Pullout of U.S. Troops From Somalia Begins

The first significant pullout of U.S. forces from Somalia began Tuesday with the departure of more than 550 Camp Pendleton-based Marines who have been ducking snipers in this capital and feeding the starving in Baidoa since before Christmas.

The group, part of an 850-Marine unit leaving this week, halted the six-week military escalation that has brought 25,500 American troops to Somalia to fight a war on anarchy and famine. And it turned attention on the United Nations, which must appoint a new commander for the next phase of Operation Restore Hope.

“This sends the right signal,” said Robert B. Oakley, the U.S. special envoy in Somalia. “It tells the international community that others are fully able to take our place and that the operation can continue as a U.N. operation without any falloff in effectiveness.”

That handoff from American to U.N. command is a crucial next step in the operation. Even if a new commander is appointed soon, the transition is unlikely to be complete before March 1. The United States also has promised to retain some troops, perhaps as many as 5,000, during the early days of U.N. control.

More than half the 850 Marines in the 3rd Battalion, 9th Regiment, stationed at Camp Pendleton, left Tuesday aboard two chartered jets; they are scheduled to arrive at March Air Force Base, near Riverside, at noon today. The remainder will leave Somalia today and Thursday, also bound for the United States.

These were among the signs of a winding down in operations, as many of the 11,000 troops from 22 countries begin to take over American operations on the ground. A large supply ship for the Marine Expeditionary Unit is being reloaded with equipment and could leave by Friday.

But no other large units of Americans will be sent home until the United Nations appoints a new general to take over from Marine Lt. Gen. Robert B. Johnston, commander of Operation Restore Hope. “That will be our signal to download,” Johnston said Tuesday.

A few more American troops, primarily Army engineers, will be added to the forces here to rebuild roads and bridges, but overall U.S. troop strength has stopped growing, he said.

Meanwhile, the process of Somali political reconciliation took another small step forward Tuesday when a committee of the two warring factions in Mogadishu dismantled unmanned roadblocks around the Green Line that has divided their spheres of control. The effort, and the cease-fire that has held for four days, was seen as a hopeful sign by U.S. diplomats.

But in practice, few ordinary Somalis are willing to cross the Green Line, even though the armed militia that manned the roadblocks pulled out several weeks ago. And looting and banditry continues to plague that region of the city.

The departure of the Marine unit Tuesday appeared designed to coincide with President Bush’s last full day in office. Bush had promised to have at least some troops home before he turned the presidency over to Bill Clinton.

American diplomats said privately that they had hope the United Nations will pass the resolutions necessary to take over the operation--and withdraw most American troops--before Bush leaves office. But U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali is said to be reluctant to take that step before the new Administration is in place in Washington.

Now, though, the situation in Iraq and the other demands on the Clinton Administration may delay a U.N. decision on Somalia. “We’ve fallen off the scope,” a U.S. military official said.

Besides appointing a new commander, the United Nations needs troop commitments from foreign governments. Most of the foreign troops now in the U.S.-led coalition, and several dozen other countries’ armies, have agreed to consider joining the U.N. effort in Somalia.

But many first want assurances from the United Nations that the rules of engagement now being used by the United States will not change. U.N. forces have typically allowed soldiers to shoot only if fired upon. But in Somalia, U.S. rules have allowed troops to take preemptive action if they feel their lives are threatened.

The Marine unit leaving this week had been stationed in Somalia for a month, dividing its forces between Mogadishu and the famine belt city of Baidoa. In the capital, their job was to restore order--a task that military officials say has yet to be completed. In Baidoa, Marines carried out more humanitarian work, primarily escorting relief food convoys; they were replaced this week by 900 newly arrived Australian troops.

As they prepared to board planes Tuesday, many of the Marines reflected on their mission. Those who had been working in Baidoa felt their mission had been an unbridled success.

“It felt good to be part of this,” said Sgt. Daniel Potter, 29, of Casper, Wyo. “I’d rather have had my own Christmas, but I guess we were Santa Claus this year.

“We’ve done our job,” he added. “We’ve made the place safe. Now it’s up to the U.N.”

But other Marines who had been patrolling the streets of Mogadishu weren’t so sure the mission had accomplished its objectives. As if to underscore their concern, the convoy taking them to the airport Monday night came under brief sniper fire.

“We all hit the deck, but then we got up and said, ‘You missed. And that’s your last shot at us,’ ” said Lance Cpl. Hussein Sharifi, 22, of San Francisco.

Many of the Marines felt hamstrung by the mission’s humanitarian purpose and the initial unwillingness of commanders to allow troops to disarm Somali civilians in Mogadishu.

“There were times when we lollygagged around,” said Lance Cpl. Brian Taylor, 20, of Columbus, Ohio. “If we’d just gone in there, got it done by force, it would’ve been better.”

Even in Baidoa, troops found themselves threatened while distributing food.

“It was frustrating,” said Lance Cpl. Marcel Teixeira, 24, of Boston. “We would be giving food and there were people everywhere with guns. You had to take a hostile attitude because, No. 1, we wanted to get out of here alive.”