I think I more than hinted this was an emotional topic and didn't expect flowers and roses, but my premise still stands. Get over fighting. Every single person that commented here enjoys life in peace and prosperity from Sweden like Ceous to Patriot in UK to James in beautiful Vancouver, Canada, etc. I have no sympathy for fighting and I don't support neanderthals who do when their lives and livelihoods are not on the line.
Look at Archerr, the first to say no fighting in Gedo even though he hates Al Shabaab and chastises TFG troops there for it but he wants a 20 year old rebel struggle that added naught to the development or security of the Ogaden Region? I don't know about you but that is hypocrisy to me and I don't know why you picked on Perfect who is one of the most religious and pro-Somali people you can find for correct interpretation of his experience on this forum and attributed to my position on this topic simple because we are related.
The rest of you refugees around the globe, I suppose you wish all Somalis follow you in your exile be they from anywhere. In my opinion, what's tried has failed. Time to think practical because real lives and livelihoods are at stake rather than the conditions of your emotional prejudice when you have the luxury to go to McDonalds and get a big mac with super size shake.
My 2 cents.
Last edited by Voltage on Wed May 11, 2011 5:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I think I more than hinted this was an emotional topic and didn't expect flowers and roses, but my premise still stands. Get over fighting. Every single person that commented here enjoys life in peace and prosperity from Sweden like Ceous to Patriot in UK to James in beautiful Vancouver, Canada, etc. I have no sympathy for fighting and I don't support neanderthals who do when their lives and livelihoods are on the line.
Look at Archerr, the first to say no fighting in Gedo even though he hates Al Shabaab and chastises TFG troops there for it but he wants a 20 year old rebel struggle that added naught to the development or security of the Ogaden Region? I don't know about you but that is hypocrisy to me and I don't know why you picked on Perfect who is one of the most religious and pro-Somali people you can find for correct interpretation of his experience on this forum and attributed to my position on this topic simple because we are related.
The rest of you refugees around the globe, I suppose you wish all Somalis follow you in your exile be they from anywhere. In my opinion, what's tried has failed. Time to think practical because real lives and livelihoods are at stake rather than the conditions of your emotional prejudice when you have the luxury to go to McDonalds and get a big mac with super size shake.
My 2 cents.
Yep we should go back to ethiopia and bow down to Meles
over my dead body and stay out of our affairs
No surprise from a native of Somalia booty-kissing ethiopia
Username1 wrote:Voltage using your logic; Melez is correct in fighting and destroying the ONLF, just as MSB was against the SNM...
If you support on you most support the other or if you denounce one you most the other, unless your practicing the art of tribalism..
As for my position for the ONLF I won't lose if they win or lose, as it means one less Ethiopian or one less Scarletmoon.
Ogaden is 100% considered part of Ethiopia just as the Basque is of Spain, Somaliland of Somalia, the Tamils part of Sri Lanka, Mindanao part of Phillipines...under international law of course Meles is 100% correct in fighting ONLF---he is protecting the territorial integrity of his country. But I am a Somali and have for a long time supported the liberation of Western Somalia, I don't anymore to be honest. Somalis have failed in Somalia and Somalis are incapable of ruling themselves or having an independent state in Ogaden is not only unfeasible but a detriment to the people who live there. Work within the already established system and achieve aims through peace and intelligence, not hit and run attacks you can't hold that see countless Ogadeni women raped and villages burned.
Last edited by Voltage on Wed May 11, 2011 5:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Scarletmoon1 wrote:
Yep we should go back to ethiopia and bow down to Meles
over my dead body and stay out of our affairs
No surprise from a native of Somalia booty-kissing ethiopia
If it makes you feel smarter, both my parents were born in Ethiopia proper. Dad in Khelaafo and mom in Galaadi in Wardheer district. Based on the Ethiopian consitution, I can claim Ethiopian citizenship and be granted it on the spot. Maturation comes with critical thinking something which alludes idiotic and wholly backward Somalis.
As the UN famine warning center issues urgent reports that millions of Ethiopians are once again starving in the Somali populated Ogaden the International Committee of the Red Cross publishes a statement that the Ethiopian government has denied the Red Cross an operating permit to carry out relief work in the region. Blocking the Red Cross from relief work somewhere is almost unheard of yet when it comes to Ethiopia, headed by the G-20 “statesman” Meles Zenawi, this is business as usual.
For the past four years all aid agencies, including the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders and UN relief agencies have been blocked by the Ethiopian military from feeding starving people in Ogadenia. Millions of starving people, maybe as many as 6 million, though no can can say for sure because...no one is allowed into the region.
Why is this? Why is there no outcry against this enormous crime against humanity, the blocking of food aid to millions of starving people?
The answer lies at the doorstep of those “humanitarian interventionists”, the western countries and their puppets in the U.N. who pump billions of dollars a year into propping up the Meles Zenawi regime in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has for several years now surpassed Egypt as the largest recipient of cash from the west in the entire continent of Africa. While the exact amount is hidden deep inside the opaque reports gathering dust in the offices of the international financial cartels, the IMF reported that in 2010 Ethiopia’s import bill was $8.7 billion while it exported only $1.7 billion. $7 billion a year, in direct cash grants, loans that are inevitably forgiven (the bulk of so called African debt relief) or various methods involving financial chicanery, the bill has to be paid or the west knows all to well how quickly their East African henchman Meles Zenawi’s followers will abandon him. If Meles Zenawi goes, who will be the western enforcer in East Africa, the one who does the dirty work so the west can show the world how clean its hands really are?
Drought, famine and an increasingly brutal counterinsurgency carried out by the Ethiopian military, the largest in Africa, the people of the Ogaden are forgotten by the world, thanks in no small part to the western media as well as the “human rights” corporations. In one moment of desperation I sent an e-mail about this to a reporter for the L.A. Times based in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa , only to receive a reply that they could not cover this matter due to “access and logistic difficulties”. At least they cant say they didn't know.
Yet in all this darkness there is light, for the people of Ogadenia have been increasingly effective in armed self defense, and have begun to go on the offensive against the Ethiopian military and their local paramilitary death squads. Still, it remains far beyond the means of the several thousand fighters in the Ogaden National Liberation Front to feed millions of their people, all the while fighting some very desperate battles against their western armed and funded enemies in the Ethiopian military.
The Horn of Africa has been one of, if not the most, war and starvation plagued regions in the world, and these ongoing calamities can all be traced back to the western overlords footing the bill.
The west, especially the Obama White House may pretend ignorance of this crime, but the fact remains that a senior Obama advisor, Gayle Smith, in her pre-Obama, opposition to George Bush day job at the so called Enough Project wrote about this back in 2007 and 2008.
So the powers that be know, all to well, that they are directly responsible for the forced starvation of millions, but don't expect any action from them. The mandate of the leaders of the western “democracies” is not to save lives, far from it, it is to protect their empire. So what does it matter if their capos in East Africa cause hundreds of thousands, maybe a million people to die of starvation?
International Law is really the Law of the Jungle, where only the strong survive, and the long suffering people of the Ethiopian Ogaden are the latest victims. The people of the the Ogaden have little choice but to fight for their lives, at least until the gangster, genocidal regime of Meles Zenawi is sent packing, with Meles fleeing to his palace in London and his ill gotten billions. Until then don't expect anything better than crocodile tears from the “humanitarian interventionists” in the west.
Scarletmoon1 wrote:
Yep we should go back to ethiopia and bow down to Meles
over my dead body and stay out of our affairs
No surprise from a native of Somalia booty-kissing ethiopia
If it makes you feel smarter, both my parents were born in Ethiopia proper. Dad in Khelaafo and mom in Galaadi in Wardheer district. Based on the Ethiopian consitution, I can claim Ethiopian citizenship and be granted it on the spot. Maturation comes with critical thinking something which alludes idiotic and wholly backward Somalis.
Ethiopian Constitution
Your getting funny now....
Identity crisis much
Voltage wrote:
Username1 wrote:Voltage using your logic; Melez is correct in fighting and destroying the ONLF, just as MSB was against the SNM...
If you support on you most support the other or if you denounce one you most the other, unless your practicing the art of tribalism..
As for my position for the ONLF I won't lose if they win or lose, as it means one less Ethiopian or one less Scarletmoon.
Ogaden is 100% considered part of Ethiopia just as the Basque is of Spain, Somaliland of Somalia, the Tamils part of Sri Lanka, Mindanao part of Phillipines...under international law of course Meles is 100% correct in fighting ONLF---he is protecting the territorial integrity of his country. But I am a Somali and have for a long time support the liberation of Western Somalia, I don't anymore to be honest. Somalis have failed in Somalis and Somalis are incapable of ruling themselves or having an independent state in Ogaden is not only unfeasible but a detriment to the people who live there. Work within the already established system and achieve aims through peace and intelligence, not hit and run attacks you can't hold that see countless Ogadeni women raped and villages burned.
Ogaden was given to the British without the consent or opinion of the people of the region. The region is only known for it's fight against Ethiopia for self-determination.The point is here We are Somali NOT Ethiopian
I suggest you actually go there instead of reading propaganda shit you see online.
it is not hypocrisy bro. i still hate war but u need to understand the ogaden situation. what we have in the ogaden is not people fighting because they feel that they have been politically marginalized. you cannot compare the stupid - mostly habashi sponsored - wars in gedo and other parts of somalia to what is happening in the ogaden. they are fighting occupation. you may as well tell the palestinians to stop fighting and join the zionist state of israel that was imposed on them.
Meles Zenawi is hated by his own people and should have been removed in 2005
Meles Zenawi and Azeb Mesfin are crinimals and should be transported to the hauge years ago.
There is NO Somali Region just one-party military junta TPLF. Ethiopians disrespects Somalis people as a whole and don't respect us. Mind you Ethiopian is considered as a Tigray , Amhara and the stooges. Your comments are completely uncalled for and educate yourself before mounthing off on the net.
Don't call us stupid Somali's. Some of us are born here and very well aware of things going on in Ogaden. We are the few somali parts left that is that patriotic about being one country...
Ethiopia is shit loool without Oromiyya and Ogaden Just wasteland
That's what i use to think, i always thought you can reason with them, but i discovered amxaaro wax kuuma ogola. if they were reasonable people they wouldn't attack innocent villages that have nothing to do with ONLF
ONLF gave peace a chance more than once when it was the gov of the region.Waxaa loogu jawabay dagaal iyo xasuuq.
After the fall of Mengistu Hailemariam, the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)—a new name adopted by the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) to camouflage its narrow ethnic base and rule in Ethiopia—succeeded in capturing Addis Ababa with the help of Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF). Although most of the nations under Ethiopian colonial rule contributed to the weakening and the downfall of the derg politico-military machine, TPLF captured the seat of power and succeeded in gaining international recognition.
At first, the new Ethiopian rulers, feeling weak and aware of the international climate and the demise of totalitarian regimes, forwarded a reasonable and plausible programme for addressing the burning issue of Ethiopian colonialism and its solution through recognising and granting the right of nations to self-determination through peaceful process.
EPRDF agreed to the charter programme, which recognised the right of nations to self-determination up to secession and stated that a transitional period of two years has to relapse before the nations could exercise that right. Thus, EPRDF recognised the colonial nature of Ethiopia in principle.
Considering the burden of the long struggle of the Ogaden Somali people and cognisant of the value of resolving the long standing conflict between Ethiopia and the Ogaden people through peaceful means, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) decided to give peace a chance and avert a costly and unnecessary war.
But it became obvious soon to Ogaden people that EPRDF was only buying time and was laying the ground for keeping the colonial legacy it inherited and was scheming to attain the submission of the Ogaden Somalis to its colonial rule through demagogy and token democracy. In doing so, the EPRDF grossly miscalculated the gravity and depth of the Ogaden vs. Ethiopian problem.
The EPRDF, blinded by its sudden and unexpected victory and the temporary absence of challenge and armed opposition from the ONLF, grossly miscalculated the severity and gravity of the conflict between the Ogaden people and Ethiopia and the unbending desire of the Ogaden Somalis to regain their sovereignty and independence. Again the EPRDF, forgetful of the bitter experience of its people under the previous rulers and despite its rhetoric of being committed to democracy and the rule of law and respecting the right of nations, began the construction of its politico-military structures to maintain the colonial empire of its predecessors.
Hence, all people concerned in ending the long-standing conflict lost an excellent opportunity and EPRDF planted the seeds of the next cycle of bloodshed and violence in the region. It started by trying to divide the Ogaden Somali people and undermine the leading role of the liberation movement by creating pseudo-organisations based on clan lines. At the same time, it spread its intelligence network and military garrisons all over the Ogaden. In early 1992, the EPRDF government masterminded the killing of the leadership of the ONLF. Then EPRDF attacked the headquarters of ONLF in an effort to wipe it out but withdrew after sustaining high casualties and postponed its plans.
In spite of all the intrigues and harassment of EPRDF, ONLF and the Ogaden Somalis persisted in avoiding confrontation and continued rebuilding their political and administrative institutions. In September 1992, the Ogaden people went to the polls to cast their votes in a free and fair election, for the first time in their long history, to elect their district councils and representatives for the regional parliament. EPRDF strongly campaigned for its surrogate parties and members, but in a landslide victory, the ONLF won about 84% of the seats in the newly elected regional parliament.
In mid-1993, the regional government complained to the government in Addis Ababa about its flagrant interference in the day-to-day affairs of the Ogaden region, an act that contradicted the commitment to regional autonomy and devolution of power to the regions. EPRDF retaliated by freezing the regional budget, diverting international aid, discouraging international non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) from working in the Ogaden, as well as obstructing all initiatives and projects deemed necessary for the development of the region. In late 1993, the Ethiopian security forces arrested the president, vice-president and secretary of the Regional Assembly, and transferred them to a prison in Addis Ababa. They were released after ten months without trail.
Finally, when EPRDF established itself as the government of Ethiopia in the eyes of the international community, and its military and economic resources was enhanced, it felt confident enough to mount a military campaign against the Ogaden Somalis at the end of the transitional period. Moreover, in order to get the raison d’être for its campaign of terror and subjugation of the Ogaden people, EPRDF dictated to Ogaden Somalis an unacceptable choice. It told them to endorse a compulsory constitution that would legalise the colonisation of the Ogaden people by Ethiopia and the participation in an election where their role would be to endorse EPRDF nominated candidates. The EPRDF strategy was to deceive the Ogaden Somalis into sanctioning its colonial rule while at the same time eliminating themselves from the political structures it intended to maintain its hegemony over the nations and avert any future threat. In addition, if the Ogaden Somalis oppose what it proposed, the aim was to acquire the pretext for declaring war on the Ogaden people and extricate itself from honouring the pledges it entered in its moment of weakness and maintain the Ethiopian colonial legacy.
After deliberating on the moves and intentions of EPRDF and understanding the choices put forth by EPRDF, the Ogaden people decided that it was unacceptable to succumb to the designs of EPRDF and forgo their quest for self-determination for which so much blood was shed and so many have suffered. The Ogaden Somali people were made to choose choice either relinquishing what they had fought for so long or to fight.
On 28 January 1994, at a press conference in Addis Ababa, ONLF called for referendum on Ogadeni self-determination. On 22 February 1994, a cold-blood massacre took place in the town of Wardheer, where more than 81 unarmed civilians were killed by TPLF militias, who tried to kill or capture alive the chairman of the ONLF, Mr. Ibrahim Abdalla Mohamed, who was addressing a peaceful rally in the centre of the town.
In February 1994, the regional assembly passed a unanimous resolution, in accordance with the Transitional Charter. It demanded a referendum on self-determination and independence for the Ogaden people under the auspices of international and regional bodies such as the United Nations, the Organisation of African Unity, the European Union, and other independent non-governmental organisations.
The EPRDF government reacted swiftly overthrowing and virtually disbanding all democratically elected institutions in the Ogaden, including the regional parliament. Like their predecessors, the president of the parliament, vice-president and several members of the parliament, were arrested and transferred to prisons in Addis Ababa. Mass arrests and indiscriminate killings took place.
On 17 April 1994, the Ethiopian government launched a large-scale military offensive against ONLF positions and detained many suspected supporters of ONLF. On 28 April 1994, at a press conference in Addis Ababa, the then TPLF defence minister Siye Abraha claimed that all resistance movements in the Ogaden had been destroyed and stamped out.
In a petition addressed to the president of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE), Ogaden elders asked the TGE to stop the military offensive against the people and seek a peaceful dialogue to resolve the conflict, instead of opting for a military solution which complicated an already explosive situation.
I understand both views. On one hand this continuing war has caused serious suffering to the local population. On the other hand there is no question Ethiopians are not easy to deal with.
