From: odin@world.std.com (Hank Roth)
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
Subject: AK47s & M16s
Date: 18 Dec 92 20:22:38 GMT
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Organization: ?
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu

<<< via P_news/p.news >>>
{From SOCIALIST WORKER, December 1992}
"HALF THE 12-YEAR-OLDS HAVE AK-47S AND THE OTHERS 
HAVE M-16S" 
 
THE TRAGEDY unfolding in Somalia is not one of 
natural causes like draught. 
 
Somalia has escaped the extreme draught that 
affects other areas of Africa. 
 
Last year, Somalia grew enough food to feed its 
people. Even now, some food is being exported to 
Kenya and Mozambique by various armed factions. 
 
Behind the unequal food distribution stands a 
barbaric war which has its origins in superpower 
intervention. 
 
SOMALIA, LIKE ITS NEIGHBOR, THIOPIA, HAS BEEN A 
POLITICAL FOOTBALL---KICKED AROUND BY THE 
SUPERPOWERS AS THEY MANUEVERED FOR ADVANTAGE IN 
THE COLD WAR. 
 
As a colonial plundering ground for Italy and 
Britain prior to independence in 1960, 
Somaliland, was left ill-prepared to compete in a 
world dominated by the market. 
 
Furthermore, the system of government that the 
colonial powers forced on their colonies in this 
region was designed to serve colonial rule and 
not independence. Divisions between tribes and 
regions were encouraged by the colonial 
exploiters. 
 
For nearly a decade after independence, Somalia 
was governed by a corrupt regime. 
 
In 1969, Gen. Mohammed Siad Barre overthrew this 
regime and immediately began looking for backers 
among the world's economic powers. 
 
Because the economy was so devastated, Barre had 
little time to waste. The U.S. had already cut 
off aid because Somali registered ships were 
delivering goods to North Vietnam during that 
country's war against the U.S. 
 
Barre declared Somalia to be a "Marxist state" 
and applied for recognition and aid from the 
USSR. 
 
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE
 
The strategic importance of Somalia brought 
immediate attention from a Soviet Union eager to 
establish a base of influence in this part of the 
world. 
 
Located between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, 
Somalia's strategic value to the USSR could not 
be ignored. A base here would counter the U.S.'s  
influence in neighboring Ethiopia. 
 
In exchange for access to the port of Berbera in 
the northern part of the country, the USSR helped 
Barre build a large, well-armed military. Such 
aid in the midst of poverty helped Barre hold 
power for 21 years. 
 
In the twists and turns of the Cold War, 
alliances shifted. 
 
In 1977, the U.S. abandoned Ethiopia as civil war 
drove the regime there toward the USSR in its 
search for arms. 
 
Ethiopia's new alliance required the USSR to 
abandon the Somalis, who opposed the expansionist 
aims of the Addis Ababa regime. 
 
WHEN THE USSR QUIT, THE U.S. RUSHED TO TAKE ITS 
PLACE. BY THE END OF 1980 A MILITARY BASE WAS 
ESTABLISHED AT BERBERA SUPPORTING BOMBERS AND 
NUCLEAR SUBMARINES. 
 
The fact that the regime of Gen. Barre remained 
with all its repressive brutality did not bother 
either superpower. Barre's army controlled the 
country through terror. 
 
His regime killed 12 percent of the population 
and drove another 1.5 million epople into exile. 
 
Under Barre's self-proclaimed "scientific 
socialism" and then again under "free market 
capitalism" and then again under "free market 
capitalism" strikes were illegal. 
 
Once the Cold War ended, Somalia's strategic 
importance became secondary to other U.S. 
interests. Maintaining the Barre regime was no 
longer considered a priority for U.S. 
policymakers. 
 
  ABANDONED THE COUNTRY 
 
As the internal oposition to Barre increased, the 
U.S. abandoned the country. Somalia became 
trapped in a cycle of civil war and poverty. 
 
The regime fell in January 1991, but all the 
problems still remained. The situation was 
characterized by poverty, tribal divisions and 
bands of young men armed to the teeth by years of 
superpower meddling. 
 
HALF THE 12-YEAR-OLDS WHO SHOOT EACH OTHER IN 
MOGADISHU HAVE RUSSIAN AK-47S. tHE OTHER HALF 
HAVE U.S. M-16S. 
 
The legacy of colonialism and big power 
maneuvering has produced a situation today that 
threatens 4.5 million people with death through 
war or starvation. 
 
That is why the solution being proposed by the 
big powers who sit under the umbrella of the UN 
makes no sense. To pour more arms into a country 
already devastated by war and hunger, only serves 
interests outside Somalia. 
 
Even if UN intervention were a solution, the 
delay in implementing its plan must be viewed as 
criminal. For 10 months the UN did nothing to 
distribute food. 
 
It is still debating the best way to accomplish 
what it agreed to do months ago. 
 
The U.S. pledged 146,000 tons of food. By 
October, it had only sent 300 tons. The 
government officials in charge of distribution 
attributed the delay to bookkeeping problems that 
would disappear once the new fiscal year began. 
 
In other words, people starve to keep the ledgers 
in order. 
 
SLOW FOOD DISTRIBUTION
 
Another excuse for the slow food distribution is 
the lack of ships and other transport. 
 
Compare that to the speedy assembly of the armada 
that prepared for the Gulf War slaughter. Only a 
fraction of that effort would be needed to feed 
the starving Somalis. 
 
Somalia needs food, food that is available in the 
warehouses of the rich nations. The faster it can 
flow into the country the better. 
 
With food so scarce, it has replaced currency as 
a barter mechanism for other needs. The more free 
food available the less it can be used as a 
weapon against innocent people. 
 
WHILE WESTERN GOVERNMENTS MANUEVER, SET UP 
BLOCKADES AND PREPARE FOR MILITARY ACTIN IN 
BOSNIA, THEIR EFFORTS IN SOMALIA ARE LESS THAN 
PITIFUL. THEIR SOLUTION OF ARMED INTERVENTION 
WILL ONLY PROLONG THE TRAGEDY. 
 
As a banner carried by protesters in Somalia last 
August argued, "FOREIGN ARMY NO, FOOD YES." 
 
Aid workers warn that an unwanted show of force 
could make a bad situation worse by united armed 
factions. 
 
What is now an internal fight for survival by 
controlling the food supply could turn into a 
wider shooting war with outside armies. 
 
Somalia does not need more guns. It should be 
given all the food its ports can handle. 
Eliminating scarcity would stop the desperate 
fight for survival which fuels the civil war. 
 
A fraction of the billion dollars a day spent in 
the Gulf War could put a stop to the horror in 
this plundered country. 
 
---------------------------------------------
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Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive