The only regularly scheduled air service carried bales of khat, the Somalis' narcotic of choice. The only telephones were satellite links. The only electricity came from noisy private generators, though it was often shared among neighbors. The only water came from private wells, and there wasn't much of it. Hospitals were dismal and might as well have been closed.
Drugs cost a fortune.
Rubble and wreckage still choked the streets. Some buildings had been cleaned up, windows replaced and shell holes patched, but we saw little major renovation. And the big problem on everyone's mind was how to create jobs for the youngsters who'd gone to war instead of to school. Even overwhelming force can' t solve another people's political problems. They must do that for themselves.