Obama's Pick to be US Ambassador to Somalia Withdraws

[Machiavelli2]

Is this a slap on the faces of all Somalis? Was she expecting to be posted to Cape Town or Cairo?

President Barack Obama's pick to be the first American ambassador to Somalia in nearly 25 years has withdrawn her nomination, the White House told lawmakers on Monday, an unexpected suspension in U.S. plans to deepen ties with the African nation plagued by violence and instability.

An administration official said Katherine Simonds Dhanani, a career diplomat with experience serving across Africa, turned down the nomination for personal reasons and that Obama will have to find another candidate. The official spoke on a condition of anonymity without authorization to speak on the record.

The U.S. Embassy closed in 1991 when Somalia's government collapsed in civil war, prompting the deployment of a U.S.-led U.N. peacekeeping mission. American troops withdrew from Somalia in 1994, months after the humiliating “Black Hawk Down” debacle when Somali militiamen shot down two U.S. helicopters. Eighteen U.S. soldiers were killed in the battle, which marked the beginning of the end of that U.S. military mission to bring stability.

Last week, John Kerry became the first secretary of state to visit Somalia. He cast the move toward restoring the ambassadorship as “recognition of the progress made and the promise to come.”

“I look forward, as does the president, to the day when both the United States and Somalia have full-fledged missions in each other's capital city,” Kerry said in a video message to the Somali people in connection with his historic, albeit brief, stopover in the country.

Somalia has been without a truly functioning, nationwide government for two-and-a-half decades and has become infamous for its high rates of violence and the proliferation of pirates operating off its coasts. The current government continues to battle the al-Qaida affiliated al-Shabab militant group, which has staged attacks around east Africa and recently threatened shopping malls in the United States and other Western nations.

Security began improving earlier this decade as international efforts against al-Shabab gained ground, and the U.S. has been working to help Somalia move toward democracy and economic development. Still, al-Shabab continues to wage a deadly insurgency against Somalia's government and remains a threat in Somalia and the East African region.

The State Department had planned to post Dhanani, who was awaiting Senate confirmation after being nominated in February, in neighboring Kenya until security conditions would permit the embassy in the Somali capital of Mogadishu to reopen.

http://www.voanews.com/content/ap-nomin ... 63476.html

[BlackVelvet]

It's her life and she's entitled to not want to be in Somalia


All of us are from there and most of us aren't in Somalia right now

[Machiavelli2]

It's her life and she's entitled to not want to be in Somalia


All of us are from there and most of us aren't in Somalia right now

That is true, but the Plum ambassadorial posts like the European and wealthy Asian countries always goes to the rich donors to the presidential elections and the Third World posts always goes to career diplomats.

Will Obama pick a Somali-American intellectual for the post?

[Buraanbur]

No, it's a slap in the face of the Mogadishu government and their failed attempts at masking what's really going on in that city. Their attempts at re-imaging Mogadishu has been dealt a big blow.

Why would anyone want to leave the comforts of the U.S. to be placed in the green-zone of Mogadishu where they have Bantus as their shadows? Katherine Simonds Dhanani might as well be placed in Baltimore, south side Chicago or Detroit.

[Basra-]

She is smart not to go. A raped ambassador is not a pretty picture.

[Machiavelli2]

Dear Somalis, the nominee was the U.S designate ambassador to Somalia and Mogadishu is the capital of Somalia, therefore let us refrain from scoring cheap tribal points. If it is a slap, then it is on our collective faces.

[Buraanbur]

Dear Somalis, the nominee was the U.S designate ambassador to Somalia and Mogadishu is the capital of Somalia, therefore let us refrain from scoring cheap tribal points. If it is a slap, then it is on our collective faces.

"Cheap tribal points"? When Turkey builds something in Mogadishu, all Hawiyes rejoice. When news comes out painting a negative image of Mogadishu, all Somalis as a collective have to care. Get out of here with that.

You're the one who wants to make use care about something that doesn't impact most of us on a political, financial, or emotional level so why should we take it as a slight against all Somalis? It is indicative of the disastrous job the so-called government in Mogadishu has done to make the place safe. Katherine is not willing to die in that hell hole and she clearly saw it as a slap in her face to be given the post.

[LiquidHYDROGEN]

^^^^He's right though. To the average non-Somali, Mogadishu is the capital of Somalia and therefore the only city that matters with regards to Somalis. The average American can't even pronounce Hawiye or Majerteen, let alone know who the fck they even are. You might not think so, but it is a collective insult towards all of us and indicative of the lowly position of the Somali people.

[GIJaamac]

Dear Somalis, the nominee was the U.S designate ambassador to Somalia and Mogadishu is the capital of Somalia, therefore let us refrain from scoring cheap tribal points. If it is a slap, then it is on our collective faces.

"Cheap tribal points"? When Turkey builds something in Mogadishu, all Hawiyes rejoice. When news comes out painting a negative image of Mogadishu, all Somalis as a collective have to care. Get out of here with that.

You're the one who wants to make use care about something that doesn't impact most of us on a political, financial, or emotional level so why should we take it as a slight against all Somalis? It is indicative of the disastrous job the so-called government in Mogadishu has done to make the place safe. Katherine is not willing to die in that hell hole and she clearly saw it as a slap in her face to be given the post.

Ladyboy

You shouldn't care about any negative news from Mogadishu. Nobody really expects that from you.
Just know that Xamar is 1000 years ahead of your shitholes. Ciil qabow cadaabta gal.

[Buraanbur]

^ Are we talking about the same Xamar with an apartheid wall?

^^^^He's right though. To the average non-Somali, Mogadishu is the capital of Somalia and therefore the only city that matters with regards to Somalis. The average American can't even pronounce Hawiye or Majerteen, let alone know who the fck they even are. You might not think so, but it is a collective insult towards all of us and indicative of the lowly position of the Somali people.

That's like telling me that I should see myself as Black or align myself with Bantus because Whitey sees no difference between Somalis and other SSAs. I don't derive my identity or self-worth from the opinions of the average American. It's not a collective insult towards Somalis because the government in Mogadishu is not working for the betterment or advancement of Somalis. The destruction of the skewed image they've constructed is welcomed news to me.

[sahal80]

naive haters

this will not effect the govt as she has not presented her credentials yet to the president

this is the foreing departments business and we r waiting until the new ambassador arrives

[LiquidHYDROGEN]

Did you just imply that someone mistaking you for a Hawiye, a Somali clan that share language, culture, religion and dna with you is like someone mistaking you for an African American? Some strong mental gymnastics and cognitive dissonance right there, even for a dhaboyaco.

[Buraanbur]

Did you just imply that someone mistaking you for a Hawiye, a Somali clan that share language, culture, religion and dna with you is like someone mistaking you for an African American? Some strong mental gymnastics and cognitive dissonance right there, even for a dhaboyaco.

No, I was saying I don't care what Whitey thinks of me but now that you mention it, yes, that too. I have never been mistaken for a Hawiye , don't share DNA with them, barely share a culture, and I share the religion with billions of people. They're the same as AA reverts to me.

[WaaliCas]

Only a suicidal person would take up a post in lawless Mogadishu.

[zumaale]

Did you just imply that someone mistaking you for a Hawiye, a Somali clan that share language, culture, religion and dna with you is like someone mistaking you for an African American? Some strong mental gymnastics and cognitive dissonance right there, even for a dhaboyaco.

Hawiye , don't share DNA with them,

You share DNA with AbdiWahab. Sacads and Majeerten belong to the same y-dna haplogroup. As for other Hawiye subclans, jury is still out.

As for autosomnal DNA, you definitely are closer to them than say an Eritrean Jabarti. Don't be quick to dismiss any genetic link between Hawiye and Darood.