Operation Gothic Serpent

{{Main|1992 famine in Somalia|United Nations Operation in Somalia I}}

In December 1992, US President George H. W. Bush ordered the military to join the UN in a joint operation known as Operation Restore Hope, with the primary mission of restoring order in Somalia. The country had collapsed into civil war in 1991 and the following year a severe famine, induced by the fighting, broke out. Over the next several months, the situation deteriorated.{{sfn|Piasecki|2007}}

During the early months of 1993, all the parties involved in the civil war agreed to a disarmament conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Enactment of the agreed upon terms, however, was not so easily achieved.{{sfn|US forces, Somalia AAR|2003}} One powerful faction, the Somali National Alliance (SNA) led by Gen. Mohamed Farah Aidid, formed in late 1992 and had become particularly anti-UNOSOM.{{sfn|UN and Somalia 1992–1996|1996|p=25}} Major disagreements between the UN and the Somali National Alliance began soon after the establishment of UNOSOM II in March, centering on the perceived true nature of the operation's political mandate. By May 1993, relations between the SNA and UNOSOM would rapidly deteriorate.{{Cite web |date=1 June 1994 |title=Report of the Commission of Inquiry Established Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 885 (1994) to Investigate Armed Attacks on UNOSOM II Personnel Which Led to Casualties Among Them |url=https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/189847 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808203834/https://tind-customer-undl.s3.amazonaws.com/ce7dc2ef-9f39-4d27-ac51-8b5484f1ec37?response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27S_1994_653-EN.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Expires=86400&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAXL7W7Q3XFWDGQKBB%2F20220808%2Feu-west-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Date=20220808T203834Z&X-Amz-Signature=43ed65cdbf97860aa0b1879c87a9c713da9cd23ec94035a340d94a6bb5a08595 |archive-date=8 August 2022 |language=en |last1=Secretary-General |first1=Un }}

{{Main|United Nations Operation in Somalia II|Somali National Alliance}}

On 5 June 1993, one of the deadliest attacks on UN forces in Somalia occurred when 24 Pakistani soldiers were ambushed and killed in an SNA controlled area of Mogadishu.{{cite news |date=June 6, 1993 |title=26 UN Troops Reported Dead in Somalia Combat |work=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/06/world/26-un-troops-reported-dead-in-somalia-combat.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321062117/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/06/world/26-un-troops-reported-dead-in-somalia-combat.html |archive-date=March 21, 2022}} Any hope of a peaceful resolution of the conflict quickly vanished. The next day, the UN Security Council issued Resolution 837, calling for the arrest and trial of those who carried out the ambush. US warplanes and UN troops began an attack on Aidid's stronghold. Aidid remained defiant, and the violence between Somalis and UN forces escalated.{{sfn|Dolan|2001}} A significant number of Somali civilians also resented international forces following incidents such as the June 1993 UN mass shooting of protesters and the 12 July 1993 Bloody Monday raid. These events and other incidents led significant numbers of civilians, including women and children, to take up arms and actively resist US and UNOSOM II forces during fighting in Mogadishu.{{sfn|Bowden|1999|p=31, 106–107}}

Following the 12 July 1993 raid carried out by the US QRF force for UNOSOM II, the conflict began sharply escalating and SNA forces began deliberately targeting American forces in Somalia for the first time. According to US special envoy to Somalia Robert B. Oakley, "Before July 12th, the US would have been attacked only because of association with the UN, but the US was never singled out until after July 12th."{{sfn|Kaempf|2018|p=147}} For the remainder of July firefights between the SNA and UNOSOM began occurring almost daily.{{sfn|Poole|2005|p=44}} The SNA would put out a bounty for any American soldier or UN personnel killed, leading to a doubling of attacks against UNOSOM II forces.{{sfn|Kaempf|2018|p=147}}

On 8 August 1993, Somali National Alliance militia detonated a remote controlled bomb against a US Army vehicle, killing four military policemen.{{Cite news |last=Richburg |first=Keith B. |author-link=Keith Richburg |date=9 August 1993 |title=4 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Somalia |language=en-US |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/08/09/4-us-soldiers-killed-in-somalia/99a72b8a-54f6-4f17-947f-3ace82f2b0d8/ |access-date=17 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806023505/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/08/09/4-us-soldiers-killed-in-somalia/99a72b8a-54f6-4f17-947f-3ace82f2b0d8/ |archive-date=6 August 2022}} On 19 August, a second bomb attack injured four more soldiers.{{cite web |title=Somali Ambush Injures U.S. Soldiers|url=https://buffalonews.com/article_c9e9903b-e7a7-52d8-bed6-58db05cd2088.html |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809074853/https://buffalonews.com/article_c9e9903b-e7a7-52d8-bed6-58db05cd2088.html |archive-date=9 August 2022 |date=19 August 1993}} And on 22 August, a third attack occurred, injuring 6 US soldiers.{{cite news |title=6 U.S. Soldiers Hurt in Attack in Mogadishu |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/08/23/6-us-soldiers-hurt-in-attack-in-mogadishu/4c7c9870-2289-4ddf-acba-18062cb7e3ca/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809074212/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/08/23/6-us-soldiers-hurt-in-attack-in-mogadishu/4c7c9870-2289-4ddf-acba-18062cb7e3ca/ |archive-date=9 August 2022 |date=22 August 1993}} In response, President Clinton approved Operation Gothic Serpent, which would deploy a 441 man special task force, named Task Force Ranger, to hunt down and capture Aidid.{{sfn|Task Force Ranger AAR|1994|p=3}}{{Cite book |last=Brune |first=Lester H. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/40521220 |title=The United States and Post-Cold War Interventions : Bush and Clinton in Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia, 1992–1998 |publisher=Regina Books |year=1998 |isbn=978-0941690904 |location=Claremont, Calif. |page=31 |oclc=40521220}} By this time, however, circumstances on the ground had changed significantly and Aidid was in hiding, no longer appearing publicly.{{sfn|Task Force Ranger AAR|1994|p=1}}

On 22 August, advance forces were deployed to Somalia followed shortly after by the main force on 25 August.{{sfn|Task Force Ranger AAR|1994|p=2}} TF Ranger, led by Major General William F. Garrison, was under JSOC. Thus, it was not under UN command or the command of US General Thomas M. Montgomery, the deputy commander of UNOSOM II forces as well as commander of US forces in Somalia. Instead, Garrison and TF Ranger received orders directly from CENTCOM.{{sfn|Allard|1995|pp=24, 57}}{{sfn|Baumann|Yates|Washington|2003|p=140}}{{cite web |last=Stewart |first=Richard W. |date=24 February 2006 |title=The United States Army in Somalia, 1992–1994 |url=http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/Somalia/Somalia.htm#p24 |access-date=4 December 2009 |publisher=United States Army Center of Military History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907085846/https://www.history.army.mil/brochures/Somalia/Somalia.htm |archive-date=7 September 2023}}

The force consisted of:

• B Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment{{sfn|Bowden|1999|p=11}}
• C Squadron, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D) (also called Delta Force){{sfn|Bowden|1999|p=11}}
• 1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (160th SOAR), which included 8 MH-60 Black Hawks, 4 AH-6 Little Birds, and 4 MH-6 Little Birds{{sfn|Piasecki|2007}}
• Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU) SEALs{{sfn|Bowden|1999|p=11}}
• 24th Special Tactics Squadron pararescuemen and combat controllers{{sfn|Task Force Ranger AAR|1994}}{{cite web |url=http://shadowspear.com/special-operations-news/rangers_honor_fallen_brothers_of.html |first=Tracy A |last=Bailey |title=Rangers Honor Fallen Brothers of Operation Gothic Serpent |publisher=ShadowSpear Special Operations |date=6 October 2008 |access-date=13 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100304072529/http://shadowspear.com/special-operations-news/rangers_honor_fallen_brothers_of.html |archive-date=4 March 2010}}

The task force had intelligence support from a joint effort between CIA officers and Intelligence Support Activity.{{sfn|Day|1997|p=17}}

In Mogadishu, the task force occupied an old hangar and construction trailers under primitive conditions, without access to potable water.{{sfn|Bowden|1999|p=50}}

Only days after arriving, on 28 August, Somali militia launched a mortar attack on the hangar at 19:27 which injured four Rangers.{{sfn|Task Force Ranger AAR|1994|p=3}} These mortar attacks became a regular occurrence but rarely caused any further significant injuries.{{sfn|Bowden|1999|p=154}}

The task force launched its first raid at 03:09 on 30 August, hitting the Lig Ligato house. There, they captured 9 individuals along with weapons, drugs, communications gear, and other equipment.{{sfn|Task Force Ranger AAR|1994|p=3}} They were highly embarrassed, however, when it was found out that the prisoners they had taken were actually UN employees. Regardless of the fact that the employees were in a restricted area and were found with weapons and drugs, the incident was ridiculed in the media. Colin Powell, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was reportedly so upset he "had to screw myself off the ceiling".{{sfn|Bowden|1999|pp=22, 26}}

Missions followed on 6 September, with a raid on an old Russian compound; 14 September, when they raided the Jialiou house/police station; 17 September, with a raid on Radio Mogadishu; 18 September, a raid on the garages of Osman Atto's (the Somali National Alliance's chief financier); and 21 September when they captured Osman Atto himself.{{sfn|Task Force Ranger AAR|1994|p=3}} Local intelligence assets had given Atto a cane that concealed a hidden locating beacon. Delta operators tracked his vehicle convoy via helicopter and disabled Atto's vehicle with shots to its engine block before taking him into custody. This was also the first known takedown of a moving vehicle from a helicopter.{{sfn|Loeb|2000}}

To obfuscate when exactly a mission would occur, Garrison had the 160th SOAR conduct flights with soldiers aboard multiple times per day so militia could not rely solely on seeing helicopters to know that a raid was going to occur.{{sfn|US forces, Somalia AAR|2003|p=137}}{{sfn|Casper|2001|p=37}} They also varied their insertion and extraction tactics, using various permutations of ground vehicle and helicopter-based infil and exfil.

At approximately 0200 on 25 September, Aidid's men shot down a Black Hawk with an RPG and killed three crew members at New Port near Mogadishu, though the two pilots, who were both injured, managed to escape and evade to reach friendly units. Pakistani and US forces secured the area and were able to evacuate the casualties.{{cite web |last1=Albertson |first1=Mark |title=Not Just Another "Black Hawk Down" |url=http://armyaviationmagazine.com/index.php/history/not-so-current-2/1885-not-just-another-black-hawk-down |website=Army Aviation Magazine |access-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020054820/http://armyaviationmagazine.com/index.php/history/not-so-current-2/1885-not-just-another-black-hawk-down |archive-date=20 October 2020 |date=March 2002}} The helicopter and crew were from 9th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment,{{sfn|US forces, Somalia AAR|2003|p=10}}{{USCongRec|1994|E10|date=13 June 1994}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20220809230431/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-1994-06-13/html/CREC-1994-06-13-pt1-PgE10.htm Archived]{{cite web |last1=Ghiringhelli |first1=Steve |title='We didn't leave anybody behind' – 10th Mountain Division veterans reflect on Mogadishu rescue missi [sic] |url=https://www.army.mil/article/113311/we_didnt_leave_anybody_behind_10th_mountain_division_veterans_reflect_on_mogadishu_rescue_missi |website=US Army |access-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112032419/https://www.army.mil/article/113311/we_didnt_leave_anybody_behind_10th_mountain_division_veterans_reflect_on_mogadishu_rescue_missi |archive-date=12 November 2020 |date=17 October 2013}} and not part of the Task Force Ranger mission, but the helicopter's destruction was still a huge psychological victory for the SNA.{{sfn|Bowden|1999|p=61}}{{sfn|Chun|2012|p=32}}

{{Main|Battle of Mogadishu (1993)}}

File:Black Hawk Down Rangers under fire October 3, 1993.jpg

On the afternoon of 3 October 1993, informed that two lieutenants of Aidid's clan were at a residence in the "Black Sea" neighborhood in Mogadishu,{{Cite book |last=Clinton |first=Bill |title=My Life |title-link=My Life (Clinton autobiography) |publisher=Knopf |year=2004 |isbn=978-0375414572 |location=New York |oclc=55667797 |author-link=Bill Clinton}} the task force sent 19 aircraft, 12 vehicles, and 160 men to capture them. The two Somali lieutenants alongside 22 others were quickly captured and loaded on a convoy of ground vehicles. However, armed militiamen and civilians, some of them women and children, converged on the target area from all over the city. Shortly before the mission was to be concluded, an MH-60 Black Hawk, Super Six One, was shot down by SNA forces using a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). Both of the pilots were killed on impact, but the crew survived the crash landing.{{Cite news |last=Atkinson |first=Rick |author-link=Rick Atkinson |date=1994-01-31 |title=NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CASUALTIES |language=en-US |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/01/31/night-of-a-thousand-casualties/1f0c97b1-1605-46e5-9466-ba3599120c25/ |access-date=2022-08-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409222356/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/01/31/night-of-a-thousand-casualties/1f0c97b1-1605-46e5-9466-ba3599120c25/ |archive-date=9 April 2023}}

Shortly afterward, another Black Hawk helicopter, Super Six Four, was shot down by an RPG fired from the ground. No rescue team was immediately available, and the small surviving crew, including one of the pilots, Michael Durant, couldn't move. Two Delta snipers, Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart, provided cover from a helicopter and repeatedly volunteered to secure the crash site. After a 10th Mountain relief force from the Mogadishu airport was halted and turned back by an SNA ambush, Shughart and Gordon were finally granted permission to be inserted. They made their way to the crash site, quickly establishing a perimeter, and securing the surviving crew. The Black Hawk wreck came under heavy attack from the Somali militia, despite attempts from the 160th helicopters overhead to hold back the crowd. After losing close air support to damage from RPG-7 fire, MSG Gordon, SFC Shughart, and the surviving crew of Super 64 were overrun and killed, save for CW3 Durant who was taken hostage. Shughart and Gordon were both posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions.{{Cite book |last=Wheeler |first=Ed |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/801777620 |title=Doorway to hell : disaster in Somalia |year=2012 |publisher=Frontline Books |isbn=978-1-84832-680-4 |oclc=801777620}}{{sfn|Peterson|2000|p=3-166}}

Meanwhile, the remaining Rangers and Delta operators fought their way to the first crash site. Repeated attempts by the Somalis to overrun US positions were beaten back with heavy small arms fire accompanied by fierce close air support from helicopters. US gunships constantly engaged hostile forces throughout the night, eventually expending nearly 80,000 rounds of ammunition.{{Cite news |last=Izzo |first=Gerry |date=2002 |title=Nightstalker Pilot's Account of 03/04 Oct 1993 |work=The Patriots Herald |url=https://warrantofficerhistory.org/PDF/Blackhawk_down_3-4Oct93.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230620131538/https://warrantofficerhistory.org/PDF/Blackhawk_down_3-4Oct93.pdf |archive-date=20 June 2023}} Consequently the helicopters have been credited with saving US forces from being overrun.{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Major Timothy A. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/923352627 |title=Attack Helicopter Operations In Urban Terrain |date=2014 |publisher=Pickle Partners Publishing |isbn=978-1-78289-523-7 |oclc=923352627}}

A rescue convoy nearly 70 vehicles long was organized and bolstered by hundreds of UNOSOM II forces,{{sfn|Peterson|2000|p=143}} including the 19th Battalion, Royal Malay Regiment (Mech);{{cite book|title=Malaysia Army Weapon Systems Handbook|author= |pages=71–73|publisher= International Business Publications |year=2007 |isbn= 978-1433061806 }} Pakistani 15 FF Regiment and a squadron of M48 Pattons from 19th Lancers;{{Cite magazine |last=Chaudhary |first=Kamal Anwar |date=1 April 2014 |title=The Black Hawk Down |url=https://www.hilal.gov.pk/eng-article/detail/MTQwMA==.html#top |magazine=Hilal English |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030110701/https://www.hilal.gov.pk/web/detail/https: |archive-date=30 October 2022}} and US Army 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry, 10th Mountain Division (which included elements of 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry; 41st Engineer Battalion; and 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation).{{cite web |last1=Bunn |first1=Jennifer |title=10th Mountain Division remembers Battle of Mogadishu 20 years later |url=https://www.army.mil/article/112963/10th_mountain_division_remembers_battle_of_mogadishu_20_years_later |website=US Army |access-date=10 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128082433/https://www.army.mil/article/112963/10th_mountain_division_remembers_battle_of_mogadishu_20_years_later |archive-date=28 November 2020 |date=10 October 2013}}{{cite web |last1=Moore II |first1=Mark A. |title=Fort Drum Soldiers remember Battle of Mogadishu |url=https://www.army.mil/article/176644/fort_drum_soldiers_remember_battle_of_mogadishu |website=US Army |access-date=10 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320193045/https://www.army.mil/article/176644/fort_drum_soldiers_remember_battle_of_mogadishu |archive-date=20 March 2017 |date=13 October 2016}}{{sfn|Baumann|Yates|Washington|2003|p=150}} After hours of heavy combat with the Somalis, the rescue convoy broke through and extracted the besieged forces.

The mission's objective of capturing Aidid's associates was accomplished, but the battle turned out to be the most difficult close combat that US troops had engaged in since the Vietnam War. In the end, four MH-60 Black Hawks were shot down by SNA forces with two crashing in hostile territory. {{sfn|Bowden|1999|p=333}} 18 Americans were killed and 85–97 wounded along with dozens of UNOSOM troops.{{sfn|Bowden|1999|p=301}}{{sfn|Poole|2005|p=57}}{{sfn|US forces, Somalia AAR|2003|p=13}}{{sfn|Task Force Ranger AAR|1994|p=12}} In total, the US forces would suffer an estimated 70% casualty rate from the battle.{{Cite web |last=Pine |first=Art |date=1993-10-07 |title=Mistakes, Miscalculations Cost U.S. Lives in Somalia: Analysts cite flawed U.N. command structure, poor planning and faulty intelligence after 12 GIs died. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-10-07-mn-43287-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605142538/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-10-07-mn-43287-story.html |archive-date=5 June 2023 |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}

Two days after the battle's end, a Somali mortar strike on their compound killed one Delta Force operator and injured another 12–13 members of TF Ranger.{{sfn|Task Force Ranger AAR|1994|p=12}}{{sfn|US forces, Somalia AAR|2003|p=13}}

Somali casualties were estimated to be 314 killed and 812 wounded (including civilians), though figures greatly vary.

The American public, outraged at the losses sustained, demanded a withdrawal.

On 6 October 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton would personally order General Joseph P. Hoar to terminate all combat operations against Somali National Alliance, except in self defence. General Hoar would proceed to relay the stand down order to Generals William F. Garrison of Task Force Ranger and Thomas M. Montgomery of the American Quick Reaction Force. The following day on 7 October, Clinton publicly announced a major change in course in the mission.{{Cite book |last1=Oakley |first1=Robert B. |title=Somalia and Operation Restore Hope: Reflections on Peacemaking and Peacekeeping |last2=Hirsch |first2=John L. |publisher=United States Institute of Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-1-878379-41-2 |pages=127–131 |authorlink=Robert B. Oakley}}

Substantial U.S. forces would be sent to Somalia as short term reinforcements, but all American forces would be withdrawn from the country by the end of March 1994.{{Cite web |title=Chronology {{!}} Ambush in Mogadishu {{!}} FRONTLINE {{!}} PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ambush/etc/cron.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408041320/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ambush/etc/cron.html |archive-date=8 April 2023 |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=PBS}} He would firmly defend American policy in Somalia but admitted that it had been a mistake for American forces to be drawn into the decision "to personalize the conflict" to Aidid. He would go on to reappoint the former U.S. Special Envoy for Somalia Robert B. Oakley to signal the administrations return to focusing on political reconciliation. The stand down order given to U.S. forces in Somalia led other UNOSOM II contingents to effectively avoid any confrontation with the SNA. This led to the majority of UNOSOM patrols in Mogadishu to cease and numerous checkpoints in SNA controlled territory to be abandoned.

On 9 October 1993, Special Envoy Robert B. Oakley arrived in Mogadishu to obtain the release of captured troops and to consolidate a ceasefire with the Somali National Alliance.{{Cite news |last=Hub |first=Mark C. |date=8 October 1993 |title=U.S. AC-130 GUNSHIPS PATROL OVER SOMALI CAPITAL |language=en-US |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/10/08/us-ac-130-gunships-patrol-over-somali-capital/fb9ed5be-d0ab-4aa4-9cad-58479507d392/ |access-date=16 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230910192039/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/10/08/us-ac-130-gunships-patrol-over-somali-capital/fb9ed5be-d0ab-4aa4-9cad-58479507d392/ |archive-date=10 September 2023}} Oakley and General Anthony Zinni would both engage in direct negotiations with representatives of the SNA. It was made clear that the manhunt was over, but that no conditions put forward by the SNA would be accepted for the release of prisoners of war. On 14 October, Aidid announced in a brief appearance on CNN the release of Black Hawk pilot Michael Durant.

Three months later all SNA prisoners in U.N. custody were released including Aidid's lieutenants Omar Salad Elmi and Mohamed Hassan Awale, who had been the targets of the 3 October raid.

US Secretary of Defense Les Aspin resigned his post late in 1993. He was specifically blamed for denying the US Army permission to have its own armor units in place in Somalia, units which might have been able to break through to the trapped soldiers earlier in the battle. US political leaders had, at the time, felt the presence of tanks would taint the peacekeeping image of the mission.

Clinton expressed surprise that the Battle of Mogadishu had even occurred,{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Dana |date=18 April 2014 |title=Bill Clinton 'Surprised' at Black Hawk Down Raid |url=http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/04/bill-clinton-surprised-at-black-hawk-down-raid |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529202339/https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/04/bill-clinton-surprised-at-black-hawk-down-raid/ |archive-date=29 May 2023 |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=ABC News |language=en}} and later claimed that he had decided on a diplomatic solution before the incident. Despite his apparent reservations there had been no direct orders previously given to TF Ranger to halt operations against the SNA.

The Somali National Alliance viewed the Battle of Mogadishu as a victory against the United States and UNOSOM II.{{Cite news |last=Richburg |first=Keith B. |author-link=Keith Richburg |date=1993-10-18 |title=A SOMALI VIEW: 'I AM THE WINNER' |language=en-US |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/10/18/a-somali-view-i-am-the-winner/d27d3887-5298-41a2-8ce3-af199a7e8298/ |access-date=2023-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230910192340/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/10/18/a-somali-view-i-am-the-winner/d27d3887-5298-41a2-8ce3-af199a7e8298/ |archive-date=10 September 2023}} The victory ensured the pullout of US and UN forces and the end to the humanitarian aid which had rescued the country from famine.{{sfn|Bowden|1999|p=334}}{{sfn|Poole|2005|p=69}} Osama bin Laden, who was living in Sudan at the time, cited this operation, in particular the US withdrawal, as an example of American weakness and vulnerability to attack.{{cite web |title=Interview: Osama Bin Laden |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/interview.html |website=Frontline |publisher=PBS |access-date=8 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731221832/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/interview.html |archive-date=31 July 2022 |date=May 1998}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{LOC-general}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite web |last1=Allard |first1=Kenneth |title=Somalia Operations: Lessons Learned |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA286816.pdf |website=Defense Technical Information Center |publisher=National Defense University Press |access-date=8 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808042427/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA286816.pdf |archive-date=8 August 2022 |date=1995}}
• {{cite book |title="My Clan Against the World": U.S. and Coalition Forces in Somalia 1992–1994 |last1=Baumann |first1=Robert |last2=Yates |first2=Lawrence A. |last3=Washington |first3=Versalle F. |publisher=Combat Studies Institute Press |location=Fort Leavenworth, KS |year=2003 |isbn=978-1780396750 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813065718/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA465677.pdf |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA465677.pdf |archive-date=13 August 2021 |oclc=947007769}}
• {{Cite book |last=Bowden |first=Mark |title=Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War |title-link=Black Hawk Down (book) |publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0871137388 |location=Berkeley, CA |author-link=Mark Bowden |id=[https://archive.org/details/blackhawkdownsto0000bowd/page/106/mode/2up Available at Archive.org]}}
• {{cite book |last1=Casper |first1=Lawrence E. |title=Falcon Brigade: Combat and Command in Somalia and Haiti |date=2001 |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers |location=Boulder, CO |isbn=978-1555879457 |oclc=464322147}}
• {{cite book |last1=Chun |first1=Clayton K. S. |title=Gothic Serpent : Black Hawk Down, Mogadishu 1993 |date=2012 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-1849085847 |series=Osprey Raid Series #31}}
• {{cite web |last1=Day |first1=Clifford E. |title=Critical Analysis on the Defeat of Task Force Ranger AU/ACSC/0364/97-03 |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB63/doc10.pdf |website=National Security Archive |publisher=Research Department Air Command and Staff College |access-date=8 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824230421/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB63/doc10.pdf |archive-date=24 August 2017 |date=March 1997}}
• {{cite web |last1=Dolan |first1=Ronald E. |title=A History of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) Chapter IX: Somalia/Operation Gothic Serpent |url=http://helpingsoar.com/history160.htm |website=Helping Soar |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |access-date=8 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724222812/http://helpingsoar.com/history160.htm |archive-date=24 July 2012 |date=October 2001}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Haulman |first1=Daniel L. |author-link1=Daniel L. Haulman |title=The United States Air Force in Somalia, 1992–1995 |journal=Airmen at War |date=6 November 2015 |url=https://www.dafhistory.af.mil/Portals/16/documents/Airmen-at-War/Haulman-USAFSomalia1992-1995.pdf?ver=2016-08-22-131410-337 |access-date=8 August 2022 |publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211210002254/https://www.afhra.af.mil/Portals/16/documents/Airmen-at-War/Haulman-USAFSomalia1992-1995.pdf?ver=2016-08-22-131410-337 |archive-date=10 December 2021}}
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• {{cite journal |last1=Piasecki |first1=Eugene G. |title=If You Liked Beirut, You'll Love MogadishuI * An Introduction to ARSOF in Somalia |journal=Veritas: The Journal of Army Special Operations History |date=2007 |volume=3 |issue=2 |url=https://arsof-history.org/articles/v3n2_like_beirut_love_mogadishu_page_1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024023604/https://arsof-history.org/articles/v3n2_like_beirut_love_mogadishu_page_1.html |archive-date=2020-10-24 |access-date=8 August 2022 |publisher=USASOC Office of the Command Historian |issn=1553-9830}}
• {{cite web |last1=Poole |first1=Walter S. |title=The Effort to Save Somalia August 1992 – March 1994 |url=https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/History/Monographs/Somalia.pdf |date=2005 |publisher=Joint History Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff |access-date=7 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220529215954/https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/History/Monographs/Somalia.pdf |archive-date=29 May 2022}}
• {{cite web |title=Task Force Ranger Operations in Somalia 3–4 October 1993 |url=https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Reading%20Room/International_Security_Affairs/07-A-2365_Task_Force_Ranger_Report_Operations_in_Somalia_1993.pdf |website=Executive Services Directorate – Washington Headquarters Services |publisher=United States Special Operations Command and United States Army Special Operations Command History Offices |access-date=8 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210322004056/https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Reading%20Room/International_Security_Affairs/07-A-2365_Task_Force_Ranger_Report_Operations_in_Somalia_1993.pdf |archive-date=22 March 2021 |date=1 June 1994 |ref={{harvid|Task Force Ranger AAR|1994}}}}
• {{cite book |title=The United Nations and Somalia 1992–1996 |series=The United Nations Blue Book Series |volume=VIII |date=1996 |publisher=United Nations Department of Public Information |location=New York |isbn=978-9211005660 |url=https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/205118?ln=en |access-date=8 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808175618/https://tind-customer-undl.s3.amazonaws.com/1313a501-6196-4fbb-8154-91d2b664a37e?response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27%255EST_%255EDPI_1677-EN.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Expires=86400&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAXL7W7Q3XFWDGQKBB%2F20220808%2Feu-west-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Date=20220808T175617Z&X-Amz-Signature=5d84601b84dbc6711fecb9d89a402e361ba1a52fbb393def6b47285984e50652 |archive-date=8 August 2022 |ref={{harvid|UN and Somalia 1992–1996|1996}}}}
• {{cite web |title=United States Forces, Somalia After Action Report |url=https://history.army.mil/html/documents/somalia/SomaliaAAR.pdf |website=United States Army Center of Military History |access-date=7 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801144138/https://history.army.mil/html/documents/somalia/SomaliaAAR.pdf |archive-date=1 August 2022 |date=2003 |ref={{harvid|US forces, Somalia AAR|2003}}}}

{{Refend}}

{{Authority control}}

Gothic Serpent

Category:Wars involving Somalia

Category:Conflicts in 1993

Category:Presidency of Bill Clinton

Category:20th-century military history of the United States

Category:United States Army Rangers

Category:Urban warfare

Category:1993 in Somalia

Category:United Nations operations in Somalia

Category:1990s crimes in Mogadishu

Category:Battle of Mogadishu (1993)

Category:Pakistan military presence in other countries

Category:Government of Benazir Bhutto