Chapman,+Stacie

** A. Plan of Investigation **  The purpose of this investigation is to examine the extent to which the events that The events that occurred in 1993 in Somalia effected the U.S. delay of intervention in the Bosnian Genocide of 1992 to 1995. The main body of this investigation will provide a background of how the events that occurred in 1993 in Somalia effected American Government and their policies, and also the affect it had on the American public. This should implement why the United States was uneasy about the intervention in the Bosnian Genocide. The primary sources being used for research are __Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War__ by Mark Bowden, and Rape Warfare: __The Hidden Genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia__. A conclusion will be reached regarding the extent to which the events that occurred in 1993 in Somalia effected the U.S. delay of intervention in the Bosnian Genocide. ** B. Summary of Evidence  ** In December of 1992, American forces entered Somalia originally for humanitarian relief to a mission that also included “…elements of ‘nation building,’ which translated into helping Somalia establish some sort of stable, workable, democratic polity that would ultimately prevent the need for future outside interventions” ( Ronayne). On October 3rd, 1993, “…about one-hundred elite U.S. soldiers were dropped by helicopters into the teeming market in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia” (Bowden). Two of their helicopters were shot down by armed Somalians, giving the mission the name of Black Hawk Down. Mobs of Somalians “…[hacked] at the bodies of the Americans with knives and [began] to pull at their limbs” (Bowden 195). One of the pilot’s bodies was drug through the street and other Somalians paraded around with parts of the other soldiers bodies as to celebrate a victory. “ Covered in the news, complete with graphic video footage, the episode seared powerful images into the memories of most Americans—policy makers, politicians, the public, and military personnel alike” (Ronayne). This affected American politics from then on as it shook anti-interventionist policies in the White House. The mission was seen as a failure in the United States, which triggered a need to revise U.S. intervention. “The first comprehensive U.S. policy on multilateral peace operations suited to the post–Cold War era” was a document which outlined where, when and how to intervene. Along with this; “it declared that U.S. involvement in UN missions would occur only if it had a ‘direct bearing on U.S. national interests’” (Ronayne). This limited intervention, opposed to expanding it. This left a question of how other nations would be affected by these events and newly created documents. Starting in April 1992 and ending in November 1995, the most violent events occurred since WWII. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, what was considered ethnic cleansing inside the country was considered crimes of humanity or the “ultimate crime: genocide” [i]. For three excruciating years Western Policies stood back while almost 400,000 Bosnian-Muslims were brutally executed by Serb extremists. The genocide launched the International Criminal Tribunal of the former Yugoslavia, a body of United Nations established to prosecute those guilty of humanitarian crimes since 1991. By 1995 the U.S. congress attempted to pursue a policy of “Lift and Strike”, lifting the arms embargo while “… striking the Bosnian Serbs from the air” (source 1 website). But this operation occurred after the fact, three years after the genocide has begun and the U.S. government was aware of it. This leaves the unanswered question of why U.S. foreign policy makers had such a delayed reaction to the human suffering in Bosnia.

[i] Florence Hartmann. // Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know //. New York: W. W. Nortan & Company, 1999. Print.

** C. Evaluation of Sources  ** ** Allen, Beverly. //Rape Warfare//. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1996. Print. **  Beverly Allen’s testimony, __Rape Warfare__, is a passionate document which provides a deep insight into the death and bloodshed of the Bosnian Genocide. The purpose of this source is to communicate to readers the atrocities that occurred in Bosnia and share her story about what she has researched about this specific event. This is a valuable source according to my topic because Allen analyzes the knowledge she has gained about the Genocide and addresses “the lack of response by the U.S. government”. Allen has interacted and helped the struggling survivors, making this a reliable source considering she has personally interacted with those involved. Unfortunately, this author was not personally involved in the genocide of a reporter of some sort that went to Bosnia to write about the events. ** Bowden, Mark. //Black Hawk Down//. N.p.: Penguin Group, 2000. Print. ** __ Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War __ is an extremely touching novel that takes the Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia to a whole new level. The purpose of the book is to bring back the tragic memories of the one-hundred elite soldiers who risked their lives to eliminate the famine taking place by capturing top lieutenants of a Somalia warlord. The author intends to remind or inform readers about the atrocities that took place on October 3, 1993. The value of the book is the actually text is not influenced by opinion; it is simply an account of what took place exactly, without any executive purpose to persuade, simply to educate. One limitation according to my topic is the book does little to discuss the foreign policy and politics behind the intervention.