Somalia Conflict

1. Somalia Conflict The Battle of Mogadishu

2. Background Information: • In January 1991, the dictator of Somalia, Mohammed Siad Barre, was overthrown by a coalition of opposing clans, called the United Somalia Congress. • After this revolution, the coalition divided into two groups.

3. One was led by Ali Mahdi Muhammad, who became president; and the other, by Mohammed Farah Aidid. • FOUR OPPOSING GROUPS:The United Somali Congress, Somali Salvation Democratic Front Somali Patriotic Movement and Somali Democratic Movement-All fought for control

4. In June 1991, a ceasefire was agreed to, but failed to hold. • A fifth group, the Somali National Movement, had already seceded from the northwest portion of Somalia in June. • The SNM renamed it the Somaliland Republic, with its leader Abdel-Rahman Ahmed Ali as president.

6. In September 1991, fighting broke out in Mogadishu, continued for months and spread throughout the country • 1 year- 20,000 killed/injured • Fighting led to the destruction of the agriculture of Somalia, which in turn led to starvation in large parts of Somalia.

7. The international community began to send food supplies to halt the starvation, but vast amounts of food were hijacked and brought to local clan leaders, who routinely exchanged it with other countries for weapons. • CORRUPTION!

8. An estimated 80 percent of the food was stolen. • These factors led to even more starvation: • Approx. 300,000 people died, and another 1.5 million people suffered, between 1991 and 1992.

9. In July 1992, after a ceasefire between the opposing clan factions, the United Nations (UN) sent 50 military observers to watch the distribution of the food. • President Bush initiated humanitarian airlifts and such to help the rural areas of the country

10. Operation Gothic Serpent • October 3 1993, Task Force Ranger, a U.S. Special Operations Forces composed mainly of Rangers, Delta Force operators, and aviation support from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) (the Night Stalkers)…

11. attempted to capture Aidid's foreign minister, Omar Salad Elmi and his top political advisor, Mohamed Hassan Awale.

12. The plan was to fast rope from hovering MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, capture the targets, and load them onto a ground convoy for transport back to the U.S. compound. Four Ranger chalks, also inserted by helicopter, were to provide a secure square perimeter on the four corners of the operation's target building.

13. The ground extraction convoy was supposed to reach the captive targets a few minutes after the beginning of the operation. However, it ran into delays.

14. Somali citizens and local militia formed barricades along the streets of Mogadishu with rocks and burning tires, blocking the convoy from reaching the Rangers and their captives. A five-ton truck, part of the convoy, was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade

15. An Army Ranger was injured • Another fell too fast from the Blackhawk helicopter • Black Hawk was shot down by a rocket propelled grenade. • Later in the mission another Black Hawk was shot down waiting for instruction • About 90 Rangers found themselves trapped for the night in the middle of the streets.

16. WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN?

17. The 'battle of Mogadishu'- a planned 90-minute mission which turned into a deadly 17 hours - is generally forgotten by most Americans. But five years later, it continues to cast a long shadow on US military thinking and decision making about humanitarian/peacekeeping operations.

18. Its legacy, say many experts, was a continuing U.S. reluctance to be drawn into other trouble spots such as Bosnia, Rwanda and Haiti during the 1990s.

20. Rwandan Genocide

21. The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass extermination of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda. • This genocide was mostly carried out by two extremist Hutu militia groups, the Interahamwe and the Impuzamugambi, during a period of about 100 days from April 6 through mid-July 1994.

23. Over 500,000 Tutsis and thousands of moderate Hutus died in the genocide, with some reports estimating the number of victims to be between 800,000 and 1,000,000.

24. In 1959, violence between the Tutsi and Hutu erupted. Hutus overthrew Tutsi rule • declared an independent republic and elected the first Hutu president, Greg wa Kayabanda. Mass killings of Tutsis occurred during the transition to Hutu rule, hinting at things to come.

25. Inciting the Genocide: • Rwandan President Habyarimana & Burundian President are killed when Habyarimana's plane is shot down near Kigali Airport. • Hutu extremists, suspecting that the Rwandan president is finally about to implement the Arusha Peace Accords, are believed to be behind the attack.

26. The killings begin that night…

28. In the wake of the Rwandan Genocide, the United Nations and the international community in general drew severe criticism for its inaction. • Despite international news media coverage of the violence as it unfolded, most countries, including France, Belgium, and the United States, declined to intervene or speak out against the massacres.

29. Canada continued to lead the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda, United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). However, the UN did not authorize UNAMIR to intervene or use force to prevent or halt the killing.

32. Classification?

34. Ethnic classification on ID Cards in Rwanda instituted by the Belgian colonial government and retained after independence, was central in shaping, defining and perpetuating ethnic identity.

35. Once the 1994 genocide in Rwanda began, an ID card with the designation "Tutsi" spelled a death sentence at any roadblock. • No other factor was more significant in facilitating the speed and magnitude of the 100 days of mass killing in Rwanda.

36. In order to strengthen their control, the Belgians colonists divided Rwanda’s unified • population into three distinct groups: Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. • In order to do this, the colonists created a strict system of racial classification.

37. Both the Belgians and the Germans, influenced by racist ideas, thought that the Tutsi • were a superior group because they were more “white” looking.

38. The description is that Tutsis tend to be taller, with relatively thin or "lanky" frames, and have pointed noses and more "European" facial features and sometimes lighter skin; • Hutus are more average in height and stocky in body frame. • Another difference is supposed to be that Tutsis have dark oral mucosa (gums) while Hutu have lighter colored oral mucosa.

39. While many do fit the description, there are Hutu who slightly look like Tutsi, Tutsi who look like Hutu, but this could be due to intermarriages and there are many Rwandans and Burundians don't really fit either description

42. The Hutus, who make up about 85% of Rwanda’s population, were denied: • higher education • land ownership • positions in government. • By the 1950s, their resentment had grown.

43. The genocide ended when a Tutsi-dominated expatriate rebel movement known as the Rwandan Patriotic Front, led by Paul Kagame, overthrew the Hutu government and seized power.

44. Fearing reprisals, hundreds of thousands of Hutu and other refugees fled into eastern Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Ethnic hatreds that fueled the Rwandan Genocide quickly spilled over into Congo, fueling the First and Second Congo Wars.

46. Rivalry between Hutu and Tutsi tribal factions is also a major factor in the Burundi Civil War.