SOMALIA: War in a Barren Wasteland

The Ogaden rebels fight on against Moscow's Ethiopian allies

In a small but calculated display of muscle flexing, Washington let it be known last week that an 1,800-man Marine amphibious unit would soon be dispatched to the Arabian Sea for military exercises, probably in conjunction with the 21 U.S. Navy ships patrolling the Indian Ocean. At the same time, the Carter Administration disclosed that the U.S., in exchange for an undetermined amount of aid, had obtained tentative rights to use air and naval facilities in three countries along the Asian-African "crescent of crisis":...