Unlike in previous raids, Çevik Bir, his deputy US Lt Gen Thomas M. Montgomery, and other coalition military leaders decided, after weeks of agonizing, not to issue any warnings prior to the attack. The purpose of this was twofold: first it would, in theory, enable them to fully decapitate the leadership of the SNA; second, it would reduce the risk of friendly casualties. The first reason was pragmatic in nature and based on past experiences where cordons had failed and key SNA targets had slipped away. The second reason was partly pragmatic and partly political. As head of UNOSOM II, retired US Adm Johnathan Howe could have overruled the military, but chose not to as heavier casualties sustained from recent firefights, partly due to the SNA's deliberate use of human shields to test the UN peacekeepers' rules of engagement, had made the force's commanders wary and lowered the bar for acceptable risk to civilians during military operations. Dr. Sebastian Kaempf, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland's Political Science department, argued that by not issuing a warning, UNOSOM II leadership had concluded that military necessity and the perceived risk of US casualties had overruled concerns for Somali civilians.
