04-14-2017, 09:58 PM
*** 15-Apr-17 World View -- US sends dozens of troops to Somalia, first time since Black Hawk Down
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** US sends dozens of troops to Somalia, first time since Black Hawk Down
****
![[Image: g170414b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170414b.jpg)
Al-Shabaab fighters
The US is sending dozens of troops to Somalia in order to provide
training to Somali forces fighting the al-Qaeda linked Islamist group
al-Shabaab.
This is the largest deployment of American troops to the Horn of
Africa since American troops were withdrawn in 1994, following the
disastrous Black Hawk down incident. In October 1993, a US operation
in Mogadishu ended in disaster when two Black Hawk helicopters were
shot down, leading to a 15-hour battle that killed hundreds of Somalis
and 18 Americans.
About 40 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division, based in Fort
Campbell, Ky, have been sent to Somalia. They will not take part in
combat, but will focus on training the Somali army to bolster its
logistics capabilities. The Somali government had requested the
training, as its war against al-Qaeda based al-Shabaab has been far
from decisive. At the same time, the US military is increasing the
number of airstrikes against al-Shabaab.
The African Union troops include armies from Kenya and Uganda, but
these troops are scheduled to pull out in 2018. The purpose of the US
troops is to train the Somalis to fight al-Shabaab on their own, which
may or may not be successful. Stars and Stripes and AP and Foreign Policy
Related Articles
****
**** Somalia's civil war and the Black Hawk Down incident
****
Somalia's civil war ran from 1988 to 1994, but the stage was set
decades earlier by the rise of Mohamed Siad Barre, who seized power in
1969 and set up a brutal Marxist totalitarian dictatorship. Siad
tried to unify the local clans, but in the end the clans destroyed him
and his totalitarian state.
In 1977, next-door-neighbor Ethiopia was in chaos, at the start of a
full-scale generational crisis war with Eritrea. Siad tried to take
advantage of the chaos by attacking Ogaden, a large region of Ethiopia
on Somalia's border, populated mostly by Somalis. Siad had hoped to
get the backing of his pals in the Soviet Union, but they betrayed him
and sided with Ethiopia.
The result of Siad's abortive invasion was that hundreds of thousands
of Somali refugees from Ogaden poured across the border into Somalia,
destabilizing the country. These refugees joined with existing claims
to attack Siad's regime, with the intention of overthrowing it,
leading to full-scale civil war by 1988.
By 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and the war between Ethiopia and
Eritrea climaxed. However, Somalia's civil war continued with the
destruction of Somalia's crops, causing widespread famine and almost
total anarchy in Somalia. Siad was ousted and forced to flee the
country, leading to an even bloodier succession battle.
International aid agencies flew food into Somalia to ease the famine,
but the food was stolen by warring clan militias. In 1992, the United
Nations actively intervened, and sent a peacekeeping force of 35,000
troops in "Operation Restore Hope."
The situation continued to deteriorate, and in October 1993, elite
American troops launched a disastrous raid in the Somali capital
Mogadishu. Two American Black Hawk helicopters were shot down using
rocket-propelled grenades. Some of the survivors were rescued, but
two pilots were attacked by a mob of thousands of Somalis who hacked
them to death with machetes and dragged their mutilated bodies through
the streets as trophies. The result was a 15-hour battle that killed
hundreds of Somalis, as well as about 18 Americans and two UN
soldiers.
The Black Hawk down incident, also known as the Battle of Mogadishu,
had lasting effects on both sides. On the Somali side, the mob attack
and ensuing battle appears to be one of the climactic events of Somali
crisis civil war.
On the American side, Black Hawk down shocked the public, and was well
remembered in books and a major movie. It caused the US to withdraw
its forces from Somalia in 1994, and to be reluctant to intervene in
African crises since then. So, for example, the US stayed out of the
massive Rwanda massacre in 1994, which is probably just as well.
Today, as US troops return to Somalia, the country is in a
generational Awakening era, which means that a new generation of kids
has grown up hearing stories of the glorious adventures of their
fathers in shooting down the two Black Hawks and hacking the pilots'
bodies to death, and anxious to have the opportunity to do it again.
So there is absolutely no chance at all that the current government of
Somalia, with the help of US and African Union forces, will be able to
subdue al-Shabaab. History World and BBC and Independent (London - 3-Jan-1995)
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Somalia, Al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda,
Black Hawk Down, Battle of Mogadishu, 101st Airborne Division,
African Union, Kenya, Uganda, Mohamed Siad Barre, Ethiopia, Ogaden
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- US sends dozens of troops to Somalia, first time since Black Hawk Down
- Somalia's civil war and the Black Hawk Down incident
****
**** US sends dozens of troops to Somalia, first time since Black Hawk Down
****
Al-Shabaab fighters
The US is sending dozens of troops to Somalia in order to provide
training to Somali forces fighting the al-Qaeda linked Islamist group
al-Shabaab.
This is the largest deployment of American troops to the Horn of
Africa since American troops were withdrawn in 1994, following the
disastrous Black Hawk down incident. In October 1993, a US operation
in Mogadishu ended in disaster when two Black Hawk helicopters were
shot down, leading to a 15-hour battle that killed hundreds of Somalis
and 18 Americans.
About 40 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division, based in Fort
Campbell, Ky, have been sent to Somalia. They will not take part in
combat, but will focus on training the Somali army to bolster its
logistics capabilities. The Somali government had requested the
training, as its war against al-Qaeda based al-Shabaab has been far
from decisive. At the same time, the US military is increasing the
number of airstrikes against al-Shabaab.
The African Union troops include armies from Kenya and Uganda, but
these troops are scheduled to pull out in 2018. The purpose of the US
troops is to train the Somalis to fight al-Shabaab on their own, which
may or may not be successful. Stars and Stripes and AP and Foreign Policy
Related Articles
- Kenya gets mired in Somalia, and U.S. involvement expands in Ethiopia (29-Oct-2011)
- Somalia's Al-Shabaab claims responsibility for religion-based Kenya attack (23-Nov-2014)
- Minnesota link to Kenya shopping mall attack raises U.S. fears (23-Sep-2013)
- Kenya's High Court blocks attempt to close Dadaab refugee camp (10-Feb-2017)
****
**** Somalia's civil war and the Black Hawk Down incident
****
Somalia's civil war ran from 1988 to 1994, but the stage was set
decades earlier by the rise of Mohamed Siad Barre, who seized power in
1969 and set up a brutal Marxist totalitarian dictatorship. Siad
tried to unify the local clans, but in the end the clans destroyed him
and his totalitarian state.
In 1977, next-door-neighbor Ethiopia was in chaos, at the start of a
full-scale generational crisis war with Eritrea. Siad tried to take
advantage of the chaos by attacking Ogaden, a large region of Ethiopia
on Somalia's border, populated mostly by Somalis. Siad had hoped to
get the backing of his pals in the Soviet Union, but they betrayed him
and sided with Ethiopia.
The result of Siad's abortive invasion was that hundreds of thousands
of Somali refugees from Ogaden poured across the border into Somalia,
destabilizing the country. These refugees joined with existing claims
to attack Siad's regime, with the intention of overthrowing it,
leading to full-scale civil war by 1988.
By 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and the war between Ethiopia and
Eritrea climaxed. However, Somalia's civil war continued with the
destruction of Somalia's crops, causing widespread famine and almost
total anarchy in Somalia. Siad was ousted and forced to flee the
country, leading to an even bloodier succession battle.
International aid agencies flew food into Somalia to ease the famine,
but the food was stolen by warring clan militias. In 1992, the United
Nations actively intervened, and sent a peacekeeping force of 35,000
troops in "Operation Restore Hope."
The situation continued to deteriorate, and in October 1993, elite
American troops launched a disastrous raid in the Somali capital
Mogadishu. Two American Black Hawk helicopters were shot down using
rocket-propelled grenades. Some of the survivors were rescued, but
two pilots were attacked by a mob of thousands of Somalis who hacked
them to death with machetes and dragged their mutilated bodies through
the streets as trophies. The result was a 15-hour battle that killed
hundreds of Somalis, as well as about 18 Americans and two UN
soldiers.
The Black Hawk down incident, also known as the Battle of Mogadishu,
had lasting effects on both sides. On the Somali side, the mob attack
and ensuing battle appears to be one of the climactic events of Somali
crisis civil war.
On the American side, Black Hawk down shocked the public, and was well
remembered in books and a major movie. It caused the US to withdraw
its forces from Somalia in 1994, and to be reluctant to intervene in
African crises since then. So, for example, the US stayed out of the
massive Rwanda massacre in 1994, which is probably just as well.
Today, as US troops return to Somalia, the country is in a
generational Awakening era, which means that a new generation of kids
has grown up hearing stories of the glorious adventures of their
fathers in shooting down the two Black Hawks and hacking the pilots'
bodies to death, and anxious to have the opportunity to do it again.
So there is absolutely no chance at all that the current government of
Somalia, with the help of US and African Union forces, will be able to
subdue al-Shabaab. History World and BBC and Independent (London - 3-Jan-1995)
Related Articles
- Heavy fighting along Eritrea-Ethiopia border raises fears of war (14-Jun-2016)
- The Somalia connection -- The 7/21 London subway bombers (01-Aug-2005)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Somalia, Al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda,
Black Hawk Down, Battle of Mogadishu, 101st Airborne Division,
African Union, Kenya, Uganda, Mohamed Siad Barre, Ethiopia, Ogaden
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
