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January 29, 2024

Ilhan Omar makes clear her allegiance, and it’s not to America UPDATED

By Andrea Widburg

When sworn into the House, a new congressperson promises to “bear true faith and allegiance” to the Constitution of the United States and, by extension, to the United States itself. Ilhan Omar, however, recently gave a speech in Minnesota in which she identified her fealty as being to Somalia and Islam, boasted about her control over America’s foreign policy, and suggested that a purge or genocide was required in Somalia to purify it for true Somalis. America’s interests, of course, were irrelevant.

A little background of the past 47 years in Somalian history is required to understand what Omar was talking about. In 1976, a military junta under Major General Mohamed Siad Barre established a Marxist-Muslim government.

From 1987-1988, Barre’s government embarked upon a genocide of Isaaq civilians in western Somalia. Ultimately, Barre’s troops killed 50,000-200,000 Isaaqs. (Nobody knows for sure.) Ilhan Omar’s father was an officer in the army behind that genocide. Along the way, Barre’s government destroyed what were then Somalia’s second- and third-largest cities. Around half a million Isaaqs fled north and west to Ethiopia as refugees.

Image: Ilhan Omar. X screen grab.

By 1991, the Barre government collapsed, and a civil war began. The Isaaq region declared itself to be an independent nation—Somaliland—although neither the UN nor the international community recognizes it as such.

By 2000, one of two “transitional” national governments was put into place, with the second gaining international recognition by 2012. The government found itself fighting off Islamic pressure, which it did with help from Ethiopia and African Union peacekeepers. One of the Islamic factions that survived was Al-Shabaab, which successfully battled the government. Eventually, a coalition came together between the Islamists and the government, which booted out Ethiopian troops. Sharia law quickly followed. That’s pretty much the general outline of recent Somali history.

As for Omar, as noted, her father was a member of Barre’s military. When she was nine or ten, her family fled Somalia’s civil war, spending the next four years in a Kenyan refugee camp. The family arrived in America when Omar was 13, eventually settling in Minnesota, the state that, more than any other, had opened its doors to Somali civil war refugees. As of 2018, 43,000 Somalian-born immigrants lived in Minnesota, with approximately 94,000 people in Minnesota speaking Somali as their home language.

It’s noteworthy, when it comes to Somalians, that half the shootings in Burlington, Vermont, were linked to resettled Somalis. Raised in war in their home nation and imbued with Islam’s inspiration to morally justified violence against those who offend Muslims, they’ve brought that violence to a once-safe corner of the Northeast. Calvin Coolidge weeps.

With that context, you can imagine the dismay of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Somaliland when she caught wind of a speech Ilhan Omar recently gave in Minnesota. In it, Omar demands that Somaliland cease its independent activities and became, again, a part of greater Somalia. The speech was especially disturbing because the daughter of a Barre officer said, “Somalia is for Somalis only.” In that context, the statement reeked of ethnic cleansing.

From an American perspective, Omar’s speech was equally disturbing. She identified not as an American but as part of a community that is “Somalians first, Muslims second.” In addition, she insisted that, thanks to her presence in Congress, American foreign policy must bow to her demands:

…the US government will only do what the Somalians in the US tell them to do. They will do what we want and nothing else. They must follow our orders, and that is how we will safeguard the interest of Somalia.

We Somalians must have that confidence in ourselves that we call…the shots in the US. We live in the US, pay taxes in the US, and have a real voice. The US is a country where one of your daughters is in Congress to represent your interest. And for as long as I am in the US Congress, Somalia will never be in danger, its waters will not be stolen by Ethiopia or others.

The US would not dare to support anyone against Somalia to steal our land or oceans [or] sleep in comfort knowing I am here to protect the interests of Somalia from inside the US system.

You’ve noted, I’m sure, that Omar makes no pretense that her demands benefit the U.S. in any way, help to stabilize the world order, or answer to a higher moral imperative. Instead, she’s simply announcing that the U.S. must bow to the will of Ilhan Omar and the Somalian government.

The arrogance is staggering, as is the lack of any pretense that she owes America fealty (with or without regard to her oath of office). These are not our parents’ generation of immigrants, filled with gratitude to be in a free land. These are conquerors.

Here is Omar’s speech, below which I’ve included a slightly cleaned up transcript:

We, as Somalians, we love each other. There are areas of friction…that led us to kill each other but, in reality, we are an organized society, brothers and sisters, people of the same blood, people who know they are Somalians first, Muslims second, who protect one another, come to each other’s aid and to the aid of other Muslims, too.

A couple of days ago, we heard [that] some people who call themselves Somalis (“SOMALILAND”) or claim to be Somalis have signed an MoU [“Memorandum of Understanding”] with Ethiopia on access to the sea.

[snip]

Many Somalians have personally called me to encourage me to speak to the US government and help Somalia. They wanted to know what the US government could do for Somalia to ensure the MoU never turns into a full bilateral agreement. My answer to Somalians was that the US government will only do what the Somalians in the US tell them to do. They will do want we want and nothing else. They must follow our orders and that is how we will safeguard the interest of Somalia.

We Somalians must have that confidence in ourselves that we call…the shots in the US. We live in the US, pay taxes in the US, and have a real voice. The US is a country where one of your daughters is in Congress to represent your interest. And for as long as I am in the US Congress, Somalia will never be in danger, its waters will not be stolen by Ethiopia or others.

The US would not dare to support anyone against Somalia to steal our land or oceans [or] sleep in comfort knowing I am here to protect the interests of Somalia from inside the US system. The woman you sent to Congress is working day and night to protect your interest. She knows your plight and that of Somalia. I am as concerned about Somalia as you guys are. Together, we will protect the interests of Somalia.

President Hassan Sheikh, the current president of Somalia, has done a remarkable job of looking after Somalia. Mr. President, you have done an excellent job [presumably of fighting Ethiopia and Somaliland], and we are happy about it. You spoke to Somalians dispersed across the world that you are there to look after Somalia, however weak it is or is a failed state.

We Somalians are resilient people who can fight against all odds, people who love their country [presumably Somalia]. We are people who will never allow someone else to steal our land. Therefore, I congratulate Somalian-Americans and other Somalis across the globe for sharing a remarkable level of unity [presumably against Ethiopia and Somaliland]. The way you rallied behind our president [meaning Somalia’s, not America’s] because he needs us today.

Somalia is for Somalis only, as over 45% of Somalia’s population are not even ethnic Somalis. Somalia is one nation. We are all brothers and sisters. Our land cannot be divided. Ethiopia and Kenya have stolen and continue to occupy the Somali Region state, which belongs to Somalia. We will liberate the occupied territories stolen from, i.e., Somalia, Djibouti, Somaliland, and the North Eastern Province that belong to Greater Somalia. What remains of Somalia cannot be further divided.

UPDATE: I urge you to listen to Matt Walsh's opening monologue. He adds context to what I wrote:

UPDATE II: A huge number of left-leaning outlets have expressed outrage at the translation. (See here, here, and here.) They contend that Omar said that her community was both Somali and Muslim, without prioritizing the former over the latter. Indeed, according to The Minnesota Reformer (which leans so far to the left it's supine),

A devout Muslim like Omar would have faced outrage from the largely Muslim audience had she placed her religion second, according to one translator.

Given Omar's fealty to the LGBTQ+ agenda, and Islam's fealty to executing homosexuals, that's a very funny statement.

But more important, in the essay above, I placed my emphasis on Omar's smug insistence that America's Somali community controls America's foreign policy. And indeed, even according to those "official" translators, that's exactly what she said. Once again, from The Minnesota Reformer:

My answer was that the U.S. government will do what we tell the U.S. government to do. 

Not a good look, Ilhan. Not a good look.

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