In an unearthed 2017 tweet, Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar shamefully ravaged the memory of the 19 soldiers killed in Mogadishu in the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” mission.

In his selective memory, he forgets to also mention the thousands of Somalis killed by the American forces that day! #NotTodaySatan https://t.co/wrFocrZymQ

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) October 16, 2017

Evidently, #NotTodaySatan is a direct, hateful jab at U.S. forces and at America in general … as “The Great Satan” is a common derogatory epithet used by Iran and others to describe the United States.

Omar is a Minnesota Democrat congresswoman today and was a Minnesota state representative in 2017. Her tweet was in response to another tweet about the Battle of Mogadishu, resulting from a 1993 UN humanitarian operation by the U.S. military. The objective of that mission was to save starving Somalis by preventing food and aid from being captured by enemy combatants. The battle ultimately took the lives of 19 American soldiers and wounded 73 others, and was the basis for the movie “Black Hawk Down.”

Omar referenced “thousands of Somalis killed by American forces that day!” By all accounts, that is just plain wrong.

According to Fox News, “A representative of the Somali National Alliance estimated that only 133 militiamen were killed during a 2001 interview, while “Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War” author Mark Bowden estimated roughly 500 Somalis were killed. As the Investigative Project on Terrorism also noted, the Rand Corporation reported that about 300 civilians were killed while others estimated nearly 1,000.”

The Battle of Mogadishu is recognized as the most intense close combat in the last 50 years.

The Somalian government had been overthrown in a civil war in 1993 and the UN Security Council authorized a military peacekeeping operation. As most of the peacekeepers were withdrawn, a militia group loyal to Mohamed Farrah Aidid declared war on the remaining UN forces and began seizing Red Cross food shipments. The US Army deployed several special ops forces in a mission to capture Aidid, who had declared himself president, as well as his top aides.

Omar is a Somali refugee who came to Minnesota as a child. Her continuing theme as an elected official is that the U.S. and her people are villains. Her cause is not helped by an ongoing series of misstatements and controversial, racist accusations she has become well-known for.

The Investigative Project on Terrorism , (IPT) which initially broke the news of the rediscovery of Omar’s tweet, brings in expert testimony to the subject …

Her tweet saying that “thousands of Somalis [were] killed by the American forces” exaggerated the Somali death toll and omitted important context.

It completely missed the point of the U.S. involvement in Somalia, retired Chief Warrant Officer Mike Durant, who was shot down in Mogadishu on Oct. 3, 1993 and held captive by the militia loyal to Somali warlord Gen. Mohammed Farah Aidid, told the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT). The U.S. military was in Somalia as part of a humanitarian mission to save starving Somalis and protect food and aid from being stolen by warring factions.

Somali casualty counts vary dramatically, in part due to the nature of the battle. But few credible estimates place the figure anywhere near the “thousands” Omar claimed were killed.

Durant said, “Losses taken on the Somali side came as a result of their attempts to ambush our ground convoy and flight of aircraft. Our forces, being vastly outnumbered, fought to save their own lives. All the Somali militia had to do was walk away, but they persisted.”

John Rossomando, IPT News reporter, wrote:

Durant’s Black Hawk helicopter, code named “Super 6-4,” was shot down after a rocket-propelled grenade hit its tail rotor. Durant was injured and ran out of ammunition fighting back as a human wave of militia approached. Delta Force snipers Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon were killed when they joined him trying to keep the Somali militia at bay. Each was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The Somali mob dragged their bodies through the streets of Mogadishu. Durant ultimately was captured and held by Aidid’s militia for 11 days before being released in a prisoner exchange.

Aidid, the mission’s target, was considered a prime culprit in worsening the suffering among Somalia’s people, Durant said. When the country’s government collapsed into anarchy in 1991, more than 300,000 Somalis fell victim to the subsequent famine.

“Relief organizations from the U.S. and our international partners went to Somalia to try to end the widespread suffering and death from starvation of hundreds of thousands of Somali people,” Durant said. “The mission was an overwhelming success. Without harming a single Somali or destroying any property the military force was able to provide security, open the supply lines and get food, medicine and assistance to the Somali people, effectively ending their suffering. Had the story ended there, Somalia could have gone down as one of the most successful peacekeeping efforts in our military’s history.”

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Victor Rantala

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Victor Rantala is an Army vet who lives in Minnesota, he is a former intelligence analyst and business owner, and is an NRA Life member who is officially retired but has yet to slow his roll.

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