Somalia Affair - Background

Background

In 1992, Somalia was in the middle of both famine and civil war, and the country was largely embroiled in chaos and domination by warlords, following the collapse of Siad Barre's Marxist government. Relief supplies were frequently stolen by armed gangs, who would hold the goods hostage for the loyalty of the population. As a result, the United Nations requested armed peacekeepers to assist the relief operations.

In the summer of 1992, Brian Mulroney would commit Canada to United Nations Operation in Somalia I (UNOSOM I). Canada was being pressured to make this decision because in the past it had aggressively engaged in Yugoslavia in 1992 and had reached out to Balkan refugees later that year. The heightened media coverage on Somalia had also put more pressure on the Canadian government to mobilize a peacekeeping effort. Thanks to the Mulroney government’s desire to improve conflict resolution mechanisms and for its natural interest in multilateralism and peacekeeping, Canada found the Somali Civil War to fit its foreign policy priorities. Brian Mulroney was himself a ‘Pearsonian’ and a multilateralist who would have a great deal of confidence in the United Nations. Canadian diplomat Geoffrey Pearson argued that “effective multilateral arrangements provide a means to exert influence on major allies and powerful neighbours as well as help maintain peace”. Mulroney’s notion of new internationalism coupled with this notion of multilateralism would see intervention as a moral imperative in cases of intrastate disorder and massive human rights abuse. He commented that it would be ideal for the United Nations to become still more effective and more of an actor in international affairs, since there are certain fundamental rights that all people possess and these should be defended by the international community.

Contributing to the US-led coalition and taking part in the UN force to Somalia seemed to align with Canadian foreign policy and fit Mulroney's vision for peacekeeping, as he was the "principal driver behind Canada's decision to commit itself to the Somalia mission".

Canada would then be among the nations that agreed to send forces. The Minister of External Affairs Barbara McDougall noted that the mandate would be to "shoot first, ask questions later" to try to bring peace to the country. Canadian forces, under the name Operation Deliverance, were sent to Somalia to participate in the American-led Operation Restore Hope. On 4 May 1993, the operation was to come under UN command and was renamed UNOSOM II.

It was decided that the Canadian Airborne Regiment (CAR) would be the contingent sent overseas. The Airborne had long been seen as the elite of the Canadian Forces, and in 1974 had performed admirably in combat operations in Cyprus as well as later peacekeeping tours there. However, General Beno informed General Lewis MacKenzie that training in the CAR was a "critical" problem due to Paul Morneault's leadership. It was debated whether to substitute another regiment, or cancel the mission entirely, but it was finally decided that to admit that the "elite" Canadian forces were incapable of handling a routine mission would have been a "national disgrace".