Naval Institute panel: Remember lessons from Somalia

Coalition forces in Iraq that will switch from liberators to occupiers if Saddam Hussein's regime collapses would do well to remember the failed attempt at nation-building in Somalia, guests at the Naval Institute's annual seminar in Annapolis were told yesterday.

Two retired military officers who led forces in Somalia and a former journalist who reported from the African nation 10 years ago during Operation Restore Hope said the lessons learned from Somalia could determine whether Operation Iraqi Freedom is deemed a success or failure.

"The goal (in Iraq) has to be bringing the country back to a state of normalcy as quickly...