"In the Valley of Death: Somaliland’s Forgotten Genocide" Topic

"n a hot and humid June afternoon, a group of boys wearing FC Barcelona jerseys kicked around a soccer ball in the Malko-Durduro, a dry seasonal river on the outskirts of Hargeisa, the capital of the breakaway territory of Somaliland. At first glance, the flat, red earth of the riverbed made for a typical improvised pitch in this arid region. But recent heavy rains had exposed what had earned the area the moniker "the Valley of Death." Around them, human bones protruded from the ground. But these kids had grown up playing soccer surrounded by skeletal remains; they hardly noticed them.

Between 1987 and 1989, the regime of Somali dictator Siad Barre massacred an estimated 200,000 members of the Isaaq tribe, the largest clan group in the northwest part of Somalia. At the time, some Isaaqs were fighting for independence, and to eliminate the threat, Barre tried to exterminate all of them. Experts now say there are more than 200 mass graves in Somaliland, most of them in the Valley of Death…."
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Amicalement
Armand

Add that to a number incidents like that that have occurred in that region and thru out Africa, the Mid East and the new states of the former Yugoslavia …

Sadly true….

Amicalement
Armand

Yugoslav 'genocides' got worldwide attention.

For some reason when the perpetrators were white Christians and the victims Muslims it had major traction. Similarly when South Africa and Rhodesia had their troubles…

Africans of whatever persuasion persecuting othe Africans for whatever reason are footnotes…

True … but a lot of that depends on what the media wants to cover. We remember the continuing very sad news feeds of the starving children of Somali. So in @ '93 the US, UN, etc., sent more aid and military forces there. We know how that turned out.

And the US for one still has forces there trying to help the local forces hunt down AS, etc. So the tragedies and horrors continue … What is that saying about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result ?

Maybe they should have stayed under British protection. After they got their independence they experimented with "Scientific Socialism" with the help of the Russians. Things went downhill from there.

They became another victim of the Cold War in the struggle between the West and Communism with both sides sponsoring their chosen warlord and pumped cash into a failed infrastructure system that could not support their population. With the Cold War over the West did not need them anymore so they pretty much abandoned them.

Since they had no navy to protect their shores and fisheries multi-national industrial level fishing stripped their waters of fish. Socialist central planning failed and the people starved, severe droughts didn't help either.

Moral of the story: Be self-sustainable, don't take candy from strangers and don't believe in fairy tales (Socialism).

Wolfhag

Wolf do you own a pith helmet ?

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Legion,
No, I own a golden jeweled crown. Pith helmets are for commoners.

Wolfhag

LOL !!!! Well Wolf my cousin did have a Euro WWII pith helmet. Do you want me to see if he still has it and I'll send it to you ?!?

But be careful … someone wore a white pith helmet like Meryl Streep in "Out of Africa" while that person visited there recently. And caused a bit of a stir. E.g. former Euro colonials wore similar in Africa … so that was upsetting for some !

*Disclaimer – this is joke and only a joke … no ones' feelings, sensibilities, views, etc. were injured or killed during this attempt at harmless humor/humour …