US foreign policy towards Somalia has
been ambivalent since the latter’s independence in
1960.Eager to establish direct relations with the nation
that inspired this newly born one that many consider
Africa’s first Western style democracy, President Aden
Abdulle Osman dispatched a delegation led by his Prime
Minister Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke to the United States for
a meeting with President John F. Kennedy and his
administration.
Unfortunately, the Somali delegation
did not achieve its intended objective. The US had already
established a warm relationship that it was not willing to
sacrifice with Ethiopia- Somalia’s neighbor and a rival
nation. Anecdotally, the advice given by the Kennedy
Administration was that Somalia better deal with her
former colonial masters such as Italy and Great Britain.
Disappointed but determined, the
Somali delegation flew straight from Washington, DC to
Moscow, establishing a Military and Diplomatic
relationship with the Soviet Union. A relationship that
would subsequently ensure the Soviets the strategic
military base they needed in the port of Berberra.
Then unexpectedly, in 1977 and in the
midst of the war with Ethiopia over the Somali ethnic
region of Ogadenia, the Soviets switched sides
establishing a Military and Diplomatic relationship with
Ethiopia. Somalia reciprocated by severing all diplomatic
ties with the Soviet Union and has once again in
desperation turned to United States of America.
President Jimmy Carter's
Administration developed relationship with Somalia in the
‘80s and the signed treaty providing the US the military
base in the port of Berberra in the northwestern region of
Somalia.
As a country located in a
strategically important geographical area, Somalia became
a needed counterpart to counter the Soviet military
buildup in Ethiopia. These two superpowers, contributed
military buildup in both of these African countries,
regardless of the human rights abuses of the military
regimes in both countries. This however, has helped United
States win the cold war against the Soviet Union.
Currently, there is the perception
that Somalia can once again play an essential and
strategic role in helping the US counter China, the
economic giant of Asian that has become the super power
that is currently using soft power instead of military
power to win the hearts and the minds of the people. Such
soft power is being implemented throughout African
countries. Unfortunately, the US is preoccupied with the
war on terror and the two current wars of Iraq and
Afghanistan.
The Somali Diaspora, and in
particular the Somali-Americans, are in a position to
support the US to establish a meaningful relationship with
Somalia. A diplomatic relationship that can help stabilize
Somalia, ending its two decade of misery and a one that
can at the same time repair America’s image in the region
and the Islamic world. The US lost Somalia to Russia in
1960s and there is a high probability that it will lose
Somalia this time as well to extremists.
Today more than ever before, the
Somali Americans are pushing for the US to cooperate with
Somalia, and for the US to build a good relationship
between these two countries that they love. The Diaspora
is willing to work with the Obama Administration to bring
stability and lasting peace to Somalia. Thus, the US
administration must abandon the habit of consulting
everybody and anybody including those that want to
balkanize Somalia into welfare mini clan-based states and
instead engage the government that represents the Somali
nation state.
The Bush Administration’s failed
policy that encouraged the invasion of Ethiopia and the
crushing of the Islamic Courts Union—and entity that
brought six months of semblance of peace—is not a policy
that can be duplicated or sustained! That invasion has
killed approximately 23,000 civilians of mostly women and
children, and displaced over a million civilians, thus
paving the way to the worst anti-Americanism in the
region. The failed US policy in the 1990s and the tacit
support of the Ethiopian invasion in 2006 created more
extremists than ever seen in Somalia before. Therefore,
it is the responsibility of not only of the Somalis but
that of the US government to help Somalia find peace and
end the engagement of all and everyone who has a gun and
claims to be dominant in a specific region. The Obama
Administration should do better for Africa, and in
particular for Somalia, than his predecessor who used war
on terror policy towards Somalia eliminate the grass-roots
found initiative that could have been used as a positive
model to build on.
The President’s Cairo Speech and the
most recent Jakarta speech provided an opportunity to
extend an olive branch to the Muslim World, including
Somalia. A starting point will be revisiting the recently
unveiled US Dual-Track policy.
While this new approach rewards
Somalia’s peaceful regions with economic incentive, over
all, this Dual-Tract approach is the wrong medicine for
Somalia as it would increase negative clan competition;
unless, of course, this incentive perpetually remains
available. However, Asst. Secretary of State Mr. Johnnie
Carson said “...we decided what to do... and we'll reserve
the right to change this policy”. The hope is that the US
will reverse its seemingly haphazard policy and engage
Somalia with a policy that is good for both nations. This
policy resembles Ethiopia’s Dual-Track policy toward
Somalia that armed and financed all that wanted to disrupt
peace and carved the nation, and further divide and
polarize the people and the country.
It is high time for the US to change
its course and help bring a lasting peace to Somalia. And
lastly, President Obama should appoint a high caliper
special envoy to Somalia. And Somali Americans will on
their part work diligently to end the carnage in Somalia.
However, they need to see commitment and good faith from
the Obama Administration.
……......................................................................................................
Mohamed Ali is the Chairman of
Somali American Peace Council (SAPC).
