Copyright 1993 Newsday, Inc.

December 8, 1993, Wednesday

A Tough Encounter With Policy Survivors

SERIES: MISSSION IN SOMALIA. LAST OF 4 PARTS. year ago this week, the first U.S. troops sent by President Bush arrived in Somalia.It was to be a humanitarian mission.But there was a major policy change in August, when President Clinton sent in a Special Operations force to capture the warlord Aidid. This report looks at that decision and its consequences.

By Patrick J. Sloyan.

For President Bill Clinton, the results of his policy decisions in Somalia came into sharp focus during a Sunday-morning visit to soldiers wounded in Mogadishu.

Reporters were barred from Walter Reed Army Medical Center during the Oct. 24 session when an uneasy Clinton met with some of the 77 Americans wounded during an Oct. 3 battle that marked the end of a covert operation to seize Gen. Mohamed Farrah Aidid.

Hospital officials who accompanied Clinton said the young commander-in-chief was shocked by the encounter.

One soldier had lost his left hand, right leg, sight and hearing. Another had had his hand grafted to his stomach so a shattered arm could heal. Bullets, shrapnel and fire had maimed a young private. A sergeant had his leg in a steel birdcage after the first of a series of bone grafts.

"Clinton was visibly moved," said one hospital official. "He didn't know what to say. The men could see that."

Some were pleasant and respectful. "Clinton is a nice guy," said PFC Alberto Rodriguez, 20, of Naranjito, P.R. He had been riddled with bullets and shrapnel.

Others were cool, even hostile. Sgt. John Burns, 26, of Philadelphia, whose leg was shattered, balked at an offer to have his picture taken with the president. "I don't want to end up in some political propaganda picture - you know, 'President Visits Wounded Soldier,' " Burns said while Clinton was in his room.

The White House refused to make public photographs or television footage of that meeting or a later Oval Office meeting with the wounded. Clinton and top administration officials responsible for Somalia have yet to be publicly shown with the survivors of the fiercest firefight in terms of American casualties since Vietnam.

Some administration officials say withholding the pictures is part of a damage-limitation strategy devised by David Gergen, Clinton's adviser.

"They [White House officials] hope people will forget about Somalia," said a Pentagon official who objected to a plan. He favored giving the wounded the sort of White House South Lawn ceremony held in June when Clinton praised and personally decorated Marines who were first sent to Somalia by President George Bush last Dec. 6.

While Gergen refused to comment, another White House official said Clinton wanted to avoid the appearance of exploiting the Somalia veterans.

But the president's visit to the hospital was prompted by a call from an angry Walter Reed physician. According to hospital sources, the doctor called the White House. "He said these men have been here for three weeks, and no one had paid any attention to them," said a source informed of the exchange. "The White House called back and said, 'The president will be there tomorrow morning.' "

Some within the military feel that what they consider Clinton's cold-shoulder treatment demeans the heroics and sacrifices made in behalf of the president's ill-fated policies.

Burns, who balked at the White House photographer, resents the perception that his mission in Mogadishu was a failure. "That's what kills me," he said in an interview later. "We did our job. My friends did not die in vain."

On Veterans Day, Nov. 12, Burns and others attended an Oval Office breakfast with Clinton. The president was awed by their tales of the firefight. "Their bravery was incredible," Clinton told one aide.

Later that day, Clinton praised the Rangers during his speech at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. "I want you to let them know that they did their mission well," he said. But Burns and the other Rangers were sitting more than 100 yards away.

Within the administration, there was even a debate over whether Clinton should write the families of the 18 men killed in Somalia on Oct. 3. "Some argued the letters should be written by [Defense Secretary Les] Aspin - not the president," said one insider. In the end, Clinton wrote personal notes to everyone.

Clinton and his top aides considered but decided against attending two public memorial services for the men killed Oct. 3. But Defense Secretary Les Aspin attended a third ceremony where the press was barred. It was at Ft. Bragg, N.C., home of the top-secret Delta Team that was sent to Somalia by Clinton on Aug. 22.

While Clinton aides hope the Somalia disaster will soon fade from the American consciousness, there are forces at work that are likely to keep the controversy alive. They include:

Award Ceremonies. The soldiers at Walter Reed are among those selected for decorations in the aftermath of the Oct. 3 battle. There will be a number of Silver Stars, the third-highest award for valor, and at least two soldiers killed in the fighting have been nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award.

Dramatic Video. There is a videotape of the 11-hour battle showing everything from besieged Ranger convoys to attacking Somali mobs to crashing helicopters. Taken from helicopters hovering over the battle, the footage is likely to be released to TV networks once classified material is removed, according to U.S. military officials.

Developments in Somalia. Clinton is scrambling to achieve a political settlement there before his March 31 withdrawal deadline for remaining U.S. combat troops.

"It was unfortunate," Sen. Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kan.) said of Clinton's deadline. "We have a limited amount of time to use what weakened leverage we had. I can think of no further compounding of the tragedy that has occurred there for our forces than to have them withdraw and see what started out to be a very successful, noble mission end in chaos."

Without a settlement, the withdrawal would underline an American image that haunts Clinton. In the aftermath of the Oct. 3 attack the president warned that if U.S. troops were "to leave now, we would send a message to terrorists and other potential adversaries around the world that they can change our policies by killing our people. It would be open season on Americans."

Congressional Hearings. Chairman Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) of the Senate Armed Services Committee is planning a full-scale investigation of the switches in U.S. policy in Somalia and events surrounding the Oct. 3 battle. "There are so many questions unanswered," said Nunn, who plans to summon Clinton's senior advisers to public hearings next month.

A preliminary look at those developments by Nunn's House counterpart, Rep. Ron Dellums (D-Calif.), indicated miscalculations by senior Clinton advisers in Washington as well as military and diplomatic officials in Somalia.

"A terrible mistake was made that resulted in the loss of life on all sides," said Dellums, concluding that military force instead of diplomacy was used to settle a political problem. Rather than maintain a neutral peacekeeping role for a famine-relief effort implemented by Bush, Clinton became enmeshed in urban combat.

"Cardinal rules were violated," Dellums said. "We chose sides, and we decided who the enemies were. It's baggage from the Cold War."

Politics. What happened in Mogadishu in October has already inflicted political wounds. There have been bipartisan calls in Congress for the resignations of Defense Secretary Les Aspin and Secretary of State Warren Christopher and a housecleaning at the White House National Security Council headed by Anthony Lake.

So far only Robert Gosende, the U.S. envoy who pushed for a hard-line confrontation with Aidid, has lost his position. He was recalled from Somalia by Christopher, who had endorsed Gosende's call for a clandestine effort to remove Aidid. Christopher now says he failed to pay close enough attention to Somalia.

As had Lake, Christopher had seen covert efforts backfire on presidents before. He was No. 2 at the State Department when President Jimmy Carter ordered a Delta Force unit to rescue U.S. hostages in Iran in 1980. The Desert One disaster contributed to Carter's election defeat later that year.

Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas and former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney - two likely contenders for the GOP presidential nomination - say Somalia is certain to be an issue in 1996, if Clinton seeks a second term.

So far, Aspin has been the focus of criticism for the disaster in Somalia. The defense secretary admitted it was a mistake for him to turn down requests for armored vehicles to protect U.S. troops there. Some members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would like to see Aspin fired.

For Aspin there has been trouble at every turn - including at Walter Reed. The day after Clinton's visit to the hospital, the defense chief showed up there.

One soldier Aspin visited was Sgt. Christopher Reid, 24, of Brooklyn. On Sept. 25, while retrieving the bodies of three Americans killed when their helicopter was shot down in Mogadishu, Reid was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. The blast blew off his left hand and right leg and riddled his groin with shrapnel. The explosion broke his eardrums and blinded him.

His hearing has returned, and after a series of operations, most of his vision was restored. But Reid had to shield his eyes from the overhead light when he talked to Aspin.

"We could have used that armor, sir," Reid said.

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