Itching To Leave

AFTER THREE MONTHS ON SOMALI SOIL, THE U.S.-led forces are heading into the homestretch. U.S. special envoy Robert Oakley took his leave, pronouncing the success of Operation Restore Hope in saving thousands of Somali lives and in bringing an end to the clan warfare that has plagued the country for more than two years. He may have overstated the case. Though the famine has abated, peace remains elusive, and the new U.N. force in Somalia, UNOSOM II, will face continued trouble when it takes command on May 1.

Clan fighting in the southern port town of Kismayu continued, as residents stripped of their rifles by U.S. and Belgian servicemen pelted one another with rocks and lobbed grenades. At least five Somalis were killed and more than two dozen injured.

American troops, shaken by the death of another one of their own when a vehicle hit a land mine, are more than ready to leave. Fallout continues from an incident five weeks ago: Gunnery Sergeant Harry Conde, infuriated when his prescription sunglasses were stripped off by a Somali youth, shot the boy in the abdomen. A military court is now considering whether he used "excessive force."