On one main road, twisted and rusty cars are piled up along the median. On another lies the skeleton of a United Nations armored vehicle. Trash is scattered everywhere, in a once-beautiful seaside city with no central electricity, water, police or schools. The outside world, exhausted with Somalia, has not been eager to help. We need everything.
Every sector is in shambles.
In fact, Mr. Salad's presidency is itself but an idea. He does not even have an office to work out of, much less an organized army to command or any government ministers to manage. Moreover, Mr. Salad's transitional government must still deal with the leaders of two autonomous regions in the north who have refused to recognize his authority. The regions, Somaliland and Puntland, had established relatively peaceful pockets beyond the violence of Mogadishu. The new president must also contend with the nearly impossible expectations of Somalis, who seem to believe a government will be panacea for all their problems.