"OPERATION SHARED FREEDOM"

(Exposing Lies, Celebrating the Truth and Passing the Torch in the Somali Campaign)

Zerihun Teshome

We are on the 21st day of a campaign, which by way of a changed context in present Southern Somalia has delivered to millions of innocent Ethiopians, Somalis and possibly others in the Horn a comparatively enabling life setting, better than the one we had just weeks back. I, thus, find it incumbent up on all sensible men of gratitude and advocates of a better life to celebrate this achievement; and ensure its entry in to the annals of history to keep the same for posterity. And one easy, yet appropriate way is marking the process/event by assigning it a proper and lasting name: a name that, in this case, above all carries our respect towards the very architects who because they made it possible deserve it i.e. the women and men in uniform representing the forces of the TFG of Somalia, and the EDF (Ethiopian Defense Forces).

Such also provides the needed opportunity to point the basic facts/fundamental issues intentionally missed and fudged by "a many self appointed experts/analysts crowding the so called think-thank and Media houses in the West", in this regard. In fact, though much of the pre-December 19 diagnosis of these "self appointed analysts" have been routed by reality, as it unfolded all through and all the way from Beletweyn to Raskombooni, some still have the stomach to hide behind disjointed incidents hoping such might lend them, dressing to rub a wounded ego, reenact some parts from debunked prophecies etc. And as of recently, they have started to reappear on the BBC, the CNN etc. Mitchell Fleecier and the duo appearing alongside him on the January 09, 2007, 23:00pm, BBC news-hour broadcast represent a close by good sample to pick, in this connection. Yes, I sympathize with these "poor souls": for what fuels them is that close to heart household stuff i.e. "it is the economy-stupid" -- remember the parallel?

"Operation Shared Freedom": is an unofficial designation, chosen personally for commanding such a hermeneutical depth and breadth allowing representation of the recent counter offensive in its richness/dimension, both at the level of meaning as well as actual achievement. A counter offensive, which as has been witnessed (from the Ethiopian border, to Mogadishu, all the way up to the south eastern tip of Somalia, near the Indian Ocean) is carried with the two highest qualities, seldom achieved in simultaneity, in a military engagement i.e. supersonic speed and targeted effectiveness in battle. Indeed, an overwhelming, and so imposing a reality, it is hard for any one to deny it; be it a reluctant friend or a sworn foe. Applied in this sense, it fully captures the spirit, it does justice to the swift effectiveness, and it fits to both the immediate as well as the long-term benefit of the joint military operation carried by the TFG forces and the EDF.

To this end, there are basic facts, and conversely specific reasons (behind the coinage) contained in Operation Shared Freedom: facts/reasons which constitute the foundational rationale, achievement and reality of the actual operation itself. Viewed from such a wide perspective, the operation was, and still is, a march for freedom by people who share more than a lifeless border i.e. the people of Somalia and Ethiopia. A march  being made, with blood and sweat, to achieve a shared freedom from the dwarfing weight of a past(such myths as traditional/frozen animosity between the two ,Greater Somalia, Christian Ethiopia vs. Muslim Somalia etc are some of the dwarfing elements bequeathed to us) a shared freedom from a clear and present danger of unblinking extremism determined to assert itself through indiscriminate terror( the dangers that were posed by the UIC, Alq-aeda/Al-iltihad, Eritrea, OLF,ONLF etc fall in this category)  and a shared freedom from an uncertain future filled with the dissolving acid of fear as well as hopelessness derived thereof(continued instability/conflict fomented by these forces, and exacerbated by unattended poverty plus humanitarian crisis etc. are the few elements that constitute the uncertainty pertaining to the future) 

More over, besides the direct routing of the UIC, its sponsors, and tangentially those many frozen experts from afar referred to above; the operation provided a monumental concrete outcome of foundational significance. It opened a new chapter of its kind, allowing the people of Somalia rebuild their war decimated family and national life: there by catapulting a stable future environment benefiting all in the Horn (particularly between Somalia and its front line neighbors'-Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Somaliland). Approaching the issue with such a perspective, and a course of action matching this rich layer belying it, calls for recognition that such fundamental elements inform the involvement of Ethiopia in Somalia, up to the point of sacrificing its sons/daughters in uniform along those of the TFG, and vice-versa.

This being as it may, sustaining such monumental achievement is an equally multifaceted challenge: a challenge of understanding the opportunities, the real/tangential threats, immediate/long term priorities, and the forces of relapse/marching ahead contained in the new post UIC Somali context. On the more immediate existential level, it is a practical challenge of mustering the determination to carry timely action with clear vision and commitment, which must be fulfilled by all stakeholders, as unlike yesteryears.

Let us do so, keep on with the march of nurturing the new opportunity opened via "Operation Shared Freedom"; while at the same time celebrating and affirming all through such monumental truth/achievement thereof. Only then do we uphold, protect and pass to posterity the values contained in such historic sacrifices.