Leading Up too the Operation

Warlords in Somalia were rising to power and were looking to expand. With these warlords being power hungry, it threw Somalia into a huge civil war between all the different clans throughout Somalia. With the civil war going on it lead to crops not being able to grow in leaving food scarce. An estimated 500,000 citizens starved to death just alone in 1992.



While the civil war was going on in Mogadishu, the bush comity was over seeing the problem of starvation. The bush comity teamed up with the Red Cross to send over $193 Millions worth of food and medical supplies to help the citizens. When the Red Cross showed up, hired guns paid by General Mohammad Farah Aidid were sent to disrupt food distributions. On July 27th, 1992 an estimated 4.5 millions citizens were malnourished and an estimated 1 million children were in danger of starvation. The UN authorized immediate military protection of food distribution centers and protection of food convoys.


At the time General Mohammad Farah Aidid claims to have been president of Somalia during the civil war and the UN believed he was to blame for the war. The UN also believed he was causing genocide with hiring gun men to take the food so civilians could not get the food and water they needed to survive. The UN authorized for the general to be captured or killed by U.S task force soldiers. On December 9th 1992 while the soldiers were making there assault they were greeted by American reporters on the beaches on Somalia and there surprise infiltration was compromised.