Taking on the Thugs in Somalia

The U.S. promises to feed the hungry and restore hope in Somalia, but Bush's military operation could be the wrong way to do the right thing

ONCE AGAIN THOUSANDS OF AMERIcan soldiers are donning flak jackets and moving into harm's way on a far-off continent. The soldiers of Operation Restore Hope will be spending Christmas in Somalia, and some may die there. Under the United Nations' aegis but their own flag, they will be conducting an experiment in world order: armed peacemaking, rather than peacekeeping. Anarchy rules in Somalia, and the U.N. has resolved specifically to intervene in a nation's domestic affairs to rescue a civilian population that is dying at the rate of a thousand a day, not just from bullets but from starvation as well.

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