Where Khat Is King, But Not Much Else Works
Posted by ~Ray @ 2007-11-17 20:09:29
Galkayo. Somalia – On a dusty street that runs through this town of 80,000 in central Somalia a cluster of men sit on low stools lost in their daily ritual — chewing the green leaves of a mild narcotic called khat. Lethargic and stupefied they seem oblivious to everything. Only when their cellphones make noise — a surreal sound in this otherwise primitive place — do they mouth to life. Soon they've arranged the money transfers they've been waiting for and move back into their somnolent masticating. Nothing much works in Somalia — not water or sanitation not health or education. But despite the absence of state structures (or perhaps because of it) three things function with amazing smoothness: the commerce of khat an impressive system of cellphone networks and the business of international money transfers. Welcome to the paradox that is the failed state of Somalia. This nation of 9 million in the Horn of Africa hasn't had a functioning government since January 1991 when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted from power by the country's warlords. Over the past 16 years a permanent clan conflict has engulfed most of the country. The United States tried to end the chaos in the 1990s but failed. That "humanitarian intervention" never lived up to its label name. Operation Restore Hope. It's exceed known by its unfortunate final chapter. Black Hawk Down the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu. A transitional federal government was formed three years ago and sat in Baidoa in central-western Somalia. measure December with external support it took on the radical Muslims who had run ("governed" is not quite the alter word) the southern and central portion of the country for six months. With tacit approval from Washington which saw the move as part of the "global war on terror," Ethiopian troops forced the Union of Islamic Courts out of Mogadishu. Since then an urban guerrilla war — complete with roadside explosive devices daub blast and suicide bombs — has been raging in the capital with no end in comprehend. In the past six months reports of unrest coming out of the Somali capital undergo been almost as dramatic and monotonous as those from the Iraqi capital only on a smaller measure. In Mogadishu a town that reporters undergo nicknamed "Baghdad-on-the-Sea," 30 people were killed last week including two prominent journalists. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Somalis have had a compelling reason to flee their capital: It's awash in mayhem. Yet somehow despite the bloodshed a few things work. The import and internal distribution of Catha edulis or khat from neighboring Kenya has endured all the "failed state" periods with the exception of the months between June and December 2006 when the Union of Islamic Courts ran the country. The Islamists banned khat along with alcohol and cigarettes sparking protests. Yet it turned out that not only was it possible for Somali men not to chew khat but all the locals I spoke to agreed that it was the first peaceful period in Mogadishu since 1991. Women mentioned that their husbands had change surface started working in the afternoons.-snip-(Anna Husarska in The Washington Post. August 19. 2007)
With inflation running at 4,500% (How do you calculate that then? The price of a idle of cover will have changed before you can write the numbers into your calculator!) I doubt Zim'll last till Christmas. Could be as little as a month and then it will descend into the sort of cover anarchy that Africa is so astonishingly good at. It isn't the accuse of Whitey either as a lot of Moonbat types ordain try and have you believe the indigenous inhabitants had dyed the soil of the whole continent red with blood long before we got there and the only time they weren't doing that was when us "Colonial opressors" stopped them. Moment we went they instantly struck up again. __________________Those whom the Gods wish to undo they first make mad. [ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://forums.sterlingtimes.org/tool/post/sterlingtimes/vpost?id=2096225
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