THE FIRST IMAGES CAST an antic light on Operation Restore Hope. As Navy SEALs waded ashore in the moonlight, their faces blackened with camouflage paint, their bodies braced for confrontation, they were met and blinded by the glare of television lights. But the farcical aspect of the first live military landing soon faded as the troops fanned out from their beachhead into the anarchic city of Mogadishu. By daylight, the airport was secured, the city port occupied, and for the first time in two years, most of the firepower belonged to friendlies. Though it had barely begun, the U.S. operation had...
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