the human province

I'm sure someone else has noticed it, but I think it's important to note the dangerous precedent set by the Bush doctrine of preventative war and the ensuing "war on terror." American allies in Turkey and Colombia have taken advantage of this precedent to conduct their own cross-border attacks into Iraq and Ecuador, respectively.

One can empathize with the tough situation that Ankara and Bogotá are in with the PKK and FARC without accepting the idea that they can invade neighboring countries. This is a problem that's endemic in Africa, where terrorist and rebel groups are tools of statecraft used by neighboring regimes to weaken their enemies. So in Khartoum, Chadian and Ugandan rebels are supplied. Addis Ababa supports rebels in Darfur, Asmara supports Somali rebellions in Ogaden, and Kampala returns the Sudanese favor by supporting the South and Darfur against the center in Khartoum. And let's not even bring up central Africa.

Let's hope that South America doesn't break into the same dirty pattern. Although Colombian accusations that Chávez has been supporting FARC and his response that he'd invade Colombia if Bogotá tried the same thing on the Venezuelan border as just happened on the Ecuadorian side are bad news for stability in the region:

[Colombian ambassador] Mr. Ospina said that, in addition to the alleged payment by Mr. Chavez, the information found on the laptops that Colombian troops seized indicated that President Rafael Correa’s government had met several times with the FARC and allowed them to set up permanent bases in Ecuadorean territory. He said Colombia would seek charges against President Chávez at the International Criminal Court.

“There is not the least doubt that the governments of Venezuela and Ecuador have been negotiating with terrorists,” Mr. Ospina said. “Allowing terrorist groups to keep camps on their territory border for the planning and execution of terrorist acts is a crime and a clear violation of international treaties.” Television in Venezuela also broadcast images of tank battalions heading to the border, following a threat by Mr. Chávez on Sunday that Colombia would be inviting war if it carried out an incursion in Venezuela similar to the one on Saturday in a remote Amazonian province of Ecuador that killed 21 guerrillas.

Mr. Chávez’s threat, which included a taunt that Venezuela would use its Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets to attack Colombia, has been interpreted here as a sign that Mr. Chávez stands ready to defend the FARC, a group classified as terrorists in the United States and Europe that is reported to operate without hindrance along Venezuela’s porous 1,300-mile border with Colombia.

Contrasting the FARC’s image in Colombia as a group that finances itself through cocaine trafficking and abductions and still plants land mines in rural areas, documentaries on state television here in Venezuela portray the FARC as an insurgency born out of efforts to combat Colombia’s moneyed elite.

On his Sunday television program, Mr. Chávez went further by calling for a minute of silence to mourn for Mr. Reyes, the fallen guerrilla leader whose real name was Luis Édgar Devia.

If we add to the Colombian and Turkish examples, the Ethiopians in Somalia, a clear pattern of US allies taking advantage of the doctrine of preventative war becomes clear. So while it's important to note that cross border raids are not new by any means, due to the American invasion of Iraq they've probably become more common and more defensible by US allies the world over.

Kristof has an op-ed about Somaliland, the part of Somalia that seceded from Somalia in 1991, in today's Times. He argues that the US should recognize Somaliland:

The U.S. and other governments don't recognize Somaliland, so the people here get next to zero foreign aid. And when the "country" was formed in 1991, it had been mostly obliterated in a civil war and was a collection of ruins and land mines.

Yet the clans and elders here formed their own government, held free elections and even established an international airline. Relying on free markets and a general exhaustion with violence, the people of Somaliland embraced tranquillity and democracy and searched for ways to make a buck.

Walk down the streets of Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, and instead of gunmen you come across the thriving jewelry and financial market: scores of vendors, most of them women, are hawking millions of dollars worth of gold, precious stones and foreign currency out in the open air. (Don't try that at home!) Continue down the street, and you see that Hargeisa has police cars, DHL service, cable television, orthodontists, a multitude of Internet cafes and traffic jams (including the horses and camels). There are public schools and hospitals -- even a public library.

This is a conservative Muslim country, yet it is generally pro-American and tolerant. In the last election, more women voted than men. Women's groups are fighting the traditional practice of genital mutilation, administered to 97 percent of girls here.

...[I]t's time to recognize Somaliland as a nation. When a place does this well, we should hail it as a model, not shun it.

The case of Somaliland is a strange one. The Organization of African Unity and then its replacement, the African Union, have always been scared of opening a "pandora's box" of secessionist claims in hte continent. As a result of this fear, the OAU Cairo Declaration, which made Africa's old colonial borders inviolable, was penned in 1964. Since then, there has been the exception of Eritrea, which is fairly unique in that although it was part of Ethiopia, it was the coastal portion of Ethiopia that was colonized by the Italians, whereas the rest of Ethiopia remained more or less independent. Another looming exception is Southern Sudan, which, in a few years, will have a referendum on breaking away from Khartoum and the north of the largest country in Africa.

Somaliland was part of a larger area called Somalia, which was administrated by different European countries - Somaliland by the UK, Djibouti by France and the rest by Italy. In 1960, when British Somaliland gained independence, there was a dream of a greater Somalia, which would include what is now Djibouti, Somaliland and Somalia, as well as parts of Ethiopia and Kenya. The formerly British Somaliland merged with Italian Somaliland to create a federation, which was quickly dominated by the formerly Italian half, based out of Mogadishu. Technically, however, there was a brief window of time when Somaliland was an independent country, and this is how the current government is arguing that its independence does not violate the Cairo Declaration.

The International Crisis Group has a report on the Somaliland question, in which they give some background, ask some important questions and offer recommendations:

In December 2005 President Dahir Rayale Kahin submitted Somaliland's application for membership in the AU. The claim to statehood hinges on the territory's separate status during the colonial era from the rest of what became Somalia and its existence as a sovereign state for a brief period following independence from Great Britain in June 1960. Having voluntarily entered a union with Somalia in pursuit of the irredentist dream of Greater Somalia (including parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti), it now seeks recognition within the borders received at that moment of independence. Despite fears that recognition would lead to the fragmentation of Somalia or other AU member states, an AU fact-finding mission in 2005 concluded the situation was sufficiently "unique and self-justified in African political history" that "the case should not be linked to the notion of 'opening a pandora’s box'". It recommended that the AU "should find a special method of dealing with this outstanding case" at the earliest possible date. On 16 May 2006, Rayale met with the AU Commission Chairperson, Alpha Oumar Konare, to discuss Somaliland's application for membership.

Somaliland has made notable progress in building peace, security and constitutional democracy within its de facto borders. Hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people have returned home, tens of thousands of landmines have been removed and destroyed, and clan militias have been integrated into unified police and military forces. A multi-party political system and successive competitive elections have established Somaliland as a rarity in the Horn of Africa and the Muslim world. However, the TFG continues strongly to oppose Somaliland independence.

...There are four central and practical questions:

* should Somaliland be rewarded for creating stability and democratic governance out of a part of the chaos that is the failed state of Somalia?;
* would rewarding Somaliland with either independence or significant autonomy adversely impact the prospects for peace in Somalia or lead to territorial clashes?;
* what are the prospects for peaceful preservation of a unified Somali Republic?; and
* what would be the implications of recognition of Somaliland for separatist conflicts elsewhere on the continent?

RECOMMENDATIONS

To the African Union:

1. Appoint a Special Envoy to consult with all relevant parties and within six months:

(a) report on the perspectives of the parties with regard to the security and political dimensions of the dispute;

(b) prepare a resumé of the factual and legal bases of the dispute; and

(c) offer options for resolution.

2. Organise an informal consultation for members of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) – modelled on the UN Security Council’s “Arria Formula” sessions – involving presentations by eminent scholars, political analysts and legal experts.

3. Pending final resolution of the dispute, grant Somaliland interim observer status so that both sides can attend sessions on Somali issues, make presentations and respond to questions from member states and generally be assured of a fair hearing.

I tend to agree that Somaliland should be rewarded for its advances in peaceful stability and democracy while the rest of Somalia continues to fester in a state of violence and instability. And while I agree that partition can be a messy affair and a slippery slope, Somaliland is already a de facto country, and even if the AU were to reject their request for membership, there isn't really a Somali state for Somaliland to go back to.

I'm sure someone else has noticed it, but I think it's important to note the dangerous precedent set by the Bush doctrine of preventative war and the ensuing "war on terror." American allies in Turkey and Colombia have taken advantage of this precedent to conduct their own cross-border attacks into Iraq and Ecuador, respectively.

One can empathize with the tough situation that Ankara and Bogotá are in with the PKK and FARC without accepting the idea that they can invade neighboring countries. This is a problem that's endemic in Africa, where terrorist and rebel groups are tools of statecraft used by neighboring regimes to weaken their enemies. So in Khartoum, Chadian and Ugandan rebels are supplied. Addis Ababa supports rebels in Darfur, Asmara supports Somali rebellions in Ogaden, and Kampala returns the Sudanese favor by supporting the South and Darfur against the center in Khartoum. And let's not even bring up central Africa.

Let's hope that South America doesn't break into the same dirty pattern. Although Colombian accusations that Chávez has been supporting FARC and his response that he'd invade Colombia if Bogotá tried the same thing on the Venezuelan border as just happened on the Ecuadorian side are bad news for stability in the region:

[Colombian ambassador] Mr. Ospina said that, in addition to the alleged payment by Mr. Chavez, the information found on the laptops that Colombian troops seized indicated that President Rafael Correa’s government had met several times with the FARC and allowed them to set up permanent bases in Ecuadorean territory. He said Colombia would seek charges against President Chávez at the International Criminal Court.

“There is not the least doubt that the governments of Venezuela and Ecuador have been negotiating with terrorists,” Mr. Ospina said. “Allowing terrorist groups to keep camps on their territory border for the planning and execution of terrorist acts is a crime and a clear violation of international treaties.” Television in Venezuela also broadcast images of tank battalions heading to the border, following a threat by Mr. Chávez on Sunday that Colombia would be inviting war if it carried out an incursion in Venezuela similar to the one on Saturday in a remote Amazonian province of Ecuador that killed 21 guerrillas.

Mr. Chávez’s threat, which included a taunt that Venezuela would use its Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets to attack Colombia, has been interpreted here as a sign that Mr. Chávez stands ready to defend the FARC, a group classified as terrorists in the United States and Europe that is reported to operate without hindrance along Venezuela’s porous 1,300-mile border with Colombia.

Contrasting the FARC’s image in Colombia as a group that finances itself through cocaine trafficking and abductions and still plants land mines in rural areas, documentaries on state television here in Venezuela portray the FARC as an insurgency born out of efforts to combat Colombia’s moneyed elite.

On his Sunday television program, Mr. Chávez went further by calling for a minute of silence to mourn for Mr. Reyes, the fallen guerrilla leader whose real name was Luis Édgar Devia.

If we add to the Colombian and Turkish examples, the Ethiopians in Somalia, a clear pattern of US allies taking advantage of the doctrine of preventative war becomes clear. So while it's important to note that cross border raids are not new by any means, due to the American invasion of Iraq they've probably become more common and more defensible by US allies the world over.

Kristof has an op-ed about Somaliland, the part of Somalia that seceded from Somalia in 1991, in today's Times. He argues that the US should recognize Somaliland:

The U.S. and other governments don't recognize Somaliland, so the people here get next to zero foreign aid. And when the "country" was formed in 1991, it had been mostly obliterated in a civil war and was a collection of ruins and land mines.

Yet the clans and elders here formed their own government, held free elections and even established an international airline. Relying on free markets and a general exhaustion with violence, the people of Somaliland embraced tranquillity and democracy and searched for ways to make a buck.

Walk down the streets of Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, and instead of gunmen you come across the thriving jewelry and financial market: scores of vendors, most of them women, are hawking millions of dollars worth of gold, precious stones and foreign currency out in the open air. (Don't try that at home!) Continue down the street, and you see that Hargeisa has police cars, DHL service, cable television, orthodontists, a multitude of Internet cafes and traffic jams (including the horses and camels). There are public schools and hospitals -- even a public library.

This is a conservative Muslim country, yet it is generally pro-American and tolerant. In the last election, more women voted than men. Women's groups are fighting the traditional practice of genital mutilation, administered to 97 percent of girls here.

...[I]t's time to recognize Somaliland as a nation. When a place does this well, we should hail it as a model, not shun it.

The case of Somaliland is a strange one. The Organization of African Unity and then its replacement, the African Union, have always been scared of opening a "pandora's box" of secessionist claims in hte continent. As a result of this fear, the OAU Cairo Declaration, which made Africa's old colonial borders inviolable, was penned in 1964. Since then, there has been the exception of Eritrea, which is fairly unique in that although it was part of Ethiopia, it was the coastal portion of Ethiopia that was colonized by the Italians, whereas the rest of Ethiopia remained more or less independent. Another looming exception is Southern Sudan, which, in a few years, will have a referendum on breaking away from Khartoum and the north of the largest country in Africa.

Somaliland was part of a larger area called Somalia, which was administrated by different European countries - Somaliland by the UK, Djibouti by France and the rest by Italy. In 1960, when British Somaliland gained independence, there was a dream of a greater Somalia, which would include what is now Djibouti, Somaliland and Somalia, as well as parts of Ethiopia and Kenya. The formerly British Somaliland merged with Italian Somaliland to create a federation, which was quickly dominated by the formerly Italian half, based out of Mogadishu. Technically, however, there was a brief window of time when Somaliland was an independent country, and this is how the current government is arguing that its independence does not violate the Cairo Declaration.

The International Crisis Group has a report on the Somaliland question, in which they give some background, ask some important questions and offer recommendations:

In December 2005 President Dahir Rayale Kahin submitted Somaliland's application for membership in the AU. The claim to statehood hinges on the territory's separate status during the colonial era from the rest of what became Somalia and its existence as a sovereign state for a brief period following independence from Great Britain in June 1960. Having voluntarily entered a union with Somalia in pursuit of the irredentist dream of Greater Somalia (including parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti), it now seeks recognition within the borders received at that moment of independence. Despite fears that recognition would lead to the fragmentation of Somalia or other AU member states, an AU fact-finding mission in 2005 concluded the situation was sufficiently "unique and self-justified in African political history" that "the case should not be linked to the notion of 'opening a pandora’s box'". It recommended that the AU "should find a special method of dealing with this outstanding case" at the earliest possible date. On 16 May 2006, Rayale met with the AU Commission Chairperson, Alpha Oumar Konare, to discuss Somaliland's application for membership.

Somaliland has made notable progress in building peace, security and constitutional democracy within its de facto borders. Hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people have returned home, tens of thousands of landmines have been removed and destroyed, and clan militias have been integrated into unified police and military forces. A multi-party political system and successive competitive elections have established Somaliland as a rarity in the Horn of Africa and the Muslim world. However, the TFG continues strongly to oppose Somaliland independence.

...There are four central and practical questions:

* should Somaliland be rewarded for creating stability and democratic governance out of a part of the chaos that is the failed state of Somalia?;
* would rewarding Somaliland with either independence or significant autonomy adversely impact the prospects for peace in Somalia or lead to territorial clashes?;
* what are the prospects for peaceful preservation of a unified Somali Republic?; and
* what would be the implications of recognition of Somaliland for separatist conflicts elsewhere on the continent?

RECOMMENDATIONS

To the African Union:

1. Appoint a Special Envoy to consult with all relevant parties and within six months:

(a) report on the perspectives of the parties with regard to the security and political dimensions of the dispute;

(b) prepare a resumé of the factual and legal bases of the dispute; and

(c) offer options for resolution.

2. Organise an informal consultation for members of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) – modelled on the UN Security Council’s “Arria Formula” sessions – involving presentations by eminent scholars, political analysts and legal experts.

3. Pending final resolution of the dispute, grant Somaliland interim observer status so that both sides can attend sessions on Somali issues, make presentations and respond to questions from member states and generally be assured of a fair hearing.

I tend to agree that Somaliland should be rewarded for its advances in peaceful stability and democracy while the rest of Somalia continues to fester in a state of violence and instability. And while I agree that partition can be a messy affair and a slippery slope, Somaliland is already a de facto country, and even if the AU were to reject their request for membership, there isn't really a Somali state for Somaliland to go back to.

I'm sure someone else has noticed it, but I think it's important to note the dangerous precedent set by the Bush doctrine of preventative war and the ensuing "war on terror." American allies in Turkey and Colombia have taken advantage of this precedent to conduct their own cross-border attacks into Iraq and Ecuador, respectively.

One can empathize with the tough situation that Ankara and Bogotá are in with the PKK and FARC without accepting the idea that they can invade neighboring countries. This is a problem that's endemic in Africa, where terrorist and rebel groups are tools of statecraft used by neighboring regimes to weaken their enemies. So in Khartoum, Chadian and Ugandan rebels are supplied. Addis Ababa supports rebels in Darfur, Asmara supports Somali rebellions in Ogaden, and Kampala returns the Sudanese favor by supporting the South and Darfur against the center in Khartoum. And let's not even bring up central Africa.

Let's hope that South America doesn't break into the same dirty pattern. Although Colombian accusations that Chávez has been supporting FARC and his response that he'd invade Colombia if Bogotá tried the same thing on the Venezuelan border as just happened on the Ecuadorian side are bad news for stability in the region:

[Colombian ambassador] Mr. Ospina said that, in addition to the alleged payment by Mr. Chavez, the information found on the laptops that Colombian troops seized indicated that President Rafael Correa’s government had met several times with the FARC and allowed them to set up permanent bases in Ecuadorean territory. He said Colombia would seek charges against President Chávez at the International Criminal Court.

“There is not the least doubt that the governments of Venezuela and Ecuador have been negotiating with terrorists,” Mr. Ospina said. “Allowing terrorist groups to keep camps on their territory border for the planning and execution of terrorist acts is a crime and a clear violation of international treaties.” Television in Venezuela also broadcast images of tank battalions heading to the border, following a threat by Mr. Chávez on Sunday that Colombia would be inviting war if it carried out an incursion in Venezuela similar to the one on Saturday in a remote Amazonian province of Ecuador that killed 21 guerrillas.

Mr. Chávez’s threat, which included a taunt that Venezuela would use its Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets to attack Colombia, has been interpreted here as a sign that Mr. Chávez stands ready to defend the FARC, a group classified as terrorists in the United States and Europe that is reported to operate without hindrance along Venezuela’s porous 1,300-mile border with Colombia.

Contrasting the FARC’s image in Colombia as a group that finances itself through cocaine trafficking and abductions and still plants land mines in rural areas, documentaries on state television here in Venezuela portray the FARC as an insurgency born out of efforts to combat Colombia’s moneyed elite.

On his Sunday television program, Mr. Chávez went further by calling for a minute of silence to mourn for Mr. Reyes, the fallen guerrilla leader whose real name was Luis Édgar Devia.

If we add to the Colombian and Turkish examples, the Ethiopians in Somalia, a clear pattern of US allies taking advantage of the doctrine of preventative war becomes clear. So while it's important to note that cross border raids are not new by any means, due to the American invasion of Iraq they've probably become more common and more defensible by US allies the world over.

Kristof has an op-ed about Somaliland, the part of Somalia that seceded from Somalia in 1991, in today's Times. He argues that the US should recognize Somaliland:

The U.S. and other governments don't recognize Somaliland, so the people here get next to zero foreign aid. And when the "country" was formed in 1991, it had been mostly obliterated in a civil war and was a collection of ruins and land mines.

Yet the clans and elders here formed their own government, held free elections and even established an international airline. Relying on free markets and a general exhaustion with violence, the people of Somaliland embraced tranquillity and democracy and searched for ways to make a buck.

Walk down the streets of Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, and instead of gunmen you come across the thriving jewelry and financial market: scores of vendors, most of them women, are hawking millions of dollars worth of gold, precious stones and foreign currency out in the open air. (Don't try that at home!) Continue down the street, and you see that Hargeisa has police cars, DHL service, cable television, orthodontists, a multitude of Internet cafes and traffic jams (including the horses and camels). There are public schools and hospitals -- even a public library.

This is a conservative Muslim country, yet it is generally pro-American and tolerant. In the last election, more women voted than men. Women's groups are fighting the traditional practice of genital mutilation, administered to 97 percent of girls here.

...[I]t's time to recognize Somaliland as a nation. When a place does this well, we should hail it as a model, not shun it.

The case of Somaliland is a strange one. The Organization of African Unity and then its replacement, the African Union, have always been scared of opening a "pandora's box" of secessionist claims in hte continent. As a result of this fear, the OAU Cairo Declaration, which made Africa's old colonial borders inviolable, was penned in 1964. Since then, there has been the exception of Eritrea, which is fairly unique in that although it was part of Ethiopia, it was the coastal portion of Ethiopia that was colonized by the Italians, whereas the rest of Ethiopia remained more or less independent. Another looming exception is Southern Sudan, which, in a few years, will have a referendum on breaking away from Khartoum and the north of the largest country in Africa.

Somaliland was part of a larger area called Somalia, which was administrated by different European countries - Somaliland by the UK, Djibouti by France and the rest by Italy. In 1960, when British Somaliland gained independence, there was a dream of a greater Somalia, which would include what is now Djibouti, Somaliland and Somalia, as well as parts of Ethiopia and Kenya. The formerly British Somaliland merged with Italian Somaliland to create a federation, which was quickly dominated by the formerly Italian half, based out of Mogadishu. Technically, however, there was a brief window of time when Somaliland was an independent country, and this is how the current government is arguing that its independence does not violate the Cairo Declaration.

The International Crisis Group has a report on the Somaliland question, in which they give some background, ask some important questions and offer recommendations:

In December 2005 President Dahir Rayale Kahin submitted Somaliland's application for membership in the AU. The claim to statehood hinges on the territory's separate status during the colonial era from the rest of what became Somalia and its existence as a sovereign state for a brief period following independence from Great Britain in June 1960. Having voluntarily entered a union with Somalia in pursuit of the irredentist dream of Greater Somalia (including parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti), it now seeks recognition within the borders received at that moment of independence. Despite fears that recognition would lead to the fragmentation of Somalia or other AU member states, an AU fact-finding mission in 2005 concluded the situation was sufficiently "unique and self-justified in African political history" that "the case should not be linked to the notion of 'opening a pandora’s box'". It recommended that the AU "should find a special method of dealing with this outstanding case" at the earliest possible date. On 16 May 2006, Rayale met with the AU Commission Chairperson, Alpha Oumar Konare, to discuss Somaliland's application for membership.

Somaliland has made notable progress in building peace, security and constitutional democracy within its de facto borders. Hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people have returned home, tens of thousands of landmines have been removed and destroyed, and clan militias have been integrated into unified police and military forces. A multi-party political system and successive competitive elections have established Somaliland as a rarity in the Horn of Africa and the Muslim world. However, the TFG continues strongly to oppose Somaliland independence.

...There are four central and practical questions:

* should Somaliland be rewarded for creating stability and democratic governance out of a part of the chaos that is the failed state of Somalia?;
* would rewarding Somaliland with either independence or significant autonomy adversely impact the prospects for peace in Somalia or lead to territorial clashes?;
* what are the prospects for peaceful preservation of a unified Somali Republic?; and
* what would be the implications of recognition of Somaliland for separatist conflicts elsewhere on the continent?

RECOMMENDATIONS

To the African Union:

1. Appoint a Special Envoy to consult with all relevant parties and within six months:

(a) report on the perspectives of the parties with regard to the security and political dimensions of the dispute;

(b) prepare a resumé of the factual and legal bases of the dispute; and

(c) offer options for resolution.

2. Organise an informal consultation for members of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) – modelled on the UN Security Council’s “Arria Formula” sessions – involving presentations by eminent scholars, political analysts and legal experts.

3. Pending final resolution of the dispute, grant Somaliland interim observer status so that both sides can attend sessions on Somali issues, make presentations and respond to questions from member states and generally be assured of a fair hearing.

I tend to agree that Somaliland should be rewarded for its advances in peaceful stability and democracy while the rest of Somalia continues to fester in a state of violence and instability. And while I agree that partition can be a messy affair and a slippery slope, Somaliland is already a de facto country, and even if the AU were to reject their request for membership, there isn't really a Somali state for Somaliland to go back to.

I'm sure someone else has noticed it, but I think it's important to note the dangerous precedent set by the Bush doctrine of preventative war and the ensuing "war on terror." American allies in Turkey and Colombia have taken advantage of this precedent to conduct their own cross-border attacks into Iraq and Ecuador, respectively.

One can empathize with the tough situation that Ankara and Bogotá are in with the PKK and FARC without accepting the idea that they can invade neighboring countries. This is a problem that's endemic in Africa, where terrorist and rebel groups are tools of statecraft used by neighboring regimes to weaken their enemies. So in Khartoum, Chadian and Ugandan rebels are supplied. Addis Ababa supports rebels in Darfur, Asmara supports Somali rebellions in Ogaden, and Kampala returns the Sudanese favor by supporting the South and Darfur against the center in Khartoum. And let's not even bring up central Africa.

Let's hope that South America doesn't break into the same dirty pattern. Although Colombian accusations that Chávez has been supporting FARC and his response that he'd invade Colombia if Bogotá tried the same thing on the Venezuelan border as just happened on the Ecuadorian side are bad news for stability in the region:

[Colombian ambassador] Mr. Ospina said that, in addition to the alleged payment by Mr. Chavez, the information found on the laptops that Colombian troops seized indicated that President Rafael Correa’s government had met several times with the FARC and allowed them to set up permanent bases in Ecuadorean territory. He said Colombia would seek charges against President Chávez at the International Criminal Court.

“There is not the least doubt that the governments of Venezuela and Ecuador have been negotiating with terrorists,” Mr. Ospina said. “Allowing terrorist groups to keep camps on their territory border for the planning and execution of terrorist acts is a crime and a clear violation of international treaties.” Television in Venezuela also broadcast images of tank battalions heading to the border, following a threat by Mr. Chávez on Sunday that Colombia would be inviting war if it carried out an incursion in Venezuela similar to the one on Saturday in a remote Amazonian province of Ecuador that killed 21 guerrillas.

Mr. Chávez’s threat, which included a taunt that Venezuela would use its Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets to attack Colombia, has been interpreted here as a sign that Mr. Chávez stands ready to defend the FARC, a group classified as terrorists in the United States and Europe that is reported to operate without hindrance along Venezuela’s porous 1,300-mile border with Colombia.

Contrasting the FARC’s image in Colombia as a group that finances itself through cocaine trafficking and abductions and still plants land mines in rural areas, documentaries on state television here in Venezuela portray the FARC as an insurgency born out of efforts to combat Colombia’s moneyed elite.

On his Sunday television program, Mr. Chávez went further by calling for a minute of silence to mourn for Mr. Reyes, the fallen guerrilla leader whose real name was Luis Édgar Devia.

If we add to the Colombian and Turkish examples, the Ethiopians in Somalia, a clear pattern of US allies taking advantage of the doctrine of preventative war becomes clear. So while it's important to note that cross border raids are not new by any means, due to the American invasion of Iraq they've probably become more common and more defensible by US allies the world over.

Kristof has an op-ed about Somaliland, the part of Somalia that seceded from Somalia in 1991, in today's Times. He argues that the US should recognize Somaliland:

The U.S. and other governments don't recognize Somaliland, so the people here get next to zero foreign aid. And when the "country" was formed in 1991, it had been mostly obliterated in a civil war and was a collection of ruins and land mines.

Yet the clans and elders here formed their own government, held free elections and even established an international airline. Relying on free markets and a general exhaustion with violence, the people of Somaliland embraced tranquillity and democracy and searched for ways to make a buck.

Walk down the streets of Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, and instead of gunmen you come across the thriving jewelry and financial market: scores of vendors, most of them women, are hawking millions of dollars worth of gold, precious stones and foreign currency out in the open air. (Don't try that at home!) Continue down the street, and you see that Hargeisa has police cars, DHL service, cable television, orthodontists, a multitude of Internet cafes and traffic jams (including the horses and camels). There are public schools and hospitals -- even a public library.

This is a conservative Muslim country, yet it is generally pro-American and tolerant. In the last election, more women voted than men. Women's groups are fighting the traditional practice of genital mutilation, administered to 97 percent of girls here.

...[I]t's time to recognize Somaliland as a nation. When a place does this well, we should hail it as a model, not shun it.

The case of Somaliland is a strange one. The Organization of African Unity and then its replacement, the African Union, have always been scared of opening a "pandora's box" of secessionist claims in hte continent. As a result of this fear, the OAU Cairo Declaration, which made Africa's old colonial borders inviolable, was penned in 1964. Since then, there has been the exception of Eritrea, which is fairly unique in that although it was part of Ethiopia, it was the coastal portion of Ethiopia that was colonized by the Italians, whereas the rest of Ethiopia remained more or less independent. Another looming exception is Southern Sudan, which, in a few years, will have a referendum on breaking away from Khartoum and the north of the largest country in Africa.

Somaliland was part of a larger area called Somalia, which was administrated by different European countries - Somaliland by the UK, Djibouti by France and the rest by Italy. In 1960, when British Somaliland gained independence, there was a dream of a greater Somalia, which would include what is now Djibouti, Somaliland and Somalia, as well as parts of Ethiopia and Kenya. The formerly British Somaliland merged with Italian Somaliland to create a federation, which was quickly dominated by the formerly Italian half, based out of Mogadishu. Technically, however, there was a brief window of time when Somaliland was an independent country, and this is how the current government is arguing that its independence does not violate the Cairo Declaration.

The International Crisis Group has a report on the Somaliland question, in which they give some background, ask some important questions and offer recommendations:

In December 2005 President Dahir Rayale Kahin submitted Somaliland's application for membership in the AU. The claim to statehood hinges on the territory's separate status during the colonial era from the rest of what became Somalia and its existence as a sovereign state for a brief period following independence from Great Britain in June 1960. Having voluntarily entered a union with Somalia in pursuit of the irredentist dream of Greater Somalia (including parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti), it now seeks recognition within the borders received at that moment of independence. Despite fears that recognition would lead to the fragmentation of Somalia or other AU member states, an AU fact-finding mission in 2005 concluded the situation was sufficiently "unique and self-justified in African political history" that "the case should not be linked to the notion of 'opening a pandora’s box'". It recommended that the AU "should find a special method of dealing with this outstanding case" at the earliest possible date. On 16 May 2006, Rayale met with the AU Commission Chairperson, Alpha Oumar Konare, to discuss Somaliland's application for membership.

Somaliland has made notable progress in building peace, security and constitutional democracy within its de facto borders. Hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people have returned home, tens of thousands of landmines have been removed and destroyed, and clan militias have been integrated into unified police and military forces. A multi-party political system and successive competitive elections have established Somaliland as a rarity in the Horn of Africa and the Muslim world. However, the TFG continues strongly to oppose Somaliland independence.

...There are four central and practical questions:

* should Somaliland be rewarded for creating stability and democratic governance out of a part of the chaos that is the failed state of Somalia?;
* would rewarding Somaliland with either independence or significant autonomy adversely impact the prospects for peace in Somalia or lead to territorial clashes?;
* what are the prospects for peaceful preservation of a unified Somali Republic?; and
* what would be the implications of recognition of Somaliland for separatist conflicts elsewhere on the continent?

RECOMMENDATIONS

To the African Union:

1. Appoint a Special Envoy to consult with all relevant parties and within six months:

(a) report on the perspectives of the parties with regard to the security and political dimensions of the dispute;

(b) prepare a resumé of the factual and legal bases of the dispute; and

(c) offer options for resolution.

2. Organise an informal consultation for members of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) – modelled on the UN Security Council’s “Arria Formula” sessions – involving presentations by eminent scholars, political analysts and legal experts.

3. Pending final resolution of the dispute, grant Somaliland interim observer status so that both sides can attend sessions on Somali issues, make presentations and respond to questions from member states and generally be assured of a fair hearing.

I tend to agree that Somaliland should be rewarded for its advances in peaceful stability and democracy while the rest of Somalia continues to fester in a state of violence and instability. And while I agree that partition can be a messy affair and a slippery slope, Somaliland is already a de facto country, and even if the AU were to reject their request for membership, there isn't really a Somali state for Somaliland to go back to.

I'm sure someone else has noticed it, but I think it's important to note the dangerous precedent set by the Bush doctrine of preventative war and the ensuing "war on terror." American allies in Turkey and Colombia have taken advantage of this precedent to conduct their own cross-border attacks into Iraq and Ecuador, respectively.

One can empathize with the tough situation that Ankara and Bogotá are in with the PKK and FARC without accepting the idea that they can invade neighboring countries. This is a problem that's endemic in Africa, where terrorist and rebel groups are tools of statecraft used by neighboring regimes to weaken their enemies. So in Khartoum, Chadian and Ugandan rebels are supplied. Addis Ababa supports rebels in Darfur, Asmara supports Somali rebellions in Ogaden, and Kampala returns the Sudanese favor by supporting the South and Darfur against the center in Khartoum. And let's not even bring up central Africa.

Let's hope that South America doesn't break into the same dirty pattern. Although Colombian accusations that Chávez has been supporting FARC and his response that he'd invade Colombia if Bogotá tried the same thing on the Venezuelan border as just happened on the Ecuadorian side are bad news for stability in the region:

[Colombian ambassador] Mr. Ospina said that, in addition to the alleged payment by Mr. Chavez, the information found on the laptops that Colombian troops seized indicated that President Rafael Correa’s government had met several times with the FARC and allowed them to set up permanent bases in Ecuadorean territory. He said Colombia would seek charges against President Chávez at the International Criminal Court.

“There is not the least doubt that the governments of Venezuela and Ecuador have been negotiating with terrorists,” Mr. Ospina said. “Allowing terrorist groups to keep camps on their territory border for the planning and execution of terrorist acts is a crime and a clear violation of international treaties.” Television in Venezuela also broadcast images of tank battalions heading to the border, following a threat by Mr. Chávez on Sunday that Colombia would be inviting war if it carried out an incursion in Venezuela similar to the one on Saturday in a remote Amazonian province of Ecuador that killed 21 guerrillas.

Mr. Chávez’s threat, which included a taunt that Venezuela would use its Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets to attack Colombia, has been interpreted here as a sign that Mr. Chávez stands ready to defend the FARC, a group classified as terrorists in the United States and Europe that is reported to operate without hindrance along Venezuela’s porous 1,300-mile border with Colombia.

Contrasting the FARC’s image in Colombia as a group that finances itself through cocaine trafficking and abductions and still plants land mines in rural areas, documentaries on state television here in Venezuela portray the FARC as an insurgency born out of efforts to combat Colombia’s moneyed elite.

On his Sunday television program, Mr. Chávez went further by calling for a minute of silence to mourn for Mr. Reyes, the fallen guerrilla leader whose real name was Luis Édgar Devia.

If we add to the Colombian and Turkish examples, the Ethiopians in Somalia, a clear pattern of US allies taking advantage of the doctrine of preventative war becomes clear. So while it's important to note that cross border raids are not new by any means, due to the American invasion of Iraq they've probably become more common and more defensible by US allies the world over.

Kristof has an op-ed about Somaliland, the part of Somalia that seceded from Somalia in 1991, in today's Times. He argues that the US should recognize Somaliland:

The U.S. and other governments don't recognize Somaliland, so the people here get next to zero foreign aid. And when the "country" was formed in 1991, it had been mostly obliterated in a civil war and was a collection of ruins and land mines.

Yet the clans and elders here formed their own government, held free elections and even established an international airline. Relying on free markets and a general exhaustion with violence, the people of Somaliland embraced tranquillity and democracy and searched for ways to make a buck.

Walk down the streets of Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, and instead of gunmen you come across the thriving jewelry and financial market: scores of vendors, most of them women, are hawking millions of dollars worth of gold, precious stones and foreign currency out in the open air. (Don't try that at home!) Continue down the street, and you see that Hargeisa has police cars, DHL service, cable television, orthodontists, a multitude of Internet cafes and traffic jams (including the horses and camels). There are public schools and hospitals -- even a public library.

This is a conservative Muslim country, yet it is generally pro-American and tolerant. In the last election, more women voted than men. Women's groups are fighting the traditional practice of genital mutilation, administered to 97 percent of girls here.

...[I]t's time to recognize Somaliland as a nation. When a place does this well, we should hail it as a model, not shun it.

The case of Somaliland is a strange one. The Organization of African Unity and then its replacement, the African Union, have always been scared of opening a "pandora's box" of secessionist claims in hte continent. As a result of this fear, the OAU Cairo Declaration, which made Africa's old colonial borders inviolable, was penned in 1964. Since then, there has been the exception of Eritrea, which is fairly unique in that although it was part of Ethiopia, it was the coastal portion of Ethiopia that was colonized by the Italians, whereas the rest of Ethiopia remained more or less independent. Another looming exception is Southern Sudan, which, in a few years, will have a referendum on breaking away from Khartoum and the north of the largest country in Africa.

Somaliland was part of a larger area called Somalia, which was administrated by different European countries - Somaliland by the UK, Djibouti by France and the rest by Italy. In 1960, when British Somaliland gained independence, there was a dream of a greater Somalia, which would include what is now Djibouti, Somaliland and Somalia, as well as parts of Ethiopia and Kenya. The formerly British Somaliland merged with Italian Somaliland to create a federation, which was quickly dominated by the formerly Italian half, based out of Mogadishu. Technically, however, there was a brief window of time when Somaliland was an independent country, and this is how the current government is arguing that its independence does not violate the Cairo Declaration.

The International Crisis Group has a report on the Somaliland question, in which they give some background, ask some important questions and offer recommendations:

In December 2005 President Dahir Rayale Kahin submitted Somaliland's application for membership in the AU. The claim to statehood hinges on the territory's separate status during the colonial era from the rest of what became Somalia and its existence as a sovereign state for a brief period following independence from Great Britain in June 1960. Having voluntarily entered a union with Somalia in pursuit of the irredentist dream of Greater Somalia (including parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti), it now seeks recognition within the borders received at that moment of independence. Despite fears that recognition would lead to the fragmentation of Somalia or other AU member states, an AU fact-finding mission in 2005 concluded the situation was sufficiently "unique and self-justified in African political history" that "the case should not be linked to the notion of 'opening a pandora’s box'". It recommended that the AU "should find a special method of dealing with this outstanding case" at the earliest possible date. On 16 May 2006, Rayale met with the AU Commission Chairperson, Alpha Oumar Konare, to discuss Somaliland's application for membership.

Somaliland has made notable progress in building peace, security and constitutional democracy within its de facto borders. Hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people have returned home, tens of thousands of landmines have been removed and destroyed, and clan militias have been integrated into unified police and military forces. A multi-party political system and successive competitive elections have established Somaliland as a rarity in the Horn of Africa and the Muslim world. However, the TFG continues strongly to oppose Somaliland independence.

...There are four central and practical questions:

* should Somaliland be rewarded for creating stability and democratic governance out of a part of the chaos that is the failed state of Somalia?;
* would rewarding Somaliland with either independence or significant autonomy adversely impact the prospects for peace in Somalia or lead to territorial clashes?;
* what are the prospects for peaceful preservation of a unified Somali Republic?; and
* what would be the implications of recognition of Somaliland for separatist conflicts elsewhere on the continent?

RECOMMENDATIONS

To the African Union:

1. Appoint a Special Envoy to consult with all relevant parties and within six months:

(a) report on the perspectives of the parties with regard to the security and political dimensions of the dispute;

(b) prepare a resumé of the factual and legal bases of the dispute; and

(c) offer options for resolution.

2. Organise an informal consultation for members of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) – modelled on the UN Security Council’s “Arria Formula” sessions – involving presentations by eminent scholars, political analysts and legal experts.

3. Pending final resolution of the dispute, grant Somaliland interim observer status so that both sides can attend sessions on Somali issues, make presentations and respond to questions from member states and generally be assured of a fair hearing.

I tend to agree that Somaliland should be rewarded for its advances in peaceful stability and democracy while the rest of Somalia continues to fester in a state of violence and instability. And while I agree that partition can be a messy affair and a slippery slope, Somaliland is already a de facto country, and even if the AU were to reject their request for membership, there isn't really a Somali state for Somaliland to go back to.

I'm sure someone else has noticed it, but I think it's important to note the dangerous precedent set by the Bush doctrine of preventative war and the ensuing "war on terror." American allies in Turkey and Colombia have taken advantage of this precedent to conduct their own cross-border attacks into Iraq and Ecuador, respectively.

One can empathize with the tough situation that Ankara and Bogotá are in with the PKK and FARC without accepting the idea that they can invade neighboring countries. This is a problem that's endemic in Africa, where terrorist and rebel groups are tools of statecraft used by neighboring regimes to weaken their enemies. So in Khartoum, Chadian and Ugandan rebels are supplied. Addis Ababa supports rebels in Darfur, Asmara supports Somali rebellions in Ogaden, and Kampala returns the Sudanese favor by supporting the South and Darfur against the center in Khartoum. And let's not even bring up central Africa.

Let's hope that South America doesn't break into the same dirty pattern. Although Colombian accusations that Chávez has been supporting FARC and his response that he'd invade Colombia if Bogotá tried the same thing on the Venezuelan border as just happened on the Ecuadorian side are bad news for stability in the region:

[Colombian ambassador] Mr. Ospina said that, in addition to the alleged payment by Mr. Chavez, the information found on the laptops that Colombian troops seized indicated that President Rafael Correa’s government had met several times with the FARC and allowed them to set up permanent bases in Ecuadorean territory. He said Colombia would seek charges against President Chávez at the International Criminal Court.

“There is not the least doubt that the governments of Venezuela and Ecuador have been negotiating with terrorists,” Mr. Ospina said. “Allowing terrorist groups to keep camps on their territory border for the planning and execution of terrorist acts is a crime and a clear violation of international treaties.” Television in Venezuela also broadcast images of tank battalions heading to the border, following a threat by Mr. Chávez on Sunday that Colombia would be inviting war if it carried out an incursion in Venezuela similar to the one on Saturday in a remote Amazonian province of Ecuador that killed 21 guerrillas.

Mr. Chávez’s threat, which included a taunt that Venezuela would use its Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets to attack Colombia, has been interpreted here as a sign that Mr. Chávez stands ready to defend the FARC, a group classified as terrorists in the United States and Europe that is reported to operate without hindrance along Venezuela’s porous 1,300-mile border with Colombia.

Contrasting the FARC’s image in Colombia as a group that finances itself through cocaine trafficking and abductions and still plants land mines in rural areas, documentaries on state television here in Venezuela portray the FARC as an insurgency born out of efforts to combat Colombia’s moneyed elite.

On his Sunday television program, Mr. Chávez went further by calling for a minute of silence to mourn for Mr. Reyes, the fallen guerrilla leader whose real name was Luis Édgar Devia.

If we add to the Colombian and Turkish examples, the Ethiopians in Somalia, a clear pattern of US allies taking advantage of the doctrine of preventative war becomes clear. So while it's important to note that cross border raids are not new by any means, due to the American invasion of Iraq they've probably become more common and more defensible by US allies the world over.

Kristof has an op-ed about Somaliland, the part of Somalia that seceded from Somalia in 1991, in today's Times. He argues that the US should recognize Somaliland:

The U.S. and other governments don't recognize Somaliland, so the people here get next to zero foreign aid. And when the "country" was formed in 1991, it had been mostly obliterated in a civil war and was a collection of ruins and land mines.

Yet the clans and elders here formed their own government, held free elections and even established an international airline. Relying on free markets and a general exhaustion with violence, the people of Somaliland embraced tranquillity and democracy and searched for ways to make a buck.

Walk down the streets of Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, and instead of gunmen you come across the thriving jewelry and financial market: scores of vendors, most of them women, are hawking millions of dollars worth of gold, precious stones and foreign currency out in the open air. (Don't try that at home!) Continue down the street, and you see that Hargeisa has police cars, DHL service, cable television, orthodontists, a multitude of Internet cafes and traffic jams (including the horses and camels). There are public schools and hospitals -- even a public library.

This is a conservative Muslim country, yet it is generally pro-American and tolerant. In the last election, more women voted than men. Women's groups are fighting the traditional practice of genital mutilation, administered to 97 percent of girls here.

...[I]t's time to recognize Somaliland as a nation. When a place does this well, we should hail it as a model, not shun it.

The case of Somaliland is a strange one. The Organization of African Unity and then its replacement, the African Union, have always been scared of opening a "pandora's box" of secessionist claims in hte continent. As a result of this fear, the OAU Cairo Declaration, which made Africa's old colonial borders inviolable, was penned in 1964. Since then, there has been the exception of Eritrea, which is fairly unique in that although it was part of Ethiopia, it was the coastal portion of Ethiopia that was colonized by the Italians, whereas the rest of Ethiopia remained more or less independent. Another looming exception is Southern Sudan, which, in a few years, will have a referendum on breaking away from Khartoum and the north of the largest country in Africa.

Somaliland was part of a larger area called Somalia, which was administrated by different European countries - Somaliland by the UK, Djibouti by France and the rest by Italy. In 1960, when British Somaliland gained independence, there was a dream of a greater Somalia, which would include what is now Djibouti, Somaliland and Somalia, as well as parts of Ethiopia and Kenya. The formerly British Somaliland merged with Italian Somaliland to create a federation, which was quickly dominated by the formerly Italian half, based out of Mogadishu. Technically, however, there was a brief window of time when Somaliland was an independent country, and this is how the current government is arguing that its independence does not violate the Cairo Declaration.

The International Crisis Group has a report on the Somaliland question, in which they give some background, ask some important questions and offer recommendations:

In December 2005 President Dahir Rayale Kahin submitted Somaliland's application for membership in the AU. The claim to statehood hinges on the territory's separate status during the colonial era from the rest of what became Somalia and its existence as a sovereign state for a brief period following independence from Great Britain in June 1960. Having voluntarily entered a union with Somalia in pursuit of the irredentist dream of Greater Somalia (including parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti), it now seeks recognition within the borders received at that moment of independence. Despite fears that recognition would lead to the fragmentation of Somalia or other AU member states, an AU fact-finding mission in 2005 concluded the situation was sufficiently "unique and self-justified in African political history" that "the case should not be linked to the notion of 'opening a pandora’s box'". It recommended that the AU "should find a special method of dealing with this outstanding case" at the earliest possible date. On 16 May 2006, Rayale met with the AU Commission Chairperson, Alpha Oumar Konare, to discuss Somaliland's application for membership.

Somaliland has made notable progress in building peace, security and constitutional democracy within its de facto borders. Hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people have returned home, tens of thousands of landmines have been removed and destroyed, and clan militias have been integrated into unified police and military forces. A multi-party political system and successive competitive elections have established Somaliland as a rarity in the Horn of Africa and the Muslim world. However, the TFG continues strongly to oppose Somaliland independence.

...There are four central and practical questions:

* should Somaliland be rewarded for creating stability and democratic governance out of a part of the chaos that is the failed state of Somalia?;
* would rewarding Somaliland with either independence or significant autonomy adversely impact the prospects for peace in Somalia or lead to territorial clashes?;
* what are the prospects for peaceful preservation of a unified Somali Republic?; and
* what would be the implications of recognition of Somaliland for separatist conflicts elsewhere on the continent?

RECOMMENDATIONS

To the African Union:

1. Appoint a Special Envoy to consult with all relevant parties and within six months:

(a) report on the perspectives of the parties with regard to the security and political dimensions of the dispute;

(b) prepare a resumé of the factual and legal bases of the dispute; and

(c) offer options for resolution.

2. Organise an informal consultation for members of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) – modelled on the UN Security Council’s “Arria Formula” sessions – involving presentations by eminent scholars, political analysts and legal experts.

3. Pending final resolution of the dispute, grant Somaliland interim observer status so that both sides can attend sessions on Somali issues, make presentations and respond to questions from member states and generally be assured of a fair hearing.

I tend to agree that Somaliland should be rewarded for its advances in peaceful stability and democracy while the rest of Somalia continues to fester in a state of violence and instability. And while I agree that partition can be a messy affair and a slippery slope, Somaliland is already a de facto country, and even if the AU were to reject their request for membership, there isn't really a Somali state for Somaliland to go back to.