Map of Soma­lia show­ing area con­trolled by al-​​Shabbab mili­tia (red) in 2009. Source: www​.911​fam​i​lies​foramer​ica​.org

The best-​​selling book and sub­se­quent hit movie Black Hawk Down chron­i­cled, with dev­as­tat­ing pre­ci­sion, the con­se­quences of America’s fatal (and futile) mis­ad­ven­ture in Soma­lia, Oper­a­tion Restore Hope, from August, 1992, to March, 1994.

Despite this recent his­tory, the inva­sion of Soma­lia by neigh­bor­ing Kenya has passed with lit­tle notice or fan­fare in the United States. Given the con­nec­tion between Oper­a­tion Restore Hope and the events of Sep­tem­ber 11, 2001, and the sub­se­quent War on Ter­ror, along with a con­tin­u­ing prob­lem of piracy on the high seas, per­haps Amer­i­cans should be pay­ing more attention.

Maybe we can start with Log­a­rchism read­ers. (more…)