By Ali Mohamed
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Somalia recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence, but most Somalis have nothing to celebrate. Somalia ranks as the world's most utterly failed state. Today, 3 million people are desperately in need of food, 1.4 million have been displaced and 750,000 survive on humanitarian relief.
Much of central and southern Somalia is controlled by al-Shabab, a Somali fundamentalist Islamist youth group with ties to al-Qaida that recently claimed responsibility for the deadly bombings at two bars in Uganda's capital of Kampala. Seventy-six people died as they watched the World Cup match July 11, including one American. Scores were wounded -- among them, members of a church group from Pennsylvania.
The U.N. strategy of the last two decades, focusing mainly on Mogadishu, ground zero of the failed state of Somalia, has been an abject failure.
For diplomatic reasons, the international community has ignored the beacon of hope in Somalia -- the northerly part, Somaliland, which is peaceful and has a stable functioning government, with political institutions that are organic and able to maintain order within its defined borders.
The Kampala bombings underscore that America must find a new approach. Luckily, an overlooked partner for peace already exists -- Somaliland, which was part of Somalia from 1960 until 1991, when Somaliland declared independence.
Somaliland has never required any U.S.-, U.N.- or African Union-led military intervention, but has succeeded in establishing a fledgling, secular Muslim democratic state from scratch, without massive aid.
Unlike the brutal warlords, pirates, war profiteers and jihadists fighting for power in Somalia, Somaliland development has been built on a bottom-up reconciliation process, amnesty and peace. Today, it has a legitimate multiparty representative democracy, an ill-equipped but a functioning police and a free-market economy operating under the rule of law.
On June 26, the 50th anniversary of Somaliland's independence from Britain (Somalia itself won independence 50 years ago from Italy), a well-organized presidential poll took place in more than 1,800 polling stations across Somaliland.
The opposition leader, Ahmed Mohamud Silanyo, won the election, and after the incumbent president accepted the election result, a peaceful transition of political power is imminent, which is very rare in Africa.
All these achievements are reason enough to secure Somaliland full diplomatic recognition, given the growing threat and power of al-Qaida affiliates and the violence mired in Somalia, but, for political reasons, the Obama administration has refused to support and award it the recognition it deserves. Instead, the United States is providing money, training and arms for a fictional Somali government .
For the last two decades the United States has relied heavily on Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and other African allies, while ignoring Somaliland, which has the bigger stake in bringing stability to Somalia.
Recognizing Somaliland would reverse al-Qaida's expansion into the region and would also facilitate stabilizing Somalia. The Kampala bombings show that America cannot afford anymore to ignore Somaliland's achievement and success and the contribution it could make -- including its knowledge of Somali clan politics, culture and language.
The current State Department policy toward Somalia backs Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed as leader of the collapsed state of Somalia. But Ahmed controls only small pockets of Mogadishu and is protected by a contingent of African Union troops made up of Ugandans and Burundians. He has absolutely no power and enjoys no legitimacy among the ordinary Somali population. He clearly is not accomplishing the U.S. strategy to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat" the violent al-Qaida franchise in Somalia, nor does he make the region more stable.
In an ideal world, Sheik Sharif Ahmed is not someone the United States would like to be doing business with.
Somaliland, which has 475 miles of coastline, can play a significant role in helping the United States and the West to combat al-Qaida elements in Somalia, as well as piracy in the Gulf of Aden -- one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
The United States at the very least should pay substantial attention to the needs of Somalilanders and lend them a helping hand in the areas of counterterrorism efforts, coastal security, education and agriculture.
The 3.5 million Somalilanders cannot tolerate more years of uncertainty about what country they live in and what the future holds for them.
It is time that President Barack Obama led the world to do the right thing and accept the only viable and sustainable solution, which is an independent and sovereign Somaliland. Anything less would not work, nor would it be just.
Mohamed is president of the Somaliland Freedom Foundation in Lewis Center, Ohio.