Somalia Intervention (1992)

Military operation mounted by the United States as part of a wider international humanitarian and peace-keeping effort that started in the summer of 1992 and ended in the spring of 1995. The intervention in Somalia was an extremely complex enterprise. It has remained in the mind of many Americans mainly because of one major incident that took place on October 3 and 4, 1993: namely the so-called Battle of Mogadishu, in which 18 U.S. soldiers and hundreds of Somali militia and civilians were killed. What started as a humanitarian operation aimed at channeling food supplies to the famished Somali population ended in a bloody fight that wrought even more chaos on an already embattled country.

Historical Background

The politically-charged events that foreshadowed the 1992 intervention in Somalia arguably go back to 1991, when Somali dictator Mohammed Siad Barre was overthrown in a military coup staged by a coalition of opposition warlords. As soon as the warlords saw themselves in power, the two most powerful—Ali Mahdi and Mohammed Aideed (who would later play a crucial role in the Battle of Mogadishu)—began fighting among themselves.

[Page 661]The incessant conflict led to the destruction of the country's agriculture and, by way of consequence, to nationwide famine. By the fall of 1991, the United Nations estimated that 4.5 million Somalis were on the brink of starving to death. Under international pressure, the warring factions, including General Aideed, agreed to a cease-fire, allowing UN observers to enter the country and organize a humanitarian effort there.

In April 1992, the UN humanitarian effort, known as Operation Provide Relief, arrived in Somalia. However, the undertaking proved to be extremely difficult, as various Somali militia disregarded the cease-fire and engaged in extensive fighting as well as in large-scale hijacking and looting of international food convoys.

In his last weeks in office, President George H. W. Bush proposed to the United Nations that American combat troops be sent to Somalia to protect aid workers. The United Nations accepted Bush's proposal, and on December 9, 1992, around 25,000 U.S. troops began arriving in Somalia.

Fighting Aideed

Almost from the very beginning, just like in the case of the humanitarian effort, the military operation was beset with difficulties. The lack of a national Somali leadership, as well as the daily mayhem in the streets of the capital city of Mogadishu, bedeviled the security operation. Unsatisfied with the mission's results, the new U.S. president, Bill Clinton, ordered the number of U.S. troops reduced.

By June 1993, only 1,200 American combat soldiers remained in Somalia, aided by troops from 28 other countries acting under the authority of the United Nations. The already unstable situation on the ground took a sharp turn for the worse when 24 Pakistani soldiers were ambushed and killed while inspecting a weapons storage facility. The United Nations unofficially blamed General Aideed's militia for the operation, and passed a resolution calling for the apprehension of those responsible for the massacre.

During the next two weeks, U.S. and UN troops attacked objectives associated with Aideed's forces, without succeeding in capturing the general. On August 29, more than 400 elite U.S. Delta Force troops flew into Somalia on a mission to apprehend Aidid. The ensuing Battle of Mogadishu was to become a symbol for the entire Somali operation.

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