A researcher focusing on state-building interventions and the associated security complexities of the HoA. Reposting does not mean an endorsement.
England, United Kingdom
Joined July 2009
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Thanks for setting the record straight about the disinformation @SuleimanDedefo shared.
Abdi Garad, PhD retweeted
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12/12
Bottom line: a mature Somali historiography should recognise the Kacaan's achievements without excusing its abuses, and acknowledge the opposition's grievances without romanticising its conduct.
11/12
The essay's critiques are that it has no named author, should distinguish more clearly among the SSDF, SNM, and USC, and should trace how sympathetic Western and diaspora narratives took hold.
10/12
The longer legacy: the SNM's rise preceded Somaliland's 1991 secession, ex-SSDF leaders helped found Puntland in 1998, and USC splits fuelled wars in Mogadishu. Isn't clan-based armed mobilisation helping normalise fragmentation?
9/12
I would add a caveat: the regime's own centralisation and exclusion may have contributed to the emergence of the insurgencies. However, explaining why a movement emerged does not excuse everything it did, including its decision to side with Ethiopia.
8/12
Overthrowing a government and building a working alternative are different achievements. After 1991, the armed movements ousted the government but failed to govern; institutions, education, and civilian protection collapsed.
7/12
On "balance": correcting a lopsided record doesn't require repeating every critique of the regime. Balance means consistent standards of evidence, not handing out equal praise and blame regardless of the facts.
6/12
The review notes the editorial’s intellectual honesty: it took courage for a Puntland-based outlet to scrutinise the SSDF, a movement with deep legitimacy in the very region where it's best known. It's easier to criticise distant rivals than your own tradition.
5/12
The essay's biggest contribution is examining insurgent conduct: abuses against civilians and cooperation with Ethiopian forces during 1980s incursions into Somali territory. A legitimate grievance doesn't legitimise every alliance or method.
4/12
The credit of the essay is that it does not reduce its analysis to individuals. It focuses on the Kacaan's real achievements, including the 1972 standard Somali script, literacy campaigns, education, social reform, and national institutions.
3/12
The Kacaan's behaviours are well documented. But the SSDF, SNM and USC have been romanticised and often carried the moral prestige of "resistance." At the same time, their violence, foreign alliances and role in Somalia's fragmentation got far less attention.
2/12
On the anniversary of 21 October, I review PUNT NEWS's essay on the Somali Revolution (Kacaan). Its core argument is that Somalia's history has applied uneven scrutiny to the government and to the armed movements that fought it.
Reassessing the Somali Revolution: Historical Proportionality, Selective Accountability and the Politics of Insurgency.
👇🏾
puntnews.online/en/op-ed/PN-…
–PUNT NEWS Thread 🧵 1/12