in Foreign policy, International Situations, Military, Observations, War 418 Words

Black Hawk Down (Again?)

On Wednesdays I try to post something international…..hot spots where I see a problem will arise that could force the US into doing something stupid or at least ill advised……

Black hawk Down……Remember the movie?  If you do then you will also know that it was based on a true story that took place in 1994….for those that are not sure what really happened…….

Somalia in 1994 after an American Black Hawk helicopter was shot down in Mogadishu and the bodies of crew members were displayed before the television cameras.

The sight was horrific….but what lead to that point?

Operation Restore Hope, when, in the final days of the presidency of George Bush senior, on December 5, 1992, 30,000 US troops were sent into Somalia under the pretext of delivering food aid to starving children.President Bill Clinton continued what became ever more openly an occupation. He was forced to pull US troops out of Somalia in 1994 after an American Black Hawk helicopter was shot down.

Now that you have had a refresher course in the US actions on the Horn of Africa….it will bet you are asking why would I re-hash the past….and I can say….Glad you asked!

The Obama administration is preparing a new military intervention in Somalia under the pretext of humanitarian concern for starving drought victims. The media has fallen into line with a campaign mixing crocodile tears and hand-wringing with denunciations of the Islamist movement al-Shabaab, which is blamed for the deepening crisis.US officials blame this organisation for the present famine. “The relentless terrorism by al-Shabaab against its people has turned an already severe situation into a dire one that is only expected to get worse,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared last week.

Back in 1990, it was those darn pesky “warlords” that were causing the hunger and the famine in Somalia and today it is those darn pesky al-shabaab that is doing it……and once again the media is helping the administration to build a case for intervention in another country with the US military…..is the US posturing to do just that?

I am not saying that it is inevitable that the US will intervene militarily….only that the possibility is there and with our record….it should be expected!  Why?  We have made the same mistakes over and over…..look at Afghanistan…..the same mistakes the Russians made…..and now it sounds like a rev up to “humanitarian” aid to Somalia……Does Libya ring a bell?

4 thoughts on “Black Hawk Down (Again?)”

  1. I am old and therefore remember our militarist and/or our CIA endeavors from LBJ forward.

    It has always puzzled me as to how a President could leave a country because one helicopter was shot down. My logic says if you were ballsy enough to go in there in the first place, your militarist longings should of led you to bring the hammer down even harder after the helo went down..but what do I know? 😉 Perhaps Clinton was looking for a reason to end the Somalia bullshit since he didn’t start it? Clinton was the best D Pres the R’s ever had on their side imho, until BHO got elected…now he gets that honor.

    We are also spending a shitload of cash, which we don’t have, to fuck w/the elections in Venezuela right now. WTF? Just because ‘we’ don’t like Chavez? He has done so much for that country (he ain’t perfect but who is) like nationalizing all the oil drilling that was owned by the Imperialist US companies. Good for Hugo!

    Reply

    1. Dusty, I see we agree about Clinton and Obama……look at the Palestinian thing also….we will not talk with Hamas even though the people voted them as their government….and we still champion democracy……..or the CIA’s involvement with Chile and Allende, another popularly elected “socialist” and we could have that…….I get tried of the democracy cheerleading when we are the worst example of how democracy’s act…….

      Reply

      1. One more then I am heading back to bed. I am a socialist and damn proud of it. 😆

        Hamas was elected by the people, but they shoot themselves in the foot a lot by using violence..I can’t condone that, but I do agree that if the Palestinians elected them, they are the legitimate government and Israel/US has to deal w/them.

        I am very tired of the Imperialism that masquerades as democracy cheerleading. We are no longer a Democracy…we are a Plutocracy.

        Good read on the Chilean role the US played here: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/59382/kenneth-maxwell/the-other-9-11-the-united-states-and-chile-1973

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