Battle of Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down) - 12 yrs. later.

[Firetxmi]

I am not saying that I agree with this article, although I have never read this writers work before, but it is interesting none-the-less. Before everyone starts flaming each other read the article, think about if it happened in your town. What would you feel? What would you do? Dont get me wrong, Aidid was not a good man- not at all! I just think that this is an interesting article because it tells how some of the villagers feel about it 12 years later. Personally I believe their anger is misplaced, but I can still feel sorry for them- they didn't ask to live in a country with so much turmoil. Just thought yall would enjoy.

Here is the article: http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b//hotzone/blogs999

It was on Yahoo headline news a few min. ago.

[Durandal]

Hmmm...

I have heard it before.

No one ever blames the war lords and the thousands of their soldiers who were probably even more responsible for killing innocents than the Americans. At no time did Americans, who were there providing aid, deliberately target innocent civilians. War sucks, period.

Rationally, the woman who lost her daughter should blame the people that actually SHOT DOWN the Black Hawk.

With that said, I think what it comes down to is that we decided upon (as nation via Clinton) to change our policy in Somalia. We decided that we were going to play policemen in a nation of criminals using the exact opposite force we should have been using. The Marines left...heavy armor and APCs were replaced by Humvees and Trucks and light fighters. Then we changed policy and then...doctrine. Then everything fell apart.

However, as much as I blame Clinton for the total lack of anything resembling rational policy in this action, America as a whole is not to blame. I think of the more horrid examples of indiscriminate fire by other U.N. forces such as the Pakistanis and I wonder of the article itself is merely the propaganda piece it (via its interviews) claims Black Hawk down is.

With that said, 12 years later I can look back TWO years and see that after a decade of "learning" from our mistake there, we did little to put it to good measure in Iraq. We certainly did in Afghanistan, but I remember going nuts when I heard our Armored Division was trading in M1s and Bradley's for Humvees and Trucks...different branch some BS...

The article is crap...and does little to prove to the reader anything resembling reality or the reporters ability to interpret it.

[SuperShot5000]

Change the title to "Battle of Magadishu - 12 Years Later." Black Hawk Down was a movie, not the event.

[ramy]

the hell with Somalia...

They can continue on the path they are going now and maybe in another 10-12 years their nation's population will be reduced by another 10%.

[Miles.]

http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b//hotzone/blogs999

Ah, our old buddy, Kevin Sites.

He's a true scumbag. He's the left's answer to Michael Yon. Not that Michael Yon is a right-winger, but he reports accurately and has enough balls to leave the hotel room and get news besides the daily casualty counts. Kevin Sites, when he went outside the lines, screwed the Marines he was with, by releasing that video and feeding out-of-context footage to Al-Jazeera.

SCUMBAG, thy name is Kevin Sites.

[Michael RVR]

The guy who approved this should be shot, seriously. After all i've read about it i still cant understand the logic -'We can't capture them, so its better to kill them'.

17-minute combat mission

What eventually took place on July 12, 1993, was a 17-minute combat operation in which U.S. Cobra attack helicopters fired 16 TOW missiles and thousands of 20-millimeter cannon rounds into the compound.

When the operation was over and the smoke had cleared, more than 50 of the clan elders, the oldest and most respected in their community, were dead. Many here agree that was the turning point in unifying Somalians against the U.S. and U.N. efforts here.

It would also lead to the deaths of four journalists, killed by angry Somali mobs when they arrived to cover the incident.

Concrete block of Swiss cheese

Duguf takes me back to the house where the elders had been meeting. Twelve years later, it is still standing but is nothing more than a concrete block of Swiss cheese. Large blast holes pock most of the walls, and pieces of metal rebar poke through the concrete. The back staircase is completely blown apart.

"That was to prevent (the elders) from escaping," Duguf says. "It was the first thing (the helicopters) shot at."

[Firetxmi]

Ah, our old buddy, Kevin Sites.

He's a true scumbag. He's the left's answer to Michael Yon. Not that Michael Yon is a right-winger, but he reports accurately and has enough balls to leave the hotel room and get news besides the daily casualty counts. Kevin Sites, when he went outside the lines, screwed the Marines he was with, by releasing that video and feeding out-of-context footage to Al-Jazeera.

SCUMBAG, thy name is Kevin Sites.

Like I said in my original post I've never heard of the man, or seen any of his work. I got it off Yahoo Headlines, so I suppose now Yahoo is a bunch of Left-Wing-Liberal-Media jerks right? Relax people it was a joke.

[mi35d]

Did seem to be a wrong move from the start...

[Miles.]

Ah, our old buddy, Kevin Sites.

He's a true scumbag. He's the left's answer to Michael Yon. Not that Michael Yon is a right-winger, but he reports accurately and has enough balls to leave the hotel room and get news besides the daily casualty counts. Kevin Sites, when he went outside the lines, screwed the Marines he was with, by releasing that video and feeding out-of-context footage to Al-Jazeera.

SCUMBAG, thy name is Kevin Sites.

Like I said in my original post I've never heard of the man, or seen any of his work. I got it off Yahoo Headlines, so I suppose now Yahoo is a bunch of Left-Wing-Liberal-Media jerks right? Relax people it was a joke.

I didn't say anything about you...did I?

What are you so defensive about?

[Firetxmi]

Relax, your a fellow Texan (Plano, here), I couldn't be mad.

I didn't mean to offend you, I was just was making a joke (er, generalization, or something ).

[Miles.]

Relax, your a fellow Texan (Plano, here), I couldn't be mad.

I didn't mean to offend you, I was just was making a joke (er, generalization, or something ).

I live in Plano, sometimes.

[Nikitaras]

Did seem to be a wrong move from the start...

Blame Bush Sr.

[joe mama]

17-minute combat mission
What eventually took place on July 12, 1993, was a 17-minute combat operation in which U.S. Cobra attack helicopters fired 16 TOW missiles and thousands of 20-millimeter cannon rounds into the compound...
...On a wall in the front room the date 12.06.93 is written, and beside it, in Somali, the word "Remember."

June...July...ah, whatever, it's only a month difference, I can't be bothered to be accurate about something silly like a date. I'm sure everything else he wrote is perfectly researched and thorougly accurate. Sure it is.

[Durandal]

Did seem to be a wrong move from the start...

Blame Bush Sr.

Nah, he did the moral correct thing, be part of an international presence to help feed people.

Clinton changed that mission.

[Nikitaras]

Did seem to be a wrong move from the start...

Blame Bush Sr.

Nah, he did the moral correct thing, be part of an international presence to help feed people.

Clinton changed that mission.

Mission Creep began almost immediatly while still under Bush Sr. thats a fact. Clinton's mistake was putting the whole mission under UN control which severely escalated the situation.