Matt Yglesias

8 Responses to “The Accidental Warlord”

1. Ragout Says:
   October 3rd, 2009 at 3:03 pm

   Scale it up, get another 10,000 Mohammed Adens, and we’ve got a new branch of the military (or the State Dept.) to do global policing on the cheap. For that matter, if we could just turn the Peace Corps into something useful, we’d really have a powerful capability.

2. Qidmiir Says:
   October 3rd, 2009 at 5:18 pm

   This guy belongs to United Somali diaspora who invited an extrimist Zakariya to Minnesota. After poeple realized that kids are missing, he run away to his clan’s hometown. For more information on this subject click here
   http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/07/08/call_to_action/#

3. Silver Says:
   October 3rd, 2009 at 10:13 pm

   I wonder if the Atlantic would send Megan McArdle over their to debate this man’s premise that people want capable government?

   I’d never wish ill on anyone, but maybe she’d get “lost” over there and we wouldn’t have to deal with her anymore. At the same time, she’d get a lesson in applied libertarianism.

   (For the sarcasm impaired, I should note that when I said I’d never wish ill on anyone, I lied. Just like the people who preface racist comments with, “I’m not a racist…”)

4. nitangae Says:
   October 3rd, 2009 at 11:21 pm

   MY:

   There is a long history to that sort of a story. If you look at old English-language newspaper articles about Korea circa 1946, they all say that Syngman Rhee was extraordinarily sharp and honest. What they really mean is that he A) speaks English better than other Korean politicians and B) understands the USA (as he lived in the US or Hawaii for much of his life). I expect the fact that he also shared many reporters racism against black people also helped.

   Until I discover that the reporter in question speaks Somali, I will doubt everything said in the entire story.

5. John Says:
   October 4th, 2009 at 11:12 am

   Somalia shows that libertarianism would never work, and Aden’s success shows, as he says, that people “long for government.”

6. Sycophant of the Bourgeois Says:
   October 4th, 2009 at 9:03 pm

   I think what liberals, and some libertarians often forget is that Government is not inherently evil, only involuntary government. Providing services similar to a government without extorting people from money, is a market based charity.

   I also question asking a war lord whether people like his presence. Did anyone really expect him to say anything different?

7. Jon Says:
   October 5th, 2009 at 11:25 am

   “only involuntary government”

   All government is, to some extent, involuntary.

8. DC Says:
   October 5th, 2009 at 12:19 pm

   MY:
   There is a long history to that sort of a story. If you look at old English-language newspaper articles about Korea circa 1946, they all say that Syngman Rhee was extraordinarily sharp and honest. What they really mean is that he A) speaks English better than other Korean politicians and B) understands the USA (as he lived in the US or Hawaii for much of his life). I expect the fact that he also shared many reporters racism against black people also helped.
   Until I discover that the reporter in question speaks Somali, I will doubt everything said in the entire story.