Postby Somaliweyn » Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:50 am
For the long post of comparision between Siad Barre's era and the civilian governments era: see General: Current Events.
For people who only want to read the short version, here's my conclusion of the carefull, unbiased (as far is possible)investigation of Barre's era:
Conclusion:
Siad Barre stole the ruling seat by proclaiming that he would eradicate evil things like clannism, nepotism, corruption and would restore a sense of confidence in national will and a minimum basis for national cooperation. In the first years of his rule he came with PR-stunts which secured him popular support. But as soon as the economic windfalls generated by the previous civilian government ended after 1974, Siad Barre had to secure his wide support and launched a premature invasion of Ethiopia to gain the Ogaden region, this turned disastrous despite the courageous effort of Somali soldiers. After the 77 war things went really bad, economy was bankrubt, self-reliance policy abandoned in favour of IMF-ism, clannism, nepotism and corruption surfaced back. Instead of restoring confidence in national will and a minimum basis for national cooperation, and fighting the evils of the previous civilian government Siad Barre’s oppressive military dictatorship further underminned any credibility the Somali state had, and ultimately destroyed any confidence and hope Somalis had in a neutral Somali state which rises above clan structured society and is free from nepotism, corruption and clannism. The dead of the First Republic of Somalia was a fact when Siad Barre was forcefully removed from the capital of Somalia. His brutal repressive measures undermined any future national unity and the required minimum of trust between the different Somali groups which is the basis for national cooperation. This was only further exacerbated by the civil war and enduring anarchy in many parts of Somalia.
PS: Always state your used source, thus: author, title of book/paper, and year of publication. So we can double check the used literature.
Last edited by
Somaliweyn on Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:23 am, edited 2 times in total.