Talk:Mohamed Farrah Aidid

message: This article contains misleading comments about the U.N which don't tally with scholarly accounts I'm currently reading. Once I figure out how to cite properly in Wikipedia I might come and correct it but in the meantime anyone with more ability should consider adding the fact that the UN actually left Somalia in Dec 1990 when it looked like the Siad Barre government was falling, and didn't take any action until 1992. 
130.216.163.4 (talk) 03:40, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Inaccuracies 

message: Ok, since I'm the one making a big deal out of this, I'll spell it out.  This man should not be referred to as a General.  He was not the leader of a formal military with a command structure.  "But he called himself a General..." - so what?  I can't make myself a "General" but calling myself one, why should he?
It takes years of work and sacrifice to attain that rank, regardless of whatever country's military an individual might be in.  Giap (North Vietnam) was a General.  Zhukov (Soviet Russia) was a General.  Powell (U.S.) was a General.  Aidid was not.
By naming Aidid as a General, Wikipedia is taking a position on the man's status.
Equinox137 08:56, 17 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: While I understand your POV, he is genarlly recognized as general. He proclaimed himself president and nobody is disputing that title as well. He served in military to some extent and held some important positions in governments as well. There can be disscussion about legality of his positions. Although it will be hard to argue against his rank because at least his faction (and international community/press) recognized it. Somalia is failed state with fractions fighting one another, we need to recognize each one of them and treat them as neutrally as possible.--Pethr 18:32, 17 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Generally recognized by whom?  What military (aside from the Habr Gadir clan) did he serve in?  All the article says is that he served in Barre's government, ultimately as intelligence chief...nothing about military service.  What press outlet called this man a "general"?  I know CNN didn't. I stand by my original position.  By recognizing this name as a "general", Wikipedia is taking a POV. Either "general" needs to come out, or a POV tag needs to go in. Equinox137 00:41, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I know CNN did.    You may add something about his military rank beeing disputed (you can even make it section if you like)if you have any source for such claim, otherwise I will revert your changes again. Please find some credible source that says he couldn't be general.--Pethr 02:40, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

text: The word General doesn't need to be on every second line. When we will settle a bit here, I will revert it and rewrite the article a bit. You'd be wecomed to do so as well but please use more sources than you did so far. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Pethr (talk • contribs) 02:45, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm good with that.  I'll be looking for your revision.  Thanks. Equinox137 03:18, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: You're welcome. I somewhat feel you've got point but you need to dip into it deeper for it becoming fact. Unfortunately there is very little information available which makes it really hard to know something about his military carier. It's likely that he made himself general of some fraction and media jumped on it, but this is pure speculation. I'm reverting hoping to get back to this article soon.--Pethr 03:37, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Maybe the lack of info on his military career, if one existed, should be noted??? Equinox137 06:16, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  General??? 

message: Regarding recent edits: So, was Aidid a Hawiye or Habr Gidr? Why would this be disputed? Is there a source for either assertion? -- Gyrofrog  (talk) 19:51, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: It turns out the Mark Bowden reference (specifically, this page mentions that Aidid was a Habr Gidr member (the leader, in fact). The text could probably use an in-line citation for this particular fact, so as to avoid this confusion in the future.  However, I don't think the introductory paragraph (much less the first sentence), from a stylistic point-of-view, should have citations, so I'm thinking this would need to be re-written (otherwise I would have added the citation myself; right now I don't have the time nor energy for such a rewrite, sorry). -- Gyrofrog  (talk) 04:44, 10 December 2005 (UTC)

text: P.S. I've removed the "Attention" tag from the top of the article. -- Gyrofrog  (talk) 04:51, 10 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Clan affiliation 

message: The intro says he died 1 august - then lower down it says 2 august - can't both be right.
:It's not. I just watched the movie and it said 2 August 1996 was when the warlord died. -- Fiver2552 03:12, 10 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Is this really conclusive? Then the article should be modified for consistency (for it still says August 1st at one point and 2nd elsewhere). Cheers, Ouro (blah blah) 08:46, 3 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Date of death 

message: In the biography section it reads:
"The United States withdrew its forces soon afterwards (a move viewed by some as a sign of weakening American strength on the international front)"
Who are "some"? I'm going to delete the section in brackets because it looks like P.O.V. to me. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Stewiegriffin76 (talk • contribs) 04:01, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I believe you can cite Osama bin Laden's view of American weakness after the Battle of Mogadishu. However, it should be a clear citation. --Petercorless 06:17, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Weasel Words 

message: I'm not here to quibble about whether or not he did or didn't fill a specific office, but about the inconsistency in the article of "claiming" to be President of Somalia in the body of the article and having him listed as President in the side-bar. I can't even correct this because I don't know which it was. If he was President, the fact that he claimed to be so is moot. I'll bet Ronald Reagan claimed to be President, too. But if his claim is in dispute, then you can't cite it as fact in the sidebar, as not everyone who glances as the brief facts therein is going to read the whole article.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Briantw (talk • contribs) 22:19, 23 January 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I have deleted references to him being President for consistency with List of Presidents of Somalia.Alekksandr (talk) 13:38, 6 October 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Claiming or Being? 

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*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120503221634/http://www.wardheernews.com/Articles_2011/Oct/29_Brothers_in_Army_abdul.pdf to http://wardheernews.com/Articles_2011/Oct/29_Brothers_in_Army_abdul.pdf
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120503221634/http://www.wardheernews.com/Articles_2011/Oct/29_Brothers_in_Army_abdul.pdf to http://wardheernews.com/Articles_2011/Oct/29_Brothers_in_Army_abdul.pdf
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090716002145/http://www.h-net.org/~africa/confrpt/marcus.html to http://www.h-net.org/~africa/confrpt/marcus.html
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20060310232123/http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9608/02/aideed/ to http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9608/02/aideed/
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20000823015753/http://www.usafa.af.mil/jscope/JSCOPE00/Lutz00.html to http://www.usafa.af.mil/jscope/JSCOPE00/Lutz00.html
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thread_title:  External links modified