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1992, November, outgoing Bush administration sent 30,000 U.S. troops, primarily Marines and Army Rangers, to Somalia in what was described as a humanitarian mission to assist in the distribution of relief supplies. In some cases, U.S. forces essentially dumped food on local markets, hurting indigenous farmers and creating greater food shortages over the longer term - few Somalis were involved in the decisions during this crucial period.
Such an overbearing foreign military presence in a country which had been free from colonial rule for only a little more than three decades leads to growing resentment, particularly since these elite combat forces were not trained for such humanitarian missions. U.S. Secretary of Defense is reported to quip to an associate, "We're sending the Rangers to Somalia. We are not going to be able to control them. They are like overtrained pit bulls. No one controls them." Shootings at U.S. military roadblocks became commonplace and Somalis witnessed scenes of mostly white American forces harassing and shooting their black countrymen. [Stephen Zunes, The Long and Hidden History of the U.S in Somalia]
1992, US attempts to control Somalian politics through US Armed Forces brought in under the pretext of protecting the distribution of food aid. US arming financial backing of Mogadishu warlords, who are willing to rule favoring US unjust predatory investments.
We might pick the so called Blackhawk Down incident as a point in history when of US crimes against peace, wherein weapons are supplied, their use encouraged and weapons supplied to others to attack Somalia, to Americans themselves committing crimes against humanity in Somalia that become genocidal.
In Mogadishu on October of 1993, shortly after a Blackhawk attack helicopter, seen firing down into the roof of a closed market attempting to assassinate a designated enemy Somali clan leader, is shot down by Somail militia along with a second Blackhawk. Enraged Somalis drag the bodies of American airmen through their dirt streets. The battle resulted in 18 US deaths, 80 wounded. American sources estimate between 1,500 and 3,000 Somali casualties, including civilians.
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http://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0713/p1s2.html
Islamic clerics combat lawlessness in Somalia
By Lara Santoro, Special to The Christian Science Monitor / July 13, 1999
MOGADISHU, SOMALIA
A few weeks ago, an odd thing happened in the utter anarchy of Somalia.
"
The
bandits who presided over the treacherous road from Mogadishu to Afgoi
were gone. The pick-up trucks packed with gun-brandishing youths who
manned some 50 roadblocks along the 20-mile stretch were nonexistent.
The
combined militia forces of five Islamic courts cleared the road. It was
the second time the courts - that view Islamic law as the only antidote
to Somalia's chaos - acted together. In April, they took control of the
Bukhara market in Mogadishu. This second action reveals a unity of
purpose largely unseen in the capital since the collapse of the Somali
state in 1991.
"Islamic law is the only thing that will save this
country," says Sheikh Hassan Sheikh Mohammed Adde, a cleric who merged
and presides over the Joint Islamic Courts.
Sheikh Hassan is clear
about his political ambition and his determination to impose Islamic law
over Somalia. Although it is close to stricter forms of Islam, Somalia
has held fast to a tradition of Sunni religious moderation for nearly a
millennium.
But beyond Sheikh Hassan's ambitions, analysts say the
issue is whether the courts will act as conduits for Islamic
fundamentalism - or merely help bring about an organized state, and then
compete fairly for power.
Somalia devolved into a state of near
anarchy nearly a decade ago. The guns of different warlords have kept it
at the bottom of the United Nations index of human development. Life
expectancy is 43 years, infant mortality one of the highest in Africa,
with 1 out of every 4 children likely to die before the age of five. In a
country where nearly everyone is armed, crime is rampant.
Yet as
recently as 1992, Somalia was at the center of the world's attention. A
colossal relief operation to feed victims of famine saved the lives of
thousands, but soon became embroiled in factional warfare for the
control of Mogadishu. In October 1993, 18 US Marines were killed in a
gunfight by militiamen loyal to warlord Gen. Mohamed Farah Aidid. That
prompted the first military intervention mounted by the UN for
humanitarian purposes to haul down its flag and leave Somalia to itself.
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