US Dropped $10 Billion and 42 American Lives into the Somali Black Hole

If you want a masterclass in how Washington turns a fake crisis into an endless money pit and graveyard for American heroes, look no further than Somalia.

A phony famine [yes seriously] sucked us into the Horn of Africa mess, and decades later, we still can't seem to find the exit door.

Back in 2024, the Biden crew was actually bragging that "the U.S. government is the single largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Somalia." 

Shocker. The year before that we sent $1.1 billion down the drain. And the pattern goes way back. Spending jumped from a modest $103 million under a Republican House to $300 million once Pelosi's Democrats took the wheel. By 2017 we were past half a billion, 2018 topped $800 million, and by 2020, right around the time Rep. Ilhan Omar settled into her congressional seat, we blew past the $1 billion annual mark.

Over the last decade alone we spent $9.3 billion, and since 9/11 we blew over $10 billion. 

Even with the second Trump administration trying to slam the brakes, another $150 million got earmarked for 2025. We've been shoveling "humanitarian" cash at Somalia’s never-ending (and highly questionable) famines, while also making it one of the top recipients of security aid in sub-Saharan Africa, despite plenty of other places being far more chaotic.

Here's the dirty little secret: the explosion in spending tracks perfectly with the rising political clout of Somali immigrants in key American states. And the whole disastrous saga traces straight back to Maine.

Democrat Sen. George Mitchell, partial Lebanese Arab heritage and all, became the chief cheerleader for intervention after the UN manufactured a famine scare, insisting millions of Somalis were "on the brink of starving to death." The former director of OFDA (USAID's predecessor) called it "the worst humanitarian disaster in the world today." 

Reality check: there was no mass famine. Food shortages were isolated to a few rural pockets, not Mogadishu, where we stupidly sent our troops. The real trigger was the fall of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre’s regime and the ensuing civil war. Somali elites, including Rep. Omar's father, one of Barre's colonels, fled to the U.S., landing in places like Minnesota and Maine. They built influence fast and lobbied hard: intervene now, or millions die!

Mitchell pushed the mission like someone pushing a rope as if it's a shopping cart with square wheels. He defended the growing Somali community against immigration restrictions, and refused to pull troops even as things went south. The intervention cost the lives of "thirty American soldiers, four marines, and eight Air Force personnel."

Here's a grim visual reminder of what that political pressure delivered:

Omar: her husband wants her to see other relatives

It quickly morphed into something far uglier: a proxy war pushed by Somali Darod exiles (the clan of Rep. Omar and much of the old ruling class) against Mohamed Farrah Aidid. "Warlord" for sure, but no more than the others. The difference is that he was systematically taking out the Darod power players, and they wanted him gone.

A reluctant President George H.W. Bush caved to the pressure and sent 26,000 troops. Original cost estimate: $200 million, while the actual bill came to $885 million (over $2 billion in today’s dollars). Bush funded it by slashing C-130 production and defense research, a move so stupid that the Democrats loved it.

Then came the UN tether: American forces got tied to Pakistani "peacekeepers" whose government backed Aidid's rivals. They picked a fight over a radio station, sparking a clash. We jumped in to back them up, and boom, the Battle of Mogadishu.

Eighteen Americans killed, bodies dragged through the streets, 84 wounded. The worst single-day loss since Vietnam. And yes, Al Qaeda operatives were right there on the ground. Bin Laden watched, concluded America was paper-tiger weak, and the path to 9/11 got shorter.

The supposed 4.5 million starving Somalis was pure codswallop, just like the UN's later fake-famine claims in Gaza, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen. By 1996 the population had actually grown by about 500,000 since the civil war started. Up nearly 20% by decade's end. Not exactly famine stats. The 300,000 "famine deaths" claim came mostly from malaria, according to aid workers on the ground.

Dozens of American soldiers died for a lie sold by Somali clan operatives here at home.

Now they want us to fund the African Union peacekeeping mission. The UN's latest budget proposal is a "modest" $102.8 million, but costs always balloon.

We're supposedly there to help the Somali regime battle Al-Shabaab (local Al Qaeda flavor). Except it's all clan warfare dressed up as counterterrorism. Al-Shabaab gets Iranian backing; the regime gets Turkey and Qatar. Terrorists fighting terrorists. What could go wrong?

Meanwhile, Somali Christians live in hiding, underground churches, constant death threats. One Somali Christian put it bluntly: "Outwardly, all Somali Muslims must support attacks on Somali Christians because otherwise they may not be seen as Muslim." 

Their scripture dictates it and so they must obey.

Our troops aren't protecting them. They're propping up Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, the same guy who publicly declared "Hamas is not a terrorist outfit but rather a movement for the liberation of its territory and people" and praised the blood in Gaza as heralding the "forthcoming liberation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque."

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Bottom line: America bled treasure and lives for a nonexistent famine, set the stage for 9/11, and got dragged into endless "stabilization" to counter Somali pirates, terrorists, and the very refugees whose communities have cost taxpayers billions through fraud schemes, from Minnesota welfare meal scams ($250 million alone) to housing and autism rackets. 

Somalia's officials got busted embezzling $21 million and branded "very corrupt." Meanwhile, Somalis in Minnesota and Ohio allegedly embezzled billions more, no wonder their foreign minister, UN ambassador, and deputy speaker have all been linked to shady health care companies here.

We gave Somalia billions. Then Somalis took billions from us. After 42 American lives and over $10 billion flushed away, it’s long past time to get Somalia out of America, and get America the hell out of Somalia.

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