Somalia Quotes

(On the Iraq war): All people have to be prepared. If we are going to be the police, we also have to be the guardians. We can no longer play games. I was not against the war in Bosnia. I was against it taking so long. I was not against the war in Somalia. Again, it took too long, and we didn`t finish the job. We should`ve stayed and finished the job. About this pending war, I just think we should`ve finished that war the first time.

The criteria, for me, is movie star. It`s Hollywood. Not Somalia.

This place is going to look like Little Somalia. We`re going to go out and take this city back. This will be a combat operation to get this city under control.

(The war in the streets of Baghdad gave rise to the deaths of thousands in New Orleans and to the destruction of the city. In both cases peoples of color are regarded'”and being dealt with'”as America`s enemy.) This place is going to look like Little Somalia, ... We`re going to go out and take this city back. This will be a combat operation to get this city under control.

The terrorists are counting on us running away like we did in Somalia, where a pro-al Qaeda faction just took control of the capital.

Then, we also need to have credible Somali institutions being established inside Somalia and local and regional peace agreements to be brokered.

We have in Somalia, as in Iraq and Afghanistan, been individually targeted by extremist groups, which nearly made us leave Somalia completely.

Finally, I also come in recognition of the great work that has been undertaken by the NGOs and UN agencies that have been active for many years here, especially through the local staff and international staff here in Somaliland and in Somalia at large.

Somaliland and Somalia at large have been receiving now hundreds of thousands of returnees that they had to accommodate with very small resources.

I think now Somalia is turning a corner and we can, with the new political development, build on momentum - really build a peaceful future.

Our assistance in Somalia has been remarkably effective and successful, and we have helped with very small resources - a large group of people and we can now do even more.

I think the biggest challenge for Somalia has been the sense that it is a hopeless case of incomprehensible internal conflicts and there is nothing we can do.

The main thing that gives me hope is the media. We have radio, TV, magazines, and books, so we have the possibility of learning from societies that are remote from us, like Somalia. We turn on the TV and see what blew up in Iraq or we see conditions in Afghanistan.

Along the borders to Ethiopia and Somalia, anarchy reigns, the police and military have retreated quite some distance.