Day: December 14, 2024

WDM PRESS STATEMENT

Some people in the Somali media outlets are worried by statements of Western diplomats invited to attend the inauguration of the newly elected president of Somaliland, Abdirahman Cirro, in Hargheisa. They should know that Somaliland can’t be a viable nation-state because of the facts that

  1. It lacks resources of any kind, including manpower.
  2. It is another begging basket without returns to its foreign supporters.
  3. It can only act as a foreign military and naval base. So is Djibouti nearby. That isn’t the would-be independence it is seeking.
  4. It can’t provide employment opportunities to its own residents.
  5. It has no space for business and trade interests to its residents, to forget about someone else.
  6. The entity of Somaliland merely exists because of the Mogadishu/Hawiye problem in Somalia. What other choice do they have?
  7. Western diplomats people were quoting from Hargheisa are just frustrated with Villa Somalia. Remember, they met with Hassan Sheikh Mohamud recently to warn him of Jubaland attack plan, and he didn’t heed their advice. They are fed up with his idiotic one-man show policy and mal-administration. Their statements in Hargheisa are pressure tactics only, but not an implicit support for Somaliland’s call for unitaleral independence, which doesn’t have any economic and political sense. It is a pipe dream for Hargeisa fanatics taking advantage of misinformed and misguided society there.
  8. Historically, Somaliland British Protectorate was a meat supply base for British military garrison stationed that time in Aden, Yemen. It was prohibitively expensive for Great Britain to stay on in Somaliland.

By Arnaud Bertrand’s Take of Recent Syrian Development [Courtesy]

EDITOR’S NOTE.

Now, it becomes apparent what Arnaud Bettrand couldn’t explain and the puzzle he faced with regards to recent Syrian developments. That has been elegantly explained by Daljir Media: ”
The “Arc of Crisis” has been defined as an area stretching from the Indian subcontinent in the east to the Horn of Africa in the west. The Middle East constitutes its central core. Its strategic position is unequalled: It holds in its subsoil about three-fourths of the proven and estimated world oil reserves.

The Arc of Crisis was coined by Zbigniew Brzezinski in 1978 and it matches well with Mackinder’s 1904 Geographical Pivot of History and his Heartland Theory, which emphasized the strategic importance of the Pivot Area for the emerging empire. Pivot Area includes Russia, Ukraine, eastern Europe, and the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Ukraine is the first target of conquering the Pivot Area.” Click the link below:

https://twitter.com/radiodaljir/status/1868044879051317444?t=Fkh43RIQ_YI4T5SJ5MQUHA&s=08

“What’s happening Syria is probably the most incoherent geopolitical event I’ve come across, and the more you look into it, the more confusing it gets.

I mean, just look at this list:

– First of all, the speed of Assad’s collapse still makes very little sense: after successfully holding out against multiple enemies for 13 years with Russian and Iranian backing in a brutal civil war, his regime suddenly crumbled in just 11 days with almost no bloodshed.
– The “liberators” of Syria being celebrated by the West are Islamist groups on their own official terrorist lists. The country’s new leader, Al-Julani, still has a $10 million bounty on his head as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” for founding the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda.
– Biden called this “a historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria to build a better future” while his administration continues to occupy a third of Syria, control its oil fields, maintain crippling sanctions, and bomb its territory… thereby obviously very much compromising this better future.
– Assad’s Prime Minister immediately agreed to work with the rebels and they accepted him – despite being mortal enemies in a brutal 13-year civil war.
– Al-Julani, after years of orchestrating suicide bombings and sectarian massacres against civilians, is now suddenly positioning himself as “diversity friendly”.
– Russia, despite being in an alliance with Syria dating back to the Soviet era, billions invested in protecting Assad, and their only Mediterranean naval base in Tartus, essentially shrugged it all and let their ally fall.
– Syria’s new leaders remain bizarrely silent about Israel invading their territory and the U.S. bombing and occupying their country. They’ve said nothing about their strategic assets – including the entire navy and air force – being destroyed in U.S. and Israeli air raids.
– The U.S. maintains its occupation of a third of Syria (including most oil fields), claiming it’s necessary to “ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS” – despite Trump declaring in 2019 (and the U.S. repeatedly confirming since) that “we have defeated ISIS in Syria”. Western media largely ignore this ongoing occupation while celebrating Syria’s “liberation”.
– Hamas, while in the middle of a war with Israel, took time to congratulate the Syrian rebels – even though Assad was their (and Iran’s) longtime ally and Syria’s fall significantly weakens their own strategic position.
– The U.S. celebrates the liberation of Syrian prisoners while operating its own concentration camps in the country (newyorker.com/magazine/2024/…) holding tens of thousands indefinitely without trial – half of them children – but that apparently doesn’t count as oppression.
– Türkiye is fighting against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with apparent U.S. approval, while the SDF was fighting Assad (which the U.S. wanted) – meaning U.S.-backed forces are effectively fighting other U.S.-backed forces.
– Iran, normally eager to defend its regional interests, suddenly abandoned billions in investments and a crucial strategic ally in their “Axis of Resistance”, evacuating their personnel and citizens within hours.

Truly one of the strangest chapters in modern geopolitical history. Every possible explanation contains its own contradictions, and most players are acting against their own stated principles and interests.

At this stage, it looks like the simplest explanation might go something like this: the U.S. welcomes the fall of a longtime opponent; neighboring powers like Israel and Türkiye see an opportunity for territorial gain; rebel leaders seem willing to accept loss of sovereignty and territory in exchange for domestic control over a diminished Syria; Russia and Iran chose to cut their losses given other regional priorities; and smaller players like Hamas are scrambling to adapt. Still, the unprecedented speed and coordination of these events suggests we’re missing some crucial pieces of this very strange puzzle.”

MEDIA BROCAST ABOUT HASSAN SHEIKH MOHAMUD’S SHENANIGANS AND EXPOSING HIM FOR HIS INCORRIGIBLE CORRUPTION

Any other decent politician having these problems would have resigned.

OPPOSITION PARTIES TO ANKARA DECLARATION IN BOTH SOMALIA AND ETHIOPIA ARE FURIOUS

WDM EDITORIAL

Both opposition parties, in Somalia and Ethiopia, to the Ankara Declaration don’t trust their countries’ leaders as the overriding principle. These two leaders, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Abyi Ahmed had lost public trust in their respective countries, and it is unlikely that they will regain that lost credibility ever again in whatever they do in the foreseeable future, let alone this deal. But what we find strange is that the Amharas are accusing Abyi Ahmed of trying to incorporate “Somaliland” into what they call “Oromoma” (Oromo), apparently not into Ethiopia proper.

Analysts of the Ankara Declaration say there were different approaches to the disputes by Somalia and Ethiopia. They found that Somali Side was broad based in addressing their grievances against Ethiopian violations of Somali sovereignty and territorial integrity, while the Ethiopian Side was more specific in their demands, namely the recognition of the role Ethiopian forces played in helping Somalia battle with Al-Shabab as part of ATMIS and their “right” to gain “reliable and secure” access to the Somali sea, terms that were inserted into the Ankara Declaration. While Somalia finally agreed to the Ethiopian demands, they secured Ethiopian recognition of Somali sovereignty and territorial integrity, which means the Ethiopian infamous MoU with Somaliland is now dead. That is the major takeaway for the Somali Side. But, since this wasn’t explicitly stated in the Declaration, it could be subject to different interpretations in the implementation of the deal, specifically by the Ethiopians.

There are also renewed questions on the strategic objectives of Ankara in brokering this deal, given its major role in recent Syrian developments. Time will tell, but precaution applies here. Nations are all after their permanent interests. Make no mistake.

Overall, Ethiopia has secured a major breakthrough in Ankara Talks, an access to the Somali sea, a feat dreamed about but never realised by the past Ethiopian Imperial leaders for two centuries.

In good faith and for mutually beneficial economic cooperation, Ethiopia should be offered commercial facilities in Somali ports as a landlocked neighbourly state. But the historical burden between the two countries is a source of suspicion and mistrust. A lot now depends on Ethiopia to earn Somali public trust and address Somali fears once and for all. Somalis, by nature, are forgiving. They react positively to reciprocity and friendship.