Most Dangerous Country in the World

I knew things in Somalia were pretty rough, after all the Somali pirates have been getting a lot of press lately, but I had no idea that they were THAT bad.

This article from Foreign Policy is a fascinating read about a country that has devolved into utter chaos, the underlying cause of the collapse, and steps that the US has taken over the past 18 years that have been complete failures.

Here are a few excerpts but the entire article is definitely worth a read...

When you land at Mogadishu’s international airport, the first form you fill out asks for name, address, and caliber of weapon.

...Eighteen years and 14 failed attempts at a government later, the killing goes on and on and on—suicide bombs, white phosphorus bombs, beheadings, medieval-style stonings, teenage troops high on the local drug called khat blasting away at each other and anything in between.

...The whole country has become a breeding ground for warlords, pirates, kidnappers, bomb makers, fanatical Islamist insurgents, freelance gunmen, and idle, angry youth with no education and way too many bullets. There is no Green Zone here, by the way—no fortified place of last resort to run to if, God forbid, you get hurt or in trouble. In Somalia, you’re on your own. The local hospitals barely have enough gauze to treat all the wounds.

...Nearly an entire generation of Somalis has absolutely no idea what a government is or how it functions. I’ve seen this glassy-eyed generation all across the country, lounging on bullet-pocked street corners and spaced out in the back of pickup trucks, Kalashnikovs in their hands and nowhere to go. To them, law and order are thoroughly abstract concepts. To them, the only law in the land is the business end of a machine gun.