Somalia and the 'Body-Bag Myth' in American Politics.

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5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to afford a full explanation as to why the |[lsquo]|Somalia incident|[rsquo]| had such a massive impact on US politics and subsequent foreign policy decisions. Why did the raid elicit such a storm of criticism when similar operations such as Beirut (1983), Grenada (1983), Panama (1989), and the Gulf War (1991) did not? Was it because of a negative US public? Was it shock on the part of the Executive or Legislative Branches? Was it because of extreme pressure from one of America's most conservative power bases, the military? Or could it be, that sensing a potential threat to domestic concerns, a Clinton Administration, whose commitment to multilateralism was more diaphanous than dynamic, simply abandoned its policy to the spears, of its critics?
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)552-571
JournalInternational Politics
Volume44
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - 1 Sept 2007

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