SOMALIA HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION 1992-1993 by G. P. ...

652 G. P. Valladares
* The forces deployed in Somalia have moved from "deterrance" to head-on
attacks against the forces of one of the parties in conflict, those of General
Mohamed Farah Aidid, and even to his persecution.
* Although the Operation is carried out by United Nations, the USA has almost
always planned and executed the principal operations, and, in particular, when they
were under its own command.
* The typical Peacekeeping Operations provided their personnel with light
equipment and had a mainly deterring role. In Somalia, there has been violent land
deployment of heavy equipment, air raids on specific targets surrounded by civilian
dwellings, missile attacks from US aircarriers launched from the Indian Ocean and
soon.
* Resolution 794 (1992) stated for the first time the authorization for the
Peacekeeping Forces in Somalia to make use of the necessary means to secure an
adequate environment for the supply of humanitarian assistance, which also
involves the possibility to use force in order to attain the said objective.
* Several groups opposed the Operation's General-in-Chief owing to differing
criteria regarding the way to lead the operation.
* The habitual international consensus which the Peacekeeping Forces' operations
meet - we should not forget that they were awarded the 1988 Peace Nobel Prize -
and of which the Operation Restore Hope was also recipient in its beginnings is
currently undergoing criticism and claims directed by a large portion of the
International Community.
Bearing in mind the above-mentioned differences as well as others, many
experts on international matters and the world press have wondered, with deep
concern, whether Somalia was a valid example of what the Secretary-General
considered "a new notion in Peacekeeping Operations".
Taking as a starting point the practice of the United Nations in this matter, as
from the Post-Cold War Period, the Peacekeeping Operations do not follow a
single model and, among them, they pursue different objectives.
It would be appropriate to make a comprehensive analysis of when and under what
circumstances Peacekeeping Operations must be organized.
It is not new to us that the Security Council's determination of the existence
of a threat to International Peace and Security is a political fact. However, we
believe that it does not prevent the United Nations - concerned as it is about
solving