Trump’s statement about Somalia 'stands as a new indication, if one was needed, of the president’s utter ignorance about the outside world and the history of America’s geopolitical involvements,' writes columnist hiltzikm.
Veterans of America’s disastrous adventure in Somalia in the 1980s and ’90s must have been shaking their heads Friday when President Trump seemed to blame former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch for the collapse of that country, in a tweet issued while she was testifying at the public impeachment hearing.
The actual dates of Yovanovitch’s posting to Somalia are unclear. We know that she joined the foreign service in 1986, and that Somalia was her first assignment. She eventually served as ambassador to Kyrgyzstan and Armenia beforeLet’s take a look at the Somali dossier. In the view of many experts in the region, Somalia was already a “failed state” by the time of Yovanovitch’s arrival., heightened clan cleavages and animosities, gross levels of corruption and low salaries all combined to accelerate the state’s decline,” reported political scientist Ken Menkhaus, who lived in Somalia as a Fulbright scholar during that period. “The public school system, a source of pride and progress in the 1970s, crumbled.
The threat of random violence was incessant and all-defining. Nothing was illegal because there is no authority except the gun. Relief agencies would get daily reports from local contacts about which neighborhoods and streets are unsafe to travel. The inflow of Somalis had turned Mogadishu into a refugee camp of 1 million people. Most of them, particularly women, children and the elderly, were barely clinging to life, for after bags of food were distributed to such families, the looting began at gunpoint. Relief workers talked of the need to “flood” Mogadishu with food.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Majority of Americans support ousting Trump from office, new poll showsThe poll also found that 70 percent believe that the president was wrong to pressure Ukraine to launch a probe into his political rivals.
Read more »
A Majority of Americans Want Trump Impeached, New Poll Shows25% of Americans still think Trump did nothing wrong——these are clearly the voters Trump said he wouldn't lose even if he stood in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shot someone.
Read more »
Trump pardons Army officers, restores Navy SEAL's rank in war crimes casesPresident Donald Trump pardoned two Army officers accused of war crimes in Afghanistan and restored the rank of a Navy SEAL platoon commander who was demoted for actions in Iraq
Read more »
New York Times editor says Trump has put his reporters’ lives at riskNew York Times editor says Trump has put his reporters’ lives at risk. Dean Baquet decries abuse of journalists and defends not calling president racist
Read more »
Trump goes local to wipe the stain of impeachmentThe White House and its allies have embarked on a coast-to-coast campaign to persuade Americans that Democrats are wasting time impeaching Trump.
Read more »
Don Jr. is on a mission to recruit Trump culture warriorsDonald Trump Jr. is working to translate the combative, anti-liberal MAGA ethos for internet-savvy nonboomers
Read more »