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The UK is to send helicopters to Libya following similar announcements by France. Britain and France are to deploy attack helicopters against Libya in an attempt to break the military stalemate, particularly in the important coastal city of Misrata, security sources have told the Guardian. In a significant escalation of the conflict, the Apaches – based on HMS Ocean – will join French helicopters in risky operations which reflect deepening frustration among British and French defence chiefs about their continuing inability to protect civilians. Apaches, which are being used in counter insurgency operations in Afghanistan, can manoeuvre and attack small...

Residents who knew Mohamud say there might have been warning signs leading up to a Somali teenager’s arrest in connection with a plot to bomb the annual tree-lighting ceremony. "He would always talk about the movie ‘Black Hawk Down,’ saying, 'We beat your country, F white people' when he got mad"

I don't often watch the weekend talk shows. When I do, I'm usually shocked by what passes as conventional wisdom. It's as if some of the pundits on these shows spend the week in a sound-proof, thought-proof room, then are programmed with inanities 15 minutes before the red light goes on. There's no escaping it. ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and, yes, Fox, too. Let me give you just one example from this past weekend. On Saturday, I listened in amazement to Jane Hall of American University say the following on "Fox News Watch" in explaining why she thought the...

Law Of The Sea: The U.S. seeks U.N. authorization to fight Somali pirates from the air, on land and at sea. When American cruise ships become targets, maybe it's time to renew a proud tradition: Send in the Marines.On Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice formally presented to a special U.N. session on Somalia a draft Security Council resolution saying that member states fighting against piracy "may take all necessary measures ashore in Somalia, including its airspace, to interdict those who are using Somali territory to plan, facilitate or undertake acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea and to...

ARLINGTON, VA -- Today, Chief Warrant Officer (4th class) Michael J. Durant (Ret.) issued the following statement on Barack Obama's canceled visit to Ramstein and Landstuhl: "Over the last week, Barack Obama made time in his busy schedule to hold a rally with 200,000 Germans in Berlin, hold a press conference with French President Nicholas Sarkozy in Paris, and hold a solo press conference in front of 10 Downing Street in London. The Obama campaign had also scheduled a visit with wounded U.S. troops at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, but this stop was canceled after it became clear that...

<p>McCain enlists "Blackhawk Down" pilot to attack Obama July 28, 2008 12:37 PM The McCain campaign this morning is trying to stir up outrage over Obama's cancelled visit with injured troops in Ramstein, Germany, last week.</p> <p>Senator Obama's campaign has had about a dozen reasons as to why they were unable to visit the troops. My understanding from the Pentagon is that the Obama campaign was more than welcome to have Senator Obama go in his official capacity as a United States senator. What the Pentagon objected to, of course, is bringing the campaign apparatus and the photographers and the zoo that accompanies these candidates sometimes.</p>

Food riots and anti-US protests in Somalia are compounding the chaos in the long-suffering war zone in the Horn of Africa. Meanwhile, an Amnesty International Report released Tuesday alleged that Islamist militants, as well as US-backed Ethiopian and Somali government troops, are committing widespread atrocities against civilians in the capital, Mogadishu. And a recent US strike against what it says was an Al Qaeda leader in Somalia has sparked further protests. The Associated Press reports that Tuesday saw a second day of protests over rising food prices, with hundreds of youths burning tires, throwing stones, and blocking roads. Somalia is...

On an earlier post, I made the comment that Benazir Bhutto’s assassination should remind voters that we still live in a very dangerous world, and we need a grown-up as president with the wisdom and the strength of character to utilize our military to protect our interests and our citizens. I went on to say that this rules out all Democrat candidates. Since some either do not understand what this means (or PRETEND not to understand), lets explore this further. All through the 1990’s, a Democrat administration dealt with Islamic terrorism as if it were a problem for the civilian...

Al-qaida military chief killed, taliban confirms The military chief of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network was killed along with seven colleagues in a US bombing raid three days ago, a Taliban official has confirmed. Mullah Najibullah, a Taliban official in the south-east Afghan border town of Spinboldak, confirmed Atef's death but would not identify the location of the airstrike or the other al-Qaida members who died with him. It was the first time a senior Taliban official has confirmed Friday's claim by US officials that Atef was killed in an airstrike outside Kabul. Atef's death is seen as a ...

A U.S. helicopter went down northeast of Baghdad, killing all 13 people aboard, the military said Saturday.

James Baker's "Iraq Study Group" seems to have been cast on the same basis as Liza Minnelli's last wedding. A stellar lineup: Donna Summer, Mickey Rooney, the Doobie Brothers, Gina Lollobrigida, Michael Jackson, Mia Farrow, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Jill St. John. That's Liza's wedding, not the Baker Commission. But at both gatherings everyone who was anyone was there, no matter how long ago it was they were anyone. So the fabulous Baker boy was accompanied by Clinton officials Leon Panetta and Bill Perry, Clinton golfing buddy Vernon Jordan, Clinton's fellow sex fiend Chuck Robb, the quintessential ''moderate'' Republican...

On the radio a couple of weeks ago, Hugh Hewitt suggested to me the terrorists might try to pull a Spain on the U.S. elections. You'll recall (though evidently many Americans don't) that in 2004 hundreds of commuters were slaughtered in multiple train bombings in Madrid. The Spaniards responded with a huge street demonstration of supposed solidarity with the dead, all teary passivity and signs saying "Basta!" -- "Enough!" By which they meant not "enough!" of these murderers but "enough!" of the government of Prime Minister Aznar, and of Bush and Blair, and troops in Iraq. A couple of days...

Bloomberg cannot be posted to FR, so here is a link to the story:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBZvrM76tIlk&refer=worldwide_news

<p>FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON ON NOT CAPTURING BIN LADEN: 'At least I tried. That's the difference between me and some, including all the right wingers. They ridicule me for trying. They had eight months to try, they did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed'...</p>

  SOMALIA + RWANDA UNDERSCORE WHY WE MUST DEFEAT THE CLINTONS NOW(ATTENTION NEW YORKERS)   March 27, 1998CLINTON'S FAILED AFRICA POLICY   Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, fortunately, history will cast final judgment on this administration and President Clinton's failed African policy.1 After the made-for-T.V. and carefully staged events fade from memory, some grim scenes of Clinton failed African policies will haunt us for generations. There won't be a Clinton visit to Somalia.2 Somalia has returned to chaos. While we hear the cheers in African streets today--we must not forget the jeers of crowds in Mogadishu. We must not forget that...

Clinton turns 60: Second wind with the Stones By Laszlo Trankovits Aug 18, 2006, 12:20 GMT Washington - Bill Clinton is a master of self invention. Nearly every American knows the photograph of the star-struck 16- year-old youth, worshipfully shaking the hand of President John F Kennedy - symbolic of his teenage dream to live in the White House someday. Nearly six years after the end of his spectacular presidency, Clinton is still mining the suggestive power of photographs. His picture is everywhere - at the AIDS conference in Toronto with Bill Gates, in Southeast Asia with the elder President...

WILLIAM Jefferson Blythe III was born on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Ark. After his mother remarried, he took the family surname, Clinton. Clinton was a good student. He enjoyed playing the saxophone and even considered a professional musical career. While in high school, a fortuitous meeting with President John Kennedy led him to choose a life of public service.

The Islamic fundamentalists of Somalia have taken control in Mogadishu, and the U.S.-supported warlords opposing them have retreated to nearby towns. In Washington, the post-mortems have already begun. The argument of “some experts” quoted anonymously in The New York Times was that financing the warlords, who are the leaders of major clans, “may have helped unnerve the Islamic militias and prompted them to launch pre-emptive strikes.” The Bush administration owes no one an apology for supporting the warlords in return for help in trying to capture al-Qaeda members. The Islamic Courts Union has been sheltering al-Qaeda, some of whose leaders...

May 31, 2006 -- THIRTEEN years ago, our troops won a lopsided battlefield victory in Mogadishu. President Clinton declared defeat and pulled out. We've been paying the price in terror ever since - and it might be about to soar. When it comes to strategy and military affairs, folk wisdom is worth a century of scribbling theorists. Your father could have told you how to handle the Mogadishu warlords: "If you start something, son, finish it." We were close to finishing it. And a cowardly president quit. Osama bin Laden repeatedly cited the pullout from Somalia as evidence that Americans...

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...

  BILL CLINTON'S CINDY SHEEHANS (courtesy Sean Hannity)   The author also noted that James Smith, a former Ranger captain and father of Cpl. Jamie Smith -- who bled to death after he was shot in the leg during the battle, because he could not be evacuated &endash; returned a letter of condolence from President Clinton. In rejecting it, he sent a letter of his own, blaming Clinton for the Mogadishu debacle. Also not in the movie was an after-action incident between Clinton and the parents of two Rangers -- MSgt. Gary Gordon, 33, and SFC Randy Shughart, 35...

RUSH was wondering where the Mom of Bill Clevland protested and how many hours of coverage she received by the anti-Clinton media? Then there were the horrible images of a dead soldier being dragged through the streets. Wives and parents and siblings were examining newspaper photos and squinting at TV images, trying to determine who the soldier was. They finally recognized Bill Cleveland, one of the two crew chiefs on Durant's helicopter. Above linked at http://inquirer.philly.com/packages/somalia/dec14/default14.asp

A young American soldier is killed in action in what some view as an ill conceived military action. A grieving parent holds the President of the United States personally responsible, and writes the president a letter to that effect. The parent is given a private audience with the Commander in Chief, and leaves disaffected and largely unsatisfied. The parent later relates that during the meeting the leader of the free world makes the implication that the soldier’s death was largely his own fault for being too aggressive. The level of media coverage surrounding the story is entirely unprecedented…largely by its...

BIN LADEN FINGERS CLINTON FOR TERROR SUCCESS (SEE FOOTAGE)THE THREAT OF TERRORISM IS AS CLOSE AS A CLINTON IS TO THE OVAL OFFICE by Mia T, 7.15.05 BIN LADEN CREDITSCLINTON COWARDICE, DISLOYALITY + BLACK HAWK DOWN DEBACLE,FOR TERROR SUCCESSSEE FOOTAGE OF BIN LADEN INTERVIEW, BLACK HAWK DOWN DEBACLEhillary talks: ON MILITARY TACTICS (viewing movie requires Flash Player 7, available HERE) hillary talks:ON TERROR (viewing movie requires Flash Player 7, available HERE)   INTERVIEW Osama bin Laden (may 1998)   In the first part of this interview which occurred in May 1998, a little over two months before the U.S. embassy...

More than sixty confirmed kills. Eleven on the first day of battle at the Diala bridge in Mogadishu. An exceptional young man with one of the deadliest legacies in the United States military. Enough technical details to satify fellow shooting enthusiasts. (audio.) http://66.95.19.43:8081/GGordonLiddy/Coughlin-USMC-sniper-on-GGL.mp3

<p>Prayers are needed for one of our American heroes. Last week a Blackhawk was shot down by an RBG north of Baghad. The RPG went through the bottom of the aircraft through the cockpit, taking off the pilots legs, and out the top to the rotor system. The co-pilot was able to land the chopper.</p>

Iraqi intelligence documents, confiscated by U.S. forces and obtained by CNSNews.com , show numerous efforts by Saddam Hussein's regime to work with some of the world's most notorious terror organizations, including al Qaeda, to target Americans. They demonstrate that Saddam's government possessed mustard gas and anthrax, both considered weapons of mass destruction, in the summer of 2000, during the period in which United Nations weapons inspectors were not present in Iraq. And the papers show that Iraq trained dozens of terrorists inside its borders. One of the Iraqi memos contains an order from Saddam for his intelligence service to support...

June 20, 2004 -- The 9/11 Commission's work thus far has been laughably off-base, but it did get one thing right last week: It confirmed that terrorists were inspired by events in Somalia in 1993-94 — when the Clinton administration yanked American troops out of Mogadishu after the "Black Hawk Down" battle.

   Thu 15 Apr 2004 Attacks commission links 'Black Hawk Down' to bin Laden FRASER NELSON POLITICAL EDITOR OSAMA bin Laden was behind the "Black Hawk Down" disaster in 1993 which triggered the United States’ withdrawal from Somalia, according to the latest document from the commission on the 11 September attacks. In an astonishing revelation, the commission suggested that al-Qaeda was active in Mogadishu when 18 US servicemen were killed and the body of a dead soldier was dragged through the streets. New information has "revealed the previously unknown involvement of bin Laden’s organisation ... in the 1993 shootdown...

RANGERS TO EXIT SOMALIA In a further step back from armed confrontation with Mohamed Farrah Aidid, President Clinton ordered a pullout Tuesday of Army Ranger forces he had sent to Somalia to capture the clan leader. The move reflected the administration's effort to shift the focus in Somalia toward pursuing a political settlement following the deaths of 18 Americans in the disastrous Ranger raid on Aidid loyalists Oct. 3. "Right now we are engaging in a political process to see how we can resolve our mission in Somalia," Clinton told reporters at the White House. "So right now we're in...

U.S. Troops Raid Neighborhoods in TikritBy JIM GOMEZTIKRIT, Iraq - U.S. troops swept through Saddam Hussein's hometown before dawn Saturday and the sound of mortar fire echoed through the city as the Americans mounted a show of force following the crash of a Black Hawk helicopter apparently shot down by insurgents.All six U.S. soldiers aboard were killed in the Friday crash, capping the bloodiest seven days in Iraq for Americans since the fall of Baghdad.Lt. Col. Steven Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, also said U.S. forces had reimposed the 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew on...

The Pentagon Unleashes a Holy Warrior A Christian extremist in a high Defense post can only set back the U.S. approach to the Muslim world. By William M. Arkin, William M. Arkin is a military affairs analyst who writes regularly for The Times. In June of 2002, Jerry Boykin stepped to the pulpit at the First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow, Okla., and described a set of photographs he had taken of Mogadishu, Somalia, from an Army helicopter in 1993. The photographs were taken shortly after the disastrous "Blackhawk Down" mission had resulted in the death of 18 Americans. When...

Oct. 3, 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia. — Sundays at my house in the United Nations residential compound in Mogadishu are almost normal. I crank up the air conditioning, sleep late and pretend it's a fall football weekend back home in Ann Arbor. I go up on the roof to read under the weakening sun and turn on Armed Forces Radio. They have a sexy-sounding female D.J. on Sundays: "99.9 FM Mogadishu, rockin' the Dish. Keep your head down and the volume up. And you thought the desert was hot." I plop down and try to do a few push-ups. But it's...

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The wreckage of a Black Hawk helicopter lies tangled in a big prickly pear cactus. It's the only remaining evidence of the fierce battle on a dusty side street a decade ago that killed 18 U.S. soldiers and spurred the exit of American peacekeepers. On Oct. 3, 1993, Ali Shera was a lieutenant in warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid's militia, and Musa Hussein was a streetfighter toting a Kalashnikov assault rifle. They said they rejoiced when they won the 19-hour battle against the world's only superpower. "You can imagine Somalia, a small nation, we beat the most powerful...

From the U.S. Army Quick Reaction Force, killed in action in Mogadishu on 25 September 1993: PFC Matt Anderson; Lucas, Iowa SGT F.C. Richardson; Sunnymeade, California SGT Eugene Williams; Chicago, Illinios At 0200 over Mogadishu, Blackhawk helicopter COURAGE 53 was hit by an RPG. The blast ignited the fuel and two crew members were consumed by the blaze. As the helicopter began to lose altitude, the pilot tried to steer it toward friendly forces located at the port. COURAGE 53 hit the top of a building, the rotor blades shredded, and then the bird ricocheted to the ground and slid...

I recently heard that there is a connection between Somalia and Westley Clark. Can someone give me some references?

On the 8th of August 1993 four American soldiers were killed in action in Somalia. Of the 45 American deaths in Somalia, 18 occurred on October 3d in the engagement known as "Blackhawk Down". The highest number of U.S. KIA on any other single day was ten years ago today in an ambush in Mogadishu. Killed were: SP/4 Mark Gutting, 25, Grand Rapids, MI SGT Christopher Hilgert, 27, Bloomington, IN SGT Ronald Richerson, 24, Portage, IN SP/4 Keith Pearson, 25, Tavares, FL

Her Iraqi guards had long fled, she was being well cared for - and doctors had already tried to free her. John Kampfner discovers the real story behind a modern American war myth Jessica Lynch became an icon of the war. An all-American heroine, the story of her capture by the Iraqis and her rescue by US special forces became one of the great patriotic moments of the conflict. It couldn't have happened at a more crucial moment, when the talk was of coalition forces bogged down, of a victory too slow in coming. Her rescue will go down as...

Saddam Hussein's only hope of remaining in power is to kill enough American troops to demoralize the country and empower the anti-war movement. It's his Vietnam strategy. It's his Baghdadograd strategy. It's his Mogadishu strategy. We've been hearing a lot about Mogadishu lately – and it's no surprise. Before the war began, Saddam Hussein ordered his top generals and staff to watch two movies – "Enemy at the Gates," a fine film about the siege of Stalingrad, and "Blackhawk Down," the story of the Somalian massacre of 18 U.S. troops who were outgunned, outmanned and ambushed in an attack orchestrated...

Saddam Hussein has distributed copies of the Hollywood movie Black Hawk Down to his troops as a primer on how to defeat the Americans, according to a report. Time magazine, which quotes unidentified U.S. military intelligence sources, said the Iraqi president is using the Oscar-winning movie as an inspiring example of how U.S. military might can be beaten. In today's issue, the magazine says: "The Iraqis may hope that similar scenes of Americans being bloodied in the streets of Baghdad would bring the same result." Black Hawk Down grossed over $110-million at the box office after it was adapted from...

IRAQI commanders reportedly circulated copies of the movie Black Hawk Down before the war in Iraq as a manual to defeat the Americans. A Time Magazine report says US military intelligence officials believe the movie has been used as a battle guide. "The film tells the story of the 18 US Army Rangers who were killed by Somalis while attempting to rescue comrades from two helicopters downed in Mogadishu in 1993. The casualties prompted the US to wind up its military operation in Somalia," the report says. "The Iraqis may hope that similar scenes of Americans being bloodied in the...

The president of Columbia University said yesterday that he was horrified by the remarks of an anthropology professor who said at a campus antiwar teach-in Wednesday night that he hoped to see "a million Mogadishus" — referring to the city in Somalia where American soldiers were ambushed in a lethal firefight in 1993. The professor, Nicholas De Genova, also called for the defeat of United States forces in Iraq, and said the only true heroes are those who help defeat the American military. He said Americans who call themselves patriots are imperialist white supremacists. "Under well-established principles of the First...

Comedienne-turned-peace activist Janeane Garofalo offered a stunning admission on Sunday, explaining that she and her fellow anti-war protesters didn't stage huge demonstrations when President Clinton launched attacks on Iraq, Bosnia, Afghanistan and the Sudan because "it wasn't very hip" to protest the former president. Asked by "Fox News Sunday's" Tony Snow why peace protesters like herself didn't object to Clinton's wars, Garofalo explained: "I absolutely did. I did not support Operation Desert Fox. It's just that you didn't know me very well back then. Nobody really was interested in listening to me back then." Then she added, by way of...

<p>It has been said of Osama bin Laden that the main lesson he derived from the war in Somalia was that the infliction of heavy casualties was all that was needed to cause Americans to turn and run. Americans, he suggested, are weak that way, and soft. Undoubtedly a happy thought for those subscribing to this view, but those who do would be well advised to consider certain aspects of that war in Somalia -- in particular the dogged determination of the Americans who fought the enemy in the streets of Mogadishu on Oct. 3, 1993, a battle in which two Rangers were awarded Congressional Medals of Honor.</p>

<p>LEWISTON, Maine (AP) Embattled Mayor Larry Raymond, whose stance on Somali immigration has sparked a protracted controversy, said he intends to finish his term despite some calls for him to step down.</p> <p>''I have no plans to resign,'' Raymond told the Lewiston Sun Journal in a telephone interview from Florida where he was on vacation. ''My work that I hoped to accomplish isn't finished.''</p>

Noticed that nobody seems to have recalled that it was nine years ago today that the firefight in Mogadishu occured. REMEMBERING those we lost: Sgt. First Class Randy Shughart, a Delta soldier killed defending the crew of Super 64, the Medal of Honor. Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, a Delta soldier who was killed after jumping in to defend the crew of Super 64, the Medal of Honor. CWO Cliff Wolcott, pilot of Super 61, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star and the Air Medal with Valor Device. CWO Donovan Briley, copilot of Super 61, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star and Air...

Clinton's Somalia Fiasco President Clinton may be forgiven for his latest attempt at legacy maintenance, recounted in your editorial on his comments regarding Somalia ("Clinton's Black Hawk History," Aug. 6). After all, his reality is defined by his desperate need to be a "Great Man." So, he sees the failure and deceit of the past as strength. What amazes me, however, is that Mr. Clinton appears to remember little and regret less about that terrible, pointless day in Mogadishu nine years ago. I will never forget what so many of my friends and comrades did that day, and what too...

Clinton's Black Hawk HistoryWe wish Bill Clinton a quiet retirement, if only he'd return the favor. But when the former President distorts history for the sake of political advantage, someone has to clean up afterward.Responding to Bush Administration suggestions that some of today's corporate scandals first got out of hand under his watch, Mr. Clinton recently shot back: "These people ran on responsibility, but as soon as you scratch them they go straight to blame. Now, you know, I didn't blame his [President Bush's] father for Somalia when we had that awful day memorialized in 'Black Hawk Down.' I didn't...

I went to the Boston Phoenix's Web site two weeks ago and read its argument for linking readers to the full video of Daniel Pearl's murder. I clicked on the link and watched as Pearl spoke into the camera, acknowledging his Jewishness and other things. Everything was blacked out except Pearl's head. It was clear that his remarks were edited and made under duress, so they were not his own. Then I turned it off. I didn't have the heart or stomach to watch the rest. I know what happens. His throat is slit and his head is cut off....

I bought the Black Hawk Down DVD yesterday and watched it last night. There were two stories in the movie that I don't remember from the book: 1. Two members of Chalk 4 (I think) were left behind at the corner of the hotel. One guy was complaining about being deaf. These two guys made their way through the city to the first crash site. 2. Delta "Hoot" Gibson splits off from a convoy and makes his way with three others to the second crash sight. They blow up the chopper then head to the rest of our troops at...