In 1988, civil war broke out in Somalia in East Africa. The dictator, Siad Barre, was expelled, but power remained divided among local leaders. In the capital of Mogadishu, Mohamed Farah Aideed and Ali Mahdi Mohamed struggled for control; regional groups fought among themselves. In April 1992, the United Nations established the United Nations Operations in Somalia (UNOSOM I), with a few unarmed troops and Mohamed Sahnoun, an Algerian diplomat, as political coordinator. Sahnoun established good relations with both sides but alienated UN headquarters and soon resigned. In July 1992, the secretary general estimated that 1 million Somali children were malnourished and another 4.5 million people urgently needed food aid. Under pressure from the media, members of Congress, and the international community, President George Bush decided to airlift food to Somalia in August. However, it was impossible to deliver sufficient quantities of food by air.
Troops of the United Nations Task Force (UNITAF) land ed in December 1992. UNITAF was a U.S. military operation, although troops from 30 countries were included; at its peak it numbered about 38,000 troops, of which 25,000 were American. Its mission was confined to relief; the United Nations would conduct political negotiations and prepare a force to replace it. UNITAF succeeded in stopping famine throughout the country within five months.
UNOSOM II had about the same troop strength but a more ambitious task: to establish a Somali government. Somali factions attacked UNOSOM troops, and the conflict escalated. U.S. Delta Force commandos and rangers were sent to Somalia to capture Aideed. Instead, on 3 October 1993, they were ambushed and lost eighteen men. Television cameras showed one of the dead Americans being dragged through the streets. The Clinton administration decided to negotiate with Aideed. U.S. troops were withdrawn, and the rest of the UN forces left Somalia in March 1995. The famine had been ended, but UN peacekeeping had been discredited in the United States.
Bibliography
- John L. Hirsch and Robert B. Oakley, Somalia and Operation Restore Hope, 1995.
- Jonathan Stevenson, Losing Mogadishu, 1995.
- Mark Bowden, Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, 1999
