Somalia And Anarchy

Selected excerpts from Somalia And Anarchy by Jim Davis:

In 1991, the Democratic Republic of Somalia ceased to exist. The dictator, Siad Barré, was overthrown. His government was removed from power, and no successor government was installed in its place. Taxes ceased to be collected. Regulatory agencies ceased to regulate. Payments on the dictator’s foreign debt ceased to be made. And there was much rejoicing.

During the course of the celebrations that followed, radio stations in Mogadishu broadcast the message that nobody was certain what to do next, so it might be a good idea if everyone returned to the villages and towns and cities from whence they came. A great many did.

Since that time, thirteen different “peace conferences” have attempted to create a new government for all of Somalia. Thus far, all of them have failed. The UN and the USA were unsuccessful in their nation-building efforts in 1992–1995, and, although they destroyed thousands of Somali lives, and spent many American lives and much treasure, still, no Somalia-spanning government is collecting taxes, enforcing regulations, imprisoning and torturing dissidents, or doing any of those things for which vast, central governments are known. Since 1991, the principals of Awdal Roads Company have been investigating, and since July 2000 actively pursuing business opportunities in the region.

Warlords

I find the idea of Somalia as a place mediated by warlords to be an odd concept. In this turn of phrase, I’m not sure what “mediated” is meant to convey. There are a lot of mainstream journalist articles which use the term “warlords” in connection with the half dozen or more groups with militia units in Mogadishu. Warlord is a term that could apply to a shogun in 18th Century Japan or an Indian chieftain in 19th Century Montana. General Norman Schwarzkopf, at the height of the Persian Gulf war of 1991, could have been called a warlord. He wasn’t, though, because the term is deliberately insulting.

The cultural difference among the various people who could legitimately be called warlords is so great that I don’t feel the term has any useful meaning. It does appear in a lot of tripe that passes for mainstream media coverage, but as George Carlin notes in his delightful book Napalm & Silly Putty, we call the mainstream a stream because it is way too shallow to be considered a river.

I don’t think there are any warlords in Somalia. There are war leaders, or militia leaders, in various parts of Somalia. People who defend their homes often organize militias; it is done in places as gentile as Switzerland, Texas, and Israel. You find that the mainstream media tends to call the leaders of these militia “officers” in countries other than Somalia. Very often, the elders of a community choose a war leader or officer, and he chooses his lieutenants and subordinates. He provides leadership, until the crisis is past or until another officer is chosen to replace him, or until he dies. Calling him a warlord and calling his lieutenants “henchmen” doesn’t further a discussion of these issues.

Goatherds, Land Ownership, Oil Companies, and the State

Are there goatherds who own land that mineral deposits are found upon? Yes. In Somali culture, land is owned by sub-clans, which in Scottish culture are called septs. A group of septs forms a clan, a group of clans form a great clan, and a group of great clans is part of a larger lineage group. All Somalis are related by common descent. So, in addition to goatherds who own land, one may find university professors, doctors, lawyers, sheiks, and businessmen who own land.

Land in town tends to be subdivided, and individual homeowners and business owners have ownership of homes and manage particular shops. Houses and shops are also leased. There is some evidence that other forms of lease structure would be acceptable under traditional forms of Somali customary law.

There were a number of multinational companies which were interested in oil and natural gas in Somalia during the 1980s. Chevron, British Petroleum, Conoco, and Sinclair are among the majors who were drilling in the north part of Somalia. The last of these companies left the region in 1992. Various documents I’ve seen indicate that the last of their exploration leases expired in 1999, while the dictatorship with which they seemed comfortable doing business was expired in 1991.

I’ve approached various individuals associated with the major oil companies. Their position seems to be that it isn’t possible to convince their legal departments that individuals can govern their own interests. The ideas of ad hoc government and self government expressed in bodies of tradition and law such as the Xeer Samaron do not seem to be the sort of thing multinational corporation lawyers want to educate themselves upon. Perhaps that would be an area for some corporate law types to investigate further.

A typical discussion on this subject took place in December 2000 in Holland. The corporate law expert and the petroleum development expert expressed the opinion that none of the majors would touch the resources in Awdal unless there were a Western-style government imposing taxes, exercising eminent domain, providing security forces (police, military) at taxpayer expense (rather than at oil company expense), and offering a “mining law” that guaranteed the distribution of the “take” between the oil company and the government. The notion that anyone but a government could own property or contract for a mineral exploration or production leases seemed difficult to convey. I also found the use of the phrase “in civilized countries” to be frequent and offensive. (I’m of the opinion that followers of socialistic systems of coercion who willingly subvert private interests for the sake of obedience are not civilized, and never have been.)

Subsequently, however, we have had considerable interest expressed by professionals in the mining industry who don’t work for the staid, multinational dinosaurs. So, it may be possible for landowners in Awdal, the people who live there, to see some development of their mining resources take place without going to the all the difficulties inherent in forming a huge, bureaucratically inept, powerful, dominating, and obedience-commanding “state.”

Assuming that a company, let’s say a small Texas wildcat firm, wanted to go to Awdal and extract, say, tantalum, here’s how I would suggest they go about it. They would need to be introduced to some people in Awdal. My company can do that, and so can some others. They would need to understand the area by visiting it, look at some of the documentation that supports the presence of tantalum, and then go about identifying the exact places they think are prospective of tantalum. Satellite imagery may be helpful in this regard, and there have been geologists who have done considerable fieldwork in Awdal. In fact, I met one, trained in the UK, who had come from Mogadishu in 1991 with a very interesting report on tantalum deposits all over Awdal. I’d be happy to make introductions among interested parties.

Anarchy

As for anarchy, I don’t think you'll find it there. I’m not an anarchist, by the way, but a propertarian, which is a freedom-oriented philosophy concentrating on private property as the fundamental from which all other freedom derives. Of course, I have been called an anarcho-capitalist without voicing any complaint.

Certainly, among the nomads of Somalia, you won’t find anarchy. Kropotkin would be proud of the way individual nomads and their families defend property in grazing lands, wells, and livestock. Bakunin, too, perhaps. Out in the field, you won’t find many representatives of government. You’ll find people everywhere, even in the vast Guban desert. You'll find self-government, communities of related interests, families, and clans. You'll find elders, leaders, and people concerned about their future. You'll find children who are well-cared for, with very little evidence of coercion in their raising. The land has a natural beauty which you might find delightful.

Modern notions of wealth don't inspire me. Modernism is an empty philosophy which tied itself, early on, to "scientific socialism" and other nonsense. Postmodernism hasn't always been much better.

Firstly, I am Somali and think most of the original post was spot on.

I was born in Somalia when the civil war started and will comment on things through information brought down to me by my parents and elders.

Yes, regarding Uranium in Somalia. It was a well known fact that during America’s stint in Somalia, that American forces went into regions that were known to have Uranium and mined for it. At the time, people didn’t think much of it since they were focused on escaping the situation. I cannot 100% confirm if this is truth. But those in Somalia at time can testify to this claim.

I don’t know if anyone in these forums has an interest in Somalia, however the situation is heating up. I am not talking about the battle in the capital for control but rather the interesting developments in Northern regions regarding minerals.

The new force will be equipped with 120 new pickup trucks — which have already arrived — and six small aircraft for patrolling the coast, Farole said. No other force in Somalia, including the Mogadishu-based central government or African Union peacekeepers, has air assets.

hosted2.ap.org...

This is direct violation of UN resolution in Somalia yet no one makes any noise about

It is estimated that 1 region alone within Puntland has 15 billion barrels of Oil. This is not including the whole Somalia. Puntland government is being funded by Kuwait and they have received everything from technicals to aircrafts, they use piracy as the excuse, but the region they are fighting is nowhere near the heart land of piracy which is Eyl. The leader of Puntland is from the same sub clan as the pirates.

The fighting which has occurred and will most likely recurred in where the Oil deposits are found. Pirates are nowhere near the Oil.

Also within the Ogaden, Somali region in Ethiopia, the government is forcing 200,000 to move within 5 months to continue Oil exploration which has been disrupted by ONLF forces in the region, which Ethiopia claims Arabs/Egypt are supporting the armed rebel group

reply to post by Unstable


Yes, from what I can tell, whatever chaos is still occurring within Somalia is due to in large part to foreign countries injecting themselves into the region for resource control.

I know some western corporations have come to the conclusion that property rights are largely stable in the region. I know Coke is planning on opening a new bottling plant there soon since they realized that the lack of a State makes for great growth potential.

They don't have to worry about the State confiscating their plant or taxing/regulating them to death.

Hopefully the Somali's will continue on in this state of anarchy - prosperity will soon follow if they can keep the foreign governments out.

I have forgotten to mention more fighting happening in a region called Galmudug.

The story behind the fighting in that there is a Cadaan man or White/Jewish guy in the region. He is paying his own Somali militia money; it was estimated at 200,000 dollars. He is conducting Oil/mineral exploration in the region right now and fighting has resumed between tribes over the land,

It hard to produce links and sources since Somali news doesn’t always document these cases, since the militia won’t allow it

Originally posted by Unstable
Firstly, I am Somali and think most of the original post was spot on.

I was born in Somalia when the civil war started and will comment on things through information brought down to me by my parents and elders.

Yes, regarding Uranium in Somalia. It was a well known fact that during America’s stint in Somalia, that American forces went into regions that were known to have Uranium and mined for it. At the time, people didn’t think much of it since they were focused on escaping the situation. I cannot 100% confirm if this is truth. But those in Somalia at time can testify to this claim.

I don’t know if anyone in these forums has an interest in Somalia, however the situation is heating up. I am not talking about the battle in the capital for control but rather the interesting developments in Northern regions regarding minerals.

The new force will be equipped with 120 new pickup trucks — which have already arrived — and six small aircraft for patrolling the coast, Farole said. No other force in Somalia, including the Mogadishu-based central government or African Union peacekeepers, has air assets.

hosted2.ap.org...

This is direct violation of UN resolution in Somalia yet no one makes any noise about

It is estimated that 1 region alone within Puntland has 15 billion barrels of Oil. This is not including the whole Somalia. Puntland government is being funded by Kuwait and they have received everything from technicals to aircrafts, they use piracy as the excuse, but the region they are fighting is nowhere near the heart land of piracy which is Eyl. The leader of Puntland is from the same sub clan as the pirates.

The fighting which has occurred and will most likely recurred in where the Oil deposits are found. Pirates are nowhere near the Oil.

Also within the Ogaden, Somali region in Ethiopia, the government is forcing 200,000 to move within 5 months to continue Oil exploration which has been disrupted by ONLF forces in the region, which Ethiopia claims Arabs/Egypt are supporting the armed rebel group

Your not somali. I can tell by the way you word things IN TERMS OF 2ND PARTY. Citizen jo american behind the computer. Ever heard of cheynee. Am i getting warm. wiki leak.

Originally posted by nite owl

Your not somali. I can tell by the way you word things IN TERMS OF 2ND PARTY. Citizen jo american behind the computer. Ever heard of cheynee. Am i getting warm. wiki leak.



I am Somali, trust me,

I don’t know how I can prove my Somalinmo online for ATS,


Why would I lie over such a insignificant thing

And now we have the UN saying that Iran 'tried to get uranium by arming Somalia'

www.telegraph.co.uk...