SOME U.S. ACT IS NEEDED TO AID SOMALIA'S PEOPLE

Somalia is there being no other word for it a mess. The African nation is a model of chaotic government, its sovereignty embodied not by elected leaders but feuding warlords. Famine plagues Somalia and starvation infests its people. The question for America, a land dedicated to justice and reaching out to those less fortunate, is this: What can be done to ease the suffering? The answer: Something must be.

The Bush administration has taken a proper, measured and humanitarian step in offering U.S. troops to be part of a multi-national force that assures relief supplies get to Somalia's needy. Though ideally it would be the other way around, the United Nations should follow the American lead and put together a global coalition that holds off the thugs and bandits of Somalia while the nation heals itself. Without such a show of international commitment, this poor nation will continue to suffer at the hands of those who make starving people pawns in a power struggle.

What is at stake in human terms? Hundreds, maybe thousands, of Somalis die each day of hunger, according to relief sources. Some 2 million more people are considered at imminent risk of starvation. Magnifying this brutal circumstance is the fact that this hasn't gone unnoticed; the community of nations has responded with help. Food and medical supplies have been sent to Somalia to feed the starving and heal the sick, but much of it is shanghaied by the nation's roving thieves before it can do its intended good. In this lawless land, the starving Somalis require only protection to get the help they need.

A considerable international force, of which U.S. Marines would be a part, could break this stranglehold that thugs have on the relief efforts. These criminals aren't lightly armed, but nor are they a well-trained fighting force. According to President Bush's coordinator of Somali relief, "(The warlords) may be arrogant, they may be greedy, but they're not stupid. I think they're going to act with restraint."

And what if the U.N. force goes to Somalia and does this job, even doing so with little difficulty? What next? That is part of the complexity of this situation. The problem of Somalia is an impoverished populace and an unstable government, conditions that aren't likely to change with U.N. intervention. Any commitment of U.S. troops should be addressed in the context that fundamental problems in Somalia won't be solved. The parents of American fighting men and women need some assurance that Somalia is not a quagmire.

Still, a hero does not hesitate to pull someone from a burning building because he questions how that person will survive in the future. At this time, millions in Somalia are in a burning building. Ensuring that they get relief seems a feasible task, one that can be undertaken with minimal risk to American lives and one that conforms with our nation's history of not standing by as helpless people are bullied. The United States can't stand by and do nothing in this instance. President Bush was right to act.