Like many people, I had been enthralled by the recent movie Black Hawk Down. I wrote a review for Dooyoo, which prompted a number of comments. Several people pointed me in the direction of the book on which the film was based and after tracking it down in my local bookshop, I managed to get Ann to buy it for me as a birthday present. I had been told that it would fill in the gaps that the film had left and was really looking forward to reading it. The book is also titled Black Hawk Down and is written by Mark Bowden. I have not read anything by Bowden before but from the notes on the cover, he is also the author of “Doctor Dealer” and ...  Read the complete review

140 elite US soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile African city, their wounded are dying, they are severely outnumbered, and several MH-60/UH-60 extremely high tech BlackHawk helicopters have been downed. This true story by Mark Bowden is a very graphic account of a special operation gone comepltely wrong in the heart of the city of Mogadishu, Somalia, eastern Africa. Late in the afternoon of Sunday 3 October, 1993, 140 elite US soldiers abseiled from helicopters into the dangerous territory of Mogadishu, the battleground of major clans. Their mission was to abduct two top lieutenants of General Mohamed Farrah Aidid, a Somali warlord, it was ...  Read the complete review

In early 1993 there are over 20,000 marines in Somalia as peacekeepers. When they are removed and recycled back to the U.S. as scheduled (but not replaced), the predominant Somali warlord named Aidid begins to confiscate all U.N. relief supplies and eliminate thousands of civilians in a horrific act of genocide (estimated at upwards of 300,000 in only a few months). In September of the same year, the President of the United States orders in the Army?s Delta Force and Ranger units to capture and extract General Aidid within 3 weeks. As this film opens the military is attempting to locate Aidid, plan for his capture and execute a quick strike, daylight plan of ...  Read the complete review

I have always been intestested in military matters, and have been fascinated over the years at how disparity between forces can be overcome by strategy, guile, professionalism, ineptitude on the part of the powerful, or just plain luck. It was Napoleon who said that the only quality he valued in his generals was luck. The Americans have historically not had to rely much on luck, preffering instead to rely on high intensity training, superior arms, and the massive industrial capacity to produce those arms faster and cheaper and better than their opponents. Vietnam was the wake up call that made them get their command and control procedures into ...  Read the complete review

As many of you will probably know, this book forms the basis for the Ridley Scott movie of the same name which was released in 2002 and stars Eric Bana, Josh Hartnett and Tom Sizemore. The book details the events of October 1993 which to a large extent went unnoticed around the world but would have a defining effect on American foreign policy for the next decade. The events which would go on to become known as the Battle of Mogadishu detail how Operation Gothic Serpent, an attempt to abduct the lieutenants of the Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, turned from a short 1 hour operation turned into a 24hr battle that would cost the lives of 18 US servicemen ...  Read the complete review