The 90's: The Last Great Decade?--Part 2: Friends & Enemies

Part Two: Friends and Enemies

1) Waco: David Koresh vs. the Government
--The ATF, then the FBI tried to enter David Koresh's Branch Davidian compound.  They had 305 guns and there were allegations of child abuse.  When the ATF tried to raid the compound 4 ATF agents were killed and 6 Branch Davidians.

--The FBI then engaged in a 51 day standoff that ended on April 19th, 1993.  The FBI went in, a fire was started (most likely by Koresh) and 50 adults and 25 children died, including Koresh.  This initiated a lot of anti-government sentiment, which contributed in part to the OKC bombing 2 years later on the exact same day.

--Amazingly, Janet Reno, who oversaw this fiasco, was never held accountable.

2) X-Files: The nation's obssession over aliens and ufos.

3) Tonya Harding vs. Nancy Kerrigan
--On January 6th, 1994 someone attacked Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan by whacking her in the knee.  It was discovered that Harding's husband and bodyguard were responsible.  Harding has always denied that she knew anything about the attack beforehand, but many believe that she master minded the whole thing.

4) Jerry Springer and the rise of Trashy Tv Talk Shows
--Jerry Springer went from politics, to news to hosting one of the nation's trashiest talk shows.  The sad part was the world was captivated and his ratings skyrocketed.  He was called the "Mayor of Dysfunction Junction".

5) Black Hawk Down
--I have researched and talked a lot about this event.  It is one of Bill Clinton's many failures which led to Osama Bin Laden's view of the U.S. as a "paper tiger", and ultimately led to 9/11.

6) Medicated America
--Actresses such as Roseanne admit to using prescription drugs for depression and anxiety.  The world learns of a new set of drugs known as SSRI's.

7) The rise of Rap music and Rappers

8) Oklahoma City Bombing
--On April 19, 1995, exactly 2 years after the Waco siege, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols planted a car bomb by the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.  The bombing killed 168 people and injured 600.  Before 9/11 this was the largest terrorist attack in the U.S.

9) The rise of Rush Limbaugh and conservative talk radio
--One of the best things about the 90's.

10) Bill Clinton and the Government Shutdown
--Congress led by Newt Gingrich and the President got into a battle and the government shut down for 27 days at the end of 1995 and the beginning of 1996.  As usual, the media made the Republicans out to be the bad guys, and the Republicans caved.

11) Mobsters John Gotti vs. Sammy the Bull Gravano
--Gotti is the head of the Gambino crime family, and is a media whore who becomes popular until he is brought down by his second in command, Sammy the Bull Gravano.

12) New York City is rescued by Rudy Giuliani
--When Giuliani is elected as Mayor of New York City, crime was at an unbelievable high of  2,200 murders a year.  He implemented a no tolerance policy.  The # of murders per year was 2, 245 in 1990, and by 2010 it had dropped to 536.

--Two very popular Tv shows took place in New York City in the 90's.  Seinfeld is regarded as pre-Giuliani New York City, and Friends is post-Rudy.

13) Howard Stern--Father of a VERY Dysfunctional Family

14) Homosexuality comes out of the closet
--Roseanne and Ellen have gay people coming out of the closet.  The horrific murder of Matthew Shephard who was gay also takes place and gives rise to hate crimes laws.

15) Macarena song takes the country by storm
--Everyone is dancing the macarena.  It helped bring out Latino singers such as Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin.

16) The Internet
--Who knew when this was invented in 1991 (not by Al Gore ;-)) how much it would change our daily lives.  There was confusion on how to use it until Google comes on the scene and gives people an easy way to search the internet.

17) The OJ Simpson car chase, trial and verdict
--91% of Americans watched the verdict live.  It was the country's own version of a soap opera.  And one of the biggest miscarriages of justice.  The message was, if you have enough $, you can get away with murder.

Previously:
Part One: Great Expectations

A Review of "The True Story of Black Hawk Down!"

"Winston Churchill said, 'We'll fight them in the air, we'll fight them in the water, we'll fight them on the beaches, we'll fight them from the cliffs. And we'll never, never surrender.'

Well, this episode sent the message that we'll fight them on the beaches, we'll fight them on the hills, but if they kill a few of our soldiers we'll give up and go away."--Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War

During the Battle of Mogadishu, on October 3-4, 1993, 18 American soldiers were killed and 73 were wounded. Mark Bowden wrote a book about the battle entitled, Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. The book was quickly turned into a movie by Jerry Bruckheimer and Ridley Scott and called, Black Hawk Down.

I own, and have seen the movie numerous times. Yet, it wasn't until this past week that I got a chance to watch the History Channel's, The True Story of Black Hawk Down. It was well done and showed that the movie had been, for the most part, accurate and it made me want to read Bowden's book even more.

It drove home how ruthless the Warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid was in using starvation as a weapon against his own people. President Bush Sr. sent in 20,000 Marines in December of 1992 that were literally able to end the famine. The problems started again when the Marines were replaced by the UN national force.

Finally, it became evident that Aidid needed to be taken care of, but it was taking awhile to get to him. On October 3rd, Task Force Ranger took place and consisted of:

...an assault force made up of US Army Delta Force, Ranger teams, an air element provided by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, four Navy SEAL operators from SEAL Team 6, and members of the Air Force Pararescue/Air Force Combat Controllers, executed an operation which involved traveling from their compound on the outskirts of the city to capture tier one personalities of the Habr Gidr clan, headed by Aidid.

Aidid had the whole city of Mogadishu ready for them. They were able to shoot down 2 of the Black Hawk helicopters and damaged 3 others. Aidid's soldiers also set up numerous blockades so that the American Soldiers were trapped, many of whom were wounded.

When "Nightstalker Pilot" Michael Durant was trapped in a downed helicopter, unable to walk, Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart voluntarily went in to help. Gordon and Shughart literally fended off thousands of Somali's by themselves until they died. They were both posthumously awarded the medal of honor. After watching "The True Story" documentary, I re-watched the movie. When I saw Gordon and Shughart facing all of those Somali's to protect Durant, knowing they wouldn't make it, I got teary eyed. Especially, when I realized that their deaths were in vain because Clinton never allowed the other soldiers to finish the mission.

Mark Bowden said that he's often asked if any of the soldiers are bitter about being a part of the battle. He said they aren't bitter about having been a part of it but, "they're bitter about the fact that the day after this battle, their mission was called off."

Also, U.S. Air Force Combat Controller Dan Schilling had this to say about Clinton's unwillingness to finish the mission and actually go back in and get Aidid:

As the Commander-in-Chief, and leader of this country, which is always the same person, you absolutely have the the obligation to be as strong as the people you send out to die.

OUCH!!

In conclusion, one of Bowden's quotes:

One of the things that struck me working on the story of 'Blackhawk Down' was the tremendous courage and nobility of these young men. None of these young men who were trapped on the streets of Mogadishu, being shot at, wounded and killed had any part in the decision that put them there. They were there representing you and me as American citizens.