Anarchy for profit.

It has been fifteen years since the central government collapsed in Somalia, since that time the United States has entered once, then withdrew and now it is entering again. Not with troops, something even more dangerous, funding.

The United States as an aid package to the Somali’s 14th transitional government is pledging one hundred million dollars for the rebuilding of the state, and to fight the Global War on Terror from its angle. One would think that with that kind of funding the central authority can pull itself up by the boot straps and create order in a nation known for its fierce way of life. Then again one would think.

The nation of Somalia, especially its capital of Mogadishu is in a state of ultra capitalism, anything and everything is for sale. As the central government collapsed in 1991, the citizen of Mogadishu found themselves unprotected by a national army or police, and took it upon themselves for their own protection. Mogadishu is a host to a series of drug kingpins, arms bazaars, warlords, mercenaries, and the movement of privatization.
According to the New York Times,

“Businessmen opened their own hospitals, schools, telephone companies and even privatized mail services. Men who were able to muster private armies, often former military officers, seized the biggest prizes: abandoned government property, like ports and airfields, which could generate as much as $40,000 a day. They became the warlords. Many trafficked in guns and drugs and taxed their fellow Somalis.”

The new business in Mogadishu is exactly that, new private enterprises unregulated, untaxed and highly exploitative are developing and keeping the citizens alive. This the new generation of privateers is one which rejects the rule of a government, because it will destroy the crafted racket which they have created.

Omar Hussein Ahmed, an olive oil exporter in Mogadishu, the capital, said he and a group of fellow traders recently bought missiles to shoot at government soldiers.
“Taxes are annoying,” he explained.

As the transitional authority is trying to establish some form of authority and security for the citizens, ironically it is the businesses which keep the government afloat which is undermine the ability of the government to achieve its end. These businesses are feeling the pinch of the government; recently port taxes were increased 300%. This would be likely to destroy small time operations which undermine the ability of the government to provide services and goods under an established and regulated system.

The U.S. aid package needs to be heavily monitored in order to avoid massive aid embezzlement. As seen in the past money has a way of sprouting legs and just walking off never to be seen again. If this were to occur in a nation, with an entire generation of males who know nothing but violence we could be expecting to see crates of the latest small arms ready for distribution among the warlords who stand to profit from the transfer, not foodstuffs.