In 2001, Hollywood launched a war blockbuster: Black Hawk Down. The film is based on real events, namely the Somali civil war that took place in the 1990s.
At that time, the United States dispatched a special force of 160 soldiers to overthrow a warlord leader in Somalia, whose mission was to parachute into the center of the capital, Mogadishu, and capture the leader's cronies. The mission, which was originally planned to be completed within an hour, encountered fierce resistance. The U.S. military was besieged by thousands of Somali militiamen and struggled for 15 hours before barely escaping.
The film is gripping and shows the bravery of American soldiers to the fullest. But when Americans talk about that war today, they can't look back.
To this day, Americans wonder why they set foot in this barren country.
1/5 From the land of spices to the country of war
In the minds of the people, Somalia is synonymous with piracy and war.
In fact, Somalia was once a rich country, and Chinese knew about it during the Ming Dynasty. The story of Zheng He's voyage to the West is familiar to everyone, his fleet arrived in Somalia twice, and the history books record a place called "Wooden Bone Bundle", just around mogadishu, the capital of today's Somalia.
Somalia is located on the east coast of Africa, close to the Arabian Peninsula. Since the seventh century AD, arabs have successively emigrated here. Due to its rich production of spices, it gradually became an important trading port in Africa.
Before the arrival of Western colonizers, Somalia, like many parts of Africa, was a loose tribal society, with five major tribes living an undisputed life.
Since the middle of the 19th century, Britain, France, Italy and other powers have carved up Somalia, establishing colonies on this vast land and dividing Somalia into several parts.
However, the European division of Somalia was based on their respective spheres of influence, rather than on local economic, ethnic and cultural differences. The borders of many African countries after independence were demarcated in this way, which laid the hidden danger for future civil wars.
Once these areas were freed from colonial rule, they were often very dissatisfied with the existing territorial divisions, which were originally one and were now split into two. Originally, I didn't have a relationship with you, but now I have to live together. They can't look at each other, and if they can't talk about it, they can only fight.
After the end of World War II, British Somalia and Italian Somalia merged to form the prototype of today's Federal Republic of Somalia. The remaining three regions were given to Ethiopia and Kenya, respectively, and to the independent State of Djibouti.
Clearly, Somalia is not buying this result.
Therefore, from the beginning, it did not recognize the ownership of these three regions and threatened to reclaim the land that originally belonged to it.
The West could not heed Somalia's demands, but the Soviets were willing.
Because they have a crush on somali ports and a regime at their mercy. And just like that, a man named Mohammed Siad Barre came to power.
Mohammed Siad Barry
This Barre is a typical one-man thief who ruled Somalia for 22 years, and according to one statistic, the Barre government invests less than 1% of GDP in the economy and people's livelihood.
Where did the remaining 99% go? In addition to the bank accounts of Barre and his cronies, the rest is used for the army. Yes, this Barre is still a militant.
In 1977, Barre launched a war against neighboring Ethiopia with the intention of retaking the part of Somalia that belonged to Somalia before independence. However, Barre miscalculated, and the Soviet Union did not want Somalia to grow, but instead supported Ethiopia. As a result, Somalia was defeated by its neighbours.
The defeat left Barre's rule crumbling, and the rebellion against Barre's government soon became a raging fire. Eventually, the infamous dictator fell in 1991.
For Somalia, this is only the beginning of the tragedy.
2/5 of the dragons are leaderless, opening the Dark Age
The fall of the Barre government is not a boon for Somalis. The country soon fell into anarchy.
As early as the late period of Barre's rule, armed conflict in Somalia continued. Now that the central government has collapsed, warlords and land snakes of all walks of life have become more unscrupulous.
War has become the main theme of the future of this country, and the warlord leaders have sung and appeared on the stage, skillfully seized the city, attacked the city strategically, and staged a great drama of chasing deer.
The roof leaked in the overnight rain, and a rare famine befell the country. Somalia, which was originally a country with poor arable land, is now suffering from famine and hunger in an instant.
Natural and man-made disasters have reduced Somalia to a hell on earth.
Originally, an agreement had been reached within the opposition, with the parties promising to share power after overthrowing barre's government. But in fact, no one takes commitment seriously. Chinese said it well: out of the barrel of a gun comes the regime. In the chaotic world, whoever has the hardest fist has the right to speak.
Of all the opposition, the "Somali United Assembly" is the largest and most powerful. In 1991, the "United Assembly" forcibly seized the capital, Mogadishu, and the already fragile opposition coalition collapsed.
However, the interior of the "Joint Assembly" has not stopped. There are two leaders, one is interim President Ali Mahdi and the other is Speaker of Parliament and Army Chief of Staff Fahd Aideed. They were originally in the same boat, but they tore their faces due to differences of opinion, and finally they got into a fight.
In 1991, the Two Factions of Mahdi and Aideed fought in Mogadishu, killing and injuring thousands of people. Subsequently, the two armies occupied one south and one north of the capital, forming a confrontation. The two sides fought for several months, resulting in the loss of more than 6,000 lives and the injury of more than 20,000.
Fighting spread throughout Somalia and soon spread throughout the country.
In the three years from 1990 to 1992, the Somali economy has collapsed completely, with industrial production stopping, agricultural harvest failures and trade ending. 350,000 people died in war and famine. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, a total of 4.5 million people suffered from hunger during this period, and more than 1 million more fled their homes to neighbouring countries or other regions.
In addition, at least 25 per cent of children under the age of five in Somalia have died from famine, disease or war. This meant that the devastation devastated an entire generation, especially the vast majority of young people, and retreated Somalia from a modern state to the barbaric Middle Ages.
It is urgent to save Somalia. In response, the United Nations began to look for a response.
In January 1992, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution imposing a comprehensive arms embargo on Somalia. An unprecedented aid operation began.
Somalia is in dire need of substantial material assistance. To that end, the United Nations appeals to all somali factions that if they want to get help, they must immediately cease fire!
In March 1992, the Mahdi and Adidians signed an agreement in New York, in which they promised to stop the exchange of fire. The long-awaited peace has finally dawned.
3/5 of the international rescue, the supplies were intercepted by the warlords
Unexpectedly, just a few days later, there was another fierce gunshot in Mogadishu.
The United Nations has realized this time that Somalia will never have peace unless troops are sent to urge a ceasefire.
A month later, the United Nations again adopted a resolution to send a peacekeeping force to Somalia. In addition, the United Nations has implemented a 100-day assistance programme to deliver food and medicine to Somalia.
In addition to sending money and food, the United Nations has also developed a rehabilitation plan for Somalia that includes rebuilding local infrastructure, repatriating refugees and providing them with houses and seeds to help them support themselves.
In addition to the United Nations, international organizations including the European Community, the Organization of African Unity, the Arab League and others at that time have extended a helping hand to Somalia.
Realistically speaking, the international community is interesting enough for Somalia, especially its African neighbours and Arab partners. After all, none of them want to see a flood of Somali refugees pouring into the border, putting enormous pressure on the already wealthy domestic finances.
As for the developed countries such as the United States, Britain, and France, they have also generously donated to Somalia. They did so on the one hand out of pressure from international opinion and, on the other hand, to compensate for the guilt left over from the colonial era. After all, Somalia has today's situation, which is inseparable from their original decision-making.
So, has the large amount of relief supplies provided by the international community solved Somalia's urgent needs?
Backfired.
The reason is simple, these United Nations relief supplies have all fallen into the hands of warlords.
Although prior to this, the United Nations had sent observer missions to monitor the distribution of relief supplies. However, the number of this observation mission is only 500 people, and how can the battle-hardened warlords take them seriously?
Subsequently, in order to ensure the smooth distribution of supplies, the United Nations expanded the number of observer missions to 500. At the same time, the number of peacekeeping troops has also increased, with a total of 3500 soldiers, 719 logisticians, and 200 civilian personnel. In total, the operation cost more than $40 million.
But this still did not help, a large number of aid was robbed, rescue teams were obstructed by local armed forces, and individual workers were killed.
Even more tragically, the locals have not developed a favourable view of the United Nations. Instead, many, at the instigation of the warlords, cast hostile glances at the United Nations.
The warlord leader Aideed, mentioned earlier, hated the United Nations to the bone. On the one hand, the United Nations has supported many of his opponents on the ground. Peacekeepers, on the other hand, blocked his financial path, preventing him from diverting relief supplies to enrich his army.
As a result, Aidid used the media he controlled to publicize to the public, portraying the United Nations as a malicious aggressor. It also ordered its own troops to launch attacks on peacekeepers. As a result, many ordinary people really believed his lies.
You know, Somalia didn't have its own script until the 1970s. Prior to this, the official languages of somalis were Arabic, English and Italian. And only public officials and the social elite can master it.
Education in Somalia is also remarkably low, thanks, of course, to Barre. The former president has invested very little in basic education. It's not hard to see why Somalis are seduced by Aided's botched propaganda.
4/5 U.S. military action
In the face of provocations by warlords, the United Nations can no longer sit still. We spit on you and send you food and wear, and we don't want to be treated like donkey liver lungs.
Don't give a little color to see, you little warlords really forget who you are!
In December 1992, the Council adopted another resolution.
The main element of the resolution is to authorize the United Nations forces to use all means to put an end to the state of war in Somalia. U.S. forces were the main force in the operation, with a total of 28,000 people sent to Somalia.
In addition, 20 countries have sent their own troops, with a total strength of 37,000 troops and a cost of $1.6 billion!
A vigorous international intervention began, and for the U.S. military, which had just won the Gulf War, a group of local warlords did not seem to be their opponents.
The U.S. military did not want to expand the war, their goal was to arrest Aided, who was the biggest obstacle to aid operations, and it was because of Aideder's constant demagoguery that the United Nations was in such a terrible position.
But Aidid was quite cunning, and he played hide-and-seek with the U.S. military. It wasn't until October of the following year that the U.S. military found an opportunity. The movie "Black Hawk Down" is set against the backdrop of this operation.
The film recreates the scene at that time, the destination of the US military is downtown Mogadishu, they dispatched 160 soldiers, 8 Black Hawk helicopters and 8 Bird helicopters, in addition to 12 military vehicles.
However, because it did not want to cause damage to the city, the US military did not use heavy weapons in this operation. Without heavy artillery and tanks, neither the Black Hawk nor the Bird were helicopter gunships and could not provide strong air cover.
The results show that the U.S. military has grossly underestimated the determination of somali militias to resist.
40 minutes after the start of the operation, a Black Hawk helicopter was shot down by enemy rockets, and only 20 minutes later, the second Black Hawk was shot down.
Two aircraft were lost in one hour, which had a serious impact on the withdrawal of U.S. forces. You know, they only have a total of 160 people, and the retreat mainly relies on helicopters. Now, they find themselves surrounded by large militia regiments, while their helicopters are under threat of enemy rockets.
In the next dozen hours, the U.S. military and the militia engaged in brutal street battles.
It must be admitted that the combat capability of the US military is indeed very strong, and the ratio of losses between the two sides is roughly maintained at 1:10. But then again, somali militias are good enough, firing countless rockets at U.S. defensive positions, but few have actually caused effective damage.
The battle continued into the evening, killing 19 American soldiers and wounding 73. Based on the scale of the operation, this is not a small number of casualties.
Aidid still hadn't been caught, but the Somalis began to make a big fuss about the bodies of American soldiers.
They dragged corpses through the streets to a carnival, a scene that reached the American television audience through the camera, and now it was the turn of the Americans to sit still.
What really stigmatizes Americans is not the failure itself. Rather, it is the "numbness" of locals to international rescue. We braved the hail of bullets to help you expel the warlords, and you treated me like this? Especially the families of the fallen soldiers, when they saw the pictures on television, they almost had a nervous breakdown.
In modern warfare, the power of the media is sometimes far greater than that of the military itself. Images of Somalis making fun of American corpses have irritated American nerves, and war-weariness spread like a plague. Finally, in March 1994, Clinton announced a full withdrawal. In 1995, all United Nations personnel were withdrawn from Somalia.
Let your problems be solved by yourself!
In this way, Somalia has been torn apart and has been divided and integrated until now.
5/5 Freezing three feet is not a day's cold
Recalling that the international community's assistance to Somalia can be divided into three phases.
The first stage is material assistance. The time began in late January 1992.
At this stage, international organizations have come to Somalia's aid, providing a large amount of financial and material support. However, as many relief supplies were intercepted by warlords, the number of somali victims increased, and internal contradictions continued to intensify.
The second stage is the maintenance of order. Since April 1992, the army has been sent to supervise the distribution of relief supplies to ensure that they can be put into the hands of the victims. At the same time, it deterred the local warlords and forced them to cease fire.
But at this stage, new problems arise.
As a result of the intervention of peacekeeping forces, many warlords have chosen to cooperate with the United Nations in order to obtain international support and relief supplies. This infuriated their opponents. The warlords who did not reap the benefits simply fought against foreigners and even incited hatred of foreigners by the local population.
Seeing that the situation had deteriorated, it entered the third stage: armed intervention. The results were no more.
The cost of the three stages is higher and higher each time, and each time while resolving the old contradictions, new contradictions are born.
Donating money and materials, originally to solve the famine, actually touched the cake of interests behind it. Because warlords monopolize the distribution channels of resources, the more things they send, the more they will intensify local contradictions.
The starting point for the dispatch of peacekeeping troops is to alleviate contradictions. But peace cannot be enforced by force. Especially when you intervene in the political affairs of other countries as an outsider, regardless of the motives, you will be regarded as a bad person by the locals.
Armed intervention is actually an escalation of the second stage of objectives, but it will only make the contradictions continue to intensify. At the crucial moment, the US military also made the mistake of taking the enemy lightly. If their opponent had not been a Somali militia, but a well-trained regular army, the 160 men would have probably not survived.
In fact, the most fundamental mistake made by the United Nations is to try to solve long-term problems in short-term ways.
Wherever there is a shortage of money, I will send money; wherever there is a war, I will send troops; wherever there is trouble, I will kill whoever it is.
The idea of this solution is "short and fast", which only proposes specific solutions to a specific problem. However, it is often impossible to cure the symptoms but not the root causes, and there is also the suspicion of pulling up seedlings to promote growth.
Since foreign interference is limited by cost and time, they must only pursue "short and fast" solutions, because this can have an immediate effect, even if it temporarily covers up the contradiction.
However, the more complex the problem, the more profound the historical reasons. Civil strife in Somalia, for example, famine and warlordism are only superficial factors that induce war. Behind it is also related to the institutional reconstruction and cultural consensus of Somalia in the process of state formation.
Somalia is a young country that has not developed into a mature modern society before independence. After independence, it tossed and turned for a long time in the context of the Cold War, and tried several rounds of experiments such as planned economy, market economy, democratic politics and dictatorship, but they were not very successful.
Frozen three feet is not a cold day, and for now, the Somali parties can only continue to spend time exploring a political model that suits them, and the price is a long wait for generations.
Does that mean that what the United Nations did back then was useless? Not necessarily.
At the very least, the United Nations is indeed sending charcoal in the snow when it comes to donating money and food. But that alone is not enough, because the root causes of food shortages are not only famine, but also warlords.
Why are there warlords all over Somalia? Because in this country, the people lack nothing, that is, there is no shortage of guns. The widespread use of firearms among all people is the direct cause of the outbreak of civil war in Somalia.
It has long been suggested that the United Nations could take the form of acquisitions to buy back guns from the population. This is undoubtedly a win-win situation, ordinary people can make money by selling guns, and the United Nations has reduced their chances of fighting. Unfortunately, this suggestion was not adopted.
Therefore, even short-term solutions, once they can grasp the essence of things, may still achieve good results. Unfortunately, history does not allow for the assumption that thirty years have passed since the catastrophe in Somalia, and the only thing we can do now is to avoid a recurrence of similar tragedies.