Humanitarianism Redefined : Somalia: Better because of the U.S.

Children, their bellies once distended by malnutrition, no longer are starving to death by the hundreds of thousands in Somalia.

Men and women who want nothing more than to provide for their families no longer must dodge bullets every day and night in Mogadishu.

There is peace, albeit fragile, where anarchy and civil war once prevailed. There is food in the markets and the relief centers, thanks to the United States and its successful humanitarian mission, Operation Restore Hope.

Such a measure of success allowed Marine Lt. Gen. Robert Johnston to turn over the mission to the United Nations on Tuesday. That transfer of responsibility is appropriate given the current circumstances, but the world’s work is far from finished in Somalia.

U.N. peacekeepers inherit a huge challenge. They must maintain law and order, although they are not as well-armed as the Americans or even Somalis who built up arsenals during a decade of Cold War competition over their nation’s strategic location on the Horn of Africa. Massive disarmament is key to continued peace.

The peacekeepers must also protect relief workers throughout the country. Doctors are particularly fearful in such hot spots as Baidoa, which was called the City of Death at the height of the civil war.

That fighting, which erupted after the ouster of the dictator Mohammed Siad Barre in January of 1991, killed as many as 100,000 people. The civil war also exacerbated a lingering famine that eventually would take the lives of 300,000 Somalis, including countless children under 5.

As the death toll rose, the world finally reacted. Last December, then-President George Bush responded emphatically. He sent in the Marines and other U.S. troops to protect the relief supplies that in many areas represented the difference between survival and another wheelbarrow of corpses.

President Clinton continued that commitment of U.S. materials and more than 25,000 troops. The Americans ended the stealing of relief supplies. They secured the airport and seaport, both crucial to the delivery of food and medicine.

The U.S. troops and their foreign partners also got the attention of warlords fighting for control of power in their devastated country. The civil war has quieted down, but the rivalries remain as deep as the nation’s age-old family loyalties.

Negotiating a political solution that leads to the formation of a Somali government and encourages rebuilding is another major part of the United Nation’s Operation Continue Hope. Only then can the United States completely leave Somalia.