On October 3, 1993, “three days after [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin] Powell retired from the military and left office, Army Rangers and Delta Force troops trying to nab [Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah] Aidid[‘s] lieutenants were trapped in downtown Mogadishu [Somalia] and killed in a furious firefight. Eighteen were killed, and in a horrifying spectacle broadcast around the world, Somali crowds dragged two American corpses through the streets in celebration. Powell thought it was a toss-up whether a few armored vehicles would have helped rescue the Rangers, but a Senate Armed Services Committee investigation of the incident later blamed him, along with [Secretary of Defense Les] Aspin, for leaving the troops with insufficient protection.”
– Karen DeYoung, Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell, Page 238