Somalia 1993: Snafu Americana The US troops' Mogadishu beach-landing was a PR comedy of Forrest Gump proportions, ending in tragic PR disaster – but it was again, more an effort, initially, at peacekeeping than imperial aggression. The capital of Somalia had totally imploded, and had been in complete anarchy for many months. So again, in the absence of an effective UN army which the post cold-war world so badly needs – not one more blue-beret detachment to monitor buffer zones – some force would sooner or later go in and try to restore basic order. Remember, the implosion of Mogadishu was in no way the immediate or even medium term fault of any outside power. It happened like this: sub clans of the Hawiye – the main original clan of the city and surrounding countryside – having driven out president Siad Barre and his Marehan clan and their allies, in weeks of brave house-to-house and street battles, after years of increasing oppression – started to turn their RPGs and their AK47s ...
Left wing commentary from the heart and the head