During the 1990’s, Somalia had a famine crisis, which many Westerners labeled as a ‘humanitarian crisis.’ As always, the hegemon, which was the United States, stepped up to the plate and helped in providing food for the starving Somalis. Seeing starving children drew Westerners to sympathize with these individuals and they blamed the inept Somali government for not doing enough to help its citizens. The intervention was meant to deliver food to the Somalia, but later that turned to ‘mission creep’, “the temptation commanders feel to chase success and perhaps glory around the next corner by expanding their mandate and rolling over anyone in their way” (Hoagland, 1: 1993). What was a humanitarian crisis has now turned into a nation-building itinerary, as a result, the world witnesses an American Army Ranger tied and dragged through the streets of Somalia. The Somalis, whom many people viewed as suffering from hunger with corrupt government, are now viewed as bad individuals, their culture, beliefs and religion, being Islam, are all seen as bad and the term ‘terrorists’ or ‘pirates’, now associated with them. When conflicts arise in Somalia, the international community is always hesitant to intervene and rather than seeing Somalis as the victims, the media portrays them as the perpetrators; all of this is because of an American Army ranger was dragged in front of the world.
Cynthia Mahmood’s book, on the Sikh militant teaches us an important lesson, that is, the Sikh were not always as violent as they’re portrayed to be. The book teaches us that these are religious people, who have been oppressed for over 500 years and have now reverted to violent ways due to social, political, cultural, and economic inequality committed against by...
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...ia. Initially, it began as a humanitarian crisis, but when the Americans tried to build the nation, the Somali retaliated by dragging an American soldier through their streets. Through that incident, the world has come to view Somalia, its people, culture, and religion as bad and labeled them as terrorists.
Works Cited
Chandler, David G. "The Road to Military Humanitarianism: How the Human Rights Ngos Shaped a New Humanitarian Agenda." Human Rights Quarterly. 23.3 (2001): 678-700. Print.
Hoagland, Jim. “Beware Mission Creep in Somalia.” The Washington Post. (1993). A17. Print
Mahmood, Cynthia K. Fighting for Faith and Nation: Dialogues with Sikh Militants. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997. Internet resource.
Thomas, Deborah A. Exceptional Violence: Embodied Citizenship in Transnational Jamaica. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2011. Print.
Civil War is another shared similarity between both Somalia and the United States. In 1991, following the overthrow of the dictator, Siad Barre, Somalia descended into anarchy. With no government presence to maintain some type of order, clan-based warlords began competing with each other, thus beginning civil unjust. While northern parts of Somalia, as well as the self-declared “Republic of Somaliland,” have remained somewhat peaceful, internal fighting flares up with little to no warning. Since 1991, it is estimated that 350, 000 to 1,000,000 Somalia’s have died due to the lack...
The U.S. and other Western nations support the fragile Somali regime, which is battling an Islamic insurgency, as part of the counterterrorism strategy for the region.” As apparent, the United States has put a counterterrorism strategy into place, to help bring down the power that Somalia has over child soldiers. As seen from “Armed & Underage” by Jeffrey Gettleman, “.200,000 children worldwide are still being used as combatants, usually against their will. And it isn't just boys: Girls are often pressed into duty as cooks or messengers.
In August of 1992, President George Bush Sr. sent US soldiers into Somalia to provide humanitarian relief to those Somalis suffering from starvation. The major problems in Somalia started when President Mohammed Siad Barre was overthrown by a coalition of opposing clans. Although there were several opposing groups, the prominent one was led by Mohammed Farah Aidid. Following the overthrow of Barre, a massive power struggle ensued. These small scale civil wars led to the destruction of the agriculture in Somalia, which in turn led to the deprivation of food in large parts of the country. When the international community heard of this, large quantities of food were sent to ease Somali suffering. However, clan leaders like Aidid routinely hijacked food and exchanged it for weapons leaving thousands to starve to death. An estimated 300,000 Somalis died between 1991 and 1992 (Clancy 234-236). US soldiers were later sent into Somalia to capture Aidid, but when the operation got bloody, displeasing the American public, Clinton withdrew troops (Battersby 151). In The Morality of War, Brian Orend outlines ethical guidelines that should be followed in all three stages of war: jus ad bellum, jus in bello, and jus post bellum. Orend states that a nation can be moral going into war, but immoral coming out of one. Did the US act justly in all facets of the Somali conflict? The United States espoused all the guiding principles of jus ad bellum but right intent, upheld the principals of jus in bello, and clearly failed to uphold several aspects of jus post bellum during the armed humanitarian intervention in Somalia.
...changed after the World Trade Center towers collapsed. Sikh truck drivers have reported people violently cutting them off and calling them "ragheads." Congregants at Gurdwara Sahib in Fresno had racist graffiti spray painted on their temple. However, "With the passage of time, people have become informed about Sikhs, and the situation has much improved," says Amrik Singh Virk, temple secretary at the Sikh Center of the Pacific Coast in Selma. (Orozco) Unfortunately this change took three years in the Fresno community for the public to finally realize not all Sikhs are terrorists. Although the racial tension has eased with the passage of time,"It has gotten a little better, but, as a minority group, we're still smarting," says Poonia, a Fresno doctor. "There still is ignorance, misunderstanding and prejudice. Color lines have eroded, but they have not been eliminated."
Al-Shabaab initially began operations within the Somalian borders in resistance to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Ethiopia, and later dictated their role in opposing western influence in the region. The ultimate driving force behind the organization is to establish an Islamic state in Somalia. In 2007, the group’s affiliation with Al Qaida was established, although many organizational experts believe the relationship is volatile and unsubstantial at best, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. By 2008, the U.S. government officially recognized al-Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization; concurrently the groups reached its peak in strength, influence, and potency to the country of Somalia. The organization has proven its ability to control southern Somalia and areas of Mogadishu while also executing operations throughout the Horn of Africa through.
There have been many humanitarians that strive to help countries suffering with human right abuses. People think that the help from IGOs and NGOs will be enough to stop human rights violations. However, it hasn’t been effective. Every day, more and more human rights violations happen. The problem is escalating. People, including children, are still being forced to work to death, innocent civilians are still suffering the consequences of war, and families are struggling to stay firm together. Despite the efforts from the people, IGOs, and NGOs, In the year 2100, human rights abuse will not end.
Finally, Puar uses the misguided attacks on the Sikh community within the US to show how the body of the “terrorist” the locus of the use of power, is utilized. To illustrate, Sikh men, following the 9/11 attacks were singled out in hate crimes for wearing Turbans, their bodies were assaulted for simply being different. Puar notes the slur “monster-terrorist-fag” to note the interconnected nature of sexuality and power and the consequences for the “queered body” that are similar, if not identical to the attacks on queered “native” sexual groups.
At that time in the early 1990’s, the U.S. was the only superpower country left in the world. The Soviet Union collapsed after the Cold War and the left the U.S. at the top. With the U.S. being the only superpower left, it meant that they were the only ones who could try to keep peace between other countries and hopefully end violence in the world. At the time, Somalia was a complete disaster and still is to this day. They have no structural government and warlords rule parts of the country.
Violence like this is very common. Also, they have had their fare share of discrimination. According to The Sikh Coalition many have reported employment discrimination. Sikh Awareness.(2010). Retrieved from http://www.sikhcoalition.org/ .Most recently, Frank Singh was called a terrorist and fired by an AutoZone ...
Barnett, Michael, and Thomas G. Weiss. Humanitarianism in Question: Politics, Power, Ethics. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2008.
Somalia is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, and the Indian Ocean to the east. With the longest coastline on the continent, its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains, and highlands. It is made up of the former British Protectorate of Somaliland and Italy’s former Trust Territory of Somalia. Somalia’s modern history began in the late 1800’s, when European powers began to trade and settle in the Somalia area. These events and the events that occurred during the 20th century helped shape the modern Somalia government and culture today.
The Somali were struggling and since there was no one to aid them with their struggle for a secure government, the United States and United Nations began aiding the Somali people. The U.S. and the U.N. sent out deliveries of necessities the Somali people need to live off of, but warlords attempted to cut off the deliveries for the people, which infuriated the U.N. and U.S., who began to fight back against the warlords, causing greater tension in the capital. Aideed, a warlord, shot down two Black Hawk Helicopters, leading to the death of eighteen U.S. soldiers and hundreds of Somali people. The fighting continued, leaving multitudes of deaths on both sides of the war. After years of endless fighting, the United Nations and United States tried to the best of their abilities to aid Somalia and its corrupt government, however in the end, they were unable to find a solution to assist
F. Hasan, Asma Gull (2000). American Muslims; The New Generation. New York. The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc.
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McLeod, W. H. (2000). Exploring Sikhism: Aspects of Sikh identity, culture and thought. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.