The single stupid event that threw Somalia into deadly clan warfare!

[Subeer]

Usually when we hear about the somali Civil war, and what started it, its the same old "somalia lost the ogaden war, which demoralized the country" but we never hear about the details regarding this demoraliziation, what cause it? Who caused it? And most importantly what was this demoralization?
Thanks to @nine who came with this website, there is a specific and stupid event carried out by Siyad Barre, and the government which was the catalyst for the gruesome tribal wars that ravaged somalia up until 2012, and still to this day some parts of somalia.

After the ogaden war when the army lost, apparently the loss was to embarrassing for the government and the foreign policy, the blame should be diverted to some other place to protect the governments reputation.

"The Somali army was short of arms and ammunitions and other supplies when, on 8 March 1978, President Siyad, to avoid a worse situation, ordered the troops to pull out, immediately, from all their positions in Ethiopia. The defeat was very demoralizing for the army and for the general public and it was attributed to the government's bad foreign policy. In many parts of the front the army abandoned military hardware and, sadly, many wounded soldiers on the enemy's soil for lack of transport. They had no fuel for their vehicles. The commanders were compelled to destroy what they could of their abandoned armaments before leaving. No survivors of the abandoned soldiers were ever reported. Besides that humiliating defeat, the high military command of the war based in Hargeisa - where General Mohamed Ali Samater, the minister of defence and commander of the army was in charge of the operations in Ogadenia - conducted barbaric executions of military officers and soldiers both inside Ethiopia and in Somalia. Many soldiers and officers were slaughtered at Jig-Jigga and Dire-Dawa fronts, and also, in Hargeisa, after the Somali troops withdrew from Ethiopia. This, on the spot murdering of innocent people, was intended to divert public attention from the government's responsibility for the defeat, and blame powerless soldiers and officers for the humiliation. Among the slaughtered were six high-ranking officers executed in Hargeisa soon after they came back from the front.

This spectrum of mismanagement, injustice and cruelty created great frustration, anger and disaccord among the high-ranking officers in the army, particularly those involved in the war. The human loss in that war is still unaccounted for. The government never published details of the nation's loss.
Having lost the war, the army was dissatisfied with the management of the war with Ethiopia. On 9 April 1978, a group of military officers, led by Colonel Mohamed Sheikh Osman (Irro) who had come frustrated from the frontline attempted to overthrow the government in Mogadishu. Colonel Osman had been a member of the high command joint-officers in Hargeisa. This coup d'etat failed, and in response, the government undertook repressive measures against army officers and civilians. Hundreds were imprisoned while 17 officers, including Col. Osman, were executed in Mogadishu, on 26 October 1978. 12 of the 17 executed officers were from Majeerten clan. Consequently, many officers and soldiers of the army fled to Kenya and from there to Ethiopia, particularly officers and soldiers from the Majeerten clan, targeted by the regime as authors of the coup.

Among those who fled from the army was Col. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, (hereafter Abdullahi Yusuf) the current president of Puntland. He came from the front, where he was the commander of the Somali army fighting in southern Ogadenia. The fleeing officers were forced to seek refuge in the country that they had fought against just a month earlier."

https://nointervention.com/archive/Africa/Somalia/peace_process_in_somalia.htm#fn1

 

[nine]

I pulled out that website to talk about USC and SNF fighting in Gedo. It was a interesting source

 

[Subeer]

I pulled out that website to talk about USC and SNF fighting in Gedo. It was a interesting source

That website was really interesting, have you read all of it.

 

[nine]

That website was really interesting, have you read all of it.

Not really since it is very long

 

[nine]

A speech presented at the

Somali Symposium at La Trobe University - Melbourne, Australia

12 May 2001

Copyright Abdirahman Mohamed (Farole)2001

 

[Deactivated]

Everyone is looking for a “Single reason”, “Single Clan”, “Single Elder”, “Single Mistake”, “Single Colonel”, “Single Department”, or “Single Neef”.

There is no single anything.

Somalis destruction is a spiderweb of intertwined events and unforeseen consequences that lead to where we are today.

Even Cambodia and Loa are still looking for their “Single” answer, as to why they haven’t recovered from their conflicts compared to other ASEAN nations.

Somalia will be a qabdaaran country with a qabdaaran economy and qabdaaran military until we can make people responsible for their gobols.

Focus on your Gobol.

“The Angles themselves have left Somalia and god knows when they will return”.

—The Unamed Geeljire.

 

[Subeer]

Everyone is looking for a “Single reason”, “Single Clan”, “Single Elder”, “Single Mistake”, “Single Colonel”, “Single Department”, or “Single Neef”.

There is no single anything.

Somalis destruction is a spiderweb of intertwined events and unforeseen consequences that lead to where we are today.

Even Cambodia and Loa are still looking for their “Single” answer, as to why they haven’t recovered from their conflicts compared to other ASEAN nations.

Somalia will be a qabdaaran country with a qabdaaran economy and qabdaaran military until we can make people responsible for their gobols.

Focus on your Gobol.

“The Angles themselves have left Somalia and god knows when they will return”.

—The Unamed Geeljire.

No, im pretty sure if SB didnt kill his own soldiers for selfish reasons, there would've no uprising and SSDF

 

[Deactivated]

No, im pretty sure if SB didnt kill his own soldiers for selfish reasons, there would've no uprising and SSDF

There we go again with the “Single” brush again.

Allah is the best planner.

 

[hindhisle]

1969, 1978, 1982, and 1986. The events of these years are what led us to the civil. The events of 1986 made the civil wat inevitable also predicted which group allies against the other. Nevetheless, barre was incompetent and should have never became a leader.

 

[DRACO]

@Comewithrealness are u in Somaliland , your on Telesom

 

[Subeer]

@Comewithrealness are u in Somaliland , your on Telesom

Yes sxb, im in hargeisa

 

[Crow]

Clan Cleansing in Somalia: The Ruinous Legacy of 1991

It was Barre’s response to this defeat that set into motion the chain of events that led to the large- scale massacres of 1979. According to Issa- Salwe, immediately after the Somali decision to withdraw in March 1978, General Maxamed Cali Samantar and his immediate subordinate General Maxamed Nuur Galaal oversaw the execution of eighty- two high military officers still in the field in Jigjiga (part of the territory they had conquered on Ethiopia), for what the regime called “their opposition to the way the war was handled.” In April 1978, partly in response to this and other executions and punishments of the very men who had fought so well in the war, a number of officers in the army committed an unsuccessful coup d’état. Perhaps so as not to have to take on the whole leadership of the coup and as a further tactic of divide- and- rule, Barre decided to present it as a “Majeerteen coup” and of the seventeen men who were put to death, all but one were of this clan background. Participants in the coup who were of other clan backgrounds were quietly separated from the latter and given prison terms. In February 1978, this, in turn, led to the establishment across the Somali border in Ethiopia of the first armed opposition against the Barre regime, the Somali Salvation Front (SSF), later called the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF). In retaliation for the establishment of this armed opposition front, the military regime exacted a nation- wide collective “punishment” from the whole group (except for informers and other individuals Barre was able to put to political use). Issa- Salwe (1996: 95–96) and Samatar (1991: 36–45) have given the most comprehensive accounts of the large- scale violations of human rights this entailed: hundreds of military officers were rounded up, the civil service was purged, and political leaders, elders, intellectuals, businessmen, religious leaders, even women, were sent to Barre’s worst prisons. In the targeted areas, students were arrested and sentenced to death or given life sentences; schools and hospitals were closed or destroyed, and commercial vessels were confiscated and trade banned. On top of this, the government— reports especially mention General Maxamed Cali Samantar, a top member of the junta— responded to the SSDF’s capture of two towns within the Somali borders at the end of June 1982 with what Issa- Salwe describes as a “scorched earth policy” (Issa- Salwe 1996: 96). This policy consisted of “destroying water reservoirs, burning 18 villages” (which he mentions by name), as well as planting land mines around the main centers and confiscating thousands of livestock, and subjected “both the urban population and nomads . . . to summary arrest, detention in squalid conditions, torture, rape, and all forms of psychological intimidation.” According to the estimates given by Issa- Salwe, more than two thousand people died, while tens of thousands of camels and other livestock were confiscated (96). Jama Mohamed Ghalib, commander of the police in 1970–1984, describes the collective violence against these civilians as follows:

The response of the regime was direct military action and punitive measures against non- combatant civilian populations throughout their clan homelands in Mudug and Nugal regions, where the capitals were Galkayu and Garowe respectively. The destruction of water reservoirs in their rural areas was total and indiscriminate. Agents would kill many dissidents by torture or direct murder without accountability. There were neither inquiries nor inquests: just remembered resentment.​

There are indications that other Somalis, both at the level of government officials and the common people, found some satisfaction in seeing this particular clan group brought low (Samatar 1988–89). The fact that a number of top officials of the earlier civilian administrations had come from this group; lingering resentments about these leading men’s proud roles in the SYL and its victories; perhaps the self- importance of some individuals; Barre’s divisive propaganda; and even the suggestion by certain party intellectuals that, in the absence of a class enemy, this clan would have to fill the slot of rijici (“reactionary”), kacaandiid (“anti- revolutionary”), and enemy of the state, all contributed to a construction of clan that served the government’s divide- and- rule policies and fed popular illusions that the misfortunes of “the” Majeerteen would— as in a zero- sum game— allow other clans to benefit from the state.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

 

[Sheikh]

1969, 1978, 1982, and 1986. The events of these years are what led us to the civil. The events of 1986 made the civil wat inevitable also predicted which group allies against the other. Nevetheless, barre was incompetent and should have never became a leader.

Rebel groups caused the Civil War.

And Jaalle Siad Barre wasn't ''incompetent'' he was an intelligent man that was the savviest ever.

Your sounding like a qaraar hater there he became a leader and he was the best leader Somalia ever had period.

Slandering the honest founding forefather of Somalia ever.

How low can you go?

 

[Subeer]

Rebel groups caused the Civil War.

And Jaalle Siad Barre wasn't ''incompetent'' he was an intelligent man that was the savviest ever.

Your sounding like a qaraar hater there he became a leader and he was the best leader Somalia ever had period.

Slandering the honest founding forefather of Somalia ever.

How low can you go?

No he wasn't sxb, killing your own soldiers for reputational gains, and divert attention is not savvy, and the main reason why the rebel group SSDF were created in first place

 

[Subeer]

@Sheikh he never ever sat down with the rebel groups and tried to find solutions, he just labeled them terriorist and brutally massacred the clans which were affialated with them.
He the main reason why MX had to fight Hawiye in the early 90s, after he massacred habr gidir villages.

 

[Hassan Garguute Buldanana]

My uncle AUN was one of the officers he executed

 

[DR OSMAN]

Rebel groups caused the Civil War.

And Jaalle Siad Barre wasn't ''incompetent'' he was an intelligent man that was the savviest ever.

Your sounding like a qaraar hater there he became a leader and he was the best leader Somalia ever had period.

Slandering the honest founding forefather of Somalia ever.

How low can you go?

Russians offered us 95% of the ogaden to keep ties healthy with them and siyad turned around and said NO, we want all ogadeniya back. Can you imagine how stupid that foreign policy is? your talking to the largest empire in the world the soviet union and your saying as a geeljire saqajan I won't take 95% and get out of my country to the Russians? Do you know Russian culture? Russian culture is about loyalty to agreements.

They gave us weapons and siyad destroyed that relationship over 5% of missing land in ogadeniya and to add insult to injury kicked their diplomats out of Somalia, the russians fired back and cut all arms supplies to Somalia and gave the go ahead to Ethiopia to begin invasion in Somalia, Ethiopia did the rest of the work hosting rebel groups while siyad was a sitting duck with dwindling supplies and no foreign partner to resupply him. Foreign policy world is like a credit card system niyahow, if u don't pay ya loan back to one bank, they black list into bad credit history and all banks stay away from you. When Siyad got black-listed for breaking agreements, all superpower nations black listed him like a bank do to loan defaulters, their argument is if you break your agreements once even just ONCE, they fear u will do the same with them also as you demonstrated you are capable of it so they don't establish ties with you and why siyad found it hard to find a weapons supplier

Siyad was terrible foreign policy wise and it's due to being a military man and not understanding the foreign landscape. You are a third world nation, you shouldn't speak to large empire as if your equal in anything but speak from a under-dog position and win points for yourself but don't speak up as if your equal because your not. He has more guns, money, alliances, client states, he owns your neighborhood at the time yemen, eritrea, ethiopia on lock down, has better levels of government capacity teams(intelligence, experts, diplomats, negiotators, so much more history to review then your sorry 20 year ass as a government 1960 to 1977)

 

[Karim]

Siad Barre had his ups and downs but some of his mistakes were irreversible and we heavily paid the price for it.
1. He arrogantly expelled the Russians without thinking of the consequences ahead.
2. He invaded Ethiopia without a reliable superpower at his side.
3. He ruthlessly tried to hold on to power when he lost the Ogaden War suppressing and literally beheading most of his army generals.
4. Bombing and mercilessly slaughtering nomadic civilians that had nothing to do with politics just to hurt his opposition leaders.
5. Being too stupid to realize that his time is up and the nation desperately needs a fresh face to lift the emotionally battered country out of darkness.
6. Not accepting defeat when the rebels took control of the capital.

 

[Subeer]

My uncle AUN was one of the officers he executed

AUN

 

[Sheikh]

Russians offered us 95% of the ogaden to keep ties healthy with them and siyad turned around and said NO, we want all ogadeniya back. Can you imagine how stupid that foreign policy is? your talking to the largest empire in the world the soviet union and your saying as a geeljire saqajan I won't take 95% and get out of my country to the Russians? Do you know Russian culture? Russian culture is about loyalty to agreements.

They gave us weapons and siyad destroyed that relationship over 5% of missing land in ogadeniya and to add insult to injury kicked their diplomats out of Somalia, the russians fired back and cut all arms supplies to Somalia and gave the go ahead to Ethiopia to begin invasion in Somalia, Ethiopia did the rest of the work hosting rebel groups while siyad was a sitting duck with dwindling supplies and no foreign partner to resupply him. Foreign policy world is like a credit card system niyahow, if u don't pay ya loan back to one bank, they black list into bad credit history and all banks stay away from you. When Siyad got black-listed for breaking agreements, all superpower nations black listed him like a bank do to loan defaulters, their argument is if you break your agreements once even just ONCE, they fear u will do the same with them also as you demonstrated you are capable of it so they don't establish ties with you and why siyad found it hard to find a weapons supplier

Siyad was terrible foreign policy wise and it's due to being a military man and not understanding the foreign landscape. You are a third world nation, you shouldn't speak to large empire as if your equal in anything but speak from a under-dog position and win points for yourself but don't speak up as if your equal because your not. He has more guns, money, alliances, client states, he owns your neighborhood at the time yemen, eritrea, ethiopia on lock down, has better levels of government capacity teams(intelligence, experts, diplomats, negiotators, so much more history to review then your sorry 20 year ass as a government 1960 to 1977)

What you wrote is quite interesting.

95% wasn't bad. He just wanted the other 5%.

And plus Jaalle Siad Barre had Somali pride at that time.

He hated foreign people.

It was either his way or the highway.

I respect that.