The History Book Club discussion

This is a thread dedicated to the discussion of The Second Battle of Mogadishu (2006).

This thread was requested by a group member (Tom)

"The Second Battle of Mogadishu was a battle fought for control of Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia. The opposing forces were the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT), and militia loyal to the Islamic Court Union (ICU). The conflict began in mid-February, 2006, when Somali warlords formed the ARPCT to challenge the emerging influence of the ICU. It had been alleged that the United States was providing funding for the ARPCT[2] due to concerns that the ICU had ties to al-Qaeda.[3] The ICU militia won control of Mogadishu and ARPCT forces left the city."

Source: Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_o...

Jihad in the Arabian Sea

by Camille Pecastaing

Synopsis:

The lands and coasts across the Bab el Mandeb—the tiny strait that separates the Red Sea from the Indian Ocean—at the southern tip of the Red Sea, have for centuries had a forbidding reputation as lands of piracy and privation. In Jihad in the Arabian Sea, Camille Pecastaing examines the twenty-first-century challenges facing this troubled and treacherous region. He looks at the past and present of the key players in the area, including Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea, Djibouti, the Sudan, and Ethiopia, reviewing the terrorist activities of Al Qaeda, the state of lawlessness that has led to the rise of piracy in the western Indian Ocean, the rise of the radical Shabab group, and the spread of extremist forms of Islam in the south.

Pecastaing displays a real feel for the land, seamlessly blending history and current headlines to paint a picture of a region that, for most of the past two thousand years, has never quite evolved into the era of the modern state. He shows how the current challenges of civil war, piracy, radical Islamism, and terrorism, along with a real risk of environmental and economic failure on both sides of the strait, could lead to still more social dislocation and violence in this strategically important area.

The World's Most Dangerous Place; Inside the Outlaw State of Somalia

by James Fergusson (no photo)

Synopsis:

Although the war in Afghanistan is now in its endgame, the West's struggle to eliminate the threat from Al Qaeda is far from over. A decade after 9/11, the war on terror has entered a new phase and, it would seem, a new territory. In early 2010, Al Qaeda operatives were reportedly "streaming" out of central Asia toward Somalia and the surrounding region.
Somalia, now home to some of the world's most dangerous terrorists, was already the world's most failed state. Two decades of anarchy have spawned not just Islamic extremism but piracy, famine, and a seemingly endless clan-based civil war that has killed an estimated 500,000, turned millions into refugees, and caused hundreds of thousands more to flee and settle in Europe and North America.
What is now happening in Somalia directly threatens the security of the world, possibly more than any other region on earth. James Fergusson's book is the first accessible account of how Somalia became the world's most dangerous place and what we can--and should--do about it.

Thank you Jill

Mogadishu: Heroism And Tragedy

by Kent DeLong(no photo)

Synopsis:

Among America's clearest memories of ongoing conflict in Somalia will certainly be the swollen, bloodied face of helicopter pilot Michael Durant, displayed on the international television news reports after his capture in Mogadishu on October 3, 1993. While the failed mission leading to Durant's imprisonment captured the rage and anguish of the world, few Americans truly understood how many U.S. Army Ranger compatriots shared Durant's fortitude and courage there. Indeed, Durant was only one member of the elite Task Force Ranger Regiment deployed to apprehend Mohammed Farrah Aidid, Somailia's most powerful warlord on the fateful October day.

Here is the little-known story of the 15 fierce, deadly hours of fighting that followed the Americans tightly calibrated attempt to target Aidid. Moment by moment, Mogahishu! recounts how this mission, intended to deflate the heart of Somali resistance, became instead a tragic showcase for the heroism and breathtaking self-sacrifice of the American servicement--and the catalyst of U.S. withdrawal of peacekeeping troops. Mogadishu! reveals while the operation produced on the most decorated military units in American history, it cost 18 of America's best-trained servicemen their lives. Using rare testimony from other military personnel, Kent DeLong offers the first complete account of how these Americans died, not for glory but for each other, far from their loved ones in a God-forsaken place called Mogadishu.

First Do No Harm: Humanitarian Intervention and the Destruction of Yugoslavia

by David N. Gibbs (no photo)

Synopsis:

In "First Do No Harm," David Gibbs raises basic questions about the humanitarian interventions that have played a key role in U.S. foreign policy for the past twenty years. Using a wide range of sources, including government documents, transcripts of international war crimes trials, and memoirs, Gibbs shows how these interventions often heightened violence and increased human suffering.The book focuses on the 1991 99 breakup of Yugoslavia, which helped forge the idea that the United States and its allies could stage humanitarian interventions that would end ethnic strife. It is widely believed that NATO bombing campaigns in Bosnia and Kosovo played a vital role in stopping Serb-directed aggression, and thus resolving the conflict.

Gibbs challenges this view, offering an extended critique of Samantha Power's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "A Problem from Hell: America in the Age of Genocide." He shows that intervention contributed to the initial breakup of Yugoslavia, and then helped spread the violence and destruction. Gibbs also explains how the motives for U.S. intervention were rooted in its struggle for continued hegemony in Europe.

"First Do No Harm" argues for a new, noninterventionist model for U.S. foreign policy, one that deploys nonmilitary methods for addressing ethnic violence."

Getting Somalia Wrong: Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State

by Mary Harper (no photo)

Synopsis:

Somalia is a comprehensively failed state, representing a threat to itself, its neighbors, and the wider world. In recent years, it has become notorious for the piracy off its coast and the rise of Islamic extremism, opening it up as a new "southern front" in the war on terror. At least that is how it is inevitably presented by politicians and in the media. In Getting Somalia Wrong?, Mary Harper presents the first comprehensive account of the chaos into which the country has descended and the United States' renewed involvement there. In doing so, Harper argues that viewing Somalia through the prism of al-Qaeda risks further destabilizing the country and the entire Horn of Africa, while also showing that though the country may be a failed state, it is far from being a failed society. In reality, alternative forms of business, justice, education, and local politics have survived and even flourished. Provactive and eye-opening, Getting Somalia Wrong? shows that until the international community starts to "get it right," the consequences will be devastating, not just for Somalia, but for the world. (

Somalia: A Short History

Located in the Horn of Africa, the Federal Republic of Somalia has been inhabited since the Paleolithic period.

Ancient Somalia domesticated the camel during the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC, and developed a profitable trade system.

The Adal and Ajuuraan kingdoms flourished during the Middle Ages, and their successor states continued to thrive through the 19th century. The notorious 'Scramble for Africa' began in the late 19th century, as European powers set their sights on colonizing the continent.

Dervish leader, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, rallied against the British forces trying to take control, and sparked one of the longest colonial resistance wars in history.

In 1920, following a series of aerial bombardments by Britain, the Dervish state collapsed and its territory turned into a protectorate.

Britain withdrew from British Somaliland in 1960 in order to allow its protectorate to join with Italian Somaliland and form the new nation of Somalia. In 1969, a coup headed by Mohamed Siad Barre ushered in an authoritarian socialist rule that managed to impose a degree of stability in the country for a couple of decades.

Following the regime's overthrow early in 1991, Somalia descended into decades of turmoil, factional fighting and anarchy. In June 2006, a coalition of clerics, business leaders and Islamic court militias, the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC), defeated powerful Mogadishu warlords and took control of the capital.

The Courts continued to expand, spreading their influence throughout much of southern Somalia and threatening to overthrow the TFG in Baidoa. Ethiopian and TFG forces concerned over suspected links between some SCIC factions and al-Qaida in late December 2006 drove the SCIC from power.

During 2007 and 2008, Al-Shabaab seized key towns and ports in central and southern Somalia. In January 2009, the Ethiopian troops were forced to withdraw from the country.

President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed resigned from office in December 2008, and a month later Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was elected president.

Conflict continues in the southern and central parts of the country between government troops and extremist Islamist militants with links to al-Qaeda.

A famine struck Somalia in 2011 following the worst drought of East Africa in 60 years. Relief from all over the world poured in, and by February 2012 the UN announced that the food crisis was over.

In spite of the civil unrest, the economy has remained healthy, primarily based on livestock, money transfer companies and telecommunications.

(Source: Africa)