United States Issues Diabolic Laugh to Somalis Seeking Tsunami Aid

WASHINGTON - Although not as devastated by the December 26 tsunami as other countries across the Indian Ocean, Somalia is also seeking relief aid. At least 300 Somalis died, with hundreds more still missing. Villages along the east coast of Africa such as the fishing village of Hafun have been leveled. Other villages further south, closer to Mogadishu, are cut off from relief workers due to ongoing clan warfare. While the World Food Program and UNICEF do what they can to help the people of Hafun and other villages, the total absence of U.S. aid has attracted attention in Somalia and the international community.

On January 14, more than two weeks after the tsunami hit, officials in the U.S. State Department responded to pressure in the media to respond to the absence of aid to Somalia. In Washington, the State Department press secretary addressed journalists first by laughing diabolically and then adding, “Screw Somalia. Screw the Somali people and their drowned children. They’ll get nothing and like it. If they’d wanted American aid, they shouldn’t have killed 18 of our soldiers in October 1993 and dragged their corpses through the streets of Mogadishu.”

The subtle reference was to events dramatized in the book and film Black Hawk Down. In 1991, after the Somali government collapsed, the country plunged into civil war. More than 300,000 Somalis died. In 1992 a ceasefire agreement between the warring factions led to humanitarian relief under the direction of the United Nations. In December 1992, President Bush authorized Operation Restore Hope, and sent 25,000 American troops to secure the country for relief efforts. In June 1993 President Clinton reduced U.S. forces to 1,200 combat soldiers and 3,000 support troops. Meanwhile, the UN began disarming the Somali militias to further stabilize the country. Following the murder of 24 Pakistani peacekeepers, the UN sought to capture or kill warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid.

In July 1993, four Western journalists were beaten to death by an angry mob. In August ten U.S. soldiers were killed by land mines remotely detonated by Somalis. In September, Defense Secretary Les Aspin denied General Montgomery’s request, seconded by Colin Powell, for armored reinforcements, a decision that led to his resignation in December.

Then, on October 3, Task Force Ranger’s assault on the Olympic Hotel in Mogadishu culminated in a 17-hour battle widely considered the most violent since Vietnam. Eighteen U.S. soldiers were killed, and 84 wounded; approximately 1,000 Somalis were slain. Jubilant Somalis dragged the bodies of some of the dead American soldiers through the streets of Mogadishu and danced on top of wrecked Black Hawks. Within days, President Clinton ordered the withdrawal of U.S. troops, the last of which left in March of 1994.

The State Department press secretary concluded his remarks with an additional laugh as he left the room.