Not only in Minneapolis/St. Paul are young Somali men (so young, each one is almost a child victim) mysteriously disappearing, it’s happening across the globe. In a recent article from the StarTribune by James Walsh and Richard Meryhew, entitled, “Jihad draws young men across globe back to Somalia,” www.startribune.com, it appears that the recruiting of these men is actually world-wide.
The disappearance of almost 20 men here in Minneapolis in the last few years alerted officials and the FBI to the possibility of recruitng to fight in Somalia. Since Ethiopia (Christians) attacked Somalia (Muslims) some of these men left the Twin Cities to go back to fight in a group called El-Shabaab. (People think) It’s a form of human trafficking.
You may ask why law enforcement here was worried about what happened in Somalia. If the Somali young men could be recruited to fight in Somalia, could they be recruited to fight back here for a war on America.
Having represented the Somali community for many years in the courts, I’ve found them to be warm, intelligent people. However, they do not trust many others outside their own tribe. Even within the Somali community, there are disagreements among the tribes, with some people feeling they are better than others.
If I have difficulty communicating with them (many speak English) because of this distrust, imagine how difficult it is for law inforcement to get reliable, accurate information about the disappearance of the young men. To a great degree, law enforcement depends on informants for information. The word sounds bad but can include almost anyone with access to the community.
So the common theory is the young men are recruited to fight in their homeland. What if this theory is correct but incomplete?
Could there be more to the disappearances than we’ve discovered so far?
Let me know if you think there’s more going on than merely freedom fighting in Somalia. I’ve got an idea that formed the plot for my new book, “The Concealed Enemy,” coming out in Fall of 2010. What do you think was really going on with the disappearing men?
