After the well documented debacle at Desert One during the attempt to rescue the hostages in Iran it was apparent that the special forces needed dedicated pilots and crews to participate in their missions rather than aircraft and crews borrowed from other units. Durant was one of those accepted into the elite world of Special Forces Aviation.
Durant does a great job of weaving the events in Somalia into a much bigger and more interesting story of those who fly with the best of the best. Much of what he tells about his introduction into the Nightstalkers, his training and their participation in both training and actual combat is as interesting as the Somalia story.
For those not familiar with the name Durant, badly wounded and out of ammunition, Durant was the one crewmember taken captive by the Somali warlords during what is known as "Blackhawk Down".
The story of his captivity is fascinating, from the carefully selected music played on behalf of his comrades to the daily drama of life and death in Somalia. It is also a story of one of his guards taking care to see that he was protected.
He also leaves a few tidbits of history - Les Aspins' apology to the Special Forces for sending them into battle without the requested AC-130's and US controlled armored forces, the lack of a comprehensive internal review of the disaster in Somalia and the removal of AC-130's from Somalia prior to their arrival for political purposes.
To those who still argue that the AC-130s would not have been effective there is ample evidence both from the actions of the Somalis when the gunships were brought back and the record of the AC-130 providing very close air support to vastly outnumbered forces in Afghanistan, that the AC-130 would likely have changed the outcome of the battle, saved many American lives and prevented Bin Laden from gaining this great victory over the US. It is not an accident that Bin Laden's mid 90's declaration of war bases the argument for success on incidents like Somalia where the US fled after taking casualties.
I have had great admiration for the skill and courage of the pilots who fly with the special forces. This book really brought out the fact that they are not the deliverers of the SF but fellow warriors.
As I finished the section on his captivity I could not help but pause for a moment to think of the almost forgotten captives of Vietnam who endured years of torture.
Sadly the "deal" made to get Durant out of the news was a rapid US withdrawal from from Somalia, something that greatly encouraged Bin Laden and his followers ( see Bin Laden's mid 1990's declaration of war).
Immediately after the battle in Somalia President Clinton promised to stay the course, bring additional troops to the fight and secure the release of Durant. That was the public posture to the world. Behind the scenes a different message went to the warlords, release Durant and the US would withdraw and leave control of the area to the warlords affiliated with Osama bin Laden. The Clinton administration also took great care to cover its tracks on the withdrawal of the AC-130 gunships and lack of US controlled armor which lead to what can only be described as a humiliating defeat for the US.
Defenders of the Clinton administration quote the testimony of the military leaders. However, before accepting the words as the definitive answer it is important to recall the political environment of the time. Both Hoar and Garrison made their comments after the battle, operating under the Clinton administration that tolerated no dissent.
The last thing the administration could afford was public scrutiny of the Somalia debacle. This was an administration that, when threatened, found new ways to define is and alone. There's no doubt that administration spin control offered the officers carefully crafted language so that every one up high got out of the mess. That of course excludes those who died, many while exhibiting incredible courage.
Read again Hoar's quote," I did not see the AC-130s as being essential to our mission." Note that the comment is made in the past tense and conditioned on the word essential. Not useful, potentially useful, intimidating etc. It's words crafted in Washington that need to be parsed as much for what's not there.
Switch then to the accounts of the troops in the various truck movements and the final evacuation as described in The Battle of Mogadishu by the participants and without editorial filtering of content. Time and again the trucks are lost, stopped and taking heavy casualties. There's no air support for them. At the same time troops are dying of survivable wounds due to the lack of medical attention. The final evacuation from the firefight, that left troops which had been in constant combat from the initial insertion running behind APCs and other vehicles fleeing for the Soccer Stadium, again without adequate air support.
The argument that the AC-130 was not conceived to operate in cities is irrelevant. The question should be is it effective. There are many mission tapes from Iraq and Afghanistan where AC-130's operated in congested areas, often restricted to avoid hitting a Mosque within a stones throw of the target individuals or vehicles. There are numerous close quarters engagements in Afghanistan where AC-130's were providing fire support very close to friendly troops.
The argument of collateral damage in the city fails the test of reason. One argument for the AC-130 is that fire is likely to be hitting the ground at a much higher angle than ground fire or helo fire and thus be confined to a smaller area. A 50 caliber machine gun used to firing down a street has the potential to cause casualties far beyond the intended targets.
The withdrawl of the AC-130's also deprived the commanders of much needed intelligence. Yes the commanders had some tv from the helos. It's often been described as looking at a battle through a keyhole. At times there were two helo crash sites, isolated troops who were pinned down and one or more wandering convoys. It simply overloaded the capacity of the available assets. A lot of good men died from the enemy fire and from the lack of medical resources to treat survivable wounds.
I think if you took a poll of those on the ground who regularly worked with the AC-130's including actual combat you would find overwhelming support for the assertion that lives were lost due to the withdrawal of the AC-130's. There's a reason they were back within a day or two.
The battle was tragic enough in its losses to our troops. However, the real price of our loss was the legitimacy, support and encouragement it gave to the terrorists. To quote from the writings of someone not under Clinton's thumb. It's specifically reflected in bin Laden's Declaration of War , [...]
Here's a portion of bin Laden's 1996 declaration of war.
"But your most disgraceful case was in Somalia whereafter vigorous propaganda about the power of the USA and its post cold war leadership of the new world order you moved tens of thousands of international force, including twenty eight thousands American solders into Somalia. However, when tens of your solders were killed in minor battles and one American Pilot was dragged in the streets of Mogadishu you left the area carrying disappointment, humiliation, defeat and your dead with you. Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge , but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You have been disgraced by Allah and you withdrew the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became very clear. It was a pleasure for the " heart" of every Muslim and a remedy to the " chests" of believing nations to see you defeated in the three Islamic cities of Beirut , Aden and Mogadishu."
With the defeat of America in head to head combat in Somalia and the dual messages sent by the administration in the days following - public message - we are here to stay in the fight, private message- give us Durant and victory is yours. It was a message designed to solve the President's political problems rather than advance the security of the nation. It was the greatest recruiting tool we could have given bin Laden.
Finally, it is helpful to look at some broader sources of information.
Comment on the Senate Armed Services Committee review [...]
Another excellent commentary on the events is a paper by Major Day, DEFEAT OF TASK FORCE RANGER [...] notes that the AC-130s were used in Mogadishu prior to the events and where effective in destroying a number of facilities used by the bad guys. The report asserts that these assets were withdrawn in the hopes that Aidid would reciprocate. Day also notes that vehicle mounted 50 caliber weapons were being used and that they had a lethal range of more than a mile beyond the targets.
A breakdown of the KIA shows that more than half of the non-aircrew fatalities were from wounds suffered during the convoy operations.
The deeper one looks the more it is apparent that that the troops were not equipped to deliver massive, overwhelming force to achieve their goals. The reasons stretch from individual decisions on what weapons to carry to restrictions which left some weapons back at the airfield to decisions, both in DC and locally that did not provide all of the available, effective weapons to the deployed troops.
The senate report notes that the Rangers and special forces were deployed with gunships as a matter of practice and that the State Department and political aides participated in setting the ground rules that limited the weapons available. Major Day makes an excellent point that once the battle was on the relief convoys did not take the opportunity to pick up some of the weapons which they had been instructed to leave behind and which would have been useful in the later stages of the operation.
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