Excellent thread, very good read

I don't think it's accurate at all to say Islam per se destroyed Somalia, however Islam without doubt was a major catalyst to the demise of Somali society and way of life . The destruction of Somalia was first and foremost caused by feuding clans and a debt-ridden broken economy caused by the Ogaden war. After all the state institutions and economic opportunities were destroyed by the civil war, famine, killings, lootings became part of every day life. It's not difficult at all to see how Islam's prominence emerged from these conditions. It was sold as the "solution" to all their problems yada yada. In came the Arab "philanthropists" with their madrassas and the rest is history.
But happymurtad is right, more and more people are coming to realise what an epic failure this experiment was. The "Islamic solution" caused nothing more than an influx of foreign and domestic jihadists and absolutely zero improvement in the lives of normal Somalis. Islamic fundamentalism put back Somalias development by at least 8-10 years. However, the political climate in Somalia is now stabilising, with this rather moderate and pragmatic government I predict that in the next 10 years Somalis will see much improvement in their lives. Hopefully then people won't be nostalgic for the Al-Shabab days...