BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In today's "CNN 20" segment, a look back now at U.S. troop arrival in Somalia on this date back in 1992.</s>GARY STRIEKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The advance team of armed U.N. guards from Pakistan were flown to Mogadishu by the U.S. Air Force. Their mission: to stop armed gangs from looting food aid sent by international donors for millions of starving Somalis.</s>STRIEKER: It was very difficult for relief agencies to work in a deteriorating famine situation. The numbers of people dying day by day increased, and it did not appear that the situation was going to get any better.</s>STRIEKER: Relief workers are worried that U.N. troops could trigger a violent backlash against outside intervention here. That could cause a breakdown in the distribution system, with even less food reaching starving Somalis. Some of the powerful clan leaders are strongly opposed to U.N. troops. Much of their power now depends on control over food supplies. They either extort payments from relief agencies to guard food aid or they steal it.</s>STRIEKER: U.N. troops were bound by mandates that did not permit them to track down and eliminate the sources of the problem. It became clear to the Somalis these people were really powerless. The current situation now is that there is virtually no government in the country. Somalia has really retrogressed. It's got to start over completely from the very beginning in nation building.
CNN 20: U.N. Troops Arrive in Somalia, September 14, 1992