Where to Begin . . .?

I don’t even know where to begin with this piece, so I really won’t. Also I have better things to do with my time, but still check this out:

“Awash in guns and drugs – there are about six million weapons for only 11 million adults – the country has become a key transit point for smuggling from East Africa to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.”

I don’t know how he mangled Brian’s favorite stat, but there it is.

But as a bit of an antidote to that there is this, from the FT, which I got from Tom Ricks’ blog and has the funniest thing I’ve read today. Anyone who has ever tried – and usually failed – to give advice to government officials knows what he is talking about:

“It’s like they’re coming in and saying to you, ‘I’m going to drive my car off a cliff. Should I or should I not wear a seatbelt?’ And you say, ‘I don’t think you should drive your car off the cliff.’ And they say, ‘No, no, that bit’s already been decided – the question is whether to wear a seatbelt.’ And you say, ‘Well, you might as well wear a seatbelt.’ And then they say, ‘We’ve consulted with policy expert Rory Stewart and he says.”