Last week I wrote a post on ending Somali piracy by recognizing Somaliland if they’d agree to offer us a base agreement. I got quite a bit of feedback, so I thought I’d go a bit deeper.
Why does Somali piracy matter to the US?
Here’s a quote from Osama bin Laden about our last failure in Somalia, “We believe that America is much weaker than Russia, and we have learned from our brothers who fought in the jihad in Somalia of the incredible weakness and cowardice of the American soldier. Not even eighty of them had been killed and they fled in total darkness in the middle of the night, unable to see a thing.” The same thing is being said by our enemies across the world right now. Every day in which “rule of law” means others can break the rules with impunity in tricky legal areas is a day in which it’s harder to convince others to abide by it. If we can’t stop aggression in the Gulf of Aden what will we do in the Strait of Hormuz?
Why would we want to locate another base so close to the one we already have in Djibouti?
I’m going to answer this question with this map from the cold war (ok, the country lines are current, but you can imagine). The red countries indicate countries with US bases in the cold war (I got the list from Embattled Garrisons). You’ll notice two lines of bases; we put bases near the same area because we wanted to project force to that area (click to expand).
I’m inclined to say that the US should, for three reasons.
- Somaliland is a functioning, moderate Islamic democracy. The US is dying to find examples of this, so it only makes sense that we should recognize one that developed naturally.
- Unlike Kosovo or Abkhazia, Somaliland doesn’t really have enemies (outside, perhaps, of the failed Somali state with no allies), so it shouldn’t be hard to get great power consensus over recognition.
- We sort of owe it to them. In October, 2008, the first American Islamic suicide bomber (that I know of), and four other bombers attacked the presidential palace, UN offices, and other targets, killing 19 people. If those attacks were Somaliland’s 9/11, then we were their Saudi Arabia. (Even though that link makes my point, I have to say that it does seem to be hyperbole.)
That being said, I think we can make a deal for recognition, so I think we should. Of course there is the whole Treaty of Berlin, borders are sacred movement, but since Somaliland was an independent country, it shouldn’t be too controversial (but then, so was Panama, and its recognition caused quite a stir a century ago, but that’s a story for another day).
Won’t it still be terrible for the rest of Somalia?
Nemo at Entropic Memes phrased this eloquently, saying, “the rest of what is now Somalia - the lawless hellhole areas with no economy to speak of - would devolve still further into chaos and anarchy and disorder.” That is a good point. (Click here to read the whole post, it’s excellent and includes some invaluable links.) Unfortunately, I don’t know what to do for them. We tried, we failed. I wish I could think up a plan for the rest of Somalia (if you have one, please say so in the comments). In the mean time, I don’t think that this point means we shouldn’t make life a bit better for Somalilanders if we have the means, and I think we do.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Overall, a good case for Somaliland, although I disagree a bit with the third point.
The majority of the suicide bombers who attacked Somaliland came from Southern Somalia and were alleged members of the designated terrorist group Al-Shabaab - who now control most of Southern Somalia. So unlike Saudi Arabia - who provided 15 of the 19 terrorist attackers in the 9/11 attacks - only 1 of the five suicide bombers was American.
This indicates that Al-Shabaab would have had no problems recruiting within Somalia itself, its just that they preferred to bring an American citizen into it.
But as a Somalilander myself, I have no choice but to hope that the overall logic of what you have written is heard and given consideration to at the right places.
As for Somalia, the new government that was recently elected seems to have great promise in bringing peace and stability to the country- unlike previous administrations.
The only worry is that since the president and a sizable portion of the parliament - 200 of 550 - were formerly members of the Islamic Courts Union party, they could be detrimental to the hope of a democratic and moderate state of Somalia ever becoming a reality.
“Should we recognize Somaliland even without a base?” Give me a break, the USA government created the mess that is going on in Mogadishu now and know you want to advocate another one. Let Africa be Africa my friend.
“Should we recognize Somaliland even without a base?” Give me a break, the USA government created the mess that is going on in Mogadishu now and now you want to advocate another one. Let Africa be Africa my friend.