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     | Saturday, December 16, 2000 - 07:35 am HOW SHAATIGUDUUD SQUANDERED HIS 15 MINUTES OF FAME Guddomiyaha Ururka RRA Dr. Xasan Maxamed Nuur (Shaatigaduud) By: Abdurahman Hosh Jibril abdihosh@hotmail.com " In the television age, everyone would have his/her 15 minutes of fame", so opined Andy Warhol, a 1960s avant-garde New York artist. Well, it seems that our own Shaatiguduud had certainly had his 15 minutes of fame lately, for courageously standing up for the rights of the Digil/Mirifle community whose land has become stomping grounds for the marauding soldiers of one militia group after another for the past 10 years. Because of his courage and ingenuity, Shatiguduud became the darling of the media(at least those who could still locate Somalia on the map), and gained the sympathy of the Somali liberals inside the country and those in the diaspora. Unfortunately, instead of capitalizing on his 15 minutes of fame and extracting concrete concessions from the wider somali community, shaatiguduud squandered his 15 minutes, and is now in the precarious position of standing outside the big tent in the company of lesser men with no moral authority. When the RRA made a pact with the Devil Himself (Ethiopia) inorder to liberate its community from Aidiid's grip, most Somalis held their collective nose, and quietly rooted for the RRA, believing that, in as much as it was an ugly spectacle to see Ethiopian soldiers conducting military operations on Somali soil, in this particular case the end justified the means. Having liberated their community and restored much needed pride to a peaceable people, Shaatiguduud and his fellow RRA officers built a very highly organized political organization that embarked on an agenda of peaceful rapprochement with the wider Somali community. Enter Arta, and you realize that in this venue, there was an ample opportunity for Shatiguduud to get political mileage out of his 15 minutes of fame, and in the process obtain maximum concessions for his community, by, now guilt tripping the other players, then bluffing, and at other times entirely threatening to walk out of the conference and thus raise the possible embarrassment of the powers that be. Anyone who paid enough attention to the proceedings of that conference could not help but notice that he was a cause celebre, the man of the hour. After he was selected as an M.P in the TNA, it was not lost to President elect Abdulqassim and et al that, indeed this man had an ace up his sleeve, and that if they were going to get this project off the ground, they needed to enlist his unqualified support. Not only was he a hero to his community, but he also represented one of the large constituent elements of the TNA with 44 M.Ps. to its name. No wonde! r, he was one of a few MPs that the President took to New York during his maiden speech at the UN in September, and one suspects that this gesture was more of a photo op to showcase to the Somali communtiy that this adminstration was broad based. It is after departing from New York that Shaatiguduud screwed up big time, and from then on he has been wasting his 15 minutes of fame one brief minute after another. Shaatiguduud is a lawyer by training and it is said that when he was in New York he bought $1500 worth of law text books. One suspects that he did not have time to read them, for if he had, today he would not have been in the company of warlords and hooligans like Morgan and Caato, but instead would be sitting at the big table where he could be effective in putting forth his vision for the New Somalia.. The lawyer's biggest undoing came about when he threatened to resign from the legislature to which he was duly sworn , unless certain conditions were met. And the conditions he attached to his membership in the TNA were not only ludicrous, but they were also contrary to the legal percepts contained in the Transitional Charter of the TNA of which he was a signatory. The most surreal of the conditions was that he and only he shall appoint the cabinet ministers of the Digil/Mirifle community. Now, if the charter, through a miracle of sorts, were silent about this matter, perhaps he could have been accomodated. But since not many miracles happen in our corner of the world these days, the Charter explicitly empowered the Prime Minister to appoint the ministers after consulting with the President. Futhermore, The charter empowered the Parliament to either approve or disapprove the Prime Minister's nominees after vetting them. His bluff having been called most royally,! Shaatiguddud lost focus on the tree and has been gazing at the forest ever since. What a loss and what a betrayal. What did Shaatiguduud squander and whom did he betray? Politically, sometimes it is better to stay inside the tent and piss in, instead of pissing on to the tent from outside.Let us see.Among all the factions, Shaatiguduud and the RRA alone have the most cogent argument to ask for the complete overhall of the body politic of the country, from inter alia, human rights, land reform/tenure/use, preservation of culture and language, and any demand they put forth(within the limits of reason) would be viewed as morally sound. Given the fact that the KMG is only a transitional administration, and given the fact that the next three yeras would see a complete rewrite of the Somali constitution, Shaatiguduud should have stayed in the tent and used the voice of his 43 MPs to hammer out what it is that his community wants out of the constitutional pie. By resigning from the TNA, he betrayed his constituency because he would have articulated their grievances like no other D/M politician. Shaatiguduud also betrayed his colleagues in Arta, who for the sake of reconciliation, broke away from the radical right within their clans. Abdulqassim not only broke away from the rejectionists from his own clan, but he continues to marginalize them. Ali Khalif Galaydh, Mohamed Abshir and Hassan Abshir broke away from the radical right within the Harti confederacy and also brought into the fold the traditional elders of their clan, therefore marginalizing the right. Buuba and Osman Jama Kalluun have also eaten into the support base of Egal and are continuously bringing the fear of God close to the hearts of the separatists. By quitting the game in midstream, the lawyer betrayed his colleagues in their hour of need. It should be noted that the D/M has long been waiting for a white knight in a shining armour, and they found that in the person of Shaatiguduud. However, what they most needed was a knight who could focus on the price, and not a Quixotic one bent on slaying wind mills. When you alienate your natural liberal allies, not only do you play in to the hands of your real enemies, but you also find yourself operating out of the margins. As a marginal outsider, the RRA leader now is fixated on two propositions. His first proposal is to have a negotiation with the government in his capacity as the head of an autonomous D/M state. Like the other self-declared autonomous states of Puntland and Somaliland, Shaatiguduud has lately caught the "Federalist" bug. Again, what he forgets is that neither bdulqassim, Ali Khalif, nor the TNA has any mandate to negotiate with respect to the form, shape or nature of any future Somali state. It is a constitutional matter, and a! s such, it will be deliberated by Parliament in the next three years, but can only be ratified in a referendum, by the most important stake-holders, individual Somalis. Is he not, therefore hauling the cart before the horse? His next fixation comes in the form of a question: Why is Abdulqassim not instructing his clansmen to vacate the farmlands of the D/M which they are ocupying illegally. There are two fallacies in this approach. One, it is unfair to expect Abdulqassim to expell the said settlers at the snap of his fingers, any more than you can expect Arafat to stop the Intifada by simply signing a decree. Secondly, these settlers and all the radical right in every clan see their biggest threat in the persons of Abulqassim and his colleagues mentioned above, and will not engage with them in dialogue, at least for now. Indeed, it is worth asking why General Talan, that Ghandian of a man and a colleaque of Abulqassim and et al was killed, and who killed hi! m? Finally, the RRA leader forgets that old maxim about how in politics there are no permanent friends, only permanent intersets. If in the past, Ethiopia was bank rolling his campaigns, there will come, as sure it would, a time when the interests of Ethiopia will collide with the interests of the RRA. Since such a scenario is possble to present itself in the future, isn't it wise that he not his burn bridges to his former colleagues, and perhaps even kiss and make up with them, for the interests of his people would be better served if the lawyer remained inside the tent. If Shaatiguddud remains to be an important player in the D/M politics in the future, and I believe he would, I would hope that the D/M intellectuals would shelf their Herbert Marcus manuals for now and grill the good lawyer on these issues
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| | Saturday, December 16, 2000 - 09:48 am Anigana tan aan kugu darsaday: Marcuse, Herbert (1898-1979), German-American philosopher, known as a leading theoretician of the radical left and New Left and as an incisive critic of the established order. Born in Berlin, and educated at the universities of Berlin and Freiburg, he was associated with the Institute of Social Research, Frankfurt, until 1933, when the National Socialist (Nazi) party came into power; the school was closed shortly after. Marcuse emigrated to the United States, joining the Institute of Social Research, Columbia University, in 1934. During the 1940s he was employed by various intelligence agencies of the federal government. After 1950 he taught successively at Columbia, Harvard, and Brandeis universities and at the University of California, San Diego. Marcuse's influence with student leaders was evident during the university rebellions in Europe and the United States in the late 1960s. In his writings, Marcuse held that some social ills can be overcome only if the democratic process is discarded. He maintained that the most effective challenge to the established order will come from students and minority groups rather than from workers, who, he claimed, are committed to the status quo. His social philosophy is set forth in Eros and Civilization (1955) and One-Dimensional Man (1964).
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| | Monday, December 18, 2000 - 10:35 am In response to the article: "How Shaatigaduud Squandered his 15 minutes of Fame" by Mohamed Haji Adow BAYDHABO Dec 15, 2000 (BP)- In response to the article: "How Shaatigaduud Squandered his 15 minutes of Fame" This is to respond to an article entitled "How Shaatigaduud Squandered his 15 minutes of Fame" posted on Hiiraan Website dated December 15, 2000, in which the author expresses concern about recent steps taken by Hassan Mohamed Nuur "Shaatiguduud" leader of Rahanwein Resistance army (RRA) related to the recently concluded Arta Peace Conference. Though, I doubt any damage has been done to his reputation as one of the outstanding politicians of this generation, a concern for truth and fairness prompts me to respond to the erroneous charges that have been raised against "Shatigaduud". In the first half of his article, the author argues that "shaatiguduud" squandered his 15 minutes, and opted to the company of lesser men with no moral authority. On this point, it appears he simply has not done his homework. The author's statement that "shaatiguduud squandered his 15 minutes, and is now in the precarious position of standing outside the big tent in the company of lesser men with no moral authority" is, at best, a gross exaggeration. "Shaatigudud" attended Arta Peace Conference only after Digil and Mirifle delegation to the conference complained of the unwarranted intrusion into their political affairs. His mission has never been to seek cheap publicity or foster personal gain at the expense of his own people. Contrary to the author's assertion "Shatiguduud" shares a camp with men, such as Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal of Somaliland and Col. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed of Puntland, both leaders of entities with rational and legitimate interest to represent and it is highly absurd to equate "Shatigudud" with warlords, with no power base, such Aideed, Atto and Morgan, who want to maintain the status quo, and who are the embodiment of evil selfish interest and thrived for so long on shameful thuggery. The author then claims that the RRA made a pact with Ethiopia. Before refuting this claim, I am compelled to draw the author's attention to his misuse of the term Pact, which seems misplaced in this context, because pact is a broad term that refers to an international agreement, such as the Nazi-Soviet pact in 1939. To turn to the gist of the argument, Ethiopia's support for RRA was born out of self interest for its geo-political interest and RRA out of necessity grabbed the rope at its moment of drowning, when the Oromo Rebel Forces trained by Eritrea were shipped to Somalia and fought alongside alien invaders of RRA's ancestral land. In here it is worth pointing out that, RRA would have liberated its territories without Ethiopia's help. In fact Hudur, the regional capital of Bakool was liberated in September 1998 without any foreign backing. In the second part of his article, the author argues that "Shatiguduud" betrayed his "colleagues" and uses highly misplaced terms such as "radical right" and "natural liberal allies" as he was writing for Western readers, which in Somali context is laughable to say the least by the simple fact that there is no such thing as "radical right" and "natural liberal allies" in Somalia. (Somali politics has not yet matured into such ideological identification). One does not need much political ingenuity to work out where political identification in Somalia is to be found. "Shatiguduud" betrayed none of the "colleagues" he listed, because none of them was a colleague of his, as they were all freelancers, with no mandate and political clout, unlike "Shatiguduud" who represented the whole population of one of the most important and legitimate entities in Southern Somalia and Somalia in general and has never shared a uniformity of interest with those he refers to as "his colleagues". The author then asserts that "Shatiguduud" has lately caught the "federalist bug". This is an insult into not only "Shaatiguduud's" intelligence but to all Digil and Mirifle's intelligence. How can one refer to a concept pioneered and hard lobbied for by Digil and Mirifle as early as 1959, even before the birth of Somali state as a new phenomenon or as he put it "lately bug"?. It appears here again the author simply has not done his history lesson. In the final part of his article the author borrows an old maxim that is totally irrelevant and is a purely hypothetical. May I remind the author that RRA is a not a surrogate for Ethiopia or any other foreign country. RRA is the embodiment of the struggle of a people longing for recognition of their rightful place in Somali politics. Like so many political movements in human history its name may change and replaced with another political organisation but the struggle it started will be everlasting. Hassan Mohamed Nuur "Shaatiguduud" will forever be remembered as the man who led this struggle in its infancy. by. Mohamed Haji Adow London, England
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| | Monday, December 18, 2000 - 12:34 pm hey guys I realy don't undarestad what you talking about somalia is one cuntary and one pepole so just preyer of god tobe togather
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| | Monday, December 18, 2000 - 07:41 pm I believe that Mr Adow said all that I wanted to say and the author of this letter may in the future do his homework before publicizing some unfounded story about sh/guduud or anybody else I also want to add the fallier of the CARTA peace process will do no harm to sh/guduud political aspiration nor his public states he was chosen to lead his people and unless Digil/Mirif decides to change their guard he will be the sole leader wabilaahi tawfiiq
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| | Tuesday, December 19, 2000 - 06:55 am sayid cumar, what a hypocrite you are invoking 'wabilaah towfiiqihhi" when it comes to your tribe and otherwise elsewhere in the forum doing dirty work by trying to create problems. Especially when you claimed to be Ciise maxmuud. You are a cheap wimp. Lax.
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