Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, was a Navy physician on the U.S.S. El Paso, which served in Operation Restore Hope in late July 1993, almost two months before the Battle of Mogadishu. He says he can't watch the Black Hawk Down movie because he knew many people who served in the Somalia operation.
Omar's 2017 comment "clarifies the narrative with which she speaks about America," Jasser said. "Her reflexive response was that America killed thousands. I'm especially sensitive about this because I'm a member of the VFW because of my service.
"My ship deployed to Mogadishu, and we were there to help after a famine."
Omar's comment promotes the Islamist narrative that the American military is evil, and that, at best, the U.S. only looks out for itself instead of humanitarian interests, Jasser said.
"If anyone ended up killing people it was the response of Aidid's guys that ended up doing that," Jasser said. Omar's criticism of U.S. soldiers is symptomatic of what he sees as her anti-Americanism.
"I'm particularly offended as an American and as a Muslim that nobody is holding her accountable for these radical views that really view our soldiers as the problem rather than the solution," Jasser said. "She doesn't see terror groups as an issue. She's asked for lighter sentencing for ISIS war criminals. She ignores Al-Shabaab recruitment from her district – the highest in the U.S. – and fought our CVE programs there with CAIR."