American helicopters were a common sight over Mogadishu, and some rebels learned to shoot them down with rockets.

By 1993, the United States had opened Somalia's ports to foreign aid, and the country's warring factions seemed like they might be close to an agreement to restore democracy. However, one warlord was holding out: Mohammed Aidid, whose troops controlled Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. In fact, Aidid had been ordering attacks on UN troops, hoping drive them out of the country.

President Clinton ordered the capture or death of Aidid, and Aidid responded with increased attacks against American and UN troops. Then, on October 3, 1993, the situation escalated into the Battle of Mogadishu. American Special Forces were supposed to fly into Mogadishu on helicopters, raid one of Aidid's bases, and capture two of his top advisers. But the mission was a disaster: Two helicopters were shot down, and the soldiers had to battle through the night to escape the city.

In the aftermath, Somali fighters took the bodies of two American soldiers and dragged them through the streets of Mogadishu. As images of the soldiers' treatment showed up in American newspapers and on nightly news programs, public opinion turned against American intervention in Somalia. Reacting to those negative feelings, President Clinton withdrew American support for the UN mission in Somalia, even though its mission was far from over.

The events of the Battle of Mogadishu were dramatized in the movie Black Hawk Down. American soldiers fought through rebels like these, and some of them didn't make it.

After the American retreat in 1994, UN forces also withdrew from Somalia, and the situation in the country worsened. As of 2014, the Somali Civil War still rages on.

Discuss American involvement in Somalia by answering the following questions: