GOTHIC SERPENT Black Hawk Down Mogadishu 1993

RAID GOTHIC SERPENT Black Hawk Down Mogadishu 1993 CLAYTON K.S. CHUN GOTHIC SERPENT Black Hawk Down Mogadishu 1993 CLAYTON K.S. CHUN CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 04 ORIGINS 08 Clans go to War 10 The UN versus Aideed 11 INITIAL STRATEGY 14 Task Force Ranger Forms 15 A Study in Contrasts: US/UN forces and the SNA 17 TFR’s Tactics and Procedures 25 TFR Operations Against Aideed and the SNA 27 PLAN 31 TFR and the QRF Prepare for Action 32 Black Hawks and Little Birds 34 Somali Preparations 35 RAID 38 “Irene”: Going into the “Black Sea” 39 “Super 61’s Going Down” 47 Ground Convoy to the Rescue 51 Super 64 Goes Down 53 Securing Super 61 59 Mounting Another Rescue 60 TFR Hunkers Down for the Night 65 Confusion on National Street 68 TFR Gets Out 70 ANALYSIS 72 CONCLUSION 76 BIBLIOGRAPHY 78 INDEX 80 INTRODUCTION Me and Somalia against the world Me and my clan against Somalia Me and my family against the clan Me and my brother against my family Me against my brother. Somali Proverb In 1992, the United States basked in the glow of its recent military and political victory in Iraq. Washington had successfully orchestrated a coalition of nations, including Arabic states, to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein. The US administration was also celebrating the fall of the Soviet Union and the bright future of President George H.W. Bush’s “New World Order.” The fear of a nuclear catastrophe seemed remote given the international growth of democracy. With the United States now as the sole global superpower, some in the US government felt that it now had the opportunity, will, and capability to reshape the world by creating democratic states around the globe. The only concern for some was where to start, given the many areas that would merit rebuilding. Africa was hardly on Washington’s list of vital national interests. Somalia was a remote failed state created from Italian and British colonies. Although bordering the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, the region had been a minor focus of the Cold War. Moscow supported regimes first in Somalia and later in Ethiopia. Few Americans knew or cared about Eastern Africa. Other areas seemed more important. Somalia was a country that had fallen into chaos. The country had suffered JANUARY 26 1991 a devastating civil war when various factions overthrew its dictator, Mohamed Siad Barre. Barre, who came to power in late 1969, had tried to build a socialist Barre’s Somalian state by subverting historic clan allegiances. Barre’s strong-arm methods worked dictatorship as he outlawed political parties and clans. Mogadishu received military aid from overthrown the Soviet Union to advance his rule – Somalia offered Moscow an African foothold and a major naval port on the Indian Ocean. However, Barre fell out of Soviet favor when he attacked neighboring Ethiopia. As a new socialist state, 4 Introduction SOMALIA: CLANS AND ISLAMIC TERRORISTS Supporting UN operations is a tough mission for combatants and non- combatants alike; it was even harder without a single government entity with which to negotiate, so the UN and Washington had to interact with clan and tribal leaders. Somalia was a patchwork of clans artificially formed into a country. During its colonial period from the late 19th to mid 20th centuries, Somalia fell under the rule or control of various foreign powers including the Italians, French, and British. African neighbors, such as the Ethiopians and Kenyans, also governed areas As Somalia descended into chaos, the only unifying force was the clans. Somali along with ethnic Somalis. The clans dictated how their members lived, who got food, and which members could situation changed with the end of earn a living. Here, a Somali clan representative hands out work permits. (DoD) colonial rule and the formation of the Republic of Somalia in 1960. Various governments ran economy led to arms smuggling and khat drug trafficking. Somalia until Mohamed Siad Barre’s reign, but despite his The social breakdown also brought poverty and willing administration’s control of the Somali government and converts ready to fight. With no central authority to fear, its people, Barre had a very difficult time handling the terrorist organizations made their home in Somalia in the clans and their activities. early 1990s, with the goal of creating a Somali government following Islamic laws, since almost all Somalis share a common culture, but differ through clan Somalis are practicing Muslims. One group, the Al-Ittihad association. Somalia’s Dir, Isaaq, Darood, Hawiye, Digl, al Islami (AIAI), offered aid and fighters to rebels in the and Rahanwein clans make up the largest groups in the Ogaden area. The AIAI wanted to help these rebels to region. Barre came from the Darood clan, while his rival break away from Ethiopia and extend their radical Islamic Mohamed Farrah Aideed claimed roots in the Hawiye. message; Osama bin Laden, according to American Under the clan system, members show allegiance first to intelligence sources, had links with the AIAI. family, then to their clan, and finally the nation. The major clan groups had sub-clans that further divided Aideed’s propaganda claims that the UN and Americans Somalia. Rulers, whether they were Barre or Aideed, had were trying to convert the Somalis away from Islam to satisfy clan needs first at the expense of other clans played on the people’s Muslim beliefs, regardless of clan or the national interests. Political patronage and affiliation. It also helped extended the influence of favoritism brought inevitable conflict. Squabbles over radical Islam. The struggle between an Islamic people resources, political power, or other issues divided and the Americans may have brought another party into Somalia. Control over the clans and Somalia could only the conflict, with serious future implications. Allegedly, come with authoritarian rule and force under Barre. For the Somali National Alliance (SNA) militia, who opposed Barre, the banning of clans under his regime, while Task Force Ranger (TFR) soldiers, trained under al-Qaeda giving the appearance of favoring his clan, further and the AIAI. Many of the al-Qaeda members who trained alienated the government from the Somali people and the SNA had served in Afghanistan against the Soviets helped lead to a civil war. and now the Americans in Somalia. Ironically, American intelligence agencies may have armed and trained some Internal strife after Barre’s fall led to a rise in of the same radical Islamic fighters in Afghanistan who insurgencies fuelled by clans and other groups. Somalia’s would eventually help shoot down two American civil war brought opportunities for many non-clan groups helicopters and cause Washington to pull out of Somalia. to expand their activities, while the nation’s collapsed 5 Black Hawk Down, Mogadishu 1993 Ethiopia had offered further expansion into Africa for the Soviets. The Soviet government therefore cut off aid and support to Somalia, and Washington furthered the schism between Moscow and Mogadishu when it came to Barre’s side. Destroying Somali clan associations and activities was impossible. There were six major clans with 20 sub-clans in Somalia. The Somali clan leadership felt marginalized and isolated by Barre, hence the clans formed rebel groups against the Barre government, supported by Ethiopian arms and aid. One clan, the Hawiye, started a President George H.W. political movement, the United Somali Congress (USC), in defiance of Barre. Bush, late in his Based in Mogadishu, Mohamed Farrah Aideed headed the USC. Aideed, a administration, committed former general in Barre’s regime, came from one of the largest and most the United States to powerful Somali clans, the Habr Gidr, a sub-clan of the Hawiye. In an effort humanitarian relief efforts in to crush Aideed in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, Barre started to crack down Somalia. Massive famine in on this clan, but Aideed became a warlord with control over a large part of Somalia motivated him to Mogadishu. Unfortunately, Barre’s efforts turned violent and resulted in several send the military to support massacres. Washington turned off its aid to the Somali government. The nation the UN. (Col Pat Cassidy) exploded into civil war and chaos, and Aideed and other rebel groups overthrew Barre on January 26, 1991. Disorder immediately followed. The Bush administration had been wary about an African deployment. There were no appreciable national interests in eastern Africa, other than humanitarian. Without the threat from the Soviet Union and competition for proxy states, Washington’s desire to engage with the continent ended. Yet disturbing images from Somalia caught the President’s attention. Drought, civil war, and clan violence heightened Barre’s fall and the power vacuum that followed. There was no replacement government in Somalia and the nation fell into chaos. Despite creating a country from the two colonies, Somalia suffered from poverty. Once political agreement and law enforcement fell apart, clan fighting turned the state into a lawless region controlled by warlords like Aideed. Fighting, poor agricultural output, and a breakdown of Somalia’s economy contributed to famine, and soon the world press began showing starving Somalis on screen and in print. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) tried to distribute food, but continued clan fighting over control of aid distribution forced calls for more security. The United Nations (UN) reacted to the worsening food situation. In April 1992, under UN Resolution 751, a 550- man Pakistani security contingent arrived in Somalia to support distribution of $20 million in food aid. Under the UN Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM), a Pakistani force tried to quell some of the food-distribution problems caused by rival clans, but it failed.

Load more