Who is a Terrorists?

My instinctive reaction to accusations labeled against Somalia, linking it with terrorism, especially after the September 11 events of cataclysm led me to write a booklet in 2002 of the same title as above, but only as unfinished business and this book now becomes its Second Edition. Those accusations were untrue. They were accusations made by some interested quarters in the Horn of Africa for their own geopolitical interests and had reasons in making such unfounded and malicious accusations that damaged Somali interests (see Chapter I). The September 11 events presented unique opportunities for those adversaries of Somalia, which were fully exploited. The united States Government itself, in order to calm its panicked citizenry after those events, became exploitable and was easily persuaded to accept in haste and with alacrity any scapegoat rationale, not the least of all those malicious accusations against Somalia. Somalia is a relatively large country, but sparsely populated where one knows almost everybody else in major towns including the capital, Mogadishu, and all the other populated centers. Somalia can, therefore, hardly be a choice for a safe haven, a hiding place for foreigners. Neither can ordinary Somalis themselves establish any sort of clandestine network, least of all terrorism without risking an instant discovery. While however, the decade and a half long absence of central authority could make traveling into Somalia that much easier for fugitives, but only for their own safety and only for a very short duration, lack of law and order, nevertheless, makes it immensely.