U.S. Prepares to Pass the Torch in Somalia : After a generally successful relief effort, U.N. will take over

The United Nations is scheduled on May 1 to take over from U.S. soldiers the humanitarian rescue mission known as Operation Restore Hope. That is good news for the thousands of American men and women who will come home. Only time will tell, however, if the huge peacekeeping operation established by the U.N. Security Council will also mean good news for Somalia as the East African nation struggles to rebuild.

The United Nations initially botched its intervention in Somalia. A tardy diplomatic response allowed the civil war to destroy most of the political, economic and social infrastructure in the Horn of Africa nation. Anarchy allowed gun-toting thugs to prevent the delivery of relief supplies to starving families. Finally, the world--primarily the United States--responded.

Most Americans couldn’t find Somalia on a map when disturbing pictures of skeletal children started turning up in the news. Yet this nation--in a fine humanitarian decision by outgoing President George Bush--sent 25,000 troops last December to secure food supply routes and provide other assistance.

In the last four months U.S. soldiers have indeed secured those routes, allowing food, medicine and other essentials to get to people in need. The strong military presence has also restored order, despite huge arsenals and growing anti-U.S. sentiment.

The American military profile, now at 12,000 troops, is expected to drop dramatically if the transfer to U.N. control goes as planned. However, some will remain and an American will handle day-to-day command of the U.N. peacekeeping operation to provide continuity.

U.N. peacekeepers will inherit a semblance of peace among the rival clans and their leaders, although some unrest continues. The new soldiers will be capable of maintaining that order but they cannot restore the government; they cannot establish relations with other countries. Diplomats, assisted by a newly aggressive and impartial U.N. leadership, must complete those tasks. Guided by traditional leaders, known as elders, they must speed negotiations among the competing warlords and mediate agreements to disarm Somalia.

The diplomats, however, cannot be expected to restore electricity, fix the telephone system, staff the post offices, reopen the schools or restock the stores. Somalis must take the lead in these projects. The professional men and women who fled must return from exile to take part in the reconstruction of their homeland. No matter how skilled they are, however, they will need massive outside help.

More than 350,000 Somalis have starved to death since the rebellion that succeeded in ousting the corrupt Mohammed Siad Barre from the presidency mushroomed into a devastating civil war. An additional 100,000 Somalis have been killed in the fighting. And 1.5 million Somalis refugees have fled the fighting, the famine, the disease. The tragedy has been monumental, yet 7 million Somalis survive and some even prosper.

The United States deserves credit for a generally successful operation in Somalia. It is time now, however, to allow the United Nations to take control, to preserve the peace and encourage prosperity.