Only Somalis can solve Somali problems
- By Sumantra Maitra
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E-mail China.org.cn, April 8, 2015
Is it an isolated socio-economic problem or a problem connected with Boko Haram, ISIS and other jihadist groups?
Both, actually. The absence of an effective central government in Somalia since 1991 has generated conditions of civil war and a yearning for some form of stability, particularly among Somalia's business community. But al-Shabab is not just a terror group with a local agenda. It is also a transnational outfit. Al-Shabab's principal objective is to establish a Somali Caliphate of the Wahhabi Islamic sect in Somali-inhabited regions of the Horn of Africa. Moreover, since 2011, al-Shabab's affiliation with al-Qaida has deepened, and President Obama has periodically authorized strikes against senior al-Shabab leaders that United States intelligence officials claim are planning attacks on U.S. soil. Adan Garaar, the mastermind of al-Shabab's deadly raid on Nairobi's Westgate Mall in 2013, was reportedly killed by a U.S. drone strike. It is also possible that al-Shabab is trying to maintain its profile as other terror groups like Boko Haram, ISIS and al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula compete for power and influence.
We have seen a constant effort by post-modernist academics and activists to underline the jihadism of such groups as a causal effect of Western interventions. To what extent is that true?
Islamist jihadist groups like al-Shabab, ISIS and al-Qaida are relatively small extremist groups whose ideas are utterly repugnant to the moderate majority within the Muslim world. It is important that Muslim governments unequivocally condemn the terrorist activities of such groups. But the Western world is not a mere bystander and could do more to politically marginalize Islamist terrorist organizations. The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a strategic disaster and has certainly fuelled the anti-Americanism that helps the likes of al-Shabab recruit new fighters. Furthermore, the Obama administration and its Western allies must as a matter of urgency press for the establishment of a Palestinian state in order to reduce the sense of injustice and grievance within the Middle East and the Horn of Africa region.
What should the West, China or other global powers and the international community do in this situation?
A push for Somali solutions to Somali problems is long overdue. Foreign security forces, whether in the form of AMISOM forces or Western covert operations, can push al-Shabab out of cities and towns and harass its leadership, but they cannot completely defeat the group, especially now that it has morphed into a terrorist network. Only Somalis can do that.
Whether Somalis are ready to take that step remains to be seen. But if Somalis want AMISOM to leave sooner rather than later - and it should be remembered that some AMISOM troop contributors like Ethiopia have regional aspirations that do not include strong government in Mogadishu - the Somali people are going to have to take much more ownership of the al-Shabab problem.
The writer is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:
http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SumantraMaitra.htm
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