Causes Of The Somali Genocide

In a world full of hate and mass killings, one region in particular seems to excel at doing dastardly deeds. This region would be African and Arabic countries. Somalia and Rwanda are two countries that stand out in particular due to the recent turmoil. The Rwandan genocide is an example of one ethnic group slaughtering another. This is similar to another lesser known, but longer lasting genocide called the Somali Genocide. The Somali genocide started as clan warfare after the fall of Siyad Barre and his regime. The barbaric events occurred over a span of 21 years (1988-2009). It was in 2009 that all foreign powers left the area and an election took place. While this might seem like the beginnings of a new and better and more stable country, this may not be the case. The Somali genocide has been classified as one of the worst humanitarian failures in recent history. This political nightmare shows that sometimes outside help isn 't necessarily "helpful." Starting with the United States, other countries decided to get involved. Seeing that the Somali people were dealing with disease and starvation, the U.S president sent them food and supplies to help them get through the hard times. Then began “Operation restore hope, “where the U.S guarded the hauls of food from the “warlords.” …show more content…
On top of the war going on the Somali people were also dealing with famine and disease. The United Nations were only involved for a short period of time before they had to retreat due to the loss of the majority of their people. 11 years later the U.N made a second attempt to help the Somali people. The Islamic leaders viewed these people that were trying to help as “invaders. The United Nations defended the need for peacekeepers. This led to another mission, to try and bring relief to Somalia.