Blackhawk Down

Sunday I watched the movie Blackhawk Down for about the 10th time.

I am fully aware that it is a hollywoodized account of events, though from what I've heard and read I think it is much closer to the truth in detail than the major news networks sometimes average, but I'm told by people I trust that it captures the feel of modern urban combat very well indeed, and is very close to the events it portrays in spirit and the big picture.

That was a really long sentance.

Anyway, the movie gets to me. I've seen it enough times by now that I'm able to really follow the individuals through their various scenes, not just absorb the broad picture as I did the first few times through. Each time I see it, something new jumps out at me. This time it was Lt. Col. McKnight being told his people didn't need to go in with the 10th Mountain's relief column. He doesn't even answer, he just goes.

When I watch a movie based on real events, it tends to lead me to look into the real events in more detail. This time I spent several hours surfing wikipedia. I tend to take information on there with a grain of salt, but reading the various estimates of the Somali forces and casaulties really blew my mind. There's an entire order of magnitude of variation between the various estimates. We've got better information for the battle of Agincourt, and that's one of the most disputed battles I know of.

Even the lowball estimates, though, are impressive. At least a thousand militia against 160 US soldiers, but they still took at least 133 dead to the US's 18. Granted, the Rangers, Delta, and 160th SOAR are some of the best troops the US has. But the US troops weren't really trying to kill the enemy; they were just trying to break in and out. And, of course, those are the lowball estimates, and only count the militia. The other flip side is even scarier - over half the US troops were killed or wounded.

It gets to me, every time.