"The Ignorant War"

     The Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia turned into to what was supposed to be a brief mission of capturing warlord, General Aidid into one of the United States' biggest war-related failures. The article Battle of Mogadishu states "By the end of the fighting between the U.S. and the Somalian militia, U.S. casualties numbered 73 wounded, 18 dead, and one pilot taken prisoner."

      T.S. Eliot once said, "All our ignorance brings us nearer to death." The U.S. greatly underestimated their Somalian opponents, leading to many unnecessary casualties. Could these casualties have been avoided?

     On October 3, 1993, delta forces were given the mission to enter and conquer warlord, General Aidid. The movie "Black Hawk Down," portrayed that the danger associated with the mission was heavily downplayed by the U.S. soldiers, considering that it was routine and would take less than an hour to complete. The soldiers thought that they had this mission under control and that the Somalian soldiers were were not capable of coming up with a tactile plan against them. But Somalians had an advantage to the attack and could frequently catch the U.S. off guard. In the article Battle of Mogadishu, citizens "were fighting on familiar ground and leaders could muster an army of several an army of several thousand men and boys in short order."

     Unprepared Forces During Initial Campaigns stated "Standard operating procedures were ignored as soldiers ignored packing lists in order to lessen their load and carry more ammunition." Soldiers were advised to leave behind important items such as extra water and night vision goggles. In the movie "Black Hawk Down," soldiers decide to leave their steel plate from their Kevlar body armor behind to help lighten the load as well. The soldiers chose to sacrifice their protection over maneuverability. In the end they find themselves in the middle of heavy fire-fight and many suffered injuries that could have been prevented with their extra protection.

     U.S. forces were unprepared for the battle of Mogadishu. They lacked a well thought out plan and failed to carry all of their necessary supplies with them. Just when the mission was going according to plan, two black hawks were shot down. The mission quickly turned into a matter of continuing to carry out the mission and crucial search and rescue. The U.S. was quickly outnumbered and ill equipped for long term fighting. The helicopters were being heavily approached by the civilian militia and the survivors of the crash were not able to hold off the mass crowds alone.

     To answer this question: Could the casualties have been avoided? In my opinion the answer is yes. U.S. casualties could have been avoided if they did not underestimate the Somalian militia like they did and if they would have better prepared for the mission.