Dinner with...

...Smash and Glenn Reynolds.

Blackhawk Down...

...author Mark Bowden on al-Qaeda involvement in the Mogadishu battle. I believe his estimate of the degree of that involvement is accurate, though the appraisal of the impact - on that specific battle and subsequent events - may be incalculable. (Small ripples that expand with time...)

Likewise I'm sure that involvement was unknown to American intel (and any other) agencies at the time. I recall being utterly baffled by the hostility expressed by the apparent beneficiaries of our attempts to bring food to the starving. In hindsight it's perfectly clear, of course, and by 1998 the pieces to the puzzle were all available - but as much as we'd like to we can't use even the best information to change events in the past.

Update: More background, via comments. I don't recall the referenced precursor event getting much press coverage at the time - or in the aftermath of the later battle.