Siyaad Barre Examined

[Jugjugwacwac]

The other thread about Siyaad was deleted before I could reply. But here's my take on the man.

Siyaad Barre was an enigmatic figure, difficult to put in a box. He was a brave man who had an aire of urbane sophistication coupled with the nomadic pride of his roots. He maintained the dignity of Somalis on the world stage and was either loved or hated, but always respected. He was ambitious and daring, and had large goals for his people and country, exemplified by his commission of writing the Somali script and the subsequent country-wide literacy campaign. He was a fierce nationalist and irredentist who envisioned and fought for a united Somali peninsula, though in hindsight the invasion of Ethiopia was premature and led to the first cracks in Somalia's nationhood. Though all of this he was, it cannot be ignored that he was a secular socialist and would have spelled religious and economic disaster for Somalia in the long run. His rabid hatred for Islam led him to execute 10 wadaads in the mid-70's who opposed his western based family laws. Also, he proved to be ruthless in his handling of the SNM rebellion in the north, by bombing cities in Somaliland leading to scores of civilian deaths.The ubiquitous three letter clan based rebel groups forced Siyaad to ally himself with his clansmen in order maintain power, so he cannot be faulted with unleashing clannish anymore than the SNM, USC, SSDF and SPM, but he can be faulted for being merciless. In the end he was a potent mix of good and evil, and it’s in this balanced light that we should evaluate this man’s life.

[LobsterUnit]

Marehan, dhulbahante, ogs-worship siyad bare
Isaaq-siad bare is their hitler.
Majerteens-strongly detest him
Hawiyes-dislike him but not as much as isaaqs.
That will never change. Why bother with the same old debate.just look below.

[Jugjugwacwac]

I forgot to add that his regime also ruthlessly put down the SSDF rebellion by poisoning wells and livestock in the Mudug region, leading to many deaths among Majeerteen nomads.

In the many rebellions of the 80's, he had a right to fight the insurgents but should have steered clear of deliberate targeting of civilians as done in Mudug and Somaliland

[LilEmperor]

Also, he proved to be ruthless in his handling of the SNM rebellion in the north, by bombing cities in Somaliland to the north leading to score of civilian deaths (including me).

...Then why are you still here?

[Jugjugwacwac]

Marehan, dhulbahante, ogs-worship siyad bare
Isaaq-siad bare is their hitler.
Majerteens-strongly detest him
Hawiyes-dislike him but not as much as isaaqs.
That will never change. Why bother with the same old debate.just look below.

Well i'm Isaaq, and I want to show Somalis that our clan affiliation should not colour our perceptions of people, events or history. Though I along with my family almost perished in the bombing campiagns in Hargaysa in 1988, I'm still able to see the many sides of this man.

[Jugjugwacwac]

Also, he proved to be ruthless in his handling of the SNM rebellion in the north, by bombing cities in Somaliland to the north leading to score of civilian deaths (including me).

...Then why are you still here?

Aakhiraan idin kala soo hadlayaa.

[TheMailMan]

I completely agree with you. Siyad Barre was a mixed bag of good and evil. I admire his nationalism and his militarism. But his decision to invade the Ogaden was a terrible idea, and it was premature. His alliance with the Soviet Union was also a terrible idea, and he would have been better off allying with the United States, which was looking for allied states in the region (As Yemen and Ethiopia were both Soviet Allies). Somalia was well-positioned to benefit off of American aid, had we allied with them and manipulated the Americans to our advantage. Also, I dislike Siyad Barre's suppression of free markets and the lack of economic freedom in the country. We Somalis are a business-minded people and our country would have thrived had Barre instituted a mixed-market system where the Government takes on certain tasks and the market handles the rest. Price controls, nepotism, and lack of foreign investment was a poison to Somalia and damaged our economy. He was not an Islamist, and did not seek to create a system which incorporates Islam into the modern Somali State. And furthermore, his destruction of Hargeisa killed tens of thousands of our Somali brothers, and irreparably damaged relations between the Koonfur and the Waqooyi Somalis.

If there was ANY person in history who had the opportunity to actually unite the Somali peninsula under one flag and one leadership, it was Siyad Barre. He had a unique opportunity in his hands and he squandered it by making a series of bad decisions. Somalia could have been a regional power, with a prosperous economy and a highly-educated population that adheres to Islamic principles.

Siyad Barre squandered a lot of good opportunities, and it's a shame.

Now I fear that the Isaaqs will NEVER want to be in a Union with the rest of Somalia. The Ogaden region may never want to be part of the Somali Union, and we are in danger of losing our foothold in the region if we don't get our act together.

[TheMailMan]

I'm convinced Siyad Barre had some of the WORST possible advisers surrounding him.

Reading about some of his poor decisions REALLY make your head hurt

[Lancer]

The other thread about Siyaad was deleted before I could reply. But here's my take on the man.

Siyaad Barre was an enigmatic figure, difficult to put in a box. He was a brave man who had an aire of urbane sophistication coupled with the nomadic pride of his roots. He maintained the dignity of Somalis on the world stage and was either loved or hated, but always respected. He was ambitious and daring, and had large goals for his people and country, exemplified by his commission of writing the Somali script and the subsequent country-wide literacy campaign. He was a fierce nationalist and irredentist who envisioned and fought for a united Somali peninsula, though in hindsight the invasion of Ethiopia was premature and led to the first cracks in Somalia's nationhood. Though all of this he was, it cannot be ignored that he was a secular socialist and would have spelled religious and economic disaster for Somalia in the long run. His rabid hatred for Islam led him to execute 10 wadaads in the mid-70's who opposed his western based family laws. Also, he proved to be ruthless in his handling of the SNM rebellion in the north, by bombing cities in Somaliland to the north leading to score of civilian deaths (including me). The ubiquitous three letter clan based rebel groups forced Siyaad to ally himself with his clansmen in order maintain power, so he cannot be faulted with unleashing clannish anymore than the SNM, USC, SSDF and SPM, but he can be faulted for being merciless. In the end he was a potent mix of good and evil, and it’s in this balanced light that we should evaluate this man’s life.

These groups were a result of his tribilasim, rebel groups have always formed as a result of grievance and injustices so he should be blamed the most. I could care less about his literacy campaign and his other so called "achievements" if it resulted in what he did later.The man should be looked as nothing more than a qabilist tyrant. If you really are an isaaq I don't know why you are trying to sound so apologetic and bending over for him. It is an insult to say the SNM was not better than him.You sound like you have a case of Stockholm syndrome.

[Jugjugwacwac]

I completely agree with you. Siyad Barre was a mixed bag of good and evil. I admire his nationalism and his militarism. But his decision to invade the Ogaden was a terrible idea, and it was premature. His alliance with the Soviet Union was also a terrible idea, and he would have been better off allying with the United States, which was looking for allied states in the region (As Yemen and Ethiopia were both Soviet Allies). Somalia was well-positioned to benefit off of American aid, had we allied with them and manipulated the Americans to our advantage. Also, I dislike Siyad Barre's suppression of free markets and the lack of economic freedom in the country. We Somalis are a business-minded people and our country would have thrived had Barre instituted a mixed-market system where the Government takes on certain tasks and the market handles the rest. Price controls, nepotism, and lack of foreign investment was a poison to Somalia and damaged our economy. He was not an Islamist, and did not seek to create a system which incorporates Islam into the modern Somali State. And furthermore, his destruction of Hargeisa killed tens of thousands of our Somali brothers, and irreparably damaged relations between the Koonfur and the Waqooyi Somalis.

If there was ANY person in history who had the opportunity to actually unite the Somali peninsula under one flag and one leadership, it was Siyad Barre. He had a unique opportunity in his hands and he squandered it by making a series of bad decisions. Somalia could have been a regional power, with a prosperous economy and a highly-educated population that adheres to Islamic principles.

Siyad Barre squandered a lot of good opportunities, and it's a shame.

Now I fear that the Isaaqs will NEVER want to be in a Union with the rest of Somalia. The Ogaden region may never want to be part of the Somali Union, and we are in danger of losing our foothold in the region if we don't get our act together.

Exactly bro, I agree totally. Though I don't think us Isaaq can use the bombings that happened two decades ago as a basis for secession. Look at Rwanda, where the unimaginable happened and how they've been able to heal and unite. Politically astute Somalilanders never base the justification for Somalialnd's statehood on the bombings.

[Jugjugwacwac]

These groups were a result of his tribilasim, rebel groups have always formed as a result of grievance and injustices so he should be blamed the most. I could care less about his literacy campaign and his other so called "achievements" if it resulted in what he did later.The man should be looked as nothing more than a qabilist tyrant. If you really are an isaaq I don't know why you are trying to sound so apologetic and bending over for him. It is an insult to say the SNM was not better than him.You sound like you have a case of Stockholm syndrome.

Though Siyaad Barre was no saint, I can tell you for sure that there was no deliberate targeting of Isaaqs before the formation of the SNM. In fact we had it pretty good in many ways compared to others. Have you ever asked yourself which came first, the repression of the Isaaq by Siyaads regime or the creation of the SNM? SNM was created in 1981 and Hargaysa was bombed to the ground in 1988. There is cause and effect for everything. I am not excusing his actions, cuz i'll be the first to tell you that what he and his generals did to the north was evil and unforgivable. But you gotta think deeper about things bro, and not fall victim to simplistic and unsophisticated views on Somali politics and history. And I dont care for SNM, nor any of the other three letter rebel groups who plunged the country into chaos and made Somalis the laughing stock of the world.

[Xildiiid]

^
The struggle to liberate Somaliland started in 1961. The struggle and the attempted coup in 1961 precedes Afweyne and SNM.

The bombardment of major Isaaq towns like Hargeisa, Burco, Berbera, Ceerigaabo, Gabiley etc. was the result of an extermination policy. The HRW's descriptive report on the atrocities prove how the regime tried to wipe out Isaaq civilians and resettle Darood in particular Ogaden on our land.

[Jugjugwacwac]

^
The struggle to liberate Somaliland started in 1961. The struggle and the attempted coup in 1961 precedes Afweyne and SNM.

The bombardment of major Isaaq towns like Hargeisa, Burco, Berbera, Ceerigaabo, Gabiley etc. was the result of an extermination policy. The HRW's descriptive report on the atrocities prove how the regime tried to wipe out Isaaq civilians and resettle Darood in particular Ogaden on our land.

I'm well aware that the North was short changed in the Union of 1960, and that Xasan Kayd attempted a coup in the subsequent year. But this issue precedes Siyaad Barre. For me to change my views, which I am open to doing, you'd have to prove that Siyaad Barre's repression of the Isaaq preceded the creation of the SNM who were trying to topple his regime.

[Tanker]

Siyaad barre and Morgan were national legends who protected us aganist the enemy any death civilian in hargeisa should be blamed on coward SNM who used to hide behind women and children as they were terrorist scum USC created a city called hell on earth by the rest of humanity do I need to say more ?

[Xildiiid]

Afweyne's regime was responsible for the atrocities committed in SL. The extrajudicial killings, the psychological intimidation, the economic policy with the aim of destroying Isaaq wealth, the use of landmines, the war against the nomads, the destruction of Isaaq society, it all started in 1981. The SNM was created in 1981 as a result of Afweyne's policies.

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Using military strikes against civilian targets

The Somali military used artillery and aerial bombardment in heavily populated areas in order to retake Burao and Hargeisa, although there were no SNM combatants there.

U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), SOMALIA: Observations Regarding the Northern Conflict and Resulting Conditions.

-Under the Geneva convention these types of attacks are indiscriminate and Afweyne, under international law, was obliged to protect civilian lives but he didn't because his goal was to wipe out Isaaq civilians not save them as you can see in the quotation above.

-Here we got another quotation that describes how Afweyne's regime evacuated non Isaaq civilians in order to maximize the death and destruction.

The government used loudspeakers to sort the civilians out into Darood and Isaak. They would shout, ''Who's is from Galkayo? Mogadishu? Las Anod, Garoe?''[Non-Isaak territory]. They appealed to the non-Isaaks to leave so they could burn the town and all those who remained behind. Most of the people from these towns left; the government provided them with transportation.

Human Right Watch - A government at war with its own people.

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Economic punishment and government policies.

-The accounts of an Isaaq businesswoman interviewed by the HRW, who was the manager of Oriental Hotel in Hargeisa and her encounter with Afweyne Barre in Mogadishu after being detained by the NSS simply because her late father's business was profitable.

Eventually, I was taken to see the President. The President started talking politics straight away. He launched into an attack against Isaaks and against me. He had no kind words to say in spite of our ordeal. He commented, ''What you Isaaks deserve is not be detained but shot on the spot after you commit such offenses''. I asked him, ''what have we done?'' I said I was not aware of aything illegal that I had done. He emphasized, again and again, the ''arrogance'' of the Isaaks.

- The quote above reminds me of that humiliation study posted by a former snetter that describes how Afweyne, the former Italian Zaptie not even a real military soldier, felt humiliated at the hands of Isaaq generals trained at the Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst in his early days, which lead to his pathologic hatred for the Isaaq clan. Eventough one can say that all Darood suffer from pathologic hatred because of their inferiority complex nonetheless..

Isaak businessmen, both in the north and in the south, suffered from discriminatory practices. Lines of credit at state banks were severely restricted, which was a major blow to businessmen as there are no private banks in Somalia. No Isaak could participate on equal footing in government tenders. Now could Isaak businessmen obtain loans from banks, unless this was facilitated by a non-Isaak crony of the authority.

Isaaks in Mogadishu were also at a severe disadvantage. She describe the example of Hashi Afboor, who tried to obtain money from his bank account in Mogadishu in 1986. He was told he could withdraw the amount he requested on condition that he gave four non-Isaak men the money with which to start business.

In the marketplace in Hargeisa, women who had sewing machines had to pay 10 shillings a day and 3,000 shilling every six months. Even women selling milk did not escape. They paid 10 shillings for the spot on the ground that each container occupied and 3,000 shillings every six months. Of course, all these regulation affected principally the Isaaks. When the odd non-Isaak was affected, once it was established that they were not Isaaks, he or she would be compensated.

HRW - A government at war with its own people.

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The regime's policies

A confidential report from General Morgan to President Barre leaked to the international press in February 1987 detalied the policies that Morgan had been implementing to ''liquadate'' what he referred to as the ''Isaak problem'' and which he was recommending to the president. Te measures spelled out in the letter included confiscating the property of Isaaks and redistributing their wealth; suspending their business licences; freezing the bank accounts of Isaak businessmen and destroying their businesses by giving opportunities to non-Isaaks; purging Isaaks from all sensitive government positions; accelerating the enrollment of the children of the refugees into local schools in order to ensure a ''balance''; relocating villages, destroying water reservoirs and resettling Ethiopian refugees on Isaak territory.

The government had at its disposal, a formidable array of extra-legal sanctions that it used to wage a more subtle kind of political warfare. A system known as ''Isaak Extermination'' (''Dabar Goynta Isaaka'') was put into effect.

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The war against Isaaq nomads

Dabar Goynta Isaaka (''The Isaak Exterminators''), a well-mechanized section of the army which consisted entirely of non Isaaks, widely regarded as one of the most abusive forces engaged in counter-insurgency activities, was responsible for ''dealing'' with the nomads. They, and other branches of the military terrorized the countryside.

In late June or early July 1987, the governor of Las Anod was killed by the SNM. The military demanded that Isaaks civilians living in the region pay 120 camels ''in exchange'', although they had nothing to do with the killing.

Whenever the military suffered a defeat in an encounter with the SNM, they killed some nomads in the area. Then they brought their dead bodies to towns, saying, ''We have killed some Ethiopians - come and see for yourselves''

When confronted by the military, nomads would be extravagantly generous, hoping that would appease their ''guests'' and they would be left in peace. At the end of 1987, some soldiers visited Aw Harrir Nur. He was very hospitable. They repaid him by raping his daughter and ill treating his wife. When he protested, they beat him.

In January 1989, Community Aid Abroad, an Australian agency operating in the Sanaag region reported that:
Widespread massacre occured after 2 soldiers were blown up with a landmine in Elafweyn District. In reprisal the military commander of Sanaag ordered the deaths of 200 nomands. One hundred and three men, women and children were slaughtered the following day.

Nomads arrested in the countryside were brought to Hargeisa to be executed. These poor people would be forced to wear whar the government described as ''SNM uniforms'' and were paraded in the National Theater.

In August 1985, an army truck was blown up on a two mile feeder road that connected the main asphalt road to the military barracks near Arabsiyo. The driver was killed. The army responded with massive retaliation against the residents living within 30 kilometers of the area; many residents were shot, livestock confiscated and many huts butned.

After spending so much money in constructing reservoirs, the owners were often not even allowed to drink from them, never mind their animals. If there were soldiers living in the aream the reservoirs became theirs

HRW - A government at war with its own people.

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Rape as weapon of war,

Rape by soldiers became common. It was particularly frequent in the countryside. Those who could send a daughter out of the country did so.

Often, when they came to search houses, they raped any attractive woman they saw, saying, ''Instead of giving birth to a ''qurmis'', I will force her to have a pro-government bastard. It's better than what they give birth to anyway''. Isaak men would constantly be told, ''Go and get those prostitutes of yours'' - meaning their sisters and daughters.

They would kick the man out of the house and soldiers forced him to remain outside while the women were raped by other soldiers. Just to humiliate the men, they did no even spare the old women. Sometimes women were gang-raped. This is really what made the SNM expand. So many storekeepers, traders and tea shop owners just locked up and left to join the SNM, feeling that they couldn't just sit around watching this happen to their wives daughters, sisters and the relatives of their friends and neighbors.

HRW - A government at war with its own people.

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Destroying the social fabric and basic elements of the society,

It got to a point that the people of the region became invisible, no matter what their qualifications or qualities. They were worse off than foreigners; they became a people with no rights in their own country. Every group was encouraged to watch over the others, as the only way to protect themselves. It destroyed community life. Neighbors became suspicious of each other.

Education deteriorated year after year. After only two hours at schools, the teachers would leave. Those were the conscientious ones. The other simply never turned up. The students could see that both the living confitions and the political situation were getting worse every year. Soldiers came to the schools with the their tanks and fired into the air. Students ran and then they would be arrested and beaten. Those who really could not tolerate the situation left to join the SNM

HRW - A government at war with its own people.

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