Somalia Conflict
The Battle of Mogadishu
Background Information:
In
January 1991, the dictator of
Somalia, Mohammed Siad Barre,
was overthrown by a coalition of
opposing clans, called the United
Somalia Congress.
After this revolution, the coalition
divided into two groups.
One
was led by Ali Mahdi
Muhammad, who became
president; and the other, by
Mohammed Farah Aidid.
FOUR OPPOSING GROUPS:
The United Somali Congress,
Somali Salvation Democratic Front
Somali Patriotic Movement and
Somali Democratic Movement- All
fought for control
In
June 1991, a ceasefire was
agreed to, but failed to hold.
 A fifth group, the Somali National
Movement, had already seceded
from the northwest portion of
Somalia in June.
The SNM renamed it the
Somaliland Republic, with its
leader Abdel-Rahman Ahmed Ali
as president.
In
September 1991, fighting broke
out in Mogadishu, continued for
months and spread throughout
the country
1 year- 20,000 killed/injured
Fighting led to the destruction of
the agriculture of Somalia, which
in turn led to starvation in large
parts of Somalia.
The
international community
began to send food supplies to
halt the starvation, but vast
amounts of food were hijacked
and brought to local clan
leaders, who routinely
exchanged it with other
countries for weapons.
CORRUPTION!
An
estimated 80 percent of the
food was stolen.
These factors led to even more
starvation:
Approx. 300,000 people died,
and another 1.5 million people
suffered, between 1991 and
1992.
In
July 1992, after a ceasefire
between the opposing clan
factions, the United Nations (UN)
sent 50 military observers to
watch the distribution of the food.
President Bush initiated
humanitarian airlifts and such to
help the rural areas of the country
Operation Gothic Serpent
October 3 1993, Task Force
Ranger, a U.S. Special Operations
Forces composed mainly of
Rangers, Delta Force operators,
and aviation support from the
160th Special Operations Aviation
Regiment (Airborne) (the Night
Stalkers)…
attempted
to capture Aidid's
foreign minister, Omar Salad
Elmi and his top political
advisor, Mohamed Hassan
Awale.
The
plan was to fast rope from
hovering MH-60 Black Hawk
helicopters, capture the targets,
and load them onto a ground
convoy for transport back to the
U.S. compound. Four Ranger
chalks, also inserted by helicopter,
were to provide a secure square
perimeter on the four corners of
the operation's target building.
The
ground extraction convoy was
supposed to reach the captive
targets a few minutes after the
beginning of the operation.
However, it ran into delays.
Somali
citizens and local militia
formed barricades along the
streets of Mogadishu with rocks
and burning tires, blocking the
convoy from reaching the Rangers
and their captives. A five-ton
truck, part of the convoy, was
struck by a rocket-propelled
grenade
 An
Army Ranger was injured
 Another fell too fast from the
Blackhawk helicopter
 Black Hawk was shot down by a
rocket propelled grenade.
 Later in the mission another Black
Hawk was shot down waiting for
instruction
 About 90 Rangers found themselves
trapped for the night in the middle of
the streets.
WHAT DOES ALL OF
THIS MEAN?
The
'battle of Mogadishu'- a
planned 90-minute mission which
turned into a deadly 17 hours - is
generally forgotten by most
Americans. But five years later, it
continues to cast a long shadow
on US military thinking and
decision making about
humanitarian/peacekeeping
operations.
Its
legacy, say many experts,
was a continuing U.S. reluctance
to be drawn into other trouble
spots such as Bosnia, Rwanda
and Haiti during the 1990s.
Rwandan Genocide
 The
Rwandan Genocide was the
1994 mass extermination of
hundreds of thousands of ethnic
Tutsis and moderate Hutus in
Rwanda.
 This genocide was mostly carried
out by two extremist Hutu militia
groups, the Interahamwe and the
Impuzamugambi, during a period
of about 100 days from April 6
through mid-July 1994.
Over
500,000 Tutsis and
thousands of moderate Hutus
died in the genocide, with some
reports estimating the number
of victims to be between
800,000 and 1,000,000.
In
1959, violence between the
Tutsi and Hutu erupted. Hutus
overthrew Tutsi rule
declared an independent republic
and elected the first Hutu
president, Greg wa Kayabanda.
Mass killings of Tutsis occurred
during the transition to Hutu rule,
hinting at things to come.
Inciting the Genocide:
Rwandan
President Habyarimana
& Burundian President are killed
when Habyarimana's plane is shot
down near Kigali Airport.
Hutu extremists, suspecting that
the Rwandan president is finally
about to implement the Arusha
Peace Accords, are believed to be
behind the attack.
The killings begin that
night…
 In
the wake of the Rwandan
Genocide, the United Nations and
the international community in
general drew severe criticism for its
inaction.
 Despite international news media
coverage of the violence as it
unfolded, most countries, including
France, Belgium, and the United
States, declined to intervene or
speak out against the massacres.
Canada
continued to lead the UN
peacekeeping force in Rwanda,
United Nations Assistance Mission
for Rwanda (UNAMIR). However,
the UN did not authorize UNAMIR
to intervene or use force to
prevent or halt the killing.
Classification?
Ethnic
classification on ID Cards in
Rwanda instituted by the Belgian
colonial government and retained
after independence, was central in
shaping, defining and
perpetuating ethnic identity.
Once
the 1994 genocide in
Rwanda began, an ID card
with the designation "Tutsi"
spelled a death sentence at
any roadblock.
No other factor was more
significant in facilitating the
speed and magnitude of the
100 days of mass killing in
Rwanda.
In
order to strengthen their
control, the Belgians colonists
divided Rwanda’s unified
population into three distinct
groups: Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa.
In order to do this, the
colonists created a strict
system of racial classification.
Both
the Belgians and the
Germans, influenced by racist
ideas, thought that the Tutsi
were a superior group because
they were more “white”
looking.
 The
description is that Tutsis tend to
be taller, with relatively thin or "lanky"
frames, and have pointed noses and
more "European" facial features and
sometimes lighter skin;
 Hutus are more average in height and
stocky in body frame.
 Another difference is supposed to be
that Tutsis have dark oral mucosa
(gums) while Hutu have lighter
colored oral mucosa.
While
many do fit the
description, there are Hutu who
slightly look like Tutsi, Tutsi
who look like Hutu, but this
could be due to intermarriages
and there are many Rwandans
and Burundians don't really fit
either description
The
Hutus, who make up about
85% of Rwanda’s population,
were denied:
higher
education
land ownership
positions in government.
By
the 1950s, their resentment
had grown.
The
genocide ended when a
Tutsi-dominated expatriate
rebel movement known as the
Rwandan Patriotic Front, led
by Paul Kagame, overthrew
the Hutu government and
seized power.
Fearing
reprisals, hundreds of
thousands of Hutu and other
refugees fled into eastern Zaire
(now the Democratic Republic of
the Congo). Ethnic hatreds that
fueled the Rwandan Genocide
quickly spilled over into Congo,
fueling the First and Second
Congo Wars.
Rivalry
between Hutu and Tutsi
tribal factions is also a major
factor in the Burundi Civil War.