Heroism in Black Hawk Down essays

Heroism in Black Hawk Down essays Somalia, an East African country of some 6 million, was decimated by famine and civil war in the early 1990s. International aid groups tried to help, but factional fighting and bandits halted the flow of food. Somalis were dying at an estimated rate of 1,000 per day as cargo ships were shelled, trucks were hijacked, and relief workers were murdered. In December 1992, U.S. President George H. Bush announced that the United States would provide the backbone of a multinational military force to secure supply lines and deliver food to the starving. U.S. troops were not greeted warmly when they arrived in Mogadishu, the seaport capital of Somalia. Gen. Mohamed Farah Aidid was especially opposed to their presence. Despite the volatile situation, military intervention appeared to be helping Somalia. The new U.S. presidential administration of Bill Clinton was determined to forge a lasting solution. Clinton's team supported the passage of U.N. resolution 814, expanding the mandate of U.N. involvement in the country. The violence escalated on June 5, 1993 when Somalis killed 25 Pakistani soldiers in the U.N. force. U.N. forces led by U.S. helicopters continued to attack weapon depots. Aidid's militia struck back, shooting U.S., Pakistani, French, and Italian troops and massacring Somali civilians working for the United Nations. Thoughts of nation building disintegrated as more deaths mounted on both sides and the political situation in Somalia grew increasingly radicalized. The United States sent crack military troops to Mogadishu, including Task Force Ranger and US Army special warfare forces Delta. Their mission: bring stability in the region by targeting the men responsible for these atrocities. On October 3, Task Force Ranger and Delta commandos took positions around a three-story building in Mogadishu that they believed held several of Aidid's top lieutenants. Bl...

How to Use French Punctuation

How to Use French Punctuation Although French and English use nearly all of the same punctuation marks, some of their uses in the two languages are considerably different. Rather than an explanation of the rules of French and English punctuation, this lesson is a simple summary of how French punctuation differs from English. One-Part Punctuation Marks These are very similar in French and English, with a few exceptions. Period or Le Point . In French, the period is not used after abbreviations of measurement:  25 m (mà ¨tres), 12 min (minutes), etc.It can be used to separate the elements of a date:  10 septembre 1973 10.9.1973.When writing numbers, either a period or a space may be used to separate every three digits (where a comma would be used in English):  1,000,000 (English) 1.000.000 or 1 000 000.Its not used to indicate a decimal point (see virgule 1). Commas , In French, the comma is used as a decimal point:  2.5 (English) 2,5 (French).Its not used to separate three digits (see point 3).Whereas in English, the serial comma (the one before and in a list) is optional, it cannot be used in French:  Jai achetà © un livre, deux stylos et du papier.  Not Jai achetà © un livre, deux stylos, et du papier. Note: When  writing numerals, the period and comma are opposites in the two languages:   French English 2,5 (deux virgule cinq)2.500 (deux mille cinq cents) 2.5 (two point five)2,500 (two thousand five hundred) Two-Part Punctuation Marks In French, a space is required both before and after all two- (or more) part punctuation marks and symbols, including : ;  «  » ! ? % $ #. Colon or Les Deux-Points : The colon is much more common in French than in English. It may introduce direct speech; a citation; or the explanation, conclusion, summary, etc. of whatever precedes it. Jean a dit :  « Je veux le faire.  » Jean said, I want to do it.Ce film est trà ¨s intà ©ressant : cest un classique. This movie is interesting: its a classic.  «  » Les Guillemets and - Le Tiret and ... Les Points de Suspension Quotation marks (inverted commas) dont exist in French; the guillemets  «  » are used.   Note that these are actual symbols; they are not just two angle brackets typed together . If you dont know how to type guillemets, see this  page on typing accents. Guillemets are usually used only at the beginning and end of an entire conversation. Unlike in English, where any non-speech is found outside of the quotation marks, in French guillemets do not end when an incidental clause (he said, she smiled, etc.) is added. To indicate that a new person is speaking, atiret (m-dash or em-dash) is added. In English, an interruption or trailing off of speech can be indicated with either atiret or des points de suspension (ellipsis). In French, only the latter is used.  « Salut Jeanne ! dit Pierre. Comment vas-tu ? "Hi Jean!" Pierre says. "How are you?" - Ah, salut Pierre ! crie Jeanne. "Oh, hi Pierre!" shouts Jeanne. - As-tu passà © un bon weekend ? "Did you have a nice weekend?" - Oui, merci, rà ©pond-elle. Mais... "Yes, thanks," she responds. "But- " - Attends, je dois te dire quelque chose d'important  ». "Wait, I have to tell you something important." The tiret can also be used like parentheses, to indicate or emphasize a comment: Paul - mon meilleur ami - va arriver demain. Paul- my best friend- will arrive tomorrow. Le Point-Virgule ; and  Le Point dExclamation ! and  Le Point dInterrogation ? The semi-colon, exclamation point, and question mark are essentially the same in French and English. Je taime; maimes-tu? I love you; do you love me?Au secours! Help!