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By late nineteen ninety-two, drought and conflict had caused widespread suffering in Somalia.

BUSH: “I want to talk to you today about the tragedy in Somalia, and about a mission that can ease suffering and save lives. Every American has seen the shocking images from Somalia. The scope of suffering there is hard to imagine.

“Already, over a quarter million people have died in the Somali famine. In the months ahead, five times that number, one and a half million people, could starve to death.”

The violence and the collapse of the government were keeping many Somalis from receiving food and other aid.

BUSH: “The security situation has grown worse. The U.N. has been prevented from deploying its initial commitment of troops. In many cases, food from relief flights is being looted upon landing. Food convoys have been hijacked, aid workers assaulted. Ships with food have been subjected to artillery attacks that have prevented them from docking.

“There is no government in Somalia. Law and order have broken down. Anarchy prevails. One image tells the story – Imagine seven thousand tons of food aid, literally bursting out of a warehouse on a dock in Mogadishu, while Somalis starve, less than a kilometer away, because relief workers cannot run the gauntlet of armed gangs roving the city.”

President Bush -- in the last year of his term -- sent American troops to Somalia to assist in the aid efforts.