Battle of Mogadishu

Battle of Mogadishu

America learns that even when it really does try to help, it is not welcomed.

Authored By Dan Alex

The Battle for Mogadishu went from a run-of-the-mill military kidnapping to an all out fight for the lives of American Special Forces. Most people have the image of American Special Forces men being dragged dead through the streets of the city, half-naked, but the event itself was much more than that. It was an event filled with bad intelligence, bad choices and American heroes fighting for their lives. Operation Restore Hope placed the Special Forces in positions that they were not specifically trained for, most notably crowd control and urban fighting.

The situation began in 1992 during the Bush Administration. Violence in Somalia carried on through the 1980s and 90s. Warlords that have risen to power were at war with one another. As the world responded to feed the starving citizens of the country, the warlords and the cronies they paid were taking the food as they came straight off the boats and trucks. Warlords paid up 'protection money' on these goods and in some cases had the good stolen from themselves by the very same gunmen hired to protect them. As the voices of the world grew louder for a response, President Bush committed troops to the region in an effort to stem the power of the warlords and feed the hungry. As the special forces operatives made their way to the shores of the coastal country under the cover of darkness, they were greeted by camera crews and spotlights of the international reporting agencies. Already, the movements of the special forces operatives were compromised.

As more and more forces and journalists made their way into the volatile country, it became apparent that neither group could make heads or tails out of the politics in Somalia. As more and more talk about the warlords brewed, the attention began to fall on one in particular - General Aidid. After one catastrophic firefight that left 24 Pakistani UN...