Book Reviews: 1. Black Hawk Down 2. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II 3. Lincoln's Men: How President Lincoln became Father to an Army and a Nation 4. On Killing 5. Rattling the Cage: Toward Legal Rights for Animals 6. Son Thang: An American War Crime

• Author: Major Tyler J. Harder
• Pages: 07

199 MILITARY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 166

BLACK HAWK DOWN1

REVIEWED BY MAJOR TYLER J. HARDER2

By midnight the rescue convoy was getting close. The men pinned down listened to the low rumble of nearly one hundred vehicles, tanks, APC's (armored personnel carriers), and Humvees. The thunderclap of its guns edged ever closer. . . . It was

the wrathful approach of the United States of America, footsteps of the great god of red, white, and blue.3

Black Hawk Down is a riveting account of the "biggest firefight involving American soldiers since Vietnam."4 This book recreates the relatively obscure conflict known as the Battle of the Black Sea.5 The short but intense clash between Task Force Ranger and Somali militia (clansmen) in Mogadishu, Somalia, on 3 October 1993, took the lives of eighteen American soldiers. The passage quoted above refers to the pinned down soldiers of Task Force Ranger awaiting rescue by the Quick Reactionary Force (QRF) convoy (made up of Malaysian, Pakistani, and 10th Mountain Division personnel) on 4 October 1993.6 Mark Bowden successfully places the reader in the African city of Mogadishu and in the midst of authentic guerrilla warfare. Bowden's work is an excellent job of investigative journalism, and although this book reads like fiction, he has arguably written the most accurate accounting of this event to date.

The mission for Task Force Ranger on 3 October 1993 was to capture several senior leaders of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid's clan. The Rangers were to air assault into a crowded downtown area of Mogadishu (the Bakara Market or Black Sea area) in the middle of the afternoon, set

up a perimeter, and secure a city block. Delta Force soldiers would then storm the building on the secured block that, according to intelligence sources, contained the senior leaders. Once Aidid's clansmen were captured, an awaiting convoy of trucks and Humvees would retrieve the entire assault force and return to base.

The Black Hawk helicopters, considered by the Americans to be all but invincible in this third-world environment, were suddenly proven vulnerable as the Somali militia successfully shot the Black Hawks out of the sky with rocket propelled grenades (RPGs). The first helicopter to be hit by an RPG crashed only three blocks from the initial assault, and the members of the assault force and a combat search and rescue team were able to get to the crash site and quickly secure it. Soon after, however, a second Black Hawk (piloted by Chief Warrant Officer Michael Durant7) was struck with an RPG and crashed several blocks further away in the opposite direction from the first crash site. The task force was unable to reach the second crash site and the original plan disintegrated as thousands of angry Somali civilians and armed Somali clansmen converged on the assault force, the convoy, and Durant's downed helicopter.

The book presents, with vivid description, the horrors of combat. The task force convoy was exposed to heavy Somali gunfire throughout its failed attempts to retrieve the assault force from the first crash site and was eventually forced to return to base. The assault force found itself pinned down at the first crash site fighting through the night, waiting for the QRF rescue convoy to reach them, while two Delta Force soldiers8 died at the second crash site courageously trying to save Durant and the other survivors of his crew.

In his epilogue, the author states that he wrote this book for the American soldiers that fought in Mogadishu. When he initially began working on the book in 1996, he wanted "simply to write a dramatic account of the battle."9 He started the project because the story of ninety-nine American soldiers pinned down overnight in an ancient African city fighting for their lives fascinated him. He states, "I wanted to combine the authority of a

historical narrative with the emotion of the memoir, and write a story that read like fiction but was true."10 Once he started this project, however, another purpose inspired its completion.

During his investigative research, Bowden expected to find an official history and after action review of the battle, but he instead discovered that the military had not shown any such interest in analyzing and critiquing the operation. It was as though the Army sought to forget the entire experience; possibly because the battle, although arguably successful from a military perspective, was perceived by most as a failure. The overall failure of the United Nations operation may have contributed somewhat, but certainly the eighteen U.S. fatalities and the disturbing images of dead American soldiers being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu must have served an even greater part in creating this perception of failure. Bowden became driven by a desire to explain that, while the battle may be viewed as a failure, the soldiers did not fail in their mission. The task force did accomplish its mission; they successfully captured Aidid's senior leaders. And in terms of pure numbers, the American death toll of eighteen was minute when compared to the Somali death toll of over five hundred.

The author's desire to address this common perception of failure certainly contributes to a quality product. His account appears to be an extremely accurate and lucid description of events. The news of the battle as reported by many sources merely provided the audience with snapshots of the entire story. Black Hawk Down provides a complete version of what happened. It also provides a convincingly correct version.

Although this book is inconsistent with other reports in certain details, even with reputable military magazines like Soldiers (the official U.S. Army magazine) and The NCO Journal (published by the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy), Bowden's account of events seems more persuasive because of his thorough research. For example, the sequence of events leading up to Durant's capture is significantly different. Delta Force snipers Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart volunteered to drop into the crash site to try and protect Durant and his crew until ground troops could arrive. They were both killed by Somali gunfire. Soldiers magazine and The NCO Journal both indicate SFC Shughart was shot and killed first and MSG Gordon returned to Durant's side to hand him a weapon and to wish him luck before he

(MSG Gordon) too was killed.11 Based upon his research, Bowden concludes the roles of the two NCOs were incorrectly reversed.

Bowden's investigative research is what makes Black Hawk Down so persuasive. His research includes extensive interviews of approximately 100 participants, both Americans and Somalis. Relying on this first-hand information, the actual videotape and recorded radio conversation of the battle,12 and dozens of books and articles, he pieces together the events of the battle in convincing detail. By the end of the book, little doubt is left in the reader's mind that his version is the most credible.

Arguably, the greatest strength of this book is the inclusion of the personal observations and perspectives of the Somalis. Bowden tells the story one piece at a time, moving the reader from scene to scene, often retelling an event two and three times from different participants' recollection. Because the story is told through the eyes of both Americans and Somalis, the reader is forced to empathize with everyone, to include the clansmen. The reader is placed in an objective role as an observer and is given the opportunity to evaluate the Somali perspective and better understand their situation. He writes about one Somali citizen and his experience with a Black Hawk loudly hovering above his house one night while he lay in bed with his pregnant wife. She asks him to feel her stomach; "[h]e felt his son kicking in her womb, as if thrashing with fright."13

He also relates how a baby was blown out of its mother's arms and down the street by a Black Hawk's rotors. These powerful images force the reader to understand why the Somalis came to despise the Americans.

The author's writing enables the reader to visualize the scenes. He describes events in vivid detail to give the reader clear, searing images of the gruesome chaos and extreme emotion experienced by all participants, Americans and Somalis alike. For instance, he describes an RPG striking a truck in the convoy by writing:

It rocketed in from the left, severing Kowalewski's left arm and entering his chest. It didn't explode. The two-foot-long missile embedded itself in Kowalewski, the fins sticking out his left side

under his missing arm, the point sticking out the right side. . . . The cab was black from smoke and Othic could see the rocket fuse glowing from what looked like inside [Kowalewski]."14

The one aspect of this book that possibly detracts from its accuracy is the limited contribution of the Delta Force participants. As Bowden acknowledges, it was difficult for him to get information from the highly-covert special operations unit. He relies almost exclusively on MSG Paul Howe, the only Delta Force operator that agreed to be interviewed, as his source of information regarding the elite unit and its views. He spends considerable time encasing Delta Force in an aura of mystique, and while his portrayal of Delta Force soldiers as highly experienced, fearless, confident, "super soldiers" may be accurate, some of the author's conclusions about Delta Force are questionable. Referring to Delta Force, he writes, "[t]he army would not even speak the word 'Delta.' If you had to refer to them, they were 'operators,' or 'The Dreaded D.' The Rangers, who worshiped them, called them D-boys."15 Based upon the way Bowden presents the two perspectives, the Deltas' and the Rangers', a reader lacking in military experience would likely conclude the Delta perspective to be more accurate. Careful reading, however, lends to the conclusion that MSG Howe was critical of...