http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Barre

Codetalker:There is no doubt the Somali army militarily defeated their Ethiopian counterpart. However, even though the Somalis won the military battle, they lost the more important diplomatic one (the Soviets' switch to Addis Ababa). I agree at th begining of the war we defeated ethiopians,but they received cuban and soviet help so we were defeated by them at the end. Look at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/******_War

Ok but there were cuban troops with ethiopians. Look at this: http://www.******.com/Special_Report.htm The year was 1978. The Horn of Africa had just witnessed the largest mechanized war in Africa since Hitler’s desert Fox, General Rommel rolled his tanks across North Africa. The war was known as the ****** War, and it brought Somalia and Ethiopia to the brink of mutual destruction. Ethiopia, backed by thousands of Cuban troops and Soviet “Advisors†succeeded in ejecting Somali regulars sent into ****** in support of the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) from territory it claimed as it’s owned. Observers at the time point to the fact that what had taken place was a high stakes chess game between the Super Powers in which Somalia and Ethiopia were pawns. At the end of it all, a massive refugee crisis existed and the Somali military, which was no match for Cuban armed troops and their Soviet puppet masters, was in shambles.

Webs about ****** War: http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_188.shtml http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-11987.html I think and it is just my opinion.Ethiopia could not win this war without Cuban and Soviet support. If someone doesnt agree with me I would like to listen to him. And opinions about this war.