Somalia Arsenals Must Go

The United Nations and the United States have officially expressed regret over the deaths of Somali women and children during the ongoing retaliatory raids against the warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid. The killing of innocent civilians is always to be deeply deplored. But if more death is to be averted, there can be no letup in the international campaign to disarm Somalia.

U.N. forces, with the indispensable assistance of American soldiers and aircraft, targeted the arsenals of Aidid. He has been accused of using women and children as shields during a murderous ambush of U.N. peacekeepers. In that ambush 23 Pakistanis were killed; the throats of some were slit. Fifty-nine others survived with injuries.

It now appears that later some Pakistani soldiers, acting out of revenge or fear or by accident, killed women and children while attacking Aidid’s arms depots. If true, that is tragic; the action should be investigated by U.N. officials. However, it should be noted that it was Aidid’s ambush that provoked U.N. retaliation.

Peacekeepers traditionally do not mount punishing attacks. However, the situation in Somalia requires no less. The United Nations cannot afford to appear weak, lest the peacekeepers become little more than sitting ducks.

Every warlord, not just Aidid, must be disarmed to stave off a return to chaos. The United Nations cannot afford the perception that its peacekeepers have taken sides in Somalia.

The internecine war and famine wiped out nearly a generation of Somali children under the age of 5. As many as 450,000 Somalis died while the warlords fought over who would become president and armed thugs stole tons of relief supplies. A humanitarian mission led by U.S. troops stopped the starving but it didn’t stop the shooting.

Aidid and other warlords are heavily armed as a result of Cold War competition for control of their strategically located country. They must now be disarmed. Only then will the dying stop.