BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: In Mogadishu, Monday, at least five Somalis were shot and killed by United States Marines. A group of 22 Marines fired into a crowd at a Food Aid center while escorting two United States diplomats who were arriving in bullet-proof cars. At least 13 Somalis were wounded. The United States spokesman in Mogadishu says the Marines acted in self defense after at least two snipers fired from two separate locations. Somali witnesses say the Americans fired first.</s>JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The State Department was pinning blame on Somali gunman for the latest clash involving U.S. troops.</s>MIKE MCCURY, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: The Marines returned fire. There were no U.S. casualties. The Marines believe that they hit at least two of the gunmen firing at them, and our vehicles...</s>MCINTYRE: One of the lessons of Somalia that had to be relearned by the U.S. military is that you can't send peacekeepers to keep peace when there is no peace to keep in the first place. These troops were first sent there on a humanitarian mission, provide relief and food to the famished people of Somalia, but in the end they got in the middle of a civil war, and they were seen as partisans, as taking one side, so that was a prescription for disaster. And these lessons, reinforced by Somalia, were applied when the United States became involved in both Bosnia and Kosovo.
CNN 20: Somalia Clashes, January 31, 1994