John Bickley

So the cable said that the country of Turkey has actually taken over large sectors of the economy in Somalia, which it runs using corrupt contracts with Somalian ministers who are on the take.

The Mogadishu port is actually owned by a Turkish company, and the Somali ports minister is viewed as being Turkey's primary agent in the country.

Turkey wanted to expand its port facilities, so the Somalis let it take over a warehouse that was used by the World Food Program, which is a United Nations group.

And to be clear, this food is gone, correct?

Well, the Somalis claimed the food is still, quote, accessible, but the World Food Program said that isn't true, and, quote, the demolition constitutes a breach of UN diplomatic protocols.

It said the food has to be carefully stored, so it's hard to see how it's not destroyed at this point.

And as you said, this is taxpayer money funneled through, actually, the Title II Food for Peace Program and the International Disaster Assistance.

So this is taxpayer money from Americans, and then it's administered by this UN group.

All right, so we're giving food for peace, but not even getting the peace part of it at this point.

Is there any chance for Somalia to make amends here?

Well, it doesn't look like it.

You know, the embassy said maybe we could see, but a U.S.

official told me it's too late for Somalia to say they're sorry, and that not only has aid been paused, but it's going to be permanently turned off, and that'll be official by at least May.

So stepping back a little bit here, why has this been happening?

What is the motive for Somalia's government to fail to distribute food intended for its people?

Well, a member of Somalia's parliament and its foreign affairs committee has been warning about this.

Abdullahi Hashihabib said up to 90% of Somalia's humanitarian assistance comes from America, but that the money isn't distributed to the most needy, but rather hoarded by relatives of officials and their clans who don't seem to care very much about rival clans.

He said the agency that receives most of this aid, the Somali Disaster Management Agency, is run by relatives of the president.

Three brothers of the agency's chairman each receive about $15,000 a month in salaries sort of laundered through their wives.

And the finance department and training unit are both run by different uncles of his.