At the launch of Operation
Restore Hope, the peacekeepers were for the most
part welcomed. They watched over deliveries of
food aid to Somalis, who faced possible famine in
a vicious civil war between feuding clans. The 21
countries who went to Somalia, providing
humanitarian assistance in Operation Restore Hope
and later Operation Continue Hope their mission
was limited in scope, just to open corridors for
food delivery putting a stop to mass starvation,
but didn’t accomplish what the Somali people had
hoped from the international community; namely,
disarming the militia, setting up a national
government and reconstruction of Somalia.
The operation turned sour in
mid-1993 after 25 Pakistani peacekeepers
distributing food were ambushed and murdered and
the United Nations decided to hunt down the
killers and Gen. Mohamed Farah Aideed became the
main target since his militia carried out the
killing. Overall, the one billion-dollar a year
mission of the U.N. operation claimed the lives of
more than 100 peacekeepers, including 42 US
troops, the lives of thousands of Somali militia
and innocent civilians.
The ‘Black Hawk Down’ is a
movie rated R for intense, realistic graphic war
violence and language. The movie was made well
before the horrible September, 11th
terrorist attack on US soil and it is a true
account of heroism and war. It is an adaptation of
a true story, telling the audience what happened
on October 3rd, 1993 in Somalia when
elite US Rangers dropped in Mogadishu neighborhood
to carry out a raid to apprehend Gen. Aideed and
the top echelon of his militia (i.e. Abdi Hassan
Qeyb-diid, the current Mogadishu Chief of Police),
but unexpectedly went bad.
The raid is rumored to be a
C.I.A operation and Robert Oakley who kept in the
dark the UN Envoy Adm. Jonathan Howe a US and Gen.
Montgomery, Commander of US Forces and rest of
Coalition Forces in Somalia. As a result, the
Rangers were denied air cover of C130 gunship and
Cobras which could have saved a lot of lives on
both sides and served as a deterrent to the
advancing Somali militia encircling the Rangers,
since the mission was so secretive and couldn’t
get help when they needed. It was a poorly
planned military operation with fatal consequences
which forced Mr. Clinton to abruptly pull out all
US troops from Somalia, leaving the country in
chaos and back to square one. Some believe the
Clinton Administration was looking a way out to
withdraw from Somalia and this incident provided
him the opportunity to do just that.
The movie depicts modern urban
warfare, where best trained military in the world
are ill-equipped and unprepared to wage such a war
and win. It shows the difficulties, turns and
twists of the mission and the heroic nature of the
combatants US Rangers and Somali militia. It shows
the bravery of US Rangers trying to set up a
secure perimeter around at the crash side of their
Black Hawk helicopters, while enduring heavy gun
fight and their courageous effort to rescue their
compatriots, attend the wounded and defend them.
Two of the Black Hawk helicopters which are not
with machine guns, but used for transporting the
military and evacuating the wounded were brought
down while lowering soldiers onto the ground
immediately and the crew became faced with brave
young Somali militia, well armed with pick up
trucks mounted with machine guns, AK Rifles,
pistols and RPGs, who kept coming and never give
up.
I was surprised to see some in
the Somali community calling for a boycott of the
movie and others calling as a hoax. I say, they
are horribly wrong and should admit it. They
didn’t analyze the movie correctly, which didn’t
speak much to the politics and culture of Somalia.
They jumped to hastily conclusions and are dead
wrong on all counts. Just remember, you doubters
there were young men on side, US & Somali who died
and the movie underscores war is hell. You can
express your opinion in a free and open society,
such as ours in North America. However, in my
opinion if you are not proud to be an ethnic
Somali when the movie ends, move!
Some dared to suggest the movie
would be a set back for Somalis in North America,
depicting Somalis as savages and would bring a
backlash to them. Others attributed to the mission
uncorroborated and unsubstantiated events that
didn’t take place and false allegations, even
calling the movie as a fantasy. Movie is just for
entertainment, whether it drama, comedy, action,
adventure or fiction. Just, imagine German people
calling boycott of all second WWII movies, which
many demonize and vilify Germans depicting them
always as the bad guys and the Allies as the good
guys.
There is no ill-feeling towards
Somalis in the movie among the US soldiers who all
volunteered to help Somalia before the raid and
after the failure of the raid. The only reference
that, some may construe as an offence is when the
US Rangers refer Somalis as ‘skinny’. It is not a
derogatory remark, because Somalis are described
as handsome, talk, dark and slender people.
However, the Somalis were hurling insults at the
soldiers which is understandable, since it was war
and even before the raid subjected peacekeepers to
constant taunting and rock-throwing.
The movie was made in Morocco
not in Somalia even though blended some actual
footage from Somalia in the movie, but have left
out the cozy relationship of Gen. Mohamed Farah
Aideed and US Envoy Robert Oakley to Somalia, the
$100,000 a month bribe given to the General by the
U.N to appease him, the concentration of all U.N
and NGO operations in his sector in the south and
not extended to other areas, employment and
contract opportunities only given to his militia
and their relatives and using exclusively by
UNOSOM the General’s banknotes and denying
currency exchange for others.
The movie didn’t touch on the
role of Somali-Americans and Somali-Canadians
which was vital to the whole mission who
volunteered to accompany US soldiers as
interpreters/translators/consultants, who came
under fire, several getting injured and one killed
(Ali Ga’al) along his American counterparts by a
landmine triggered by remote control. There were
even rumors of $6,000 price for the head of each
interpreter placed by Gen. Aideed and Osman Hassan
Ali ‘Atto’, accusing them as spies and traitors.
I was hoping to pop up in the
movie, the different image of the intervention
that has emerged afterwards, peacekeepers
brutalizing the civilians they were there to help.
Some peacekeepers in remote areas, away from
scrutiny acted almost like warlords. For example,
the Italian troops tortured Somali villagers to
death and raped women. The Belgians tortured a
Somali boy by dangling over an open fire; force
fed a pork meat and salt water to Somali children
and closed children in a container in a scorching
heat without water for two days and dead as a
result. Equally, the Canadian contingent beat
viciously to death a Somali teen in their custody
and fatally shot three others. However, none of
these soldiers from Italy, Belgium and Canada who
have committed these appalling atrocities received
tough sentences fit for their crimes, but received
a slap on the wrist.
This is not in any way to
suggest that, the mission has failed or
peacekeepers didn’t do an excellent job. The
peacekeepers did help safeguard deliveries of food
aid to Somalis who faced starvation, treated the
wounded, built schools, bridges, hauled water and
brought some stability to the country. Even so,
Somalia needs now more than ever another US
intervention to free Somalia from remnants of Siad
Barre, ruthless warlords and radical Islamic
groups with links to international terrorist
organizations.
I was there in Somalia at the
time, responding to a call for volunteers in
support of US military, operating in Somalia
providing humanitarian relief effort in Operation
Restore Hope/Operation Continue Hope and returned
when all US Forces were withdrawn by Presidential
Degree. Nonetheless, the US which had the largest
contingent throughout the mission almost all of
them volunteering for humanitarian relief efforts,
acted properly and professionally and never
committed any atrocities whatsoever. I am proud to
have served with the US military and would welcome
another opportunity.
The picture is still vivid in
my mind and I believe can stay with me forever,
when Osman Hassan Ali ‘Atto’ sitting at table in
front of the US General, after he was apprehended
drinking and smoking a Cuban cigar says, ‘you
shouldn’t have come here. ‘This is a war, our war
not yours’. The US Gen. responds, ‘this is not a
war Mr. ‘Atto’, it is genocide, thousands died and
counting’.
I saw the movie with my friend
Roy Cullen, M.P. Etobicoke north, who invited me
and I hope you will all have the opportunity to
see this important movie and draw your own
conclusions. It is a must-see movie and the actors
Josh Hartnett and Tom Sizemore, who acted greatly,
should be nominated for an Oscar.
|