Somalis Still Bitter Over Black Hawk Down

Yahoo "blogs" ^ | 9/25/2005 | Kevin Sites (Mr. Anti-America)

[cwiz24]

Cactus and Bitterness Grow Where American Chopper Was Downed
Posted by Kevin Sites on Sun Sep 25, 7:22 PM ET

She lived here once, in a house behind this pitted dirt alleyway. But now, Maria Osman cannot bear to raise her head as she walks past.

This is, after all, the place where her already difficult life slipped the last few notches into misery, the place where pain can last a dozen years without pause. The place, she says, where an American Black Hawk helicopter fell from the sky and crushed her three-year-old daughter.

"There was not enough of her left to bury," she says, nervously covering her mouth with the end of her hejab (a traditional Muslim head scarf).

When American forces tried to protect the fallen chopper, gunfire broke out and Maria, still nearby the crash site, was hit. It took her two and half years to recover from the wound.

She pulls back the material covering her right arm to show me a brown, leathery roadmap of scar tissue that runs from above her wrist to below her shoulder. The arm is nearly worthless, Maria says, useful now only as another reminder of that day.

That day, Oct. 3, 1993, became known as the Battle of Mogadishu, when an American mission against Somali warlord Mohammed Farrah Aidid went terribly wrong.

The Somalis shot down not one but two Black Hawks that day -- one of them, call sign Super Six One, would change Maria Osman's life forever.

[cwiz24]

They're bitter?

[Reactionary]

Oh, yes, they're terribly "bitter." That's how it goes when America-hating leftists write headlines.

[massgopguy]

It didn't "fall". And where's that little bastard who was smiling over the body of the dead Ranger?

[pgkdan]

Gee...my heart bleeds for the poor savages.

[zerosix]

Somalis bitter? What in the world do they have to "feel bitter" over (sounds like MSM making up poll questions about feelings again)?

Who really gives a rat's behind about what killers in Somalia "feel" over anything at all?

[cwiz24]

I detest Kevin Sites. He is the same traitor that tried to get our soldiers in trouble for protecting themselves.

Recall: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1282152/posts

[dfwgator]

Clinton's Fault!

[evolved_rage]

Bitter? Bad looting that day?

[F15Eagle]

Actually I'm sorry for the loss of her 3-year-old daughter. However, had the Somali gunmen not shot down the helicopters, on their way to remove the thug, this would not have happened. It is the fault of the Somali gunmen, not the chopper crew. After watching "Black Hawk Down", I felt like I was right in the middle of it.

[mystery-ak]

Tell me Maria, how that Blackhawk *fell* from the sky?

[pawdoggie]

Note to Maria Osman: the Blackhawk helicopter did not fall from the sky for the specific purpose of killing your child. It fell from the sky because it was shot at, and shot down, by your fellow, murdering thug, countrymen. If you have any "gripe" coming it's from the remnants of Mohammed Farah Aideed's clan. If you're expecting a cash settlement from Uncle Sugar (as you no doubt are), don't hold your breath.

[cwiz24]

I'll tell them where they can put their bitter feelings.

[jimbo123]

Be sure to add your comments to Kevin Sites' report...

http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b//hotzone/blogs999

[<1/1,000,000th%]

I don't recall any WMD's being found either.

[Centurion2000]

We should have nuked that pit.

[Ditto]

But now, Maria Osman cannot bear to raise her head as she walks past.

Hmmmm? Maria? A Christian woman living in the middle of Muslim jihadist Mogadishu?

<<< Head scratching. >>>

[Lazamataz]

Somalis Still Bitter Over Black Hawk Down

Hey, you Skinnies: Shut up, or it's IRENE.

[PISANO]

EF 'em all!!!

[sandydipper]

And by the way she would feel a lot better if Uncle Sam wrote her a check for umpteen million dollars and garanteed her a spot on GMA.

[Ann Archy]

Maria....I was thinking that also...a Muslim named MARIA? Doubt it.

Hey Maria, blame your uncivilized countrymen for shooting down people trying to save them from being starved by hideous leaders. Idiot.

[DogBarkTree]

There's one 3 year old who wont grow up to be a 12 year old and give birth to another skinny looter/terrorist.

[BadAndy]

"Somalis Still Bitter Over Black Hawk Down"

Somalia was such a paradise before the Americans came and ruined it.

[Dog]

Look what that American hater Kevin Sites wrote now..

[hotshu]

Excuse me, don't you mean "Bush's Fault"? (/sarcasm)

[vpintheak]

What a load of rubbish. If she is bitter and angry she can blame her muslem pals.

[Castlebar]

To those of you who only saw the (excellent) movie - please read the actual book Black Hawk Down.

I am about halfway through it, and I am still stunned at the horror of that day, and at the unimaginable courage and professionalism of our Rangers and Delta operators.

[Mo1]

Tell them go take it up with Clinton

He feels their pain

[gridlock]

If you have to read past the headline and by-line, you have only yourself to blame.

[gridlock]

Somalia was such a paradise before the Americans came and ruined it.

Before he was removed from power, the President-for-Life systematically leveled every building within mortar range for the Presidential Palace in order to provide a protective buffer. But if anybody was hurt in Mogadishu, it was from one "falling" helicopter...

[milford421]

"They're bitter?"

My sentiments exactly.

[Dog]

I read the book....but can't bring myself to watch the movie to this day.....to painful.

[Iron Matron]

When are we going to quit sending money to that third-world cesspool of African Nations?

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Staff Sergeant Thomas J. Field

Staff Sergeant Thomas J. Field was born in Lisbon, Maine on April 11, 1968. He graduated from Lisbon High School in 1986. After enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1987, he attended training to become a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter repairer.

He then attended Airborne School and was assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). Staff Sergeant Field participated in U.S. actions in Panama, Southwest Asia, and many other worldwide missions. Staff Sergeant Field was killed in action while serving with United Nations forces in Somalia

I lost a dear friend there..

I don't give a rats A** HOW they feel!

[Iron Matron]

Actually I'm sorry for the loss of her 3-year-old daughter

Not me. I saw what they did to those soldiers..and you know what? I hope EVERY, MISERABLE, POS in SOmalia..suffers..and suffers a loooong time. Muslime beestards.

[varyouga]

WRONG. It's Bush's Fault^TM.

Everything wrong in the world is the fault of rich white Republicans because they are rich and greedy. Those poor people that shot down the chopper would have been saints if we donated "Just $10k More^TM".

[aBootes]

Actually I'm sorry for the loss of her 3-year-old daughter.

And I am likewise sorry that she has lost most of the use of her arm. Had she been treated immediately by competant (US) medical personnel, who, in other situations would have been able to help, she might not have suffered. As it is, she needs to look a little closer to home if she wants to blame someone.

[Publius6961]

I take this story as an invitation to nurture bitterness.
My tendency would be to soothe my bitterness by creating a 36-acre flat spot centered on the famous spot, where nothing grows...

[hotshu]

After reading the whole article, and after reading the accounts of the aftermath of Katrina in New Orleans, I am struck by the similarities between Mogadishu and New Orleans.

The family who has three children, though neither parent has a job.
A subculture where khat (drugs) is used in lieu of currency.
An unquestioning blame that anything "wrong" is the fault of America.
An equally unquestioned hatred of white people. (Read the article and listen to the hate filled speeches at the "anti" rally this weekend.)

Let's face it folks. New Orleans was a third world pocket in our midst before Katrina and if the money pouring into that city are not heavily audited, the only way anyone from outside the affected areas will be able to traverse those areas in twelve years will be in the accompaniment of a "fixer".

[PeteB570]

Try "In the Company of Heroes"

A true story by
Michael J Durant CW4 (Ret)

Got my book signed with a nice little note from him.

[tumblindice]

Author Bowden noted that in most places people stay in their homes, or run away from gunshots. Not the Somalis. They want to 'rubber-neck'.

We went there to try and see that they were fed: they were dying daily by the hundreds. Their overlords took the food. We have the best troopers in the world but we had the bad luck to have a feckless, spineless commander-in-chief, and no good deed goes unpunished.
The next time famine strikes Somalia on a biblical scale, they can call the UN.

[Eternal_Bear]

Mary as the Mother of the Prophet Jesus is venerated by Moslems. Many Hispanic Christians are also named after Fatima, Mohammed's daughter.

I am sorry about the kid but those gumen were vermin

[dfwgator]

Somalia was such a paradise before the Americans came and ruined it.

There were rainbows and bunnies and chocolate rivers

[bronxboy]

stupid witch...her countrymen shot the helicopter down-her kid would still be alive if the people there were not such blood thirsty monsters. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.

[linkinpunk]

They are angry about how we did it?

So how about a Do-Over?

[Aaron0617]

Although I have never covered Somalia, I had heard enough stories from colleagues about it. It's a place where human life has little meaning, where feuding clan militias, juiced up on khat (a chewable stimulant herb), roar down dusty backstreets in "technicals" (pickup trucks modified with anti-aircraft or machine guns mounted on the bed).

Uh..that was 14 years ago. Why doesn't the author describe what life is like on the streets of Somalia now?

[Cate]

Yup, our Black Hawks traditionally just up and 'fall' from the sky. Be bitter, and send some towards Bill Clinton for letting our soldiers down.

[cubreporter]

and I'm still bitter over the dragging of one of our American heroes through the streets. Bitter? They don't know what bitter is.

[cubreporter]

yeah,tell her to go talk to billy boy.

[Enchante]

Guess he's still looking for ways to undermine the US military and get more people killed -- ours and theirs!! Why don't anti-American journalists figure out that the sooner we defeat jihadists the sooner they stop killing both our people and their own people..... when all jihadists are either dead or lost in despair that Allah failed them (and they failed Allah) then the world will be a MUCH MUCH better place. Until then, so-called 'journalists' like Kevin Sites like to keep fanning the flames of the conflict.

[chudogg]

Somebody posted a rebuttal in the comments section. It is worthy of being reposted here. The wealth of knowledge contained would make it appear as though the poster is indeed legitimate.

As the former Brigade Intelligence Officer for the Quick Reaction Force, I feel compelled to correct several inaccuracies within the story printed here. First, all Somalis in Mogadischu and within the country, were not united against us. Indeed of the four major clans living in Mogadischu at the time, three of them (the Abgal, The Hawadle and the Murosade) were strong supporters of our position there and provided active support to the UN / American efforts. Had the author spent time with these other clans, he could have gotten a more balanced view.

Secondly, I don’t know which “historians” assess 12 July as the turning point in the operation, but I can assure you it was not. The watershed date was 5 June, when the SNA (Aideed’s political organization dominated by the Haber Gedir) attacked the Pakistanis, killing 25 and wounding scores more. Subsequent revisionism (the original lie comes from the SNA itself) claims that a crowd “spontaneously” attacked the Pakistanis when they attempted to shut down the SNA-run radio station. The truth is, the radio station was adjacent to authorized weapons storage site number one (AWSS-1) and the SNA objected to UN attempts at verifying that all inventoried weapons were still at the site. The fact that almost all of the Pakistanis were killed AFTER leaving AWSS-1 while on the way to AWSS-1 (most of the violence occurred on 21 October road, some 3 KM from AWSS-1) to AWSS-3 is clear evidence that the attack was premeditated. While the immediate concern was the inventorying of weapons, the long term objective was to cow the UN which was forcing SNA compromise on Somalias political agenda. This is a separate discussion really. But the bottom line is this: The SNA (with Aideeds authorization) deliberately applied violence against the UN to achieve a political end. Any other interpretation of events in the summer of 93 is dishonest.

Thirdly, the attack on the house of Abdi Hassan Awale (Qeybdid) on 12 July 1993 was predicated on a simple notion. We were at war with the Haber Gedir. From 5 June on they were continually attacking UN compounds with mortars and RPGs. Much of the SNA leadership was at the house. This made it a legitimate military target. We were de-facto at war with the SNA at that point. Need I remind the author that in warfare, it is customary to kill the enemy. The notion that they were there to discuss peace is debatable, given that Awale was one of the most hard-line members of the SNA. However, either way it was impossible for us to determine that.

Lastly, while it is unfortunate that the reporters were killed, I would like to add a little fact that is not ever mentioned anywhere. The QRF established a cordon outside of the target site. The road approaches were cordoned off by MPs. The vehicle the reporters were driving in was stopped by the MPs, who warned the occupants that the neighbourhood (what we called the “SNA Enclave”) was unstable and unsafe. One of the reporting responded with a sturdy “f*ck you” and they drove on through. Operation Continue Hope did not fail because the UN and US made the mistake of taking sides. Aideed drew up sides on 5 June. He was unwilling to compromise on his quest for “the presidency” (read dictatorship). We failed in two areas: 1. We did not have the political courage to recognize that we were going to have to continue a very violent campaign to destroy the SNA as a military entity. 2. We did not have the political will to stay the course after one mission ended in a bloody battle. The lesson that extremists took from this and the Beirut bombing is that Americans do not have the endurance to stay the course. Posted by madmac572 on Mon, Sep 26, 2005 08:27 AM PDT