1992 : U.S Marines storm Mogadishu, Somalia
On this day in 1992, 1,800 United States Marines arrive in Mogadishu,
Somalia, to spearhead a multinational force aimed at restoring order
in the conflict-ridden country.
Following centuries of colonial rule by countries including Portugal,
Britain and Italy, Mogadishu became the capital of an independent
Somalia in 1960. Less than 10 years later, a military group led by
Major General Muhammad Siad Barre seized power and declared Somalia a
socialist state. A drought in the mid-1970s combined with an
unsuccessful rebellion by ethnic Somalis in a neighboring province of
Ethiopia to deprive many of food and shelter. By 1981, close to 2
million of the country's inhabitants were homeless. Though a peace
accord was signed with Ethiopia in 1988, fighting increased between
rival clans within Somalia, and in January 1991 Barre was forced to
flee the capital. Over the next 23 months, Somalia's civil war killed
some 50,000 people; another 300,000 died of starvation as United
Nations peacekeeping forces struggled in vain to restore order and
provide relief amid the chaos of war.
In early December 1992, outgoing U.S. President George H.W. Bush sent
the contingent of Marines to Mogadishu as part of a mission dubbed
Operation Restore Hope. Backed by the U.S. troops, international aid
workers were soon able to restore food distribution and other
humanitarian aid operations. Sporadic violence continued, including
the murder of 24 U.N. soldiers from Pakistan in 1993. As a result, the
U.N. authorized the arrest of General Mohammed Farah Aidid, leader of
one of the rebel clans. On October 3, 1993, during an unsuccessful
attempt to make the arrest, rebels shot down two of the Marines' Black
Hawk helicopters and killed 18 U.S. soldiers.
As horrified TV viewers watched images of the bloodshed—-including
footage of Aidid's supporters dragging the body of one dead soldier
through the streets of Mogadishu, cheering—-President Bill Clinton
immediately gave the order for all American soldiers to withdraw from
Somalia by March 31, 1994. Other Western nations followed suit. When
the last U.N. peacekeepers left in 1995, ending a mission that had
cost more than $2 billion, Mogadishu still lacked a functioning
government. A ceasefire accord signed in Kenya in 2002 failed to put a
stop to the violence, and though a new parliament was convened in
2004, rival factions in various regions of Somalia continue to
struggle for control of the troubled nation.
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
1992 : U.S Marines storm Mogadishu, Somalia
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=52286
1958 : John Birch Society founded
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5585
1987 : Intifada begins on Gaza Strip
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7106
1990 : Walesa elected president of Poland
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5586
1992 : Separation of Charles and Diana announced
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5587
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On this day in 1992, 1,800 United States Marines arrive in Mogadishu,
Somalia, to spearhead a multinational force aimed at restoring order
in the conflict-ridden country.
Following centuries of colonial rule by countries including Portugal,
Britain and Italy, Mogadishu became the capital of an independent
Somalia in 1960. Less than 10 years later, a military group led by
Major General Muhammad Siad Barre seized power and declared Somalia a
socialist state. A drought in the mid-1970s combined with an
unsuccessful rebellion by ethnic Somalis in a neighboring province of
Ethiopia to deprive many of food and shelter. By 1981, close to 2
million of the country's inhabitants were homeless. Though a peace
accord was signed with Ethiopia in 1988, fighting increased between
rival clans within Somalia, and in January 1991 Barre was forced to
flee the capital. Over the next 23 months, Somalia's civil war killed
some 50,000 people; another 300,000 died of starvation as United
Nations peacekeeping forces struggled in vain to restore order and
provide relief amid the chaos of war.
In early December 1992, outgoing U.S. President George H.W. Bush sent
the contingent of Marines to Mogadishu as part of a mission dubbed
Operation Restore Hope. Backed by the U.S. troops, international aid
workers were soon able to restore food distribution and other
humanitarian aid operations. Sporadic violence continued, including
the murder of 24 U.N. soldiers from Pakistan in 1993. As a result, the
U.N. authorized the arrest of General Mohammed Farah Aidid, leader of
one of the rebel clans. On October 3, 1993, during an unsuccessful
attempt to make the arrest, rebels shot down two of the Marines' Black
Hawk helicopters and killed 18 U.S. soldiers.
As horrified TV viewers watched images of the bloodshed—-including
footage of Aidid's supporters dragging the body of one dead soldier
through the streets of Mogadishu, cheering—-President Bill Clinton
immediately gave the order for all American soldiers to withdraw from
Somalia by March 31, 1994. Other Western nations followed suit. When
the last U.N. peacekeepers left in 1995, ending a mission that had
cost more than $2 billion, Mogadishu still lacked a functioning
government. A ceasefire accord signed in Kenya in 2002 failed to put a
stop to the violence, and though a new parliament was convened in
2004, rival factions in various regions of Somalia continue to
struggle for control of the troubled nation.
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
1992 : U.S Marines storm Mogadishu, Somalia
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=52286
1958 : John Birch Society founded
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5585
1987 : Intifada begins on Gaza Strip
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7106
1990 : Walesa elected president of Poland
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5586
1992 : Separation of Charles and Diana announced
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5587
#########################################
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