page_title: Unified Task Force
section_title: United States
hierarchical_section_title: Unified Task Force / Composition / United States
caption_attribution_description: Image uploaded from http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil/ ID: DDSD0000934 Released to Public Service Depicted: Air Force US President en:George H. W. Bush, left and wearing a desert camouflage en:BDU shirt and cap, walks toward the camera with US Air Force BGEN en:Thomas Mikolajcik, Commander en:AFFOR, right. Other members of the Air Force as well as the media are seen in the background. The President was visiting en:Somalia to witness first hand the efforts of Task Force Somalia that is in direct support of en:Operation Restore Hope. Location: MOGADISHU AIRPORT, SOMALIA (SOM) Date Shot: 01 JAN 1993 Camera Operator: UNKNOWN
context_page_description: The Unified Task Force was a United States-led, United Nations-sanctioned multinational force which operated in Somalia from 5 December 1992 until 4 May 1993. A United States initiative, UNITAF was charged with carrying out United Nations Security Council Resolution 794 to create a protected environment for conducting humanitarian operations in the southern half of the country.
  After the killing of 24 Pakistani peacekeepers in early June, the Security Council changed UNOSOM II's mandate issuing the Resolution 837, which established that UNOSOM troops could use "all necessary measures" to guarantee the delivery of humanitarian aid in accordance to Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.
context_section_description: Prior to Resolution 794, the United States had approached the UN and offered a significant troop contribution to Somalia, with the caveat that these personnel would not be commanded by the UN. Resolution 794 did not specifically identify the U.S. as being responsible for the future task force, but mentioned "the offer by a Member State described in the Secretary-General's letter to the Council of 29 November 1992 (S/24868) concerning the establishment of an operation to create such a secure environment". Resolution 794 was unanimously adopted by the United Nations Security Council on 3 December 1992, and they welcomed the United States offer to help create a secure environment for humanitarian efforts in Somalia. President George H. W. Bush responded to this by initiating Operation Restore Hope on 4 December 1992, under which the United States would assume command in accordance with Resolution 794.
  Larry Freedman, a CIA paramilitary officer from the Special Activities Division, became the first U.S. casualty of the conflict in Somalia when his vehicle struck an anti-tank mine. He had been inserted prior to official U.S. presence on a special reconnaissance mission, serving as a liaison between the U.S. Embassy and the arriving military forces while providing intelligence for both. Freedman was a former Army Delta Force operator and Special Forces soldier and had served in every conflict that the United States was involved in both officially and unofficially since Vietnam. Freedman was awarded the Intelligence Star for extraordinary heroism.
  The first Marines of UNITAF landed on the beaches of Somalia on 9 December 1992 amid a media circus. The press "seemed to know the exact time and place of the Marines' arrival" and waited on the airport runway and beaches to capture the moment.
  Critics of U.S. involvement argued that the U.S. government was intervening so as to gain control of oil concessions for American companies, with a survey of Northeast Africa by the World Bank and UN ranking Somalia second only to Sudan as the top prospective producer. However, no American and UN troops were deployed in proximity to the major oil exploration areas in the northeastern part of the country or the autonomous Somaliland region in the northwest. The intervention happened twenty-two months after the fall of Barre's regime. Other critics explain the intervention as the administration's way to maintain the size and expenditures of the post-Cold War military establishment, to deflect criticism for the president's failure to act in Bosnia, or to leave office on a high note. To many in the administration, the intervention seemed like an optimal case for the use of military force – the chances of success seemed high, while the political risks and the danger to U.S. troops appeared to be limited. Acting Secretary of State Eagleburger described the situation in Somalia as "a tragedy of massive proportions, and, underline this, one that we could do something about.”
caption: President George H. W. Bush and General Thomas Mikolajcik in Somalia
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