Somalia can't be left to its own devices

Somalia can't be left to its own devices  

Mogadishu residents assist the victims after explosions in a mosque in Bakara 
market in the Somali capital Image Credit: Reuters

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The danger of allowing this strategic country to continue to operate without a government is too much for the wider region to contemplate with any calm.

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Somalia is in dire trouble. The latest slaughter of more than 30 people praying in a mosque is a tragic continuance of over two decades of misery and violence. Yet no one wants to help Somalia. Everyone has tried and failed, and then walked away from the tragedy. But the danger of allowing this strategic country to continue to operate without a government is too much for the wider region to contemplate with any calm.

Now it is not just the people of the fractured country who are suffering: organised crime has moved in and has been terrorising the world's shipping, and Al Qaida has taken several bases in Somalia's lawless territories from which it operates around the world with impunity. This cannot be allowed to go on forever, and a long-term plan to rebuild Somalia is required that should include the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab world, the African Union, as well as support from America and other powers.

After decades of bitter civil war, the country has disintegrated. The north has separated into two regions — Puntland and Somaliland — and the south is hopelessly divided between many factions, some religious and some secular, one of which makes up the present transitional federal government.

After several bitter experiences, the United States is outspoken in its refusal to get involved in supporting Somalia's transitional government. Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson said in March that "the United States has not and will not be providing direct support for any potential military offensives". Instead, Carson said that the United States "supports an inclusive solution", which simply means that it has no idea how to impose a solution. This is not enough, and a new effort is required with real determination and widespread support to tackle this most intractable civil war.