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It is in the headlines almost everyday. Foreign fighters, beheadings, explosions and other senseless acts of violence against the Somali people by Al-Shabab terrorists. Somalia watchers have almost become num to the violence, but for children of the soil, every report brings with it a sense of dispair followed by a memory of what once was in a land so endowed with natural beauty and wealth. To fight is human, for it to continue without end is madness. Almost all nations in their evolution have gone through some form of armed conflict be it justified or not. Lessons have been learned and shattered lives rebuilt. Not so in Somalia. When it appears to be beyond repair, it simply gets worse. Now, after all the years of civil war, after all the lives lost and all the dreams shattered, a new nightmare has emerged in the form of Al-Shabab. The beautiful blue flag hugging a bright white star at it's center has no meaning to them. Our dreams of what once was is a distant dark period for them when the masses had no faith. Al-Shabab and their masters, most of whom have never seen Somalia, look upon our beloved homeland simply as a strategically placed staging ground. A launching pad to be used along with all the people in it and they sense that they are close to making their vision come true.

 
A nomad was once asked, who is your worst enemy, the clan to the north, the one to the south, the one to the east or the one to the west. He replied by saying, "my worst enemy is like the desert sand, it shift and changes shape, never looking the same or blowing towards me from the same direction. My worst enemy is therefore the one that threatens me the most at this moment".  As it is true for the nomad, so is it true for the Somali collective. Our worst enemy is the one that threatens our collective sense of who we are the most at the moment. Our worst enemy is the force that seeks to eradicate our identity. Our worst enemy is the one most in conflict with our dignity, our nationalism and love of country. Our worst enemy is Al-Shabab and their ideological brethren.
 
As the storm clouds of the Al-Shabab henchmen stretches across our beloved homeland, we bear witness to the unmistakable recolonization of Somalia by alien forces, this time using those that speak our own language and share our lineages to do their dirty work as they pull the strings of their deadly puppets from a safe distance. It is a brutal cleansing where the graves of respected religious men are desecrated, traditions are overturned, the youth are brutalized and the elders are sidelined. As the storm spreads, it brings with it pain and suffering, brutality and enslavement and leaves in its path shattered lives, mothers left with no more tears to shed and children confused about what there faith is really all about.
 
As the storm clouds of the Al-Shabab spreads, those who fear Somalism bear a public face of concern but privately rejoice in what they see as the final elmination of nationalist fervor so great it was once thought to be unstoppable. What better set of circumstances could there be for those who fear Somalism. They merely need to sit back and watch Al-Shabab destroy Somalism before the world destroys Al-Shabab which it will. What better outcome could there be than killing to birds with one stone for them?
 
While the alien and destructive forces of Al-Shabab are sure to fail, the question is will they be stopped before them completely eliminate every last sign of Somalism, will their reign of terror be brought to an end before a whole generation of children grow up with no loyalty to our beloved blue and white flag. The question is will true patriots continue to shy away from pointing out what Al-Shabab really is as they hope in silence that this is merely a phase that some day shall pass. As the storm clouds continue to gather will we continue to watch, saying nothing out of fear of being called "un-Islamic" or a "stooge" or "agent". Since when did Al-Shabab determine who is a patriot or not. Since when did those who throw our flag to the ground become the determinants of who is a loyal son or daughter of the soil?
 
As the storm clouds of the Al-Shabab spreads, the Somali nation is slowly colonized, brutalized and cleansed of any sense of collective consciousness other than that offered by this groups of so-called "youth" executing the deadly instructions of their foreign masters. The State is threatened, the Republic is denied a rebirth. Any other group of people would recognize this as a direct threat to their homeland. They would mobilize and organize to confront this threat. They would do all within their power to protect and defend the homeland. Any other groups of people would not shy away from calling these new invaders what they are. There would be no confusion or guilt about what needed to be done. Any other groups would recognize that your brother or sister shares more than a biological link with you. They share a common identity and if they are in direct conflict with your collective identity then they are not your brother or sister. They are the brother and sister of others not of your own.
 
As the storm clouds of the Al-Shabab spreads, the nation is at a critical moment of truth. Either abandon the Somali nation forever or rise in defence of the ideals and principles that shaped its founding. The brilliant white star resting in a brilliant blue means something. It was raised for a reason. There was a logic to it. There was an aspiration behind it. There were those who shed blood and died for what it represented. There was a pride that went with it. There was a identity it gave us. There was strength associated with it's meaning.  It is for all of those reasons and more that we must do all that we can to awaken the Somali consciousness once again. We must rekindle that sense of hope and belief that despite all the despair and failures of governance that we witnessed, we can save our nation. It is still ours. We did not abandon it for others to take and do with it what they please. It still has value for us. We still love it. We are still Somali. We are still patriots and we are still one nation, free, proud and slaves to no one !!
 

 

By Samaale Omar (Somali Patriot)
The writer, Samaale Omar can be reached: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it