ABSTRACT

This chapter argues that, judged by the more limited objectives set forth by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and by President Bush in his television address announcing the Somalia intervention in early December 1992, the effort was a success. It addresses one of the central questions raised by the Somalia and by other humanitarian interventions: What was the adverse or salutary affect of the humanitarian relief effort on the political and military situations? The Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), part of USAID, is charged under federal law with leading US government responses to natural and man-made disasters outside the United States. The OFDA field reports of the food and security situations in Somalia in summer 1992 presented a more complex situation than may have been readily apparent. The Somalia intervention did meet limited rehabilitative objectives without a political settlement or the establishment of a national government, which may take many years to accomplish.