I would be curious to learn whether Kelley Vlahos has been to Mogadishu, or whether her comments reflect rumors and hearsay she has picked up from other media personalities representing various agendas. Having traveled extensively in the region, and having sent teams into and out of Somalia between 1998 and 2001, including myself, I am somewhat mystified by the following claims.

"it would have been impossible for him to get anywhere near Mogadishu, because there is no real government to speak of, "

Obviously, there is no need for a government, real or pretend, to get to a place. People walk to Mogadishu all the time from surrounding areas. There are roads, many maintained by local and regional clan groups, and vehicles. Mostly these are Toyota pickup trucks or SUVs, and Mercedes lorries. There are sailing vessels and motor vessels which dock at the ports along the coast, and there is an airport where planes land carrying qat from the highlands of Ethiopia or Kenya.

Indeed, during the height of the Somali-Ethiopian war of 1978, the qat planes flew in every day, without fail. Nobody targeted them. (Nobody wanted a thousand bullets from chat addicted maniacs.)

A typical venture into Southern Somalia involved paying for the weight of a man in qat for each passenger. Passengers can meet the planes in Nairobi or Addis Ababa. Of course, our projects were never funded the way the president of the United States is funded.

For Obama to reach Mogadishu, he need only direct his plane there. It contains, according to my friend Tom Knapp, "4,000 square feet of floor space on three levels, an office suite, a medical suite with operating theatre and doctor on constant standby, and two kitchens capable of serving up to 100 guests at a time." And the military would air lift in a few giant cargo aircraft loads of limousines, military and secret service escorts, etc.

The runway at Mog was long enough to land all kinds of USA and UN aircraft, and more than capable of servicing the helicopters that went out to slaughter Somalis, including a peaceful clan gathering of Habr Gidr in 1993. But you probably don't want to hear about USA and UN soldiers butchering civilians.

"not to mention clean water, safe shelter, or even enough hopeful locals to greet him on the tarmac."

You know, they have water in Mogadishu. People live there. They have shelters, and the Air Force One aircraft sleeps many.

Now, of locals there is no shortage. And of greetings, a wide variety are possible. I can't say that some of the locals would not choose to greet the president's plane with rocket propelled grenades or rounds from their one-pounder anti-aircraft guns.

But I tire of commentary about Somalia from people who haven't been there. I suggest that instead of adopting the views of someone else, you either make plans for a visit, or, better still, leave Somalia to the Somalis. It is not your country, and you have no obligation to sort out its problems. Your only obligation is to do what you think is right, and I would suggest you think about ways to get your government and the evil international groups it sponsors, to stop slaughtering children in foreign countries.

Do this now.