The Lost Lessons of “Black Hawk Down”

Kannu

A good military lesson for the Americans and the British actually. 

Besides that historical lesson, what parallels do I draw? 

Shit happens. It will always happen. People will die and lose jobs and typhoons will happen. 

The point is to hold your nerve. Victory is in the mind son. And technology isn't the panacea. I fix organisations. It's very little to do with technology. It's all in the mind. People need to change behaviours. 

We keep on forgetting the lessons of the past son. Smart people learn from the mistakes of others. 

Love

Baba

The Lost Lessons of “Black Hawk Down”
http://warontherocks.com/2013/10/the-lost-lessons-of-black-hawk-down/

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The Lost Lessons of "Black Hawk Down"

Today marks the 20^th anniversary of The Battle of Mogadishu, the American operation in Somalia later immortalized by Mark Bowden’s seminal non-fiction book “Black Hawk Down” and dramatized in Ridley Scott’s exhilarating but slightly less non-fictional movie of the same name. On October 3, 1993, 160 U.S. Army Rangers and other special operations forces launched what was supposed to be a routine raid to capture two lieutenants of Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aideed. But when two MH-60L helicopters providing fire support were shot down, the operation became a desperate search and rescue mission in which U.S. forces were besieged overnight by thousands of heavily armed Somali militiamen. Fourteen hours after the operation’s start, eighteen Americans were dead, 84 were wounded, and one pilot was missing.

The incredible valor and drama of Task Force Ranger’s ordeal over those two days has, unfortunately, tended to draw attention away from the broader campaign to capture Aideed, whom U.S. and international forces had been hunting since the previous June, when Aideed’s Somali National Alliance ambushed and mutilated 24 Pakistani peacekeepers . This manhunt was part of a broader operation which – along with the “Black Hawk Down” battle itself – carries important tactical, operational, and strategic lessons. As debates rage about intervention in Syria and the renewed threat posed by Somali-based al-Shabaab, the 20^th anniversary of the most dramatic U.S. military operation between Vietnam and  Afghanistan offers an important opportunity to revisit those lessons, which remain relevant two decades later.

Lesson One: Technology Does Not Guarantee Success

Welcome to Mogadishu

In one way son, Somalia should be a libertarian wet dream. Total or near total absence of the state. Which should leave individual rights all right? Self defence. Self reliance? And as this article says, the economy is ok with companies flourishing in the absence if the state. 

But then on the flip side you have a classic example of how societies cannot function when the mob takes over. It's the state that provides security. And that leads to durable institutions. Take the example of Egypt and Pakistan. Pakistan just completed one parliamentary term, despite the govt being totally corrupt. The new govt was sworn in. Best way forward. Institutions take time to build. At this moment, I have more hope for Pakistan than Egypt. Which basically has screwed itself. The promising beginning even with that idiotic Morsi was stopped in the middle. Now the secular liberal military backed idiots have basically created a bigger injury to Egypt than what Morsi and his beards ever could. 

Egypt has deep structural problems. And to think that a liberal secular new pm will be able to resolve exhibits a dangerous level of blindness. The incoming govt now has to deal with a pissed off large part of the electorate and the same if not worse economic and social problems, the financial aid from the gulf not withstanding. And given that its been established that mobs on the street can bring down governments for bad governance, the brothers will and can do the same. Result? Egypt's people have made a huge mistake. But revolutions,while exciting, take a very long time to repair the damage. All I can think is the quote, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. 

Love

Baba

Welcome to Mogadishu - FT.com
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e0c521b4-c8bd-11e2-acc6-00144feab7de.html#slide0

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Despite the threats from Islamist militants, the Somali capital is bursting back to life

©Petterik Wiggers

Boys repairing fishermen’s nets on Mogadishu seafront

You can see where their heads hit the roof,” says a member of Somalia’s bomb squad. He is showing me pictures of the latest co-ordinated suicide attack. Even in the mess that mingles body parts of victims and perpetrators, the explosives team finds it easy to collect a suicide bomber’s DNA: you just look up. Red stains, splattered flesh and a pair of earphones are all that’s left of two al-Shabaab bombers who – posing as soldiers of the national army – detonated themselves at the entrance of a courthouse in the capital, Mogadishu in April.

After the initial explosions, more gunmen wearing suicide vests entered the building and went from room to room, assassinating people before blowing themselves up when they ran out of ammunition. Court workers cowered in rooms before escaping by ladder; altogether 60 people were killed, estimates the man showing me the photos. The attack was the work of Islamist militants, allied to al-Qaeda, who emerged in the mid-2000s as the biggest threat to Somalia – 15 years after the former Italian colony started tearing itself apart in a civil war which has yet to end.

40% of Somali & Ethiopian Women in Netherlands Genitally Mutilated

This was indeed shocking news. I quote:

THE HAGUE, 30/05/09 - Four out of ten Somali and Ethiopian women who give birth in the Netherlands have been genitally mutilated. This is relatively few, Health State Secretary Jet Bussemaker wrote to the Lower House on Friday.

The figures were recorded by research organisation TNO after questioning midwives. The number of cases of female circumcision is fairly low, since nine out of ten women in the countries of origin have been circumcised, Bussemaker reasoned.

To obtain a better picture of female circumcision, the state secretary previously announced that midwives would be registering this form of mutilation. They will also be trained in how to discuss circumcision with families.

I realise that the populace concerned is small, but the percentages are shocking. Criminal. And dont  think this is just Islam. Ethiopia is a Christian nation. Christ, what a mess. But there is hope over to the south of Europe. I quote:

Italy plans to launch a campaign to focus attention on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in a bid to stem its practice in the country, Equal Opportunities Minister Mara Carfagna said on Wednesday. Some 150 million women are victims of the practice world-wide, with an estimated 35-40 thousand cases in Italy by foreigners living in the country, said Carfagna who called FGM "torture, a barbaric action".

The government plans to run a series of ads on state-run television in a bid to convince parents to end the practice.It is also setting up a committee to deal with the problem, which Carfagna said is "an underestimated phenomenon". "I plan to use my ministry's funds to combat and prevent a practice which violates human rights," she told a news conference. The government has already earmarked some 3.5 million euros and plans to add another four million to back 21 projects set up to deal with FGM.

FGM, which is also known as female circumcision, covers a number of different practices, usually involving either removing the clitoris or sewing up the vagina. The most severe form, infibulation, entails both, and accounts for around 15% of all procedures. An estimated 150 million women around the world have undergone genital mutilation, while some 6,000 girls are mutilated every day, according to the London-based human rights organization Amnesty International.

It is practiced in at least 28 African countries, and is also common in some Middle Eastern states, including Egypt, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates. Italy passed a law in January 2006 outlawing FGM. IT lays down jail terms of up to 12 years for those who carry out the procedure on adult women and up to 16 years if it is carried out on a minor or in exchange for money. Doctors caught carrying out FGM are banned from their profession for up to ten years. The law is applicable even if the woman is operated on abroad.

The French have honour, the Spanish knuckle under piracy

Pirates are like parasites, more you feed them, the more they demand. So the only way to handle them is to thump them very hard. Unfortunately, seems like all the courage that Spain has been famous for down the centuries has dribbled away. What do they do? They pay a ransom to pirates to release their crew. And what a pathetic excuse, they did not have military means. What did they lack? the base? They could have asked for French assistance, they have marines and commando's, they have attack helicopters, they have frigates, they have fast attack boats, what they do not have is the gumption and courage.

Sad. And how much you want to bet that this will happen again? Nice cash cow, now the Spaniards have a target painted on their boats (and a big cash machine sign off the bows), while they will avoid the French boats..

Technorati Tags: Spain,France,Somalia,Piracy

Pirates attack tanker

When will people realise that this is a global problem and this has to be handled globally, hard, and quickly! This is causing oil prices to rise, and that will hit the poor even more.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

Spanish ship in the pirates grasp off Somalia

I think Spain should send its commando's and rescue its fishermen. But am a bit curious, what on earth is a Spanish fishing trawler doing off the coast of Somalia? Or will it, as usual, turn over and play supinely? Learn from your French colleagues, mate. These pirates need to be thumped very very hard. Talking will not work.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

School teachers killed in Somalia - future dimmed even more

The jihadi's know their weak point. It is education. More you educate your people, less are they able to be led like sheep. This is why liberal democratic nations have good strong opposition. And again, this is why autocratic countries generally tend not to invest that much in education. Also, let us not forget, for fanatics, education anything outside their narrow thoughts is useless. I am reminded of what the Taliban said, they do not need to know anything outside the Quran, and if there is anything outside the Quran, then if it was worth knowing, it would have been put inside the Quran. What can you do with a mentality like this? But look at what they did in Somalia...

I quote:

"We have discovered the dead bodies of three foreigners and the owner of the Hakab Private English School in the town this morning," said Ayanle Husein Abdi, a local resident.
Some locals said one of the slain Somalis had returned home to build a school and educate locals.

Well, what did I say about these neanderthals cannibalising their own?

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

Pirates caught by commandos

This is the only way to deal with pirates. Pirates are beyond the pale. This is why whenever they were caught, they were summarily executed or punished. They do not work on the basis of normal behaviour. Whether we are talking about Julius Caesar or the North African Barbary States, they only stop once they have been thumped hard.

Similarly, these Somalian pirates need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and armed might. This is a very good step, I just wish the other navies take a step and do the same. Way to go, Sarko.

Technorati Tags: Piracy,France,Somalia,Indian Ocean

More avoidable tragedy

On one hand, there is no government in Belgium and nothing happened. In another country which is a completely failed state, no government at all, we have a situation where such kind of instances happen. Kids playing with an old hand grenade and sadly, it exploded killing 3 children.

Nothing much can be done in the short term but I can mourn the death of those three young children and the bad wounding of the little girl. May Gods bless you and give you a better life next time.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

The curious case of Somalia and Belgium

I do not suppose you have heard of the fact that Belgium is still without a government after the elections in June 2007? The country is split between the northern Flemish bit and the southern Wallonia bit.

The Dutch Flemish do not like to pay money to their poorer French cousins in the south. I did not know myself till my friend, Professor Christian DeCock told me about this happy state of affairs.

We see the same kind of behaviour in Italy where the richer Northern Italian bit hates the indolent, public sector dependent, no tax paying south.

But going back to Belgium, remember the quote by Charles de Gaulle? "a country which is said to be invented by the British to piss off the French". But the curious thing is, that nothing really matters to the ordinary populace, they are working away nicely.

Now turn your thoughts to Somalia, a country blighted by war, riots, terrorism, religious fundamentalism, drugs, piracy, you name it. It does not have a government for the past decade or more. By all measures, it is not a state.

So how do you explain the following facts and figures from this site?

If the expectation was that Somalia would plunge into an abyss of chaos, what is the reality? A number of recent studies address this question, including one by economist Peter Leeson drawing on statistical data from the United Nations Development Project, World Bank, CIA, and World Health Organization. Comparing the last five years under the central government (1985–1990) with the most recent five years of anarchy (2000–2005), Leeson finds these welfare changes:
* Life expectancy increased from 46 to 48.5 years. This is a poor expectancy as compared with developed countries. But in any measurement of welfare, what is important to observe is not where a population stands at a given time, but what is the trend. Is the trend positive, or is it the reverse?
* Number of one-year-olds fully immunized against measles rose from 30 to 40 percent.
* Number of physicians per 100,000 population rose from 3.4 to 4.
* Number of infants with low birth weight fell from 16 per thousand to 0.3 — almost none.
* Infant mortality per 1,000 births fell from 152 to 114.9.
* Maternal mortality per 100,000 births fell from 1,600 to 1,100.
* Percent of population with access to sanitation rose from 18 to 26.
* Percent of population with access to at least one health facility rose from 28 to 54.8.
* Percent of population in extreme poverty (i.e., less than $1 per day) fell from 60 to 43.2.
* Radios per thousand population rose from 4 to 98.5.
* Telephones per thousand population rose from 1.9 to 14.9.
* TVs per 1,000 population rose from 1.2 to 3.7.
* Fatalities due to measles fell from 8,000 to 5,600.

Curious, no? so this is possible one strand of thought to those who think about rewinding the colonial boundaries. Very interesting essay at Mises.org and would suggest you read the full thing. Not that removal of the government will make sure that it becomes a garden of Eden, but hey, its not that bad!

Here's another ironical question for you, if the United Nations is so eager to establish a government in Somalia, why is it not it doing anything for Belgium? 

 

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!

Technorati Tags: Belgium , Democracy , Somalia , United Nations