During the 1990s, Somalia experienced a famine crisis, which many in the West described as a "humanitarian crisis." As always, the hegemon, namely the United States, intervened and helped provide food to the starving Somalis. Seeing starving children caused Westerners to sympathize with these individuals and blame the incompetent Somali government for not doing enough to help its citizens. The intervention was intended to deliver food to Somalia, but this then turned into "mission creep", "the temptation for commanders to chase success and perhaps glory to the next turn by expanding their mandate and overthrowing everyone in their path” (Hoagland, 1: 1993). What was once a humanitarian crisis has now transformed into a nation-building journey. As a result, the entire world witnesses a US Army Ranger tied up and dragged through the streets of Somalia. Somalis, who many saw as starving in the face of a corrupt government, are now seen as bad people. Their culture, beliefs and religion, namely Islam, are all considered evil and the term "terrorists" or "pirates" has come to be associated with them. When conflicts break out in Somalia, the international community is always hesitant to intervene and rather than viewing Somalis as victims, the media portrays them as perpetrators; This is all because a US Army Ranger was dragged in front of the world. Cynthia Mahmood's book, about the Sikh activist, teaches us an important lesson, that Sikhs were not always as violent as they are portrayed. The book teaches us that these are religious people, who have been oppressed for over 500 years and have now returned to violent ways due to social, political, cultural and economic inequalities committed by..... . in the middle of the paper. ....ia. Initially, it started as a humanitarian crisis, but when the Americans tried to build the nation, the Somalis retaliated by dragging an American soldier through their streets. Through this incident, the world came to view Somalia, its people, culture and religion as evil and label them as terrorists. ". Human Rights Quarterly Review. 23.3 (2001): 678-700. Print. Hoagland, Jim. “Beware Mission Drift in Somalia.” The Washington Post. (1993). R17. PrintMahmood , Cynthia K. Fighting for Faith and Nation: Dialogues with Sikh Activists. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997. Internet Resource Thomas, Deborah A. Exceptional Violence: Embodied Citizenship in Transnational Jamaica. North: Duke University Press, 2011. Print.