Did you know that inside the Somali Presidential Palace in Mogadishu, a picture of Siad Barre is displayed next to those of Aden Adde and Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, effectively normalizing the legacy of a leader who committed war crimes in Hargeisa and against the Ishak clan? The Somali Hawiye leaders in Mogadishu, including HSM, continue to tolerate this while humiliating the Ishak people. Yet he tells the world that he is their president and expresses regret for the crimes committed by Siad Barre against them. In Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, there is not a single picture of Saddam Hussein in any Iraqi government building or even inside the Iraqi Presidential Palace, because Iraqi Arabs do not accept glorifying a leader responsible for crimes against their fellow Kurdish citizens. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, every Iraqi president has been Kurdish, reflecting the importance placed on Iraq’s unity and sovereignty above ethnic and sectarian divisions. Mogadishu created much of the hostility it faces from Hargeisa through its own actions, and no Ishak person should defend it as long as it continues to glorify those responsible for the destruction of Hargeisa.