Somalia and the Question of Foreign Fighters

On this morning, I learned of the fact that the Ethiopian armed forces have been re-deployed in central Somalia. By all accounts, the Ethiopian army has taken the Kala-Beyr Junction, a strategic location in the Hiiraan province of Somalia. This news does not come as surprise to me, for I know that the so-called President Shariif—and his shameful phantom government—are prepared to do anything in order to remain inside Villa Somalia.

Having been comprehensively beaten, in military terms, during the past week of fighting inside Mogadishu, the fatally discredited TFG shamelessly depends upon foreign troops—including the brutally racist soldiers of the Ethiopian federation—for its very survival. With this in mind, I would like to examine the claim that foreign fighters can be found amongst the ranks of the armed opposition inside Somalia.

There are varying estimates, with respect to the actual number of foreign fighters who are actively engaged in the battles against the perfidious TFG forces inside Somalia. Conservative estimates put the number at approximately 200 men, and extreme estimates seem to suggest that there are 350 foreign fighters currently fighting in support of the Al Shabab group and their allies. I am prepared to accept the notion that these numbers are entirely plausible. One cannot deny that it is quite possible for foreign fighters to find their way to Somalia in order to do battle against the forces of neo-colonial oppression.

What I find truly remarkable is the brazen hypocrisy of the Western world with respect to the concept of foreign fighter. Let us begin with the example of the British army, with respect to its use of foreign fighters. During the illustrious history of the British army, one is able to identify many instances of the British employing foreign fighters in order to satisfy their military objectives. One can speak of the King’s African Rifles, during the time of the British Empire, and say many a dark skinned individual has carried arms in the service of the British Crown. Even in the present day, it is quite obvious that the British army cannot do without the Ghurka soldiers who famously come from the mountainous country of Nepal.

Let us now discuss the habits of the modern American military hierarchy, with respect to the use of foreign fighters in the furtherance of American national interests. One only has to look at the thousands of mercenaries—currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan—who hail from far flung places such as Croatia, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, South Africa, Poland, Guatemala, and The Philippines just to name a few. Indeed, by definition an empire is an entity capable of drawing its fighters from the many nations under both its political and military influence.

Now let us return to the question of foreign fighters currently operating inside Somalia. When one puts aside the unreasonable—and frankly ridiculous assertions of the US Department of State, the UNPOS, and the AU—it is easy to see that the vast majority of the foreign fighters currently inside Somalia are there as a result of a neo-colonial scheme designed to deprive the Somali nation of its God given right to national self-determination. I state, for the benefit of all Somali people, that the foreign fighters who are most unwelcome inside Somalia are the 4300 AMISOM soldiers who currently protect the illegitimate and monstrous TFG of the so-called President Shariif.

The only foreign fighters—to my knowledge—causing the Somali nation a great deal for suffering are the thousands of Ethiopian soldiers who periodically make incursions into the Somali national territory. Such military incursions are not only illegitimate but they are brazen acts of state sponsored terrorism on the part of the so-called great powers of this world. The so-called President Shariif manifestly serves the nefarious interests of the so-called International Community—a conspiratorial fringe group in this world which is led by an Anglo-Saxon elite—and, in doing so, he seeks to eliminate the political freedom of the Somali nation.

Finally, let us say that there really are 500 foreign fighters amongst the ranks of the Somali Mujahidin who oppose the shameless puppet President, currently hiding inside the AMISOM tanks of Villa Somalia. Let us assume that these men have been accepted as brothers by the men who spent much of the past two years fighting the Ethiopian army inside Somalia. Let us assume that, as honoured guests, these men have come to understand the political motives of the armed opposition inside Somalia. Can any person, with a modicum of intelligence, describe such men as anything other than noble and constant friends of the Somali nation?

On the other hand, let it be remembered that the so-called President of the Somali TFG—Shariif Axmed—was enjoying the comforts of a Djiboutian hotel whilst the true defenders of Mogadishu were engaged in daily battles against the Ethiopian invaders during the past 2 years. The TFG of Somalia—a shameless entity with a rotten membership composed of former warlords—cannot be a credible judge of character, and the assertions of the TFG which state that foreign fighters are somehow bad people is indeed laughable.

I urge the so-called President of the TFG, and all members of the disgraceful transitional federal parliament to resign their posts immediately. These people have brought the name of the Somali nation into disrepute, and they must be made to pay for their crimes. With the help of the Almighty, we shall overcome this awful stain upon our good name. Somalia is worth far more than what the so-called band of donor nations, of the International Community, is offering the TFG of Somalia for their treachery.