The Battle of Mogadishu



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction3

Review Strategic Setting3

Review Tactical Situation5

Main Action7

Assess Significance12

Analysis of Action12

References15

Bibliography16



The Battle of Mogadishu

Introduction

The Battle of Mogadishu (also known as the Battle of the Black Sea) occurred between the Special Forces of U.S. and warlord militias, Mohammed Aidid on 3 - 4 October 1993, during the UN peacekeeping operation in Somalia and is the most famous event of this operation. In carrying out the task to capture Aidid's two subordinates, the American forces experienced multiple numerical superiority of the enemy and suffered unnecessarily high losses. The battle in Mogadishu contributed to the adoption by the United States decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Somalia. In 1992 the U.S. decided to launch Operation called Restore Hope which was basically the United Nations intervention led by the U.S. in Somalia. Thus in December 1992, 20,000 Marines landed on the beaches of Mogadishu with the mission of providing food aid among Somalis. They managed to establish delivery routes and distribute large amounts of food that were accepted by the public (www.pbs.org).

Review Strategic Setting

Once the initial objectives of the operation were achieved, the Marines were replaced by an international force. The Marines by UN troops, which included about 38,000 soldiers from 23 nations, Aidid began deploying snipers deployed around the city and laying mines to passing vehicles, killing 4 members of the peacekeeping force through a mine. In the backdrop of increasing tension the U.S. Army began training a special force in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Its mission was to train a set of units Ranger, Navy Seal, and Air Force Commands for possible capture of Mohamed Farrah Aidid. Among this group of soldiers was also Delta Force which was divided into teams that were assigned to special operations. In support of Delta units include a group of helicopter pilots known as the Night Stalkers, belonging to 160 Regiment Special Operations Aviation (SOAR), based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky (Bowden, 1999).

The Battle of Lanzerath Ridge was fought as part of a much larger German Offensive toward the end of the war, known as The Battle of the Bulge. The German goal of The Battle of the Bulge was to split the American and British Lines in half, encircling and defeating the Allied Armies until a peace treaty could be signed. Since the late 1980s, Somalia was in a civil war. In 1991 President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown by the armed opposition. But soon the war broke out with a bang: the various national groups began fighting for power. Centralized power in the country was missing, destroyed infrastructure. The mission of UNOSOM I established by the United Nations turned out to be dysfunctional. But the arrival of the peacekeepers was hostilely taken by the leaders of local clans. The UN Commission recognized that the mission of UNOSOM I, due to limited rights and opportunities, was not successful.

At the same time, the U.S. government had enough supporters of direct intervention in Somalia. On December 3, 1992, the UN ...