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More than 17 years after Black Hawk incident, Somalia faces its worst famine in two decades
By Katie Nguyen
LONDON (AlertNet) - Who can forget the images of dead U.S. soldiers being dragged through Mogadishu after a raid to find a warlord ended in the shooting down of two Black Hawk helicopters and U.S. special forces fighting for their lives in 1993?
The sole survivor of one of the downed helicopters has been talking to the BBC about the battle against fighters loyal to Mohamed Farah Aideed which killed 18 U.S. soldiers and ended any appetite back home for further involvement in Somalia.
Despite being beaten and taken hostage by Aideed forces, former helicopter pilot Michael Durant said Washington should have stuck to its mission in the Horn of Africa country rather than pulling out of it in 1994.
"Without exception, those of us who were on the ground, who fought in that battle, strongly oppose the change in policy," Durant told BBC Radio 4. "I do believe that that is a big factor in why we continue to struggle with Somalia and why it struggles itself."
"I think we had an opportunity to implement some change back in 1993 and we allowed that window of opportunity to close."
Durant was then part of a U.S. mission to backstop the United Nations as it tried to deliver aid to drought-stricken Somalis.
More than 17 years after the Black Hawk incident, Somalia is facing its worst famine in two decades with some 3.7 million people at risk of starvation, the majority of them in the southern regions controlled by Islamist al Shabaab militants.
Asked if he would be prepared to return to Somalia now, to fly in aid, Durant said: "That is something that as an individual I would absolutely be willing to do."
"I like, most Americans, would be willing to do what it takes to help from a humanitarian perspective," he said, though he admitted that his wife and children might have other ideas.
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