Anyone ever catch a show called "The Final Report"? I believe it airs on the National Geographic Channel. Sometimes the topics they cover don't interest me, but I saw one on 9/11 and more on topic one on Black Hawk Down which were quite good imo. The seem to do a fair job of remaining unbiased and have lots of interviews with the commanders/soldiers/agents who were involved.

In Mogadishu, the commanders had apparently requested a handful of tanks but the request was denied by Aspen because he wanted to stick to a drawdown and didn't want to give the appearance of a military buildup. The commander they interviewed (name escapes me atm) seemed to suggest that many/most of the casualties may have been avoided with some heavy armor.

The show suggested that the incident was setup when the US military had essentially completed its initial mission of clearing the way for aid and peacekeepers and began to leave the theater. Meanwhile, the security council decided instead that the entire country should be occupied and stabilized. After Aidid's men attacked and killed a number of Pakistani peace keepers in an ambush, the US force was expected to "deal" with him- even though the same force was reducing it's presence and was a fraction of it's original size by the time.

Feel free to criticize the above as needed.