Somalia, French Military Trainers, and the Utopia of Wilsonian idealism

It would appear, on this day, a couple of French military trainers have been taken from their hotel—the Saxafi in Mogadishu—at gun point. I would imagine that the people in question were taken, very much against their will I suspect, by a group of unknown gunmen.

There is something odd, to my mind, about the idea of French military trainers being present in Mogadishu at this precise moment in time. Firstly, it would appear that the Frenchmen in question had checked into their hotel whilst masquerading as journalists—what were they expecting to gain by concealing their true purpose in Somalia? Secondly, there are daily battles being fought by heavily armed adversaries inside the city of Mogadishu—to whom were these Frenchmen to provide military training? Thirdly, the AMISOM troops inside Mogadishu are described as professional soldiers—why would they require military training at the hands of European military personnel? Perhaps the situation inside Mogadishu, in purely military terms, has developed into something which is beyond the capabilities of the AMISOM soldiers?

These are all interesting questions, and perhaps we shall never really know what the true purpose of these men could be. All we know for certain is that the combined forces of the AMISOM contingent and the diabolical TFG of Somalia shall have to find another source of military training for the time being.

Rather interestingly, the President of the United States of America, in his recent address to the Ghanaian parliament, seems to believe that the ideas of his predecessor—President Woodrow Wilson—hold sway on the African continent. The idea of universal humanitarian law, as defined by a benevolent United States of America, can reshape human societies—for the better—throughout the world is nothing more than a broken utopian dream. Furthermore, with respect to the African continent, the era of plunder by European colonialists, and their cousins from the New World is firmly over. I would like to remind people that the change of a political leader is nothing more than the happiness of fools. America, if it wishes to enforce the laws which underpin President Woodrow Wilson’s utopian dream, is wasting both its time and its treasure: This is a battle that cannot be won.

I would like to add that European colonialism, in its new form, is Wilsonian legalism by its nature. Not so long ago, a serving African head of state, in the shape of Al-Bashir of Sudan, had been indicted by a European court which has been fallaciously rebranded as the International Criminal Court. The idea that international law, in addition to international finance, can be administered from either New York City or The Hague is an example of racist hubris at best, and part of a diabolical neo-colonial scheme at worst. Just today I witnessed the outrageous show trial of Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia. This type of thing is quite disgraceful. There must come a time when the people of the so-called third world nations learn to define, for themselves, how important their own laws and customs are in the face of such shameless neo-colonialist aggression.

With respect to the Somali national territory, I am of the opinion that the only law that matters is that of the Almighty creator. It cannot be a coincidence that the shameful concept of liberal interventionism was developed in the twin capital cities of Washington D.C. and London. We must remember that Islamic law, as set down by Allah, and not the utopian ideals of Wilsonian inspired neo-colonialism, is what the people of Somalia must protect in the face of this regrettably misguided foreign aggression which is directed against them at the present time.