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"Black Hawk Down" � Hollywood drags bloody corpse of truth across
movie screens
By Larry Chin
January 3, 2002 -- True to its post-9/11 government- sanctioned role
as US war propaganda headquarters, Hollywood has released "Black Hawk
Down," a fictionalized account of the tragic 1993 US raid in Somalia.
The Pentagon assisted with the production, pleased for an opportunity
to "set the record straight." The film is a lie that compounds the
original lie that was the operation itself.
Somalia: the facts
According to the myth, the Somalia operation of 1993 was a
humanitarian mission, and a shining example of New World Order
morality and altruism. In fact, US and UN troops waged an undeclared
war against an Islamic African
populace that was hostile to foreign interests.
Also contrary to the legend, the 1993 Somalia raid was not a "Clinton foreign policy
bungle." In fact, the incoming Clinton administration inherited an operation that was
already in full swing -- planned and begun by outg
oing President George Herbert Walker Bush, spearheaded by deputy national security
adviser Jonathan Howe (who remained in charge of the UN operation after Clinton took
office), and approved by Colin Powell, then head of t
he Joint Chiefs.
The operation had nothing to do with humanitarianism or Africa-love on the part of
Bush or Clinton. Several US oil companies, including Conoco, Amoco, Chevron and
Phillips were positioned to exploit Somalia's rich oil res
erves. The companies had secured billion-dollar concessions to explore and drill large
portions of the Somali countryside during the reign of pro-US President Mohamed Siad
Barre. (In fact, Conoco's Mogadishu office housed
the US embassy and military headquarters.) A "secure" Somalia also provided the West
with strategic location on the coast of Arabian Sea.
UN military became necessary when Barre was overthrown by warlord Mohammed Farrah
Aidid, suddenly rendering Somalia inhospitable to US corporate interests.
Although the pretext for the mission was to safeguard food shipments, and stop the
"evil Aidid" from stealing the food, the true UN goal was to remove Aidid from the
political equation, and form a pro-Western coalition go
vernment out of the nation's warring clans. The US operation was met with
"surprisingly fierce resistance" -- surprising to US officials who underestimated
Somalian resolve, and even more surprising to US troops who were
victims and pawns of UN policy makers.
The highly documented series by Mark Bowden of the Philadelphia Inquirer on which the
film is based , focuses on the participants, and the "untenable" situation in which
troops were placed. But even Bowden's gung-ho accou
nt makes no bones about provocative American attacks that ultimately led to the
decisive defeat in Mogadishu.
Bowden writes: "Task Force Ranger was not in Mogadishu to feed the hungry. Over six
weeks, from late August to Oct. 3, it conducted six missions, raiding locations where
either Aidid or his lieutenants were believed to be
meeting. The mission that resulted in the Battle of Mogadishu came less than three
months after a surprise missile attack by U.S. helicopters (acting on behalf of the
UN) on a meeting of Aidid clansmen. Prompted by a Som
alian ambush on June 5 that killed more than 20 Pakistani soldiers, the missile attack
killed 50 to 70 clan elders and intellectuals, many of them moderates seeking to reach
a peaceful settlement with the United Nations.
After that July 12 helicopter attack, Aidid's clan was officially at war with America
-- a fact many Americans never realized."
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Somalis were killed in the course of US incursions
that took place over three months. In his book The New Military Humanism, Noam Chomsky
cites other under-reported facts. "In October 1993,
criminal incompetence by the US military led to the slaughter of 1,000 Somalis by
American firepower." Chomsky writes. "The official estimate was 6-10,000 Somali
casualties in the summer of 1993 alone, two-thirds women a
nd children. Marine Lt. Gen. Anthony Zinni, who commanded the operation, informed the
press that 'I'm not counting bodies . . . I'm not interested.' Specific war crimes of
US forces included direct military attacks on a h
ospital and on civilian gatherings. Other Western armies were implicated in serious
crimes as well. Some of these were revealed at an official Canadian inquiry, not
duplicated by the US or other governments."
Bowden's more forgiving account does not contradict Chomsky's in this regard:
"Official U.S. estimates of Somalian casualties at the time numbered 350 dead and 500
injured. Somalian clan leaders made claims of more than 1,000 deaths. The United
Nations placed the number of dead at ``between 300 to
500.'' Doctors and intellectuals in Mogadishu not aligned with the feuding clans say
that 500 dead is probably accurate.
The attack on Mogadishu was particularly vicious. Quoting Bowden: "The Task Force
Ranger commander, Maj. Gen. William F. Garrison, testifying before the Senate, said
that if his men had put any more ammunition into the ci
ty 'we would have sunk it.' Most soldiers interviewed said that through most of the
fight they fired on crowds and eventually at anyone and anything they saw."
After 18 US Special Forces soldiers were killed in the final Mogadishu firefight,
which included the downing of a US helicopter, television screens filled with the
scene of a dead US soldier being dragged through the stre
ets by jubilant Somalis. Clinton immediately called off the operation. US forces left
Somalia in disgrace. Some 19,000 UN troops remained for a short period, but eventually
left in futility.
The Somalia defeat elicited howls of protest and rage from the military brass,
congressional hawks, and right-wing provocateurs itching for an excuse to declare
political war on the "liberal" Clinton administration.
The "Somalia syndrome" would dog Clinton throughout his presidency, and mar every
military mission during his tenure.
Today, as right-wing extremist George W. Bush occupies the White House, surrounded by
his father's operatives, and many of the architects of the original raid, military
fanaticism is all the rage. A global war "without en
d" has just begun.
What a perfect moment to "clean up" the past.
Hollywood to the rescue
In promoting the film, producer Jerry Bruckheimer (who rewrote another humiliating
episode of US military history with "Pearl Harbor") is seeking to convince Americans
that the Somalia operation was "not America's darkest
hour, but America's brightest hour;" that a bungled imperialist intervention was a
noble incident of grand moral magnificence.
CNN film reviewer Paul Tatara describes "Black Hawk Down" as "pound for pound, one of
the most violent films ever released by a major studio," from "two of the most
pandering, tactless filmmakers in Hollywood history (Jer
ry Bruckheimer and Ridley Scott)" who are attempting to "teach us about honor among
soldiers."
More important are the film's true subtexts, and the likely emotional reaction of
viewers.
What viewers see is "brave and innocent young American boys" getting shot at and
killed for "no reason" by "crazy black Islamists" that the Americans are "just trying
to help." (Subtext one: America is good, and it is imp
ossible to understand why "they hate us." Subtext two: "Those damned ungrateful
foreigners." Subtext three: "Those damned blacks." Subtext four: "Kill Arabs.")
What viewers will remember is a line spoken by one of the "brave soldiers" about how,
in the heat of combat, "politics goes out the window." (Subtext one: there is no need
for thought; shoot first, talk later. Subtext two
: it is right to abandon one's sanity, morality and ethics when faced with chaos.
:Subtext three: when the Twin Towers went down on 9/11, America was right in embracing
:radical militarism and extreme violence, throwing all
else "out the window.")
In the currently lethal political climate, in which testosterone rage, mob mentality,
and love of war pass for normal behavior (while reason, critical thinking, and
tolerance are considered treasonous), "Black Hawk Down"
will appeal to the most violent elements of American society. Many who have seen the
film report leaving the theater feeling angry, itching to "kick some ass." In short,
the film is dangerous. And those who "love" it are
dangerous.
Considering the fact that Somalia is one of the targets in the next phase of the Bush
administration's "war on terrorism," the timing of the film is no coincidence.
As Herbert London of the Hudson Institute said of "Black Hawk Down," "I would never
deny the importance of heroism in battle, but just as we should recognize and honor
heroes, we should also respect the truthfulness of th
e events surrounding their heroic acts. In the case of 'Black Hawk Down,' we get a lot
of the former and almost nothing of the latter."
Larry Chin is a freelance journalist.
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