Posted on 09/27/2006 9:54:53 PM PDT by skippermd
MOGADISHU, Somalia, Sept. 23 — They call her the “Black Hawk Down” lady.
And in the corner of her dirt yard, beneath rags drying in the sun and next to a bowl of filthy wash water, she keeps a chunk of history that most Americans would probably like to forget.
It is the battered nose of a Black Hawk helicopter, from one of the two that got shot down in Mogadishu on Oct. 3, 1993, in an infamous battle that killed 18 Americans, led to a major foreign policy shift and spawned a big movie.
The Black Hawk Down lady stands fiercely at her gate and charges admission to see it.
“You, you, you,” she said on a recent day, jabbing her finger at three visitors. “Pay, pay, pay.”
American military officials, who were sent e-mail messages with pictures, said the nose piece did appear to be from one of the Black Hawks brought down that day. But they said they had no interest in retrieving it, for a memorial or any other purpose.
So it remains a strange tourist attraction in a strange and war-weary place, where bazooka guns hang in the market next to slabs of fly-bitten goat meat, and children at school casually recite passages about massacres in English class. And just as the Black Hawk Down episode has special significance for Americans, it does, too, for many Somalis, who take enormous pride in having humiliated a superpower that day.
The Black Hawk Down lady’s real name is Hawa Elmi. She grew up a nomad, herding camels in Somalia’s deserts, and never went to school. She moved to Mogadishu in the 1960’s, when it was a showcase of Italian architecture, a gem along the sea. ...
(Excerpt) Read more at travel2.nytimes.com ...
It should be on display at the Clinton Library...along with some twisted metal from the USS Cole.
Thank you Mr. Clinton for allowing these people to feel victorious over a superpower.
But Ms. Elmi said she loved the Islamists. And she has her own reasons.
“They bring peace,” she said. “And peace brings tourists.”
Not this one. Set foot in an Islamic republic and you risk losing your head.
Along with pieces from the WTC, a couple of embassies, Kobar Towers, ETC.
And in the corner of her dirt yard, beneath rags drying in the sun and next to a bowl of filthy wash water...
That tells you just about everything you need to know about these Neanderthals.
" -- she keeps a chunk of history that most Americans would probably like to forget".
We must never forget!!!
[It is the battered nose of a Black Hawk helicopter, from one of the two that got shot down in Mogadishu on Oct. 3, 1993]
Sigh. The new york times is such a pathetic newspaper. I mean, they learn their history from a damn movie!!!
Note to the NYT: If you had done the proper research, instead of just watching the movie, you'd know that 5 or 6 helicopters were shot down on 3 October, 1993, over Mogadishu, Somalia. NOT the 2 that you people stated.
The nyt never misses an opportunity to humiliate themselves.
I want it back. Now.
Yay! We killed two guys when they ran out of ammo, and it only cost us a couple thousand (people) to do it.
We won!
Yeah. If she was any kind of normal person, there's have been a few broken down cars there too! :o{)
Bazooka gun? Last time I came across this term Redd Fox was using it in his "toughest Japanese soldier" routine.
Down the road from this hag's house, people worshipping gods made of sticks and mud were killing worshipper's of Mohammed's moon god. Somewhere in the distance a donkey farted. Back in town at the most expensive hotel, guests were lining up at the desk for pages from the New York Times before heading to the outhouse.
LOL...Redd Foxx ping. Recently picked up Sanford and Son on DVD...5th season. The funniest dirtiest old man that every lived!
"And just as the Black Hawk Down episode has special significance for Americans, it does, too, for many Somalis, who take enormous pride in having humiliated a superpower that day."
Uh... true, we lost 18 of our finest young men. On the other hand, they lost something in the general ballpark of 1800 of their militia ignoramuses, their dumb thugs, their homicidal maniacs, and their garden variety AK-toting imbeciles, or thereabouts. So, WHO was it again that was humiliated?
"So, WHO was it again that was humiliated?"
They're just gloating because they get to eat maggoty goat meat and we don't.
don't you know? Civilization is the default. It just happens, without any input from the citizenry...
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