Wednesday, December 4, 2013
In 1992, President Bush ordered 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia, where a civil war flared
A U.S. military convoy moves through the streets of Baidoa, Somalia, during Operation Restore Hope in December 1992. (Patrick Robert/Sygma/Corbis)
Dec. 4, 1992: President Bush ordered 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia, where a civil war flared. Bush said the military was doing "God's work," because its mission was to provide humanitarian aid to starving Somalis. But U.S. troops eventually got snarled in a political conflict and were attacked, most notably in the October 1993 Battle of Mogodishu, in which 18 Americans were killed and 75 wounded. By March 1994, U.S. forces had pulled out.