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Somalia First? A closer look at Ilhan Omar and her political 'family business' in Mogadishu

1-2-2024 < Blacklisted News 34 712 words
 

In one of the videos, Omar tells the audience that she has a “special relationship” with “our president,” but she’s not referring to Joe Biden. She’s talking about Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.


"I call him uncle and he calls me his girl," she explained, adding, "Somalia is our home. It is our heart. We always think about Somalia."


In the other clip, Omar pledges to “protect the interests of Somalia within the U.S. system.”



Since becoming an American politician in 2016, Omar has seemingly dedicated her energies to advancing the interests of her homeland. But even more specifically, she’s advancing the interests of Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.


Many Somali nationalists consider Mohamud an illegitimate leader who was installed in 2022 via a fake electoral process. That year, Mr Mohamud “defeated” the nationalist candidate (who embraced hats sporting the slogan “Make Somalia Great Again”) and quickly became subservient to the Biden Admin's demands.







Rep Omar with President Mohamud in 2022








December 2016, Ilhan Omar in Mogadishu with President Mohamud



President Mohamud was installed through an electoral process that included the counting of only 327 votes in a country of 16 million. He had previously served as president during the Obama years, with a term spanning from 2012-2017.


The BBC reported on the “election” within the failed state:


“​​Mr Mohamud was sworn in shortly after the final results were announced, prompting supporters in the capital to cheer and fire guns into the air. He will serve for the next four years.”


“Explosions could be heard nearby as voting was taking place, but police said no casualties were reported,” the BBC report adds.









One day after Mohamud was reinstalled in office, the Biden Administration announced that hundreds of U.S. troops would be redeployed to Somalia.


In 2020, President Trump executed a full withdrawal of the 700 American troops in the country. Other than the brief Trump-led withdrawal, the U.S. troop presence in Somalia has remained consistent since 2007. Just last week, the Pentagon launched a series of air strikes in Somalia.


And one day after the announced troop deployment, talks began on the topic of “investments” in Somalia’s precious natural resources.


Fewer than three months after securing the presidency, Mohamud appointed Ahmed Hirsi, Ilhan Omar’s first husband and the father to her three children, as a senior advisor to the president. He remains in that position today.









Somehow, Ilhan Omar has found a way to maker herself both America-last and Somalia-last, having enriched herself and her family at the expense of the citizens of the two countries that she calls home.


Life in Somalia is pretty much hell on earth, and it has been that way for quite some time. The country has long been controlled by factions of theocratic gangs, and there is no real functioning government. Al Shabaab, the infamous Islamic militant group, has long dominated the political discourse within the country. American administrations have leveraged the Al Qaeda link to Al Shabaab claims to utilize the post 9/11 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) and deploy troops into the country indefinitely without the consent of Congress. In addition to the political issues, Somalis face extreme poverty and food shortages countrywide. The average Somali makes a little over one dollar a day. Ms Omar and her political allies are not doing anything positive to change that reality.


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