7/22/2026
Rep. Ilhan Omar has once again joined Zohran Mamdani in calling Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal who should be arrested.
She’s entitled to that opinion.
What she’s not entitled to is pretending history only matters when it involves Israel.
Omar’s father served as a colonel in Somalia’s military under dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, whose regime ruled from 1969 to 1991. During the regime’s later years—particularly from 1987 to 1989—government forces were accused of carrying out mass atrocities against the Isaaq people in northern Somalia. Human rights organizations have documented widespread killings, torture, aerial bombardment of civilian cities, and the destruction of entire communities.
Let’s be precise: there is no publicly established evidence that Omar’s father personally committed war crimes. That distinction matters.
But another question matters too.
If your family was connected to one of Africa’s most notorious military regimes during one of its darkest chapters, is it really unreasonable for people to ask questions before you lecture the rest of the world about war crimes?
The political class seems to believe some histories deserve endless investigation while others are placed behind a velvet rope marked “off limits.”
That’s not justice.
That’s selective outrage.
If Ilhan Omar wants to argue that international law should be applied consistently, then consistency has to begin with acknowledging uncomfortable history—not pretending it doesn’t exist.
No public figure gets to appoint themselves the world’s moral referee while expecting everyone else to ignore legitimate questions about the regimes their own family served.
The standard cannot be: scrutinize your opponents relentlessly while demanding immunity for your own side.
That’s not accountability.
That’s hypocrisy.