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If you read the book 'Black Hawk Down', on which the movie was based, they throw a lot of cold water on the theory that having heavy armor available would have made evacuation possible. The Germans' experience at Stalingrad, and the Soviets' at Berlin, taught how ill-suited armor is for use in close-quarters street fighting. Let's blame Clinton for sending the Rangers into Somalia in the first place, and for then pulling them out as soon as the shooting started; guaranteeing that the young men's lives were lost in vain. But the Black Hawk mission itself was an Army job, and it's military failures are their responsibility.

I read the book and recommend that others on this forum who just saw the movie also read it. The movie was heavily sanitized by the leftists in hollywood. If I remember correctly, there was a thread on this forum wherein the director, Ridley Scott, was pi$$ed at the hack job.

I respectfully disagree with your conclusion about the armor. A tank would have sent the "skinnies" running. The only time the skinnies showed up for battle was when our guys were surrounded and trapped in those shacks. Even 5 or 6 tanks could have smashed the buildings where the skinnies were amassing and taking pot shots from. I truly believe a few shells from a tank would have taken the fight out of them.

I also recall another thread where Bin Laden was stated that we were cowards and was emboldened to attack us again because he thought that Somalia proved that we would only fight until we suffered casualties. Tell Slick Willie to add that to his legacy also.

But the Black Hawk mission itself was an Army job, and it's military failures are their responsibility.

Which leads right back to the Commander In Chief in ('93), William Jefferson Clinton. He demoralized, downsized and cut defense spending on our military any which way he could. Nineteen men lost their lives in Samolia and Clinton could probably care less. He loaths the U.S. military. Always has, always will.

A C130 specter gunship could have brought devastating fire upon the bad guys with deadly accuracy. Radar controlled mini guns, cannon and a 105 howitzer. It would have saved the rangers. Bill Clintons hand did not pull the trigger that killed the rangers but his policy of no heavy armor or air support DID KILL THEM.

Bill Clinton is an evil man.

Agreed. As much as I hate Clinton, the call to hold back armor and AC-130 support was a necessary evil, given the terrain. Time and again it has been proven that using armor in a MOUT environment is suicidal. Just look into the Russians and their problems in Grozny. Also, while a good portion of the city was attacking our soldiers during the Battle of Mogadishu, a larger segment were just living day-to-day life. Send AC-130 gunships into that environment and you'll literally slaughter 100s of people who had nothing to do with the battle.

The mission should've been better executed, and the U.N. commanders should've been executed for holding back on us b/c they weren't "in the know" of our operators in the area.