1982 Ethiopian–Somali Border War

Ethiopia, which lies just to the west of Somalia, has been reported as being neighbors with Somalia as early as the 5th century BC.[4] Relations between Somalia and Ethiopia began as colonial competitors in the eighteenth century.[10] During this time period, territories between the countries were constructed with much debate over which country was the sole owner. This contention culminated in a settlement where Ethiopia gave Somalia a southern strip colonized by Britain yet was granted the controversial and prized Somali region Ogaden.[10] Between the early 19th century and World War II the boundaries of the two countries were constantly disputed, leading to the intervention from the United Nations after the war.[10] The United Nations decided to revert to the colonial boundaries agreement made in the late eighteenth century. Thus enacting the boundary to the previous owner (Ethiopia), due to the agreement being the only recorded settlement between Somalia and Ethiopia.[11]

In 1969, through a military coup following the assassination of the former president Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, Commander Mohamed Siad Barre took power of Somalia.[12] Siad Barre, a self-proclaimed Marxist, quickly aligned himself with the Soviet Union. Siad Barre prioritized party supremacy and created a dictatorship government.[10] In 1977, Somalia attempted to regain control of Ogaden with the support of the Soviet Union. But by 1978 the Soviet Union had switched its allegiance to Ethiopia due to the potential political gain and potential resources.[3] In 1978, backed with Soviet weaponry and Cuban reinforcements, Ethiopia regained control of Ogaden. This resulted in the mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of Somali men and women immigrating from the Ogaden region to the Somali borders.[10] Somalia, despite losing the 1977-78 war, never recognized the international border that places the Ogaden, with its ethnic Somali population, in Ethiopia.[11] This reason, many historians believe is what kept the hate between the two countries.

Following the Soviet Union's change of allegiance from Somalia to Ethiopia in 1978, the United States became reluctant allies to Somalia. The United States came in at a very late stage when Somalia seemingly had no other allies left. The U.S. originally was aligned with Ethiopia, but stopped supplying and equipping the country with support and aid. The U.S. originally thought that in the long term Ethiopia would be a more valuable ally due to its geographical position, its size and influence.[4] Yet both Somalia and Ethiopia were in close proximity to western oil routes, which peaked both of the United States and the Soviet Union's stake in Africa.[4] Both the United States and the Soviet Union had military accord with the separate alliances to their respective countries.[11] America had access to ports and airstrips, while the Soviet Union had military posts scattered throughout Ethiopia by the Red Sea. The extensive and continued involvement of the United States and the Soviet Union in the Horn of Africa was due to the Cold War.

Due to Siad Barre's human rights abuses, the United States was only comfortable with sending light weapons for defense rather than for attack.[4] The Library of Congress Country Study finished in the early 1990s wrote that  “although the United States was prepared to help the Siad Barre regime economically through direct grants, World Bank-sponsored loans, and relaxed International Monetary Fund regulations, the United States hesitated to offer Somalia more military aid than was essential to maintain internal security. The amount of United States military and economic aid to the regime was US$34 million.”[13]

In 1982, approximately 10,000 Ethiopian troops, equipped with Soviet-supplied MIG fighters and T-55 tanks, launched an invasion. They were accompanied by 2,000 to 5,000 Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) rebels, who were similarly armed with tanks and received support from Ethiopian artillery and air forces.[14][9]

The Somali National Army (SNA) committed only 2,500 troops to the border battle.[14] However, Western diplomatic sources estimated the SNA's strength to be around 50,000 at the outset of the campaign. Despite this numerical advantage, the SNA was severely under-equipped and ill-prepared for conflict following serious losses in early 1978 during the Ogaden War.[9]

The Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), also known as the Democratic Front for Salvation of Somalia, was a rebel movement created after Siad Barre's reign as dictator began. In mid-July 1982 the SSDF and Ethiopian forces crossed over the disputed Ogaden region into the Mudug region of Somalia.[4] The Mudug region, located in central Somalia, was the point of attack as any conflict there would threaten to split the country into two halves.[9] The Ethiopian army were able to capture Balanbale and Galdogob.[9] Balanbale and Galdogob were two towns near the capital of the Mudug region, Galcaio. After the successful seizure of Balanbale and Galdogob, Siad Barre and his government declared a state of emergency.[9] Barre appealed for western aid. The United States delivered arms which had been previously offered. The deliveries included M47 Patton main battle tanks. Along with the weapons, the United States also supplied Somalia with economic and military aid totaling over $125 million dollars. In addition, the initially pledged US$45 million in economic and military aid was increased to US$80 million. The new arms were "..not used to repel the Ethiopians, however, but to repress Siad Barre's domestic opponents."[9]

In the years following the border war, President Siad Barre received some verbal support at the Arab League summit in 1982.[9] But ultimately year after year Somalia was challenged by war and economic trouble. Newly formed regional clan and guerilla groups revolted and challenged the Siad Barre government. Siad Barre's regime was also pressured economically by the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Development Programme, and the World Bank to liberalize its economy.[15] The three institutions pressured Somalia to create the free market system, and to devalue the shilling so that its currency would reflect its true value.[15]

Somalia became engulfed in a full scale civil war by 1988. In the words of Conciliation Resources, the collapse of Somalia was “hastened by the ending of the Cold War. As Somalia's strategic importance to the West declined, the foreign aid that had sustained the state was withdrawn. Without the resources needed to maintain the system of patronage politics, Barre lost control of the country and the army. In January 1991 he was ousted from Mogadishu by forces of the United Somali Congress (USC) drawing support from the Hawiye clans in south central Somalia.”[16]

17.Ethiopia-Somali: Continuing Military Imbalance in the Ogaden. (1983). Retrieved January 30, 2020

• Fitzgerald, Nina J. (2002). Somalia; Issues, History, and Bibliography. Nova Publishers. ISBN 9781590332658.
• Metz, Helen (c. 1993). Somalia: A Country Study (PDF). Library of Congress. Retrieved 12 July 2019.

• CIA info
• Laitin Research
• Ethiopia The Somali - Flags, Maps, Economy, History, Climate, Natural Resources, Current Issues, International Agreements, Population, Social Statistics, Political System
• Ethiopia's Invasion of Somalia, 1982–83. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Somali Democratic Republic, 1983 - 48 páginas (Somebody knows the link of this article).