Operation Gothic Serpent and the failure of Special Ops, and more importantly, Political Leadership of the day. What Really Happened Before & After the Battle of Mogadishu
The book and movie Black Hawk Down provided the outside world a glimpse into what occurred during the 17-hour firefight in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Oct. 3, 1993. Army Rangers and operators from the US Army’s Special Operations Command — commonly known to the general public as Delta Force — fought block-to-block to reach the crash sites of two downed American Black Hawk helicopters. Their heroism and sacrifices during that battle were significant, but what happened before and after the battle, during their Operation Gothic Serpent deployment?
Because we were not there in overwhelming force. No American tanks. Why were there no American tanks? Because why would our guys need tanks? Because you go in overwhelming force, or not at all.
If you haven't seen Black Hawk Down, you are missing out; it is an excellent movie. I don't know how closely it follows the actual events - it seems to - but it does cover the reality of what happened, and how we pulled out of Somalia immediately after that.
This is the trailer for the movie Black Hawk Down.
IMHO it can be laid at the feet of slick willy - after all he was the one who 'decided' - against the advice of the planners - to send only a reinforced rifle company equivalent instead of a full battalion as the planners recommended. He was way too concerned about 'bad optics' from overwhelming force.
ReplyDeleteKyle Lamb....a well respected special forces operator before retirement....stated that while the movie was very good and did portray some of what happened fairly accurately there was also a lot that was not accurate. Which is pretty much how ALL movies based on a real event are.
ReplyDeleteThis is excellent insight from Gen Zinni.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ambush/interviews/zinni.html