U.S. May Send GIs to Protect Aid to Somalia

After months of relative inaction, the Bush Administration is considering the use of U.S. combat troops to protect food deliveries in famine-scarred Somalia, officials said Wednesday.

Acting Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger discussed the deteriorating situation in the East African nation with United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali during a meeting that was kept secret until well after it ended, the State Department said.

Earlier, Boutros-Ghali had told the Security Council that the United Nations must take extraordinary action to get food to starving Somalis, using force against rival warlords if necessary.

According to reports by the Washington Post, the Associated Press and Cable News Network, the Administration has already decided to offer up to 30,000 U.S. combat troops--probably from the 82nd Airborne Division--to join an international force empowered to separate the warring clans and assure food delivery.

However, State Department spokesman Joe Snyder denied that a firm decision has been made.

“We continue to be very concerned about Somalia,” Snyder said. “However, no decision has been made on any action to be taken.”

If U.S. troops are sent to Somalia, it would mark a dramatic reversal in the Administration’s policy. Since last summer, the U.S. government has offered transportation and other noncombat support to U.N. forces but has refused to even discuss the dispatch of American troops.

Last month, the U.S. Air Force transported a small contingent of Pakistani troops to Mogadishu, the Somali capital. Earlier Wednesday, the State Department said the Administration was prepared to transport additional forces but would do so only if the United Nations agreed to deduct the cost of the operation from Washington’s normal assessment for peacekeeping operations.

The situation in Somalia was discussed at a National Security Council meeting Wednesday, officials said.

Boutros-Ghali has been urging the United Nations to take more forceful action in Somalia for several months, complaining that the world body seemed far more concerned about the bloodshed in former Yugoslav republics than it was with starvation in Africa.

The United Nations estimates that 250,000 Somalis may die within the next few months if food is not supplied soon. However, aid shipments have been stolen by armed militias and the country’s warlords have interfered with other relief operations.

The country plunged into anarchy after Mohamed Siad Barre, the long-reigning dictator, was deposed early last year.

According to news agency reports from New York, U.N. Security Council President Andre Erdos of Hungary told reporters that the council is considering the use of military force to ensure aid delivery. He said the council also is discussing the possible use of U.N. troops to restore order and re-establish effective governmental services.