Since the United Nations (UN) has introduced its resolution (Resolution #. 1792) on November 29 2006, which seeks to lift the arms embargo on Somalia, the prospects of foreign intervention and war have become more realistic than ever before.  If implemented, this bill would permit intervening international
forces to arm themselves and the feeble army of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

Equally, the passage of a motion by the Ethiopian parliament, sponsored by its Prime Minister, whom the LA times referred to a "megalomaniac" to declare war on the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), raised the stakes high for war. We believe that war is the last thing the Somali people need at this historical epoch. To make matters worse, the New York Times has recently reported that the unrealistic and trigger-happy Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia had told Gen. AbiZaid of the US Central command, who paid a quick visit to Addis Ababa recently, that Ethiopian forces could cripple the ICU within a week or two.

We beg to differ with Mr. Zenawi’s fascination with war and his exaggerated ability to defeat the ICU.  Nonetheless, we believe that war is the last thing the Somali people need at this historical epoch.

For the last sixteen years, a period when Somalia lost the benefit of state protection and all service providing institutions, when unity and territorial integrity have been compromised, the nation's infrastructure has completely been gutted out to a bare minimum, and its pristine shores have been contaminated by unscrupulous European waste management companies; starvation, mayhem and disease have devastated entire sectors of its population.  Somalia has been damaged to an irreparable degree. 

With all this, any hope that comes along every now and then is dashed by the inability of the so called leaders, who tirelessly fanned the country’s 16 years old conflict, to reach a settlement; hence the hopes of its millions of innocent citizens are despaired. It is not so uncommon to hear even from the most optimists saying "Soomalay Ceelna Kuuma Qodna, Cidna Kuuma Maqna" or, "Somalis, you have no one to count on but yourselves."

Since the declaration of war by Ethiopia. WardheerNews has been inundated with letters and calls from our readers to respond to this looming crisis and the clouds of war hanging over Somalia

To that response, our Editorial Board takes a collective stand to denounce any party that calls for war, or exacerbates the current fluid situation in the country. We also expressly denounce the call for war by the Ethiopian Prime Minister and ask him to mind his own country's undying cry for democracy and stability.

Ethiopia and Somalia have had a long tradition of conflict, most of which could have been avoided. But, alas, because of leaders, such as Meles Zenawi, Mengistu Haile Mariam, Mohamed Siyad Barre and Haile Sellasie, who have been dictators, authoritarians and/or theocratic rulers, war have always been favored over diplomacy.

The same failure is haunting the two protagonists in the current Somalia conflict.  Both the TFG and the ICU leaders have consistently failed to maintain productive and meaningful diplomatic talks so as to be able to move away from their virtual impasse. It appears that each side wants maximum return from their diplomatic shuttles and consistently failed to recognize that the give-and-take dimension of diplomatic negotiations are the most enduring inter-group conflict resolution.
 
Since the start of the Khartoum talks in this June 2006, several consecutive meetings were held between the two sides.  They have all failed.  The last one was moved to Aden, Yemen, and it too seems to have failed.

The renewed fighting in the Bay region between the TFG and the ICU is worrisome. Mr. Hassan Dahir Aweys, the chief of the ICU has been quoted as saying that the country is now in a state of war. On the TFG side, the information minister, Mr. Ali Ahmed Jama "Jangali,” has said that  it looks like the fighting will continue. Jangali further noted that there are a lot of casualties particularly on the ICU side. Other reports from the region state that the death toll is high on both warring sides.  This is what Somalis pronounce as a condition of double loss, “kugu dhimay, kaana dhimay.”

If that is the case, the prognosis for the Somali people in the future does not look encouraging. We urge the leaders on both sides to heed the call from the Somali civil societies and the international community to avert a full-blown war and to resume unconditionally the peace talks which were stalled early last month and find a lasting solution to the 16-year-old conflict.

The current futile exercise of negotiations between the TFG and the ICU, if assessed with the background of the more than sixteen meetings that have failed in the past to bring into an agreed framework of power sharing to Somalia's notorious warlords, is perhaps a road map to the inability of the TFG and ICU leaders to strike a deal.  If that is the case, the prognosis for the Somali people in the future does not look good.

We urge both sides to not so-easily give up on their continued negotiations.  In the mean time, it is paramount that a peaceful condition be created between the two sides. To achieve that, we call on both sides to negotiate in good faith, and that would require