Communism
Role Reversal
Starting around 1989 the Soviet empire started to crumble. The time period between the forming of NATO in the late 1940’s and the retreat of Russia from Eastern Europe and the eventual collapse of communism [more…]
War
20th Century
Keystone Cops And 12th July
Relief work had been halted overnight following the death of the Pakistanis. UN [read US] commanders tipped off aid agencies a “massive strike” would be carried out sometime in the next two days, imploring them [more…]
20th Century
New World Order Falls at First Hurdle
Each morning in early 1993, UN Pakistan contingent troops answered the muezzin call to prayer. The purported common Islamic bond between Somalis and Pakistanis was considered by both sides to contribute to a special rapport [more…]
20th Century
God’s Work = Failed New World Order
Somalia is a land of great beauty and infinite Promise… Tourists are assured and enjoyable Stay in Somalia, where they will find the people Friendly and the country attractive “Beautiful Somalia” Ministry of Information Booklet [more…]
20th Century
Carpet Bomb Somalia With Ecstasy
Q: Isn’t there a better way to control these gunmen? A: Somebody did suggest one – carpet bomb Somalia with ecstasy, because it curbs hunger and makes everyone love each other. It’s not a bad [more…]
America
History does not repeat, but sometimes it rhymes
Puffins of a certain age will recall that seminal moment in 1987 when Mathias Rust, a West German teenager, seemingly did the impossible when he flew a Cessna light aircraft through 500 miles of the [more…]
20th Century
City of Insane Warlords and Technicals
Death has become too commonplace to matter. The two greatest products in Mogadishu are shooting and rumours: from morning to night, they manufacture rumours, from night to morning they manufacture shootings – Mohamoud Afrah. Mogadishu: [more…]
20th Century
Somalia – Western Economic Colonialism
Somalia’s recent history is also a tale of grave miscalculations made by foreigners in a very foreign land. Knowing nomads happily demonstrated their supremacy and disdain for outsiders, the so-called fruits of civilization were not [more…]
America
Letter From Stafford
When people I meet ask where I’m from, I tell them Welsh and French by blood. English by schooling (failed Latin – no Greek), and Virginian by the Grace of God. Why not? Virginia was [more…]