REPORT AIR DATE: July 7, 2010
In Somalia, Political Instability Sustains Humanitarian Crisis
SUMMARY
As the nearly two-decade-old political turmoil continues in the troubled East African nation of Somalia, Jeffrey Brown has a rare look into the failed state's clashing militias and humanitarian crises with New York Times reporter Jeffrey Gettleman.
Jeffrey Brown has that story.
JEFFREY BROWN: It is, according to "Foreign Policy" magazine, the number-one failed state in the world. For nearly two decades, Somalia has been plagued by civil wars, clashing militias, piracy off its shores, and a series of governments with little power, unable to stem the violence, which has left thousands of civilians dead in just the last few years.
Into that vacuum has stepped an Islamist rebel group called Al-Shabab that holds sway over large parts of the country and, with ties to al-Qaida, has helped turned Somalia into a haven for terrorists.
Last year, international hopes and a great deal of U.S. aid were pinned on a new leader, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, but his government continues to control very little of the capital, Mogadishu.
Few American reporters venture into Somalia. One who's made numerous trips there is Jeffrey Gettleman, East Africa bureau chief for The New York Times. He recently returned from a trip to Mogadishu earlier this summer, and joins us now from Chicago.
Well, you know, we talk of a violent, uncontrolled place. What does Mogadishu look like and feel like when you're there?
JEFFREY GETTLEMAN, East Africa Bureau Chief, The New York Times: Well, one of the first forms you have to fill out when you arrive is a immigration form at the airport that asks for your name, address, birth date, and caliber of weapon.
It's still an incredibly lawless, dangerous experience to travel there, which is why there aren't many foreign aid workers or diplomats or that many journalists that venture in there. That said, life continues in a place like Mogadishu. Read More
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