piracy illustrates the desperation of Somalis, but it also demonstrates how the conditions of the war and a weak central government reverberate far beyond the country's borders.

It seems we can no longer ignore the situation in Somalia. Yet the responses often suggested - policing the country's waters, undertaking short-term military interventions, or supplying the government with weapons - will not solve Somalia's problems.

Piracy, jihadist influence, and the humanitarian catastrophe all stem from one central issue: the war. The conflict is too complex for a quick solution. But without a lasting peace and a national government acceptable to the majority, Somalia's situation will only worsen.

America and the international community must commit to lasting political engagement with Somalia, and we must be determined to bring all parties in the conflict to the negotiating table. That kind of intervention drew neighboring Kenya back from the brink. Like Kenya, Somalia needs to know the world is concerned about its plight.

What might give us the determination to sustain this kind of engagement? The dividends of peace would be greater than ever. The war in Somalia once may have seemed irrelevant to the rest of the world. But now peace in Somalia promises not only to end mass starvation and bring stability to the Horn of Africa, but also to curb piracy and limit the global influence of al-Qaeda.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Farah Abdi and Ridwa Abdi are former Somali refugees who recently graduated from the University of California, San Diego, and are working on a research project on the health needs of refugee women in San Diego County. Jeremy Prestholdt is an Africa specialist and associate professor of history at UCSD. They can be contacted at fabdi@ucsd.edu, rabdi@ucsd.edu, and jprestholdt@ucsd