By Pip Hinman
"Bill Clinton's 'successful' operation in Mogadishu has led to an unknown number of civilian deaths, has undermined the entire relief effort, and alienated the majority of ordinary Somalis from the very people they had hoped had come to bring an end to their agony", commented one British aid worker who, along with many others, has been evacuated to Nairobi following the escalation of violence in Somalia.
Relief workers are among those who have been the most outspoken in their criticism of the UN/US operation in Somalia following the growing number of UN/US attacks in which innocent Somalis have been killed and bungled raids on non-military installations by US commandos.
In the latest incident, at least 200 Somalis — mainly women and children — were killed when a US Cobra helicopter gunship opened fire on a crowd in Mogadishu on September 10. (Cobras have not been used in inner city combat since the Vietnam War.)
In a grotesque attempt to justify the slaughter, UN military spokesperson Major David Stockwell told reporters that "the women and children were combatants" and that they posed "an imminent threat against our soldiers".
The massacre began as a bulldozer accompanied by three tanks, four armoured personnel carriers and 100 ground troops started removing barricades in south Mogadishu. Armed resistance to the attack was followed by tank reinforcements. But when barricades were re-erected, largely by Somali children, the Cobra cannon attack started. According to Stockwell, the decision to fire on the Somalis was "regrettable but a last resort". One UN soldier was killed, bringing the UN death toll to 48 since May.
A day earlier, hundreds of patients, doctors and nurses were forced out of one of Mogadishu's main hospitals as UN Cobra and Black Hawk helicopter gunships attacked. A warning was broadcast to evacuate Medina hospital before 6 p.m. or be shot. Patients were forced to flee onto the streets with their hands on their heads while UN troops set up roadblocks, hoping to catch Somali clan leader General Mohammed Farah Aideed.
This was the second time the UN/US forces have violated hospitals. In June, UN/US soldiers attacked and occupied a hospital as a raid on Aideed's nearby house took place.
Earlier this month, a dawn raid by special US forces which bailed up several international and Somali relief workers was described by US President Clinton as a "well-conducted mission". The attack by the US's 400 special elite Rangers and crack "anti-terrorist" Delta Force, further exposed the anti-humanitarian character of the operation in Somalia.
According to a report in the British Guardian, 50 US troops burst into the aid compound using explosives and stun grenades to blow open walls, suppress opposition and destroy radio equipment. Some very frightened UN development project workers and French volunteers from Action Against Hunger had their hands bound and were told "to keep our heads down and not to look at anybody".
"I don't think that there was any doubt in anyone's mind that if we said anything, looked at anybody, moved, we'd be shot", Larry DeBoice, a Canadian UN aid worker, told the Guardian.
Also angry at the direction of the UN/US operation are units from Islamic countries and the Italian contingent. Pakistani officers are said to be particularly unhappy, one reason being unease at US control of operations against a Muslim country.
The commander of the Italian contingent has also criticised the US for its domination of the UN operation and called for a rethink of the "overall objective of the Somali mission". General Bruno Loi has criticised the US strong-arm tactics and said that the June arrest order for Aideed closed off the negotiation option.
Following a number of UN/US attacks on peace rallies in central Mogadishu, Loi announced at the end of August that his troops would be redeployed to northern Mogadishu.
Italy has attempted to keep open communication with Somalia's more powerful clan leaders. After the 1991 overthrow of Siad Barre, Italy switched to support of Aideed when his faction started to gain more popular support and an end to the war seemed in sight.
UN officials are said to be happy with the Italians' decision to withdraw. They have accused the Italians of failing to arrest Aideed, of trying to negotiate with him independently, and even of tipping off Aideed's followers to planned UN/US military operations.
The dispute between Loi and the UN general command came to a head in early June, when the Italian contingent negotiated the return of a checkpoint which it had lost to Aideed's forces. The UN/US, which had wanted to use the episode to launch another attack on Aideed, was furious. The Italians replied that they were never informed beforehand of strikes on Aideed.
As the lie that the UN/US Somali operation is a "humanitarian mission" wears thin, the US government is under pressure from both the Democrats and Republicans to pull out. A non-binding Senate resolution on September 9 urged President Clinton to report to Congress by October 15 on US goals and objectives in Somalia and to nominate a withdrawal date.
With many relief workers now forced out of Somalia, the UN is making the most of the public relations opportunity to demonstrate that relief goes on normally. It is now taking credit for the distribution of aid, the planting of crops and the renewal of markets in central Somalia. But, as one relief worker pointed out, what's so "normal" about being lined up by UN troops and every tenth person being hurled a bag of grain?