Book Review of
Operation Restore Hope
US Military Intervention in Somalia
& the Battle of Mogadishu, 1992-1994
Author: Peter Baxter
Helion & Co. Ltd., Africa @ War Series
Revised Edition
ICBN: 978-1-915070-57-9
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $28.95
Revised Edition
ICBN: 978-1-915070-57-9
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $28.95
The end of the Cold War introduced an altered global dynamic. The old bond of East/West patronage in Africa was broken, weakening the first crop of independent revolutionary leadership on the continent who no longer had the support of the Soviet Union, all this changed.
The question of global/strategic security devolved into regional peacekeeping and peace enforcement, characterized primarily by the Balkans War, but also many other minor regional squabbles across the developing world that erupted as old regimes fell and nations sought to built unity out of the ashes.
In Africa, the situation was exacerbated by an inherent tribalism and factionalism that had tended to be artificially suppressed by powerful, often military dictatorships, generally unconcerned with the needs and requirements of an oppressed population.
No more striking example of this can be found than Somalia. One of the only effective armed resistance movements mounted against European colonization in Africa took place in Somalia, which was suppressed only after enormous military expenditure.
The crisis in Somalia that began to take shape with the ouster of military leader Mohammed Said Barre during the early years of the 1990s forced both the United States and the United Nations to adapt their collective military policy toward the challenges of peacekeeping, and peace enforcement, in a human environment only dimly understood, extremely austere in terms of local infrastructure and with warring clan leadership.
This book tells the story of the international intervention that took place in Somalia, the successes, failures and lessons learned. Many broad assumptions were made based on and unclear understanding of the dynamics of regional conflict, coupled with the necessity for the first time in modern military history to balance political necessities with military.
The crisis in Somalia set the tone for military intervention in a post-Cold War word, and although the same mistakes have been depressingly often repeated, the complexion of global military organization changed dramatically as a consequence of this episode.
This revised edition of all-new color artwork, including a specially-commissioned painting on the cover, and new color artwork in the plate section.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Co. Ltd. is based in the UK.
This book is of soft-cover in 65 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format. Two pages are blank.
The cover art shows 2 U.S. MH6-J “Little Bird” helicopters flying low over some building’s roof-tops. Both are overall olive drab. They both are firing their machine guns.
The book begins with a photo of the back doors of a German APC with a large black UN on them and a statue of Sayyad Mohammed Abdullah Hassan on horseback.
The book contains 91 black and white photos and 6 color ones, 8 maps and 11 color profile illustrations of 5 vehicles and 6 aircrafts.
The black and white photos show 19 photos of leaders, including Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, British Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert brooks.
There are 2 photos of officers: General Collin Powell & General Herman Schwarzkopf, U.S. Navy Admiral David E. Jeremiah.
Other photos are of:
An Airco DH-9A biplane, a ship traveling through the Suez Canal, the pavilion of the Sue Canal Company of 7th Battalion King’s African Rifles, graves of Royal Natal Carabiniers, a lookout point in Somaliland, areal photo of Silsila, 3 photos of Somali citizens and kids, a C-30 being used as a food carrying aircraft and one dropping parachutists and a C-130H version “Hercules”.
Two photos of U.S. Marines, an aerial photo of the Port of Mogadishu, the U.S. carrier Ranger and USS Valley Forge battle-ship and USS Kinkaid battle-ship, Mogadishu abandoned, an arial photo of the Somali village Bardeba, a late-model Isuzu dump-truck with a Somali crew, a Variable OMNI-Range meteorological navigation aid, a U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-141A “Starlifter”, Malaysian peace-keeping soldiers, a Somali truck being loaded into a U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules, U.N. Indian Army T-72 main battle tank.
German infantryman with Somali kids and Italians recovering their roller that accidentally went over a cliff, two photos of Belgian soldiers, a UN ambulance, a Ferret armored-car, a jeep, a truckload of Somali soldiers, a UN Saudi Arabian HMMWV vehicle with a machine gun mounted on it.
Three photos of U.S. Army troops, a U.S. Marine Corps LAV-25, Condor APCs, a U.S. Marine Corps UH-1, Three photos of U.S. Army troops, a U.S. Marine Corps LAV-25, Condor APCs, 3 photos of a U.S. Marine Corps UH-1N helicopter, a C-5 Galaxy, a Super 64 helicopter, 2 photos of U.S. Marines, a U.S. soldier holding a bazooka, a MH-6 “Little Bird” helicopter, and OH-58D “Kiowa” helicopter, a MH-60L “Black Hawk” helicopter, Sudanese soldiers, a U.S. Marines M1A1 Adams tank, a French sapper disposing of ordinance, an aerial photo the Port City of Meroe, USNS Denebola ship docked in the port of Mogadishu, Saudi Arabian vehicles, U.N. APCs around Unisom University and 2 photos of the university, Ranger parachutists dropping from a C-17 Globemaster aircraft.
There are 13 color profile illustrations:
A 4-view of the HMMWV
A 5-view of it
A 4-view of a M105 with machine gun mounted on it with the military police.
A side view of it,
A side view of a U.S. Marines LAV-25
A 5-view of a Type 6614
A 5-view of a Somali pick-up truck with anti-aircraft gun mounted on it
A side view of a U.S. Marines Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter
A side view of a U.S. Air Force C-130
A side view of a U.S. Air Force C-130H Specter gun-ship
A side view of a MH6-J “Little Bird” helicopter
A side view of a MH-60L helicopter
Two 5-views of it.
This is a neat photo album about Operation Restore Hope. It will be of interest to modelers and military historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review copy. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Helion & Co. books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
The question of global/strategic security devolved into regional peacekeeping and peace enforcement, characterized primarily by the Balkans War, but also many other minor regional squabbles across the developing world that erupted as old regimes fell and nations sought to built unity out of the ashes.
In Africa, the situation was exacerbated by an inherent tribalism and factionalism that had tended to be artificially suppressed by powerful, often military dictatorships, generally unconcerned with the needs and requirements of an oppressed population.
No more striking example of this can be found than Somalia. One of the only effective armed resistance movements mounted against European colonization in Africa took place in Somalia, which was suppressed only after enormous military expenditure.
The crisis in Somalia that began to take shape with the ouster of military leader Mohammed Said Barre during the early years of the 1990s forced both the United States and the United Nations to adapt their collective military policy toward the challenges of peacekeeping, and peace enforcement, in a human environment only dimly understood, extremely austere in terms of local infrastructure and with warring clan leadership.
This book tells the story of the international intervention that took place in Somalia, the successes, failures and lessons learned. Many broad assumptions were made based on and unclear understanding of the dynamics of regional conflict, coupled with the necessity for the first time in modern military history to balance political necessities with military.
The crisis in Somalia set the tone for military intervention in a post-Cold War word, and although the same mistakes have been depressingly often repeated, the complexion of global military organization changed dramatically as a consequence of this episode.
This revised edition of all-new color artwork, including a specially-commissioned painting on the cover, and new color artwork in the plate section.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Co. Ltd. is based in the UK.
This book is of soft-cover in 65 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format. Two pages are blank.
The cover art shows 2 U.S. MH6-J “Little Bird” helicopters flying low over some building’s roof-tops. Both are overall olive drab. They both are firing their machine guns.
The book begins with a photo of the back doors of a German APC with a large black UN on them and a statue of Sayyad Mohammed Abdullah Hassan on horseback.
The book contains 91 black and white photos and 6 color ones, 8 maps and 11 color profile illustrations of 5 vehicles and 6 aircrafts.
The black and white photos show 19 photos of leaders, including Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, British Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert brooks.
There are 2 photos of officers: General Collin Powell & General Herman Schwarzkopf, U.S. Navy Admiral David E. Jeremiah.
Other photos are of:
An Airco DH-9A biplane, a ship traveling through the Suez Canal, the pavilion of the Sue Canal Company of 7th Battalion King’s African Rifles, graves of Royal Natal Carabiniers, a lookout point in Somaliland, areal photo of Silsila, 3 photos of Somali citizens and kids, a C-30 being used as a food carrying aircraft and one dropping parachutists and a C-130H version “Hercules”.
Two photos of U.S. Marines, an aerial photo of the Port of Mogadishu, the U.S. carrier Ranger and USS Valley Forge battle-ship and USS Kinkaid battle-ship, Mogadishu abandoned, an arial photo of the Somali village Bardeba, a late-model Isuzu dump-truck with a Somali crew, a Variable OMNI-Range meteorological navigation aid, a U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-141A “Starlifter”, Malaysian peace-keeping soldiers, a Somali truck being loaded into a U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules, U.N. Indian Army T-72 main battle tank.
German infantryman with Somali kids and Italians recovering their roller that accidentally went over a cliff, two photos of Belgian soldiers, a UN ambulance, a Ferret armored-car, a jeep, a truckload of Somali soldiers, a UN Saudi Arabian HMMWV vehicle with a machine gun mounted on it.
Three photos of U.S. Army troops, a U.S. Marine Corps LAV-25, Condor APCs, a U.S. Marine Corps UH-1, Three photos of U.S. Army troops, a U.S. Marine Corps LAV-25, Condor APCs, 3 photos of a U.S. Marine Corps UH-1N helicopter, a C-5 Galaxy, a Super 64 helicopter, 2 photos of U.S. Marines, a U.S. soldier holding a bazooka, a MH-6 “Little Bird” helicopter, and OH-58D “Kiowa” helicopter, a MH-60L “Black Hawk” helicopter, Sudanese soldiers, a U.S. Marines M1A1 Adams tank, a French sapper disposing of ordinance, an aerial photo the Port City of Meroe, USNS Denebola ship docked in the port of Mogadishu, Saudi Arabian vehicles, U.N. APCs around Unisom University and 2 photos of the university, Ranger parachutists dropping from a C-17 Globemaster aircraft.
There are 13 color profile illustrations:
A 4-view of the HMMWV
A 5-view of it
A 4-view of a M105 with machine gun mounted on it with the military police.
A side view of it,
A side view of a U.S. Marines LAV-25
A 5-view of a Type 6614
A 5-view of a Somali pick-up truck with anti-aircraft gun mounted on it
A side view of a U.S. Marines Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter
A side view of a U.S. Air Force C-130
A side view of a U.S. Air Force C-130H Specter gun-ship
A side view of a MH6-J “Little Bird” helicopter
A side view of a MH-60L helicopter
Two 5-views of it.
This is a neat photo album about Operation Restore Hope. It will be of interest to modelers and military historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review copy. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Helion & Co. books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.