Black Hawk Down

After recently watching the movie, Black Hawk Down, I was wondering what other people thought of that fateful day in Somalia were the U.S. suffered 18 deaths and the Somalians lost hundreds. Where do you think the peace mission went wrong? What could the U.S. government do to prevent such an occurrence to happen again?

 

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I read the story watched the movie. I think our heroes did a great job. What went wrong? We tried to help those who wanted no help. In their minds it's better to harm those who are feeding them than harm those who are causing starvation and instability. It's better to leave them to their own destruction.

 

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I agree. I felt the same way, when I went to Bosnia in 96'. I didn't know why I was there. I thought Clinton was tring to hard to please others. Our military was stretched to thin to be a help to anybody.

 

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Bosnia was and is a Euro problem. I think they can't handle the responsibility of taking action. Then again, that was a NATO operation. Was it not? Maybe we were bound by our obligations under that aliance. To be honest, I've forgotten the evolution of events which led to our involvement.

 

Yes it was, and it still is a Nato mission...
... As for Task Force Ranger, those guys were out gunned and out numbered, yet still held their ground. I guess the Somalians didn't take in consideration their tenacity and disipline. They must of thought our special ops were going to roll over, quess they were wrong. As far as I'm concerned, they kicked ass. I've read some B.S. which people stated that our own soldiers fired upon unarmed civilians. Well, actually the civilians were armed and threatened our troops, making them combatants. And as soldiers, we are allowed to defend ourselves, and use all necessary force to survive...

 

I think it was tragic, tragic situation that should of never happened.

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And I agree with Bowser in this one

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Here's a link to the online version...

http://inquirer.philly.com/packages/somalia/

The movie is not totally faithful to the written story

It was a do-or-die situation, I have no doubt. And I'm sure it will for many years live in the dreams of those who were there. A few of the guys who lived through it have personal pages out there, and I remember seeing a webring, but I don't have any URL's for 'em.

 

*stRgrL*,

I believe that we were there with the best intentions. We just couldn't predict the events that would take place. We went there to save people and provide relief, maybe remove a few warlords who were responsible for much of the misery. I doubt anyone would have thought the populace would turn on us in such great numbers. Crazy.

 

That, and nobody told the locals they were there to help...

 

Perhaps. Or perhaps they remembered the fate of the last locals that America helped, just two years before, in Iraq. Perhaps.

Peace.

 

It was a complex situation. Very strange.

 

I just don't see the comparison between Iraq and Somalia. Totaly different missions. We were at war with Iraq, Somalia was more
of a relief mission. We were there to help, not fight.

 

<i>"I think what went wrong was that the US went into Somalia as a peace keeper, and at a certain point was seen to have decided to choose a side in the conflict. After that, things went down hill rapidly."</i>

But there were so many sides. I doubt that all of them were patriots of the same warlord. My understanding was that they percieved the Americans as a common enemy. There were some petty gripes and common theme in which the locals indulged themselves. It's unfortunate that we could not redirect that energy towards those who were responsible for their dilemma.

 

<i>"I just don't see the comparison between Iraq and Somalia."</i>

There was no connection, but it probably played well as a propaganda tool for the Muslim radicals operating in the area.

 

My commander was there. He won't talk about it, so we don't mention it. It's kind of funny when comparing him with the actor that played him in the movie. Big difference.

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Short Timer?

 

Yes, almost done here in Bosnia, and I have only five months left in the ARMY. That is of course if they don't expand stop loss.

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I remember my last day. Everyone was scurrying about like buggy squirrels, trying to get ready for the brigade commander's inspection which was an hour away. I dumped all the contents of my locker into my duffle bag and slowly walked down the hall with a big grin on my face, the word "Short!" now and then bellowing from my happy face. You can imagine the words I received in response.

I still miss that life in some ways, but I wasn't a very disciplined soldier. I would have retired a private had I opted to stay in the Army. That, or I would be dead by now because I was a grunt (11B).

Short Timer! That is a warm feeling. Good for you.

 

I remember when I was stationed in Mainz, Germany, and I was counting the days, anxious to get back to the states; but later, when stopped to look back on my two years there, I realized that I had had a darned good time.