ANNOUNCER: Bringing you the world for 20 years, this is CNN.</s>GARY STRIEKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The numbers of people dying day by day increased. It did not appear that the situation was going to get any better. The World Food Program, UNICEF, CARE and other relief agencies were flying relief supplies in. It really required a superpower like the United States with enough logistical capability to move the food in in a substantial enough quantity that it would make a difference.</s>BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: Today, the United States began sending relief.</s>STRIEKER: So when the U.S. announced it was going to start supplying food by airlift to Somalia, it made a tremendous difference. It started moving in lots of food into the country, but it did not solve the problem, because once the food got into Somalia, it still had to be moved by land into the places where the food was needed. And the war lords controlled all land routes in the country. It was clear that it was going to be necessary to bring peacekeepers into the country -- peacekeepers who could accompany food shipments, clear land routes, safely so that food could be moved from one place to another to reach the people who needed it.
CNN 20: U.S. Begins Airlift in Somalia, August 28, 1992