The U.S. and the former Soviet Union spent the last two
decades building up the military forces in both Somalia and
Ethiopia, each switching sides in the mid-70s. During the 1980s,
the U.S. supplied approximately $700 million worth of "foreign
aid." (weapons and food ) to the Somalian dictator Siad Barre.
The U.S. sole concern was to maintain a regme subordinate to
U.S. political and military interests in the volatile area of the
Middle East and to directlly counter the Soviet presence in
Ethiopia. The Soviet Union collapsed and exited Ethiopia in the
late 80s.. Civil war developed in Somalia.. The U.S. continued to
support brutal Barre regime "til he lost power in the summer of
1991. Drought, starvation and civil war had already taken a toll
of millions in the Horn of Africa and the crisis worsened when
the U.S. abandoned Somalia after years of creating its total
dependency on imported food.
Why has the U.S. returned and why now?
The larger relief organizations such as The Red Crescent/Red
Cross agencies (ICRC) and Save The Children have been
successfully operating in Somalia for well over a year. During
this time, the U.N. and U.S. connected relief organizations. have
complained that over 80% of their food was being looted,
limiting their success. Contrary to media reports which have
totally perverted the real story, the crisis seems to revolve
around those agencies that refuse to negotiate with the Somali
clans. At the same time, even the relatively meager supplies
promised to these agencies by the U.S. were not delivered.
Again, contrary to media presentation of relief workers
welcoming the military, many have criticized the U.S. because
the relief efforts in Somalia have been all but shut down under
the military occupation by the U.S. It seems the priority of this
U.S. force is to impose its own relief plan regardless of any
existing efforts that have been functioning with negotiated
agreements that recognize the clan infrastructure .
The timing on this invasion is more than suspicious. The U.S.,
in the midst of the changing of the guard, faces a growing
dissatisfaction in the way the country is being run. The U.S.
Armed Forces are sweating spending cuts and are frantic to
justify their $300 billion a year budget in this post-Cold War
era. Even the main stream press, The Seattle Times, 12/7/92,
touts in its Somalia headlines, "For Marines, crisis comes in
handy."
* This invasion could also be viewed as a test run on many
levels. They have chosen a region where there is almost no
opposition or economic interest by other nations. Here, the
military is able to test deployment speed, troop movement and
weaponry with little risk. They are working on and improving
their new model for military actions in the face of the changing
political conditions around the world. In a Seattle Times
editorial, Somalia was said to have the,"perfect laboratory
conditions for invasion."
* Through the United Nations, the U.S. rulers are testing
out relationships with the junior imperialists and Third
World rulers. The U.S. is forging and testing loyalties. They"re
finding out who will lie in the gutters with them and how much
will it cost to buy them. Who will they prop up in power in
Somalia before they leave?
* During the last year we have been overwhelmed with
pictures of thousands of poor, starving, and ill Somalian people.
With all of the resources, it is criminal for people to starve
anywhere in the world today. The people in Somalia ARE in
desperate need. But we have to remember how the U.S. has
used the media in the past to paint their picture of reality and
crisis. The U.S. is again using the media to manipulate our
emotions to meet their own needs, not the Somalian peoples
needs. We see pictures of starving Somalians, do we see who
ruined their economy and lives? We hear them refer to "armed
thugs," do we learn who armed them? Like the Persian Gulf
War, the U.S. government is honing its ability to control public
opinion through control of the media, and the media is falling
all over themselves to help.
Racist chauvinism
Operation Restore Hope is another case of the "white man"s
burden," that supposed supreme mandate to take care of the
"less fortunate" around the world. But the reality is one of take
from not take care of. When was the last time we invaded a
"white" country? Grenada, Panama, Iraq and now Somalia, all
are non-European nations, so-called "Third World" countries
who "could not survive without U.S. help." Of course, the fact
that the U.S. has more prisoners per capita than any other
country on this earth, or that it is crumbling under the weight
of its own violence, poverty and economic crisis is of no
significance. The U.S. will arrogantly presume to tell the African
clanspeople of Somalia that "we know better" and "we will fix it
for you." The people of Somalia are not helpless. They were
better off before the U.S. and the other colonial imperialists
came and will be better off when they have left for good.
The White House doesn"t give a damn about starving people,
whether in Somalia or on the streets of Washington, D.C. They
will starve people for political reasons just as readily as they
will feed them for political reasons. And while they pat
themselves on their humanitarian backs, these U.S. rulers are
continuing to uphold brutal sanctions against the people of Iraq
-withholding food, medicine and chemicals used to purify the
water, causing thousands to needlessly die. We know that
humanitarianism has never flowed from the barrels of U.S.
weapons. In spite of their words, we have seen the reality the
U.S. military brings; suffering, death, destruction and
oppression.
Humanitarianism Never Flows From the Barrel of a U.S. Weapon
Oppose the U.S. Invasion of Somalia, Troops Out Now !
Vietnam Veterans Against the War Anti-Imperialist
PO Box 95172, Seattle, WA 98145-2172
Phone (206) 328-4377 FAX (206) 528-1342
