SOMALI PREMONITION IN REBUILDING HAITI

A year ago, 18 U.S. servicemen were ambushed and killed on a Sunday afternoon in Mogadishu, Somalia. The body of a dead Army Ranger was dragged through the streets -- to the instant and deep revulsion of the American people watching on television. A couple of weeks ago, on another Sunday, 17 people were killed in clashes between rival factions. Death marches on in Somalia. Violence and anarchy continue to engulf a country that really isn't a country.

After the 1992 election, lame duck President George Bush decided to deploy American forces to Somalia for humanitarian purposes -- to feed starving people. But it wasn't just a food supply operation. A civil war was in progress amongst rival clans each seeking to become the dominant political force. A horrid but fundamental, part of their "military" strategy was to use food as a weapon and starvation as a strategy. Distribution of food was impeded by the warring factions to suit their purposes. Thus, if food were to be widely distributed, there would have to be some defusing of the military confrontations.

What began as a mission of mercy became a mission with obvious military and political ramifications. By the time President Bill Clinton came into office, humanitarianism and feeding starving people were but a part of the Somali picture. Nation-building became an additional goal. No sense feeding some people, it was felt, then precipitously withdrawing and allowing the factions to go back to killing each other and, once again, to blocking the distribution of food supplies.

Sensible, most Americans felt, until that fateful Sunday when the stunning television pictures of the bodies of United States soldiers being dragged about caused a jolt in public opinion. No more humanitarianism at such an ugly price -- U.S. out.

United Nations forces stayed on -- 18,000 weak. They have not been able to bring stability to Somalia. Gen. Mohamed Farah Aideed emerges once again as a dominant figure. A year ago he was Public Enemy #1. He was the target of a manhunt by the most elite of U.S. forces. A price was put on his head. For more than a year he had avoided capture despite the most sophisticated and thorough intelligence effort to detect his whereabouts.

Aideed our enemy may become Aideed our friend of convenience. Senior U.S. diplomats and U.N. officials now assist Aideed in meeting with other Somali leaders. More and more Somali watchers are reconciled to the end result that Aideed is likely to become the next strong man of Somalia.

The U.N. is getting very tired of nation-building in Somali. It's frustrating, exceedingly costly and seemingly never-ending. The comforting fictions of a law-abiding democracy, free elections and the open transfer of power have evaporated. Somalia will be ruled by force and, the U.N. people believe, better to get on with it by anointing the best of the worst, Aideed. As with any other bad political deal, you declare victory, and go home.

The U.S. and the U.N. are now off on yet another nation-building exercise in Haiti. Once again, we militarily enter an impoverished nation pretending to turn it into a functioning democracy so imbued with the spirit of capitalism as to generate benefits in all aspects of society.

Haiti is no more a likely success story than Somalia. There is no foundation for democracy in Haiti. There is no base upon which to build a capitalistic system with widespread benefits for all. Our undertaking to create a stable democracy in Haiti is in defiance of the totality of that nation's history.

Haiti's rich families will ultimately dominate the economy. No middle class will emerge. The pitiful poor will remain just as pitiful. As the U.N. operation in Somalia ends on a downbeat note, so in time will the operation in Haiti end well short of the noble goal.

A military mission to preserve order is one thing. A military mission to engage in nation-building is outside the Pentagon's scope of expertise. Indeed, Haiti is a mission outside the capacity of any governmental entity. It is a mission impossible. Somalia is an all-too-recent and foreboding premonition.

~Tom Eagleton is a former U.S. senator from Missouri and a columnist for the Pulitzer Publishing Co.