European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 15, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday december 15, 1992 Somalia the stars and stripes b Page 9marines get lost in the translation Mogadishu Somalia a the marines Are Here and they May need a few Good men a who can translate. A leaflet the . Forces Are using to win Over the somalian people bears an almost incomprehensible message. A the words Are Good somali a translator Mohamed Abdulle Farah said sunday a but put together in sentences they Don t make any sense. This was t written by a somali. It s  the leaflet has at least three misspelled words one word that does t exist and poor syntax. Copies were distributed sunday in the Village of Bali Dogle where american marines made their first foray out of the capital to secure an Airfield. On one Side the leaflet bears a drawing of a Black american Servic member and a somali shaking hands with a helicopter and a humvee in the background. The message is on the other Side Over the flags of the United nations and the United states. The aim appears to be to assure so Malis that the americans sent under . Auspices to protect Relief shipments to starving people have come As friends. It Speaks of their objective to use their weapons and their soldiers to help somalis. T but asked for a translation Ismael Mohamed the assistant manager of the Saghafi hotel looked at it puzzled Over it and gave it to room clerk Mohamed sheikh Abdi. A maybe he can translate it Mohamed said. A i m somali but my family is from Tanzania. Maybe i Don i use All the same  Abdi read the document reread it then gave up. Ali Ibrahim Mursal a translator came up with an almost credible translation but said that was the Gist of what was written not the words. A it s very bad  Mursal said. The first word is the most noticeable error. It was supposed to read noun aka or Quot world Quot in the phrase a world  the word appeals Asu tonci which Means  might not be successful elsewhere by Donald m. Rothberg a diplomatic writer Washington a Yugoslavia is not Somalia. Neither is Mozambique or Angola or Afghanistan. Those Are important lessons to remember about the .-led Mission to Rescue starving somalis. In its opening Days the intervention spearheaded by . Marine and army units Drew widespread Praise within the troubled East african nation and elsewhere. There was even a suggestion from a senior . Aid official that the operation could serve As a a Model for other interventions of similar  but the value of the intervention in Somalia May be More limited As a Model than the Aid official suggested. To Start with it s doubtful the Model will work elsewhere unless the United states is willing to take the Lead militarily. In addition the conditions and terrain in Somalia Are uniquely suited to the .-led Mission. Gen. Indar Jit Rikhye of India who led several . Peacekeeping forces said he did not believe the somalian operation was a Model that could be repeated elsewhere. A there arc conditions which Are available in Somalia which Are not available in other countries a he said. A this is a desert country. Guerrilla warfare is difficult. The people firing at you Are easily identifiable can be spotted from the air As Well As from the  far different terrain and political circumstances Are found in other troubled countries such As Mozambique Angola and Liberia in Africa and Afghanistan and Cambodia in Asia. Most dissimilar to Somalia arc the mountainous heavily wooded fragments of former Yugoslavia a guerrilla Fig liter s Paradise. Andrew Natsios coordinator of the . Humanitarian Effort in Somalia was More hopeful about whether the somalian intervention could serve As a Model elsewhere. Although he offered a grim picture of the extent of starvation there Natsios cited Progress and said a the introduction of american and Allied troops has changed the Power mix so dramatically that everybody i analysis i is willing to change their seemingly intractable  that View was buttressed less than 24 hours later when two feuding somalian leaders held their first meeting in More than a year and agreed to a cease fire. A . Spokesman called the agreement a a major step in the reconciliation  Natsios said the Somalia operation was in contrast to . Efforts that have generally introduced Small numbers of troops. A the effect has been to not change the balance of Power a he said. A this intervention in Somalia has done the  pressed about whether he was suggesting the United states should Lead other multinational Rescue missions around the world Natsios said Quot i m not suggesting this is a Model we have to follow in each crisis. I m suggesting the International Community May want to follow  i Kavc said he would agree with Natsios that the Sie of the Torch sent into Somalia could serve As a Model. But he said the International Community lacked the Ruso Biccs to act without the United states. Ami would other countries take action without . Participation or leadership Natsios cited former Yugoslavia Ami Cambodia As examples of countries where International efforts Are under Way without . Troops although there Are . Military medical personnel in Croatia who Are treating . Peacekeepers. President elect Clinton made Clear Friday that he thinks Western nations must do More to alter the balance of Power in what was once Yugoslavia. Britain and France which have peacekeeping forces in Bosnia have been resisting a new show of Force. But Clinton said he understood they were moving to modify their positions. If Clinton and president Bush agree on one thing however it is that . Ground forces have no role in the Balkan civil War. Both have talked about using air Power to enforce a no Fly zone and to punish serbs for continued aggression. All weapons and Many of the regions approximately 50,000 residents suffer from malnutrition or disease. But Somalia Schance to pull out of the famine and other human misery caused by War and drought rests on the re establishment of order and Security to enable Farmers to return to their Fields. American marines who arrived last week told the civil War factions of Somalia not to interfere with famine Relief warning that threats against operation restore Hope and Relief convoys would be dealt with harshly. But so far the military action has forced Many armed bands to move into the Interior of the country where no military or civil authority is available for Protection and gunmen terrorize and loot foot warehouses at will. The town of Waajid about i25 Miles Noil i Vest of Mogadishu is considered one of the safest in the country but according to its town leaders that a the result of a militias ability to be As Tough As the technical. Roble Lepor cd that the . Mamie attain in Mogadishu has produced attempts by technical to flee acro a Waajid territory. A we had a column of 2d technical  Liv Lave a Check not Cimic into Waajid a militia is a Holdover from local efforts to drive civil War factions from the area. T Here Are three Road checkpoints each aimed by 60 men and other members of the militia patrol the perimeter of the town. Roble said he needs to know what kind of Security he can expect if the Waajid militia gives we Only heard by radio that marines have come to Somalia a he said. Quot the americans Haven to been in Contact with  town ready for americans to take dressed for combat what the typical american service member wears and carries while in Somalia. Kevlar helmet helmet cover desert hat Field pack Back Frame shoulder straps strap pad sleeping bag w desert coat suspenders Brown undershirt night Parka Parka liner neckerchief m-16 Rifle to quart canteen canteen cover Belt so Vurns in. E of earner i it   a a a desert trousers drawers night trousers a also fragmentation Vest body Armor cover s. A  a a by Bob Klose staff writer Waajid Somalia a residents of this Remote somalian town whose grass roots civil government is maintaining a tenuous line against anarchy Are willing to disarm if the United states promises to take weapons away from gunmen who Are terrorizing much of this War torn nation. A your people Are ready to give up their guns and we Are ready for the americans to come a said Ardullah Andinor a civil Engineer and translator for a town where ak-47 assault rifles Are As common As walking Sticks and where the sound of sporadic gunfire is often heard. A but some of the a technic also Are hiding in the Bush a he said referring to the gangs of bandits and renegade soldiers who with their armed vehicles have hampered efforts to combat drought and famine in Somalia. A what happens when we give up our arms Ami after the americans lease and the technical come Back with guns a he asked. Andinor serving As spokesman and Tinsla to for Waajid mayor Sharif Safi Roble raised those questions amid reports that the Bush administration made a secret agreement with the . Security cd Junul calling on american forces to disarm and pacify waning somalian dans As Well As expedite famine Relief under operation restore Hope. The comment by the mayor made during interviews sunday and monday with five foreign journalists he said were the first to visit his town echoed concerns raised in other Remote regions of the country. The problems of this town Are huge. Famine kills about 50 people a Day officials said. A measles epidemic three weeks ago killed Mure than 400, said the manager of the Irish Relief program concern. To come through a he said. Quot we Point and told them they could our town. They went around. Up its arms. Quot but