US shows Afghanistan is not Somalia

THEY paid heavily in blood, but the US military feels it made a point on Operation Anaconda's battlefield this week: Afghanistan is not Somalia.

It was in the wild streets of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, that 18 Americans were killed in the bloody Black Hawk Down firefight in 1993. A few men were dragged through the streets. And then the mighty US fighting machine went home.

That gave men like Osama bin Laden the idea the Americans had no stomach for a fight.

Now, after months of relying heavily on Afghans to do much of the fighting, Operation Anaconda aims to show that the US (backed by Afghans and allies including the Australian SAS) is willing to lose men in face-to-face combat.

Much remains unclear about the death of Navy SEAL Neil Roberts, whose fall from a helicopter early on Monday triggered a day-long battle that ended with dozens of dead al-Qa'ida and seven Americans sent home in flag-draped coffins.

But one thing is plain: the Americans, perhaps mindful of the recent case of kidnapped reporter Daniel Pearl or the dead soldiers dragged through Mogadishu's streets nine years ago, had no plan to leave their colleague behind.

"What's important about this is that the United States of America did not decide to withdraw and leave the field," Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday.

"Those forces decided to go in, bring a helicopter in, get the body, get the wounded and get them to safety. And the USA is leaning forward not back."

With the graphic war movie Black Hawk Down playing at cinemas nationwide, the Bush administration knows nobody has forgotten the humiliation of Mogadishu, or that Bill Clinton pulled out the troops almost immediately afterwards. But Mr Rumsfeld saw no similarities. "Other than very brave people being involved, this has nothing to do with Mogadishu," he said sharply when the subject was raised.

"And the individual who was killed, his body has been retrieved, and so too have the wounded. And I don't see any comparison."

Instead, said Mr Rumsfeld, the Americans' willingness to fight and die "should be a lesson to those who contemplate that terror against America can work – there will be a penalty".

But Mr Rumsfeld also had words for his domestic constituency, just in case the sight of coffins was weakening any resolve.

He listed the achievements in the war to date, and went on to argue the need to widen the war by helping countries like Yemen to prevent al-Qa'ida terrorists making new bases.

He was less open about what actually happened to Roberts, despite the presence of a Predator drone with a video camera recording the scene.

In Afghanistan, the local commander, General Frank Hagenbeck, claimed the 32-year-old petty officer had been executed after falling from the helicopter after being dragged away by three terrorists.

But Mr Rumsfeld and General Tommy Franks of Central Command were unsure. General Franks said it was unclear whether he was shot while on the helicopter and knocked out, shot on the ground after falling out or shot after being captured.

"It's not like reviewing Monday night football tape," complained General Franks. Four different people had seen the incident and had four different views about what happened. "The first two or three reports are likely to be wrong."

Call a picket line at your local theater today!

WHY ARE WE CALLING FOR PROTESTS AND BOYCOTTS AGAINST “BLACK HAWK DOWN”?

This movie is a blatantly racist attempt to create support among the U.S. public for a new war against Somalia. According to the Bush Administration, Somalia is at the top of the Pentagon’s list of countries to be the next major target of the so-called “war against terrorism.”

In his review of “Black Hawk Down,” New York Times movie reviewer Elvis Mitchell wrote that the movie “converts the Somalis into a pack of snarling dark-skinned beasts … it reeks of glumly staged racism.”

What actually happened in Somalia in 1992-93?

On December 12, 1992, the U.S. sent 28,000 soldiers into Somalia under the cover of the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) in what they said was a “humanitarian mission” to bring food to starving people. The invasion came when a several-year drought that had taken tens of thousands of lives was actually abating. At the time, the evening news showed images of thousands of starving Somalis. What people didn’t see was U.S. troops – not delivering food – but instead engaged in daily gun battles and bombing raids in heavily populated neighborhoods. In ten months, more than 10,000 Somalis died as the U.S. engaged in aggressive military action against those who resisted.

Resistance among Somali women, men and even children to the foreign troops became widespread. The Somali people have a long and proud history of resistance. They fought for the freedom of their country from Italian, French and British colonialism - and they resisted the U.S. attempts to recolonize their country.

In the beginning of the military intervention in 1992, Colin Powell, at the time the chairman of the Pentagon’s Join Chiefs of Staff, called the invasion a “paid political advertisement” for the Pentagon at a time (less than a year after the end of the so-called Cold War) when Congress was under growing pressure to cut the war budget. Powell opposed calls that that money be used instead for jobs, education, health care, housing and other social needs, and instead sought to maintain the $300-billion-plus military budget.

In reporting on the U.S./UN Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM), the human rights organization Africa Rights stated that troops “have engaged in abuses of human rights, including killing of civilians, physical abuse, theft … Many UNOSOM soldiers have also displayed unacceptable levels of racism toward Somalis …” These abuses included opening fire with machine guns against unarmed protesters, firing missiles into residential areas and outright murder civilians, including many youth. The report states “UNOSOM has become an army of occupation.”

Pro-war propaganda

Since September 11, Bush administration officials have held meetings with Hollywood representatives regarding the content of the movies and other material they produce. In an October 17, 2001, meeting, Hollywood heads “committed themselves to new initiatives in support of the war on terrorism.”

“Black Hawk Down” is just one of those movies, made hand-in-hand with the Pentagon. Weeks before the release of “Black Hawk Down,” the Motion Picture Association of America held a private screening for senior White House advisers, and allowed them to make changes. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Oliver North, among others, attended the movie’s Washington DC premiere.

Hollywood spends hundreds of millions of dollars on pro-war, racist films like these - $90 million on “Black Hawk Down” alone – while millions of people in New York and around the country are facing layoffs, evictions, cuts in health care, attacks on their pensions and more.

A new war in Somalia

“Somalia Possible Target” is now a common sentiment echoed in newspaper headlines and statements of Bush administration officials. In some ways, a new war against Somalia has already begun. In November, the U.S. government shut down the Somali-owned Al-Barakat money transfer company, which provided the only way for Somalis living out of the country to send back much-needed funds, known as remittances, which are often vital for family members’ survival. Up to eighty percent of Somalis – which is hundreds of thousands if not milliosn of people – rely on funds sent by relatives livng outside of the country. This exposes the pretext given by the U.S. government for the 1992 intervention – said then to be a mission to help starving people – because now the U.S. is imposing measures that will cause Somali people to starve because they are unable to afford food.

The U.S. also shut down Somalia Internet Company, denying all Internet access to Somalis, and has severely restricted international telephone lines. This is really the beginning of a strangulation of the country.

Since the U.S. government cannot implicate Somalia in the events of September 11, they are attempting to justify a new military assault by implying that the Pentagon has unfinished business, that they have a “black eye” and must return with a vengeance. This is the goal of “Black Hawk Down.”

All those who believe in justice for the people of the world must take a stand against U.S. threats against Somalia, Sudan, the Philippines, Iraq, Colombia and everywhere else. We don’t know where the next war will be. The Pentagon has announced that it’s wartime all the time and they will select the targets. But we do know the U.S. public is being prepared to justify another bloody incursion into Somalia.

Protest and boycott “Black Hawk Down” and organize to build the anti-war movement.

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Protest "Black Hawk Down" - NYC, LA & Nationally

WHY ARE WE CALLING FOR PROTESTS AND BOYCOTTS AGAINST “BLACK HAWK DOWN”?

Your tax money at work... Support the Anti-USA Movement! Organized by Ramsey Clark Former Attorney General (Democrat), and organized under the laws protecting tax-exempt organizations.