Black Hawk Down and International Norms

The film Black Hawk Down illustrates the series of events that transpired during the notoriously gruesome “Battle of Mogadishu” in 1993. It provides a bloody picture of the clash between the U.S military and militiamen in Somalia, during the former’s attempt to capture the latter’s leader, Mohamed Farrah Aidid. Throughout the course of the encounter, a total of 19 American soldiers and about 1,500 – 3, 000 Somalis died.

From the depiction of the incident, we can derive some insights regarding the normative parameters around “military intervention” and how these interact with the domestic (US and Somalia) and international factors.

In terms of the normative parameters around military intervention, I think that two dimensions must be considered.

Firstly, there is the discussion on when, why and how states intervene in the affairs of other states. One thing that is highlighted in the beginning of the movie was the rationale of U.S. military intervention. Initially, the reason for the deployment of forces was to secure that food is delivered to the famished and malnourished Somalis, given that there were already 300,000 civilians who miserably died from starvation. The normative parameter here, then, is that their military intervention is purely of humanitarian reasons.

Another aspect that can be associated to this humanitarian intervention is notion of Responsibility to Protect, which suggests that a state forfeits some aspects of its sovereignty when it does not or fails to respond to the grave concerns that plague its citizens (i.e. nationwide starvation).  This was particularly true in the case of Somalia because there was an on-going civil war and faction conflicts after the ousting of the dictator Siad Barre. With lawlessness and famine, the international community felt obliged to lend a hand. The UN appealed to its member-states resulting to the US deployment of 20,000 marines. Peaceful means must be exhausted and the use of force will be the last resort.

Secondly, there are the norms of conduct that governs the actions of the military personnel on the ground. This includes the following: “nobody gets left behind” and “Don't shoot unless you are shot at first.” As shown in the movie, these norms are strictly followed by the military on the ground to the extent that they are putting themselves at risk for being shot at or, worse, killed in action. They exerted much effort and time to recover the dead bodies of their fellows and bring it back to their headquarters, even if it is delaying the mission, like in the case of Blackburn’s body. Other normative parameters are the obligation of the subordinates to strictly obey the military officers’ orders and the humane treatment of prisoners.

The abovementioned normative parameters interacted with domestic and international factors. All of these traced its roots to the state of affairs in Somalia. This consists of the civil war, faction conflicts, massive starvation, highly accessible arms and weapons, pervasive drug addiction on the militiamen, and the growing dissatisfaction of the Somalis with foreign intervention. The whole country was suffering from a civil war, with the society being divided through many factions led by warlords. Without a functioning government, the Somalis was inflicted with severe starvation and anarchy.

As for the US domestic factors, this includes the change of presidents, media coverage and the notion of their country as the "global policeman". In response to this, the outgoing US President George H.W. Bush responded to UN request deployed 20, 000 marines to Somalia When Pres. Bill Clinton took over, this number was significantly reduced to 1,200 combat soldiers and 3,000 support troops in reaction to a growing public dissent (Frontline, 2014). Aidid declared a war to the remaining UN peacekeepers and ambushed Pakistani soldiers. To restore order, the US elites soldiers, Delta Force, Army Rangers and the 160^th SOAR were sent to Mogadishu to capture Aidid. The media or the CNN effect also played a major role in shaping public opinion. At first, images of dying Somalis out of hunger touched the hearts of many Americans. But eventually, this was changed when footages of Somalis dragging the dead bodies of US soldiers circulate.

To alleviate the problem, UN provided humanitarian assistance as the contending factions enter into a ceasefire agreement. However, Aidid’s faction seizes the food deliveries and used hunger as his weapon.