When President Bush launched Operation Restore Hope to feed starving Somalis, I was one Somali-American who celebrated the generosity of my adopted country.
And when President Clinton, after the successful accomplishment of the American mission to feed Somalis, turned the management of Somalia to the United Nations, I was full of hope that the rehabilitation and the reconstruction of Somalia would take place under American leadership.
It is obvious, however, that Somalia isn't getting any closer to becoming a rehabilitated nation. And the United States is slowly and painfully discovering that feeding hungry Somalis is one thing; teaching them how to peacefully govern their war-torn country is quite another.
In southern Mogadishu, gunmen loyal to the fugitive warlord Gen. Mohammed Farah Aidid conduct almost daily ambushes and nightly shelling against international peacekeepers. So far, nearly two dozen Americans have been killed, along with more than twice as many peacekeepers of other nationalities. Somalis, too, have been killed, including women and children said to be ''combatants'' because they are used as ''human shields'' by General Aidid's gunmen.
Each time Somali civilians are killed in Mogadi- shu, the international aid agencies scream that peacekeepers are using ''excessive force'' in their attempts to restore peace and order. And each time American soldiers are gunned down in Mogadishu's mean streets, members of Congress call for the immediate withdrawal of American troops from Somalia.
The Clinton administration's objectives in Somalia were defined by Defense Secretary Les Aspin as restoring order in southern Mogadishu, creating a Somali national police force and establishing a Somali government that can lead the country.
Are these goals achievable? If so, should most of the burden fall on American shoulders? And if not, should the United States withdraw its troops from Somalia before it gets sucked deeper into Somalia's ancient tribal warfare? I am no longer optimistic.
Restoring order to southern Mogadishu is almost impossible. The U.N. goal of seeking to neutralize General Aided has backfired. His sub-clan (the Habar Geder of the Hawiye clan) occupies most of southern Mogadishu and will protect its general or, failing that, will raise up a successor to exact revenge against the peacekeepers.
