BackgroundOver the past fifty years, Somalia has been plagued by internal fighting, poor economic conditions, and a lack of centralized authority for its population. In 1969, a man named Mohammed Siad Barre became the leader of Somalia through a military coup. During his long rule as head of the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party, he was also overthrown in January 1991 by opposing clans, including the United Somali Congress, the Somali Salvation Democratic Front, the Somali National Movement, the Somali Patriotic Movement and the Somali Democratic Movement. Shortly after the overthrow of Mohammed Siad Barre, these clans split into two main groups. Ali Mahdi was the leader of both Mohammed Farah Aidid. This led to widespread violence and the destruction of Somali agriculture that functioned under Mohammed Siad Barre. The main source of energy in Somalia was food distribution. It is said that around 80% of all humanitarian aid was stolen in the early 1990s. This resulted in over three hundred thousand Somalis starving to death as they stole internationally supplied food. to gain support from clan leaders to fight against each other. In light of the severe food crisis in Somalia, the United Nations established a Unified Task Force to facilitate the distribution of humanitarian aid during widespread fighting between Somali clans. The United States and other NATO countries sent troops, but the task failed because they were unable to secure shipments of supplies. Most of the supplies were ransacked by the militants upon their arrival. This led the United Nations to adopt Resolution 794, which established a protected environment for conducting humanitarian operations. By December, the midpoint of the document would forever change military thinking and decision-making regarding humanitarian and peacekeeping operations.SummaryEven though Task Force Ranger had apprehended some of General Aidid's top commanders , General Aidid was still at large. An intentional 90-minute operation turned into a full 20-hour assault on U.S. forces, leaving 18 soldiers dead and 73 wounded. I think it was a military defeat for the United States because of our intelligence failures and the fact that our forces left that region very quickly. This showed that the United States was not fully committed to change in the region and made its armed forces appear weak. And as the American public viewed the armed forces after the failure of Vietnam and Operation Eagle Claw, the Battle of Mogadishu would reek of death and defeat...