European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 27, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Over Here j chief warrant officer Michael Durant captured during the fierce oct 3 Battle became a National hero a. 1 a a a a. Death Rescue and v memories in Mogadishu by Vince Crawley staff writer ver in Martin Barracks a named for pfc. James Henry Martin jr., killed in action the night of oct. 3 in Mogadishu a the infantrymen of Alpha company Don t use the word failure to describe the bitter Street Battle that changed american policy in Somalia. Quot our Mission was a Success Quot capt. Drew Meyerowich said late last month in Mogadishu. Quot we had to go in and Rescue task Force Ranger and we did that. We had to fight our Way in. We accomplished our objective. And when we wanted to leave we fought our Way  Meyerowich who commands co a lost two soldiers killed and 12 wounded in a six hour firefight that he credits for rescuing 120 rangers. His company is part of the 2nd in 14th inf Reg Touton fort drum . On the weekend before Christmas the unit was part of the first group of combat soldiers to be sent Home from Somalia As part of president Clinton s March 31 deadline to withdraw All but a few Hundred logistics troops from the Horn of Africa. Eighteen americans were killed and 70 wounded in the oct 3 raid that ended the United nations Hunt for Mohamed Farrah aided the somali faction Leader whom the , blames for numerous attacks on coalition forces beginning with the june ambush that killed 24 pakistani peacekeepers. The red Cross estimates that More than 300 somalis were killed and 700 wounded in the oct. 3 and 4 fighting with american forces in downtown Mogadishu and former . Envoy Robert Oakley says that As Many As 10,000 somalis were killed in Battles with the , Between june and october. The . Does not officially count somali casualties and a spokesman for aided places the figure at about 7,000. After aided s somali National Alliance suffered heavy casualties in the oct. 3 Battle Quot he realized he needed to regroup Quot Meyerowich said. Quot i m not saying he was Defeated. I think the ceasefire established him As a political Leader in this  aided whose militia played a major role in overthrowing Somalia s former military dictatorship did not need a tactical Victory to win the engagement the Captain said. Rather All the somali Leader needed to do was inflict enough american casualties to Sway Public  the states. Quot think aided is not stupid Quot Meyerowich said. Quot he did t need to defeat . Soldiers. He can never defeat a .  sunday oct. 3, began with violence. A belgian peacekeeper was killed by sniper fire North of the City and a , vehicle was attacked by a Remote controlled mine near the Mogadishu port killing one . Civilian and injuring three . Marines. At about 1 30 p.m., according to Pentagon accounts . Rangers at the Airport were Given orders to prepare for a raid downtown. Intelligence sources reported that top ranking aided officials were meeting at the olympic hotel three to four Miles North of the Airport. The beginning of the Mission went As planned. At 3 30 p.m., a detachment of about 100 rangers swooped in by helicopter sliding Down ropes from the hovering aircraft and storming the dilapidated olympic hotel. Despite sporadic gunfire they captured about 20 somalis and waited for a or ounce Convoy of rangers to take away the. Continued on Poge 16 closer look youth destroyed in Somalia conflict by Paul Alexander associated press Mogadishu Somalia a in most catastrophes the resilience of youth is the Hope of the future. In Somalia even that Hope is faint. An estimated one fourth of children under age 5 died in 1982, tens of thousands will have physical or psychological problems the rest of their lives because of malnutrition disease and the horrors of War. Few have been to school in four years so tomorrow depends of Street Tough kids who Are picking up the violent habits bred by generations of clan conflict in this East african land of Sun dust and blood. These Are the children the world rallied to help after their emaciated images appeared on television and in newspapers. Food and . Soldiers arrived but the clans never let go. Only recently does the United nations seem to have Learned the important painful lesson never underestimate the strength of clan loyalties which Are More powerful than anything else in somali society including religion. Gen. Mohamed Farrah aided the warlord who controls Southern Mogadishu has used that Lack of understanding time and again to rebuild his waning influence kill foreign soldiers change . Policy Force the United nations to drop a warrant for his arrest and push his Way Back into politics. Failure to learn the lesson soon enough and the . Attempt to impose a Western solution that just won t work in Somalia May have doomed the Effort that began in december 1992 with the arrival of a .-led Force. An estimated 350,000 people died in 1992 from civil War malnutrition and disease. Starvation has virtually ended but there Are fears that the gains Wilt dissipate along with the first . Attempt at at nation building after the last . Troops leave by March 31. The United nations is having trouble finding replacements. Conditions have improved in much of the Countryside but peace in Mogadishu remains elusive. The police Force is weak. Assault rifles which vanished from the streets during the Days of patrols by . Marines Are Back again. Clan fighting Bandit attacks and occasional sniping at foreign troops show How Little has really changed. . Officials say they believe International terrorists probably from the Muslim fundamentalist group Hezbollah Are in Mogadishu to exploit the situation. A did rallied his clan behind a Clever Campaign to portray the United nations As Somalia a newest faction led by Jonathan a Howe the retired american Admiral who Heads the . Mission. Howe played into the warlord s hands by personalizing the conflict with a $25,000 Reward for aided. The deaths of 18 americans in a firefight oct. 3 that Cost an estimated 300 somali lives led president Clinton to switch thie emphasis to diplomacy. Aided blamed by the United nations for attacks that have killed dozens of peacekeepers since june 5, now holds news conferences with no fear of arrest. Some even say aided could be Somalia a next president if the country can get organized enough to hold elections. Monday december 27, 1993 the stars and stripes 15