A WORLD OF DUST, from
The New Yorker, 1995. The U.N. pulled out
of Somalia leaving no one in charge. There is no government,
no law, and no formal education -- just a rampant wild-frontier
economy in which anything can be had for a price. Is this the
future? by William Finnegan
The Road From Mogadishu by
Chester Crocker, assistant secretary of State for African affairs
in the Reagan administration. How Washington set up a formula
for failure. From Newsweek International, 1 November,
1999.
A New York Times op-ed urging the UN and the U.S. to Leave Somalia Alone. by Michael
Maren, July 1994.
Spoiled: Mogadishu Postcard
- by Michael Maren from The New Republic, 12/94. How the
UN is fueling the war in Mogadishu.
Waltzing With Warlords; Will the
West Make Martyrs of Thugs in Somalia? by Jennifer Parmelee.
A prescient and insightful article from The Washington Post,
June 20 1993.
US and UN Military
An insane mission:
Keni Thomas, a then-U.S. Army Ranger who saw six members of his
own unit perish in the foiled raid in Mogadishu. Thomas talked
with CNN.com about the mission, the Rangers and the current situation
in Afghanistan. (28 October, 2001)
Canada Can't Shake "The Somali
Scandal;" New Military Chief Quizzed on Troops' 1993
Torture-Killing.
A Senate report on U.S. operations in
Somalia criticizes Les Aspin (surprise!) and Colin Powell's
staff (but not the general himself) for the big screw-up. Here
are some press reports on the Senate report.
On October 3, 1993, 18 American Soldiers were killed in Mogadishu,
awakening the world to the mess it was making in Somalia. Patrick
Sloyan of Newday reconstructed the battle and aftermath
in a detailed four-part series.
Spinning Dunkirk. After
the deaths of 18 soldiers in Mogadishu, the Pentagon is trying
to make a retreat look like a victory. The New Republic,
11/93. by Michael Maren
The American Left, and the Somalia Intervention. U.S.
Out of Somalia! A rally poster from 1993 is evidence of how
the American Left has marginalized itself.
Media
The mysterious death of Ilaria Alpi.
In 1994, Italian Journalist Ilaria Alpi and cameraman Miran Hrovatin
were murdered in Mogadishu after a trip to the northern town
of Bosasso. Some people say she was murdered because of what
she knew: About the torture and killing of Somalis by Italian
soldiers, or about arms shipments from Italy to the warlords.
The Italian government accused a Somali, Hashi Omar Hassan, of
killing Ilaria. But Hashi was acquitted
of the crime in July, 1999. The mystery remains unsolved.
In The Line of Fire. Somali Journalist
Ali Musa Abdi who works of the BBC and AFP reflects on
the dangers of covering the war at home.
Covering Mogadishu. Michael Maren's
reflections on being a journalist in Somalia in 1993.
