Black Hawk Down

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the world capital of things-gone-completely-to-hell. It was as if the city had been ravaged by some fatal urban disease. The few paved avenues were crumbling and littered with mountains of trash, debris, and the rusted Last weekend I also watched the movie (directed by Ridley Scott) and there's a couple of disconcerting differences, the main being that the movie strips out most of the uncomfortable parts of the book. That is the very strong criticism on the leadership (although Bowden often uses the Delta Force participants to voice it) and the Somali side of the experience. And I think these two points are the most significant in the book, and they explain a lot about what went wrong.

a b c d e f g Finnegan, William (14 March 1999). "A Million Enemies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 October 2000. Gripping read and detailed account of the 1993 horrific operation in Mogadishu that resulted in American soldiers dead and wounded. Before reading this book, the only memory or information I had about the event were the images of two American soldiers being dragged through the streets by the Somalians- courtesy of CNN. TEEN CHOICE AWARDS". NewsOK. August 18, 2002. Archived from the original on October 27, 2014 . Retrieved December 14, 2021. Reading this book felt like I was in the heat of battle. I could visualize each scene with alarming clarity. The author did an outstanding job with this book. Ken Nolan was credited as screenwriter, and others contributed uncredited: Mark Bowden wrote an adaptation of his own book, [9] Stephen Gaghan was hired to do a rewrite, [10] Steven Zaillian [11] and Ezna Sands [12] rewrote the majority of Gaghan and Nolan's work, actor Sam Shepard (MGen. Garrison) rewrote some of his own dialogue, [13] and Eric Roth wrote Josh Hartnett and Eric Bana's concluding speeches. [11] Ken Nolan was on set for four months rewriting his script and the previous work by Gaghan, Zaillian, and Bowden. [14] He was given sole screenwriting credit by a WGA committee. [15]

I have played the computer game, watched the movie at least a couple of times, and finally got the chance to read the book. Trust me, the book is so much better. This is not just a booklover speaking – the movie was really good, but the book does a much better job of bringing out the human elements, insights into the Somali perspective and the aftermath of the mission.

When American soldiers were dropped by helicopter into the Bakara market right in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia on October 3 1993 for a supposedly easy in and out abduction mission they had no idea that they were going to be part of one of the most terrible, long and sustained close-combat firefights since Vietnam war.But Bowden digs deeper. He paints us a picture of the culture and mores of the military, especially these uber-special forces, with their hubris and swaggering bravado. He shows us how this culture either served, or failed to serve, the individuals in this battle. He looks into the justifications and internal survival strategies that soldiers need to do what they do. Yes, these men are generally all upstanding representatives of all that American stands for. But Bowden shows how some of this shiny American code of ethics can flake off as soldiers struggle to stay alive. As is true in any war, the enemy will get sterotyped, marginalized and dehumanized. The Somalis are the Skinnies, the Sammies. They are in the soldiers minds dirty, immoral and contemptible, a viewpoint which ultimately makes it easier for them to do what they have to do. It’s thought several thousands Somalis were killed during the operation although the precise numbers are unclear: the area in which the majority of the fighting took place was densely populated and so casualties included large numbers of civilians as well as militia. 19 US soldiers were killed in action, with a further 73 wounded. 7. The mission was technically a success Although the Americans did manage to capture Omar Salad Elmim and Mohamed Hassan Awale, it’s seen as something of a pyrrhic victory due to the excessive loss of life and disastrous shooting down of two military helicopters.

Niemi, Robert J. (2018). 100 Great War Movies: The Real History Behind the Films. ABC-CLIO. p.34. ISBN 978-1-4408-3385-4.

The account of the warfare is detailed and spools before your inner eye as vividly as any film--it reads like a novel. In his Afterward Bowden writes about how he tried to efface himself from the story, that he tried to "get out of its way." I greatly appreciated that--I think in another book I read recently, Blood Diamonds, the author was too much in the story. This story was seemless and felt authentic--what came through was the voices and humanity and courage of the soldiers. It was hard to read at times--Bowden doesn't pull any punches in graphically relating what bullets and shrapnel does to vulnerable flesh and bone. But you do feel like he gives you the most vivid account of modern warfare possible without going into combat yourself. Bowden shifts the narrative point of view, rapidly and regularly, from one battle participant to the next. Thus, we ride to the battle with Rangers who see themselves as ''predators, heavy metal avengers, unstoppable, invincible,'' A convoy of vehicles is surrounded by militiamen and gets bogged down in fighting. The US troops fight for 14 hours against thousands of Somali militiamen, who are trying to kill them. Finally, the Malaysian and Pakistani forces arrive at the scene as reinforcements. But there aren’t enough seats for everyone on those vehicles so many soldiers have to run out of Mogadishu on foot while still under fire from the militia.