The 1982 Ethiopian–Somali Border War occurred between June and August 1982 when Ethiopia, sending a 10,000 man invasion force backed by warplanes and armored units, supported by thousands of SSDF rebels invaded Central Somalia. The United States government responded by speeding up deliveries of light arms and Pattons already promised. In addition, the initially pledged US$45 million in economic and military aid was increased to US$80 million. Background Ethiopia, which lies just to the west of Somalia, has been reported as being neighbors with Somalia as early as the 5th century BC. Relations between Somalia and Ethiopia began as colonial competitors in the eighteenth century. During this time period, territories between the countries were constructed with much debate over which country was the sole owner. This contention culminated in a settlement where Ethiopia gave Somalia a southern strip colonized by Britain yet was granted the controversial and prized Somali region Ogaden. Between the early 19th century and World War II the boundaries of the two countries were constantly disputed, leading to the intervention from the United Nations after the war. The United Nations decided to revert to the colonial boundaries agreement made in the late eighteenth century. Thus enacting the boundary to the previous owner (Ethiopia), due to the agreement being the only recorded settlement between Somalia and Ethiopia. In 1969, through a military coup following the assassination of the former president Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, Commander Mohamed Siad Barre took power of Somalia. Siad Barre, a self-proclaimed Marxist, quickly aligned himself with the Soviet Union. Siad Barre prioritized party supremacy and created a dictatorship government. In 1977, Somalia attempted to regain control of Ogaden with the support of the Soviet Union. But by 1978 the Soviet Union had switched its allegiance to Ethiopia due to the potential political gain and potential resources. In 1978, backed with Soviet weaponry and Cuban reinforcements, Ethiopia regained control of Ogaden. This resulted in the mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of Somali men and women immigrating from the Ogaden region to the Somali borders. Somalia, despite losing the 1977-78 war, never recognized the international border that places the Ogaden, with its ethnic Somali population, in Ethiopia. This reason, many historians believe is what kept the hate between the two countries. Following the Soviet Union's change of allegiance from Somalia to Ethiopia in 1978, the United States became reluctant allies to Somalia. America came in