Into Somalia’s Zone of Death

MOGADISHU WAS A PRELIMINARY; BAIDOA WAS the real thing. Some 70 trucks, jeeps and armored vehicles carried U.S. Marines and French Foreign Legionnaires into that town, in the heart of Somalia’s famine zone, last Wednesday, as helicopter gunships buzzed overhead. The show of force was meant to tell armed looters: You can’t match our firepower, so get lost. So far, Somalia’s gangs have shied away from any shoot-outs with the foreign troops. But armed bandits did steal some food that had been delivered under Marine guard to villages near Baidoa, after the Marines left. Gunmen have reappeared on the streets of Mogadishu too, indicating that the U.S.-led forces may have to get more aggressive about disarming the gangs.

Help is on the way. About 30 nations have now pledged contributions to the Somalia mission, possibly bringing the total force to 50,000. Even the German government says it can constitutionally send 1,500 troops — though to hand out food, not shoot. Even so, there are guarded hints that some U.S. forces will still be in Somalia a year from now. (See related stories beginning on page 22.)