The New Era of Peace - Essay Example

Policy Brief on the New Era of Peace: Africa The Somali War Like many African countries, the latter half of the 20th Century was formative for Somalia as a country. That was a time when many African countries were faced with coups and after coups. Probably because world opinion was against interference in internal matters of a sovereign country, Somalia’s descent into war largely escaped the world attention. The conflict had also coincided with other major conflicts that caught the attention of the world. Iraq had just invaded Kuwait as Saddam Hussein was beginning his reign of terror. Therefore, when Siad Barre government began falling, no one paid keen attention. The war was seen as more of a conflict between a dictatorship regime and citizens who were clamoring for political space. That is the reason the Somali War, which began in 1991, was largely ignored. One of the events that led to the situation was the fact that the then president of Somalia, Siad Barre, ruled other clans of the country with a heavy hand. Somalia has five clans namely the Darod, the Hawiye, the Dir, the Rahanweyn and the Isaaq. When Siad Barre was at the helm of political power in 1977, he had attacked the Ogaden region of Ethiopia using Soviet military equipment (Center for American Progress 1). However, the Soviet favored the Ethiopian government and supported the latter. Barre took the advantage of the Cold War between the US and the then Soviet Union by turning to the US for assistance. The United States did assist Barre. From then on, the Siad Barre government used US military aid to entrench his rule by strengthening his clansmen and ignoring other clans. In fact, at some instances he even poisoned wells of other clans. Since Somalia was a largely pastoral community, the sudden death of animals, which were the main economic livelihood of the people served to stir feelings of resentment against the government (Warsame 1). Barre’s atrocities had continued particularly against the Isaaqs in the north. When the tensions reached a boiling point, all hell broke loose in Somalia, and nothing has been the same again. The discontented clans rose in arms against the Siad Barre government and finally in 1991, he was overthrown. The rebels overran Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital. Given that the factions that overthrew Siad Barre had no power-sharing plan, distrust and conflict soon arose amongst them. Efforts to reconcile the warlords bore no fruits and Somalia descended into territorial regimes headed by warlords and protected by community militias. 2. Parties that Have an Interest in the Somalia Crisis Despite a heavy presence of peacekeeping troops in Mogadishu and reconciliation efforts, little was achieved in terms of progress until the intervention of Kenyan Forces into the Somalia Situation in 201l. By 2012, there was a new central government in place and a parliament. Kenya and Somalia share a common border that stretches for over 700 km. For a long time, Kenya observes a policy of non-interference in political matters of her neighbors. Kenya and Somalia are a home to the Somalis, an ethnic speaking community that was divided between the two sides of the political boundary. The Somalis in Kenya and Somalia are related and all speak the same native language. For that reason, Kenya avoided any direct interference in the affairs of the Somalia nation. It had also observed the same with Uganda, which suffered a series of military coups after coups in the 1980s. However, the last decade of the 20th century had new challenges. After the rise of the Al-Qaeda, Kenya suffered a terrorist attack in 1998 when the terror group targeted and successfully bombed a US embassy in her capital Nairobi. The situation in Somalia grew from bad to worse particularly the country is accessible from the Middle East through the Red Sea. Given such logistics, Somalia acted as a terrorists’ training ground. The Al-Shabaab terror group was born during this time. The Al-Shabaab crossed over into Kenya through the porous Kenya-Somalia border and reigned terror on UN aid workers in Dadaab refugee camp and Kenyan coastal region (Branch 1). The then Kenyan President, Mwai Kibaki, declared war against Al-Shabaab and sent Kenyan troops into Somalia. Kenyan interest in the war was that such instances of security threats were affecting her tourism industry. Many western powers such as the US and Britain constantly issued travel advisories on the advice of their intelligence. At sea, Somali militia launched one of the most daring piracies of the 21st Century. Somali pirates constantly hijacked many ships that were sailing to the Kenyan port of Mombasa. To that extent, Kenyan felt that the war in Somalia was affecting her economic livelihood. It is for that reason that Kenya unitarily deployed her military personnel into the heart of Somalia to do away with the rebels and help constitute a central government. Another country that had a stake in the war was Uganda. Given that Uganda is a landlocked country, she has to import her goods via the Kenyan port of Mombasa. The goods are then transported via a railway all the way to Jinja and Kampala. For this reason, each time the Somali pirates hijack a ship destined to Mombasa, sometimes it happens that the ship had goods destined for Uganda. For this reason, Uganda felt threatened by the Al-Shabaab of Somalia for economic reason. Consequently, Uganda deployed her troops to Somalia. Although Uganda has never suffered direct attacks on her soil by the Somalia terror group as much as Kenya has, the instability in Somalia affects her nonetheless. Ethiopia’s interest in the Somalia War stems from the fact that her neighbor Eritrea, a country with which Ethiopia has been to war for years, was supporting Al-Shabaab (UN Report 1). Eritrea’s support of Al-Shabaab meant that should the Al-Shabaab succeed in controlling Somalia, then Eritrea could use the force to support her against her traditional rival, Ethiopia. For this reason, Ethiopia is involved in the war to ensure that the Al-Shabaab register no victory in Somalia so that she can be safe. Before finally granting independence to Eritrea, Ethiopia had fought a dragging war with her. Therefore, Ethiopia is deeply concerned about anything that might wake up that conflict again. That explains why it is important to her that she sends her troops in Somalia to help bring the peace process. 3. US Role and Interest in the Somali War For a long time, the United States kept of the Somali War after the 1993 conflict when two Black Hawk Helicopter series were shot down by rocket-propelled grenade. According to Joe (1), the 1993 Black Hawk down was the single incidence in which America had many casualties since the end of the Vietnam War. In 1992, President George Bush had sent humanitarian aid to Somalia, but soon changed the mission to one involved in protecting the central government. The US had underestimated the scale of the conflict and the capabilities of the rebels. When the mission that was estimated to take only 30-40 minutes dragged for 15 hours with 18 American Special Forces dead and 78 injured, Bill Clinton, called for the withdrawal of US troops from Somali. American opinion was that the US should not take part in the internal conflict. When pressure mounted, the US withdrew her troops from Somalia. However, that only served as a threat to global peace efforts as many terror organizations took advantage of the lawlessness to train inside Somalia. US interest in the Somalia War was aroused when Somalia pirates began targeting ships in the international waters and hijacking them. The US and her allies faced the same threat from the Somalia pirates and other terror groups operating inside Somalia. Therefore, when Kenya launched an offensive against the Al-Shabaab, the US supported the action through military aid particularly naval patrol to safeguard the international waters. Most recently, after the terror group Al-Shabaab attacked a Kenyan University in Garissa, the US has pledged an increased role in the conflict to eliminate the terror organization. US interest in the war is the War also comes from the fact that Kenya has been critical to the stability of the region. Therefore, the Somali War is seen as a potential instability to the entire region. Kenya has been acting as a hub for diplomatic negotiations in the Sudan peace process. Despite being surrounded by countries that had been at war other such as Uganda, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, Kenya has been stable for long (Branch 1). For that reason, the US should understand that the Somali War, which is now spilling over into Kenya, is a threat to the regional peace in Eastern and Central Africa. 4. Alternative for the President to Consider In the above conflict, the president has a number of options to consider as a solution to the conflict. One, the US can strengthen the AMISOM (African Mission in Somalia) forces through direct military aid to flush out the Al-Shabaab. AMISIOM are the collective forces of African peacekeeping troops in Somalia. Secondly, the US can consider direct military aid to Kenya so that she can effectively help Somalia deal with the conflict through coastal and land border patrols, as well as attacks on remnants of Al-Shabaab inside Somalia. Third, the US may consider training Somalia forces so that they can deal with the Al-Shabaab threat directly on their own in the long term as the AMISOM and Kenyan forces handle the short-term problem threat. 5. Recommendation on the Best Couse of Action The third option offers the best solution to the Somali War. As much as possible, Somali forces should be involved in the fight against the Al-Shabaab. The only problem is that in the short-term, there may be Al-Shabaab spies within the Somali forces. Therefore, it would be risky to arm the Somali forces heavily at this time. For this reason, the US should strengthen the AMISOM and Kenyan forces first so that they can handle the terror group. AMISOM is operating directly inside Somalia. Kenyan forces are in the AMISOM. A strengthened AMISOM is in a better position to move into terrorist held areas using modern reconnaissance equipment provided by the US to exterminate the remnants of Al-Shabaab. Intelligence gathering is a challenge to the AMISOM. Therefore, the US can be of much help in that areas. Should the US provide reliable intelligence and heavy military machinery to the AMISOM, the African peacekeeping forces can improve its efficiency and combat capability. Such a role ensures that the US is not involved directly with the peace process in Somalia in a manner that may cause outrage amongst Muslim nations, as has been the case with boots on the ground. This third option should also involve direct military and intelligence assistance to Kenyan military and police forces so that they can deal with the threat at home. That way, Al-Shabaab will be cornered on both sides and it would not be long before normalcy returns to Somalia. After that, the US should help with training a Somali Military Force that will protect the sovereignty of the nation as peacekeepers are progressively reduced in phased withdrawal from Somalia. I recommend the third option. Works Cited Branch, Daniel. Why Kenya Invaded Somalia: The Opening of an Aggressive New Chapter. The Council on Foreign Affairs Relations, November 2011. Accessed from http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136670/daniel-branch/why-kenya-invaded- somalia Center for American Progress. Somalia Conflicts: Roots of the Crisis. 2015. Accessed from http://www.enoughproject.org/conflict_areas/somalia/roots-crisis Joe, Alexander. What A Downed Black Hawk In Somalia Taught America. 2013. Accessed from http://www.npr.org/2013/10/05/229561805/what-a-downed-black-hawk-in-somalia- taught-america UN Report. Eritrea reduces support for al-Shabab. Aljazeera, July 17, 2012. Accessed from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/07/2012716164543714168.html Warsame, Hussein. Siad Barre’s Fall Blamed for Somalia’s Collapse into Civil War. Voice of America January 31, 2011. Accessed from http://www.voanews.com/content/siad-barre- fall-led-into-civil-war-020111-115008454/134345.html Read More