The Battle of Mogadishu

Joshua Mahaffey

10/06/2011

His 411 Emerging Nations

Dr. Thompson

The Battle of Mogadishu

On October 3, 1993 members of the United States military had been engaged into battle with members of the Somalia militia. The operation began at 3:30 p.m. local time and the core mission was to capture the top lieutenants of the warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The military believed that Aidid was to be meeting with the members of his cabinet at the Olympic hotel in downtown Mogadishu. The mission that was to last an hour lasted about 15 and claimed the lives of 19 American soldiers and over 1000 Somalis lost their lives. From the moment that U.S. troops arrived in the middle of Mogadishu it was clear that they were going to be in for a major battle as they were fired upon once they arrived.

Operation Restore Hope

According to Mark Kesslemen “third world states may face challenges so serious that their very survival might as well be at stake. They may collapse altogether when powerful rivals seek to undermine the government” (Kesslemen, 2010, p.29). This was the case with Somalia as powerful warlords were able to overthrow the government.

Operation Restore Hope main mission was to restore hope to Somalia a nation that had been torn apart by civil war. The government had been overthrown by warlords in 1991. Massive chaos began and people were being starved to death due to the heavy infighting. Over 300,000 civilians died from starvation, thanks in part to the infighting in the country. “Operation Restore Hope was a confusing mission for American soldiers. Trained as warriors, they were thrust into a humanitarian mission. Expecting to distribute food to grateful Somalis, they were attacked instead by the locals and were limited to security and guard duty” (Miller, 1995 paragraph 1). In March of 1993 all leaders of the different clans agreed to restore democracy and stop fighting, in an attempt to reunify the country. While General Aidid did sign the agreement,...