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US Hostage Held By al Qaeda Killed In Botched Special Ops Rescue Attempt
Overnight, two hostages including an American photojournalist, 33-year-old Luke Sommers, who was held for more than a year by al Qaeda's Yemen branch, as well as a South African teacher, Pierre Korkie, were killed in a botched rescue attempt by US special operations forces. This was the second rescue attempt in as many weeks. According to the WSJ, Luke Somers, 33 years old, was killed by militants, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Saturday. Several members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, were also killed in the raid.
South African teacher Pierre Korkie was also killed in the raid, according to a charity that had been trying to help negotiate his release.
The ill-advised raid had been ordered by President Barack Obama because “there were compelling reasons to believe Mr. Somers’ life was in imminent danger” according to outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel who will be all the more eager to leave the Pentagon after this latest failure which will conclude an administrative career of one debacle after another.
“Both Mr. Somers and a second non-U.S. citizen hostage were murdered by the AQAP terrorists during the course of the operation,” Mr. Hagel said in a statement.
A U.S. official said Mr. Somers was shot by militants as the raid unfolded and wasn’t killed in crossfire. It wasn’t immediately clear where Mr. Somers’s remains were.
The raid took place after AQAP had warned that they would kill Mr. Somers if U.S. forces attempted another “foolish” rescue attempt, in a video statement released Thursday. In the video, an AQAP commander threatened to kill Mr. Somers by the end of the week if their unspecified demands weren’t met.
AQAP was true to its word: Somers was indeed killed after US forces attempted another "foolish" rescue attempt. At least al Qaeda gives out fair warnings.
According to CBS News, the raid was carried out by U.S. Navy SEALs who flew into Yemen on a V-22 Osprey aircraft and hiked to the location where Somers was being held.
CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata reports that a Defense Department official said Somers was apparently shot by his captors during the raid. Something must have alerted Somers' captors of the raid, giving them enough time to shoot Somers and Korkie, D'Agata reports.
When the SEALs reached Somers he was alive but had been badly wounded and died of his wounds by the time he reached a U.S. Navy ship, D'Agata reports. There were no U.S. military casualties, D'Agata reports.
Some background on the killed hostage:
Somers was kidnapped in September 2013 as he left a supermarket in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, said Fakhri al-Arashi, chief editor of the National Yemen, where Somers worked as a copy editor and a freelance photographer during the 2011 uprising in Yemen.
Somers, who was born in Britain, earned a bachelor's degree in creative writing while attending Beloit College in Wisconsin from 2004 through 2007. "He really wanted to understand the world," said Shawn Gillen, an English professor and chairman of Beloit College's journalism program who had Gillen as a student.
Fuad Al Kadas, who called Somers one of his best friends, said Somers spent time in Egypt before finding work in Yemen. Somers started teaching English at a Yemen school but quickly established himself as a one of the few foreign photographers in the country, he said.
"He is a great man with a kind heart who really loves the Yemeni people and the country," Al Kadas wrote in an email from Yemen. He said he last saw Somers the day before he was kidnapped.
"He was so dedicated in trying to help change Yemen's future, to do good things for the people that he didn't leave the country his entire time here," Al Kadas wrote.
This was the second attempt to rescue Somers: In a statement Thursday, Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby acknowledged for the first time that a mysterious U.S. raid last month had sought to rescue Somers but that he turned out not to be at the site. The U.S. considers Yemen's al Qaeda branch to be the world's most dangerous arm of the group as it has been linked to several failed attacks on the U.S. homeland.
Kirby did not elaborate on the joint U.S-Yemeni operation to free Somers, saying details remained classified. However, officials have said the raid targeted a remote al Qaeda safe haven in a desert region near the Saudi border. Eight captives - including Yemenis, a Saudi and an Ethiopian - were freed. Somers, a Briton and four others had been moved days earlier.
More:
Lucy Somers, the photojournalist's sister, told The Associated Press that she and her father learned of her 33-year-old brother's death from FBI agents at 12 a.m. EST Saturday.
"We ask that all of Luke's family members be allowed to mourn in peace," Lucy Somers said from London.
Yemen's national security chief, Maj. Gen. Ali al-Ahmadi, said the militants planned to kill Luke Somers on Saturday.
"Al Qaeda promised to conduct the execution (of Somers) today so there was an attempt to save them but unfortunately they shot the hostage before or during the attack," al-Ahmadi said at a conference in Manama, Bahrain. "He was freed but unfortunately he was dead."
The news of the failed rescue comes after a suspected U.S. drone strike in Yemen killed nine alleged al Qaeda militants early Saturday, a Yemeni security official told the AP before news of Somers' death. The drone struck at dawn in Yemen's southern Shabwa province, hitting a suspected militant hideout, the official said. The official did not elaborate and spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to brief journalists.
Needless to say, the strikes are despised by many in Yemen due to civilian casualties, legitimizing for many the attacks on American interests.
It was not clear as of this writing how many innocent Yemeni people were killed in the latest US strike in Yemen, but what is clear is that in a world in which operators of remote-control fighter jets kill thousands of innocent people half way around the globe with absolute impunity, tragic incidents such as this one will certainly continue.
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Another failed rescue mission...
Something tells me Barry won't be doing his usual "I, I, I, Me, Me, Me..." routine if this comes up the next time he holds court with the press.
Perhaps a cardigan would make an ideal Christmas gift for President Urkel.
RIP to the people in the world risking their lives to follow the story.
Another failed rescue mission...
Shades of Jimmy Carter.
I will say I would rather have died that way than to have my head cut off on TV.
We rescued or eh killed some folks.
Obama’s military..
Following in the footsteps of Carter’s.
http://arlingtoncemetery.net/iran-mission.htm
Another one .. check this out if you have not seen it before..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKCl3lfAx1Q
"Overnight, two hostages including an American photojournalist, 33-year-old Luke Sommers, who was held for more than a year by al Qaeda's Yemen branch, as well as a South African teacher, Pierre Korkie, were killed in a botched rescue attempt by US special operations forces. This was the second rescue attempt in as many weeks. According to the WSJ, Luke Somers, 33 years old, was killed by militants, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Saturday. Several members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, were also killed in the raid."
Glass it. We can drill through that. We have the technology. It even keeps the dust down.
Yeah.
We've been sitting on a big pile of nukes for decades.
Put them to good use.
If somebody gets a few of our cities in retaliation, who cares?
They were all bums anyway.
You folk just don't larn.
Next time get 'M' to run the op...
AQAP. riiiight, how nice for "media" that Al Queda keeps such western soundiing names, there is probably an AQAM (American Mainland) or perhaps AQAH (American Homeland) waiting in the wings too...
Farcial farsi! ;-)
Is anyone buying this tall tail?
mucho machinations behind that theatre screen....biggest chess players aint chinese checkers ie. Go...Chess is game of where you can win even if you lose every one of your pieces but the King...and the jews are set for another fall...that old old European elite was never kosher, lol...... theatre 101.... gotta have the fall guy to blame everything on..
You folk just don't larn,
Next time get 'M' to run the op...
You folk just don't larn,
Next time get 'M' to run the op...
Yeah. The radiation from the blue screen might kill you. Rita Katz does such nice editing for the NeoCons.
http://bigdanblogger.blogspot.com/2014/09/queen-of-fake-bin-laden-videos...
Hey America.....You own it! You're the people that chose to place child, academics with no real world experience in the highest positions of National political power. Now.....you can get back to Dancing With The Stars. Fuck you. From the bottom of my heart. Fuck you!
But Carter actually took a political hit when his rescue failed. Media acts like Obama is separated from these F-ups
Cornell professor: time for white "race suicides" in wake of Ferguson, NYC
http://tinyurl.com/p99wxz9
This is great counsel. All self-loathing whites (who would vote of Oblunder again) should kill themselves.
Note to journalists and aid workers: DO NOT go to the Middle East.
some places in the Middle East are very dangerous, others very safe.
Operationally, this happens when you include the locals in your intelligence gathering and planning. They will give you up every time! Progressive politicians love to play for the local team (Yemen in this case) because they think it is better than having nasty "spies" in foreign lands, but all this will get you is dead Americans and Dead hostages. Note, recruiting, vetting, and running spies is expensive stuff that takes money away from Barry Sotero phones and the welfare economy. Also, this has the benefit to the Administration of embarassing the US military.
There is no replacement for intelligence assets recruited, vetted, and owned by US.
Seriously - do you believe anything these lying criminals tell you?
The military? Oh yeah the guys who have no clue about the Constitutional oath and usurpers.
Sad news but what do you expect from a Navy SEAL team that knows well enough that the Kenyan Obama considers them expendable assets. No problem bumping them off if they know too much, as what happened to those 20 or so SEALs in Afghanistan sent on a phoney helicopter mission, whose sole purpose was to bump off some SEALs suspected of knowing that the real Osama bin Laden was not at Abbotabad. The families of those dead SEALs correctly suspect the helicopter they were on was sabotaged with expolosives. Just like the World Trade Center and the Murrah building.
I don't get it. Why did the Administration care so much about one citizen that it was willing to risk the lives of special forces personnel to rescue him?
I guess photojournalist wasn't the guy's only (or even main) job.
Have you considered the possibility that the photojournalist had learned too much, and that rescue was thus not the true intent of the Navy Seal operation?
Doesn't that sound more consistent with the usual behavior of the US government, which has abandoned its founding principles?
Now the US government and its useful idiots follow the American Progressive Manifesto.
I thought exactly the same thing.
That'd certainly be more like Barry.
We wasted some folks...
back in 2011, the Daily Bell posted this interview from one of its staffers who had been arrested in Yemen`
Lost in a Yemen Jail! ... A DB Staffer Speaks About His Long, Strange Trip and the Secret Gulag America Has Built in the Middle East and Africa
back in 2011, the Daily Bell posted this interview from one of its staffers who had been arrested in Yemen`
Lost in a Yemen Jail! ... A DB Staffer Speaks About His Long, Strange Trip and the Secret Gulag America Has Built in the Middle East and Africa
He learned too much... My Ass.
They state clearly he was not there to take pictures.
He was there to "change things".
He was an agent of change.
I guess they figured it out.
Uh, yeah.
You are missing the obvious. This is just another part of the administration's ongoing purge of the armed forces. The two main threats are the officer corps and the Special Ops guys. The officers are being purged, and the Special Ops guys are getting sent on suicide missions. They obviously tipped off the terrorists here, just like they did when that helicopter full of SEALS got routed through a narrow mountain pass and a bunch of RPG gunners were coincidentally there ready to meet them.
I sure hope you're wrong about the SEALs. That would really be the worst.
buddy, what fucking drugs have you been smoking? take your meds!
" The families of those dead SEALs correctly suspect the helicopter they were on was sabotaged with expolosives. Just like the World Trade Center and the Murrah building."
People with such fertile imaginatins.
Yeah Chinooks are always the best copters for SEALS.
The Nobel Prize Winner bringing sweetness and light to this world. Why would the US be hated in Yemen? Don't they know it is a privilege to be droned by the Nobel Prize Winner while enjoying dinner at an open-air restaurant in Yemen?
Report: Deadly drone strike in Yemen failed to comply with Obama’s rules to protect civiliansA U.S. drone strike in December that killed at least a dozen people in Yemen failed to comply with rules imposed by President Obama last year to protect civilians, according to an investigation by a human rights organization released Thursday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/report-deadly-dron...
Only 4% of drone victims in Pakistan named as al Qaeda membershttp://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2014/10/16/only-4-of-drone-victims-...
I LEARNED that my 16-year-old grandson, Abdulrahman — a United States citizen — had been killed by an American drone strike from news reports the morning after he died.
The missile killed him, his teenage cousin and at least five other civilians on Oct. 14, 2011, while the boys were eating dinner at an open-air restaurant in southern Yemen.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/opinion/the-drone-that-killed-my-grand...
It's funny. These drones are precision weapons, and yet they seem to have the same random effect as would simply carpet bombing the target.
It's almost like they don't really want to hit what they are aiming at.
There's that, but also, "precision" conveniently omits the whole truth.
I believe it was during the first Gulf War that the US entertained the most ignorant dullards among us citizens with videos of 2000 pound precision "smart" bombs going into chimneys.
What they conveniently failed to explain was that regardless of whether they could center that bomb onto a dime or send it down a chimney, every living thing within 1/4 mile or so (if I recall correctly the particular distance) was killed by the force of the blast.
We murdered some innocent folks...
Is it surprising that Barry wants to hold the police officer in Ferguson accountable for decisions made in the heat of battle/split second, and yet doesn't seem to worry about droning innocents in Yemen? Is our new attorney general going to look into this?
Impossible. US special forces always get the job done. Then they eat a breakfast sandwich next to the corpse and watch the President's live address on TV.
Psychopathic U.S. military gets killing job done alright
http://newworldorderg20.wordpress.com/2014/11/27/russia-and-the-u-s-sell-to-both-sides-of-india-pakistan-tension/
http://newworldorderg20.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/the-u-s-gives-russia-free-military-equipment/
http://newworldorderg20.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/pentagon-to-spend-10-billion-on-problem-it-created-create-the-problem-offer-the-solution-war-is-the-new-economy/
http://newworldorderg20.wordpress.com/2014/11/11/whos-paying-pro-war-pundits-follow-the-money-on-both-sides/
http://newworldorderg20.wordpress.com/2014/11/23/chinas-j-31fc-31-is-junk-yet-u-s-claims-they-need-to-spend-more-tax-payer-cash-against-it/
and more......http://newworldorderg20.wordpress.com
The only Spec Ops we hear much about are the failures.
Unless a Vice President opens up his stupid pie hole, that is.
Funny, seems to me all the NeoCon jock sniffers just spent a couple of months masturbating over the fake Bin Laden assassination story. That's what I was referring to in my post above. Apparently it was too obtuse to make sense to most.
USA #1!!!
Peace Prize Prez Pummels Pesky Peasants
War on terror = can drop bombs wherever the cabal would like. How long before one in the US?
Is this one real this time or just more fake beheading etc?
We got some folks killed.
Somers 0
Korkie 0
Darwin 2
Somers, who was born in Britain, earned a bachelor's degree in creative writing while attending Beloit College in Wisconsin from 2004 through 2007. "He really wanted to understand the world," said Shawn Gillen, an English professor and chairman of Beloit College's journalism program who had Gillen as a student.
Mission Accomplished.
While sad, that was my reaction too. Want to go spend quality in Yemen? There are some bad "folks" there.
Bad things happen in this world.
"Touch Yemen, get burned"
"Understand the world...."
That's simple:
0 Place our agents and helpers everywhere
1 Take control of the media and use it in propaganda for our plans
2 Start fights between different races, classes and religions
3 Use bribery, threats and blackmail to get our way
4 Use Freemasonic Lodges to attract potential public officials
5 Appeal to successful people’s egos
6 Appoint puppet leaders who can be controlled by blackmail
7 Replace royal rule with socialist rule, then communism, then despotism
8 Abolish all rights and freedoms, except the right of force by us
9 Sacrifice people (including Jews sometimes) when necessary
10 Eliminate religion; replace it with science and materialism
11 Control the education system to spread deception and destroy intellect
12 Rewrite history to our benefit
13 Use our media to create entertaining distractions
14 Corrupt minds with filth and perversion
15 Encourage people to spy on one another
16 Keep the masses in poverty and perpetual labor
17 Take possession of all wealth, property and [especially] gold
18 Use gold to manipulate the markets
19 Introduce a progressive tax on wealth
20 Replace sound investment with speculation
21 Make long-term interest-bearing loans to governments [FED, IMF, BIS, ECB]
22 Give bad advice to governments and everyone else
23 Blame the victim
http://understandingtheworldtoday.wordpress.com/
I applaude your effort if you are not merely copying and pasting, but your understanding could evolve further by reading None Dare Call it Conspiracy and EndOfInnocence.
End of Innocence link is not working.
Thanks! EndOfInnocence.
I wonder how the domain got changed to ZeroHedge after I pasted the URL.
Obviously he was consipiring with the terrorists and our SPEC OPS had to do what was right.
rather see this than a beheading video... besides a dozen jihadis bought the farm and ace of spades...
"…a dozen jihadis bought the farm…"
Yes, of course, according to the official story...
Which fails to note that those dozen "jihadis," if in fact they actually bought the farm, were most likely funded by the US, and recruited, trained, and equipped by the US, perhaps with help from its "allies."
Especially considering that the mistreatment of journalists and whistleblowers by the current US administration has exceeded any US administration in history, and the fact that the US has decapitated (via flying killer robots) even more innocent people than the "jihadis," and that it recently signed legislation (NDAA) that allows it to secretly execute US citizens on a whim even on US soil — rather than accepting without question the Wall Street Journal version, I'd be more inclined to consider that this photojournalist was deliberately targeted for execution by the US government.
I would rather go that way then let some bacon hating asshole cut off my head.
A surprise drone attack would have gave a better survival %.
They'll bury the bodies at sea and make a movie about it.
/script
Blowback.
Sorrows of the Empire, (a great book BTW), accompanied by the sound of drones.
The US Governement does not bow to demands of terrorists. They prefer to eliminate the terrorist's bargaining chip.
This was the second attempt to rescue Somers: In a statement Thursday, Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby acknowledged for the first time that a mysterious U.S. raid last month had sought to rescue Somers but that he turned out not to be at the site.
Surely it was a good idea to acknowledge that you've already tried and failed once, in order to make absolutely certain the terr'rists will be good and ready for your next attempt.
It's more of a fair fight that way...
If you ONLY pay $1 Trillion dollars a year for defense, you get what you pay for....
It kinda seems more like offense than defense at this point though.
Build a fence around it
Throw in guns and bullets
Look over fence...if more than one person left....add more guns and bullets
When one person is left.....
Shoot 'em.
Chaostan......sorta like LA or Chicago or New Jersey
Actually the trick is to put just the right amount of guns and bullets in the fenced off area to keep the battle going......pretty much forever.
Poor choice of words. "botched" implies that the US military did something wrong. "Failed" is a correct term, as there was no successful outcome for the mission.
I don't know about any of you libtard asskissers, but I would be damn happy and proud to know that the country I live in would be willing to send Navy fucking SEAL's to save my taxpaying ass in a country that is full of dirkka dirkkas.
I don't see no Amnesty International letter writing campaign to get these people out.
And for those who think this is all Obama's fault, give your head a shake.
Damn straight.
Obama armed and funded the the terrorist group that killed the hostages.
But it wasn't "all" his fault.
You live in a country that can't even protect its own borders, yet it guards South Korea's.
Just STFU you stupid neocon. I bet you watch Faux News in your power chair and collect disability and social security while condemning others who work low-paying shit jobs for collecting "government handouts" to supplement their low income. Get the government out of your Medicare is your mantra, huh?
"Kids these days" are "libtards" because they see hyprocrites like you running your mouth acting like the world owes you something. You probably talk about the virtues of hard work while sitting on your ass, doing nothing, because others need to work hard to serve you. I deal with righty tighty neocon crap like you all of the time. I bet its Obama's fault that you forgot to take your meds too, huh?
oh, I'm sorry, did I strike a nerve there? Did you run your EBT card down to zero buying that latest copy of "Vegan News"? You deal with righty tighty neocon crap like me all the time? Jerry! Jerry from the Starbucks? The pimply ass dude who makes my triple choco mocha latte frappacino every morning? I didn't know you were on this site!
Go start the revolution without me. I have a pedicure appointment.
I'm not sure if you read the posts above you, but the vast amount of criticism is not coming from Libtards. In fact the vast majority would consider themselves conservative, or at least not libtards.
Nobody would be sending anybody to get you. You're a nobody. The government doesn't care about you! They wouldn't even send in SEALS to rescue a sitting ambassador who was under attack. You're stuck in a Hollywood movie! SEALS are good but they make mistakes and like most Specs Ops are increasingly spoiled by technology. The Spec Ops of today are nothing like the U.S. Spec Ops of even the early 90's. This mission just shows how much of a failure our leadership is and our country is becoming..... and the lemmings like you keep eating it up and spitting out the faux patriotism!
@BrainlessCarbonRod
For your information, 80% of the folks who visit this site are not liberals or "libtards" as your ave TeaParty literacy level puts it.
For second, You can pretty much guarantee a decision that has this much potential political backlash is run thru the Commander-And-Chief (President Obama) BEFORE the command is given for the operation. In other words, it's basically done on OBAMA's command.
For third, to use your TeaParty lingo, the "f*cktards" of this site forgot to mention that they saved at least SEVEN OTHERS who were being held hostage in that cave, and that the target had been moved VERY SHORTLY before they arrived and ALL the terrorists holding those hostages in the cave were killed.
Now if "W" Bush or Ronald Reagan had ordered this same operation and ended up finding an empty cave and all the US soldiers had killed each other off of ricochet bullets in the cave, all you Republicans would have talked about what a "patriot" "W" BUsh was for murdering the English language 30+ times at the soldiers eulogy.
The real question is why we would pay 10 cents and risk lives to save your durka durka loving ass?
You want to hang out in Shitstainistan, you do it at your own risk.
The sad part that you don't get is that the only reason the Seals were sent in there was for a political win to burnish his 'legacy'.
As if. It's sealed in unbreakble Lexan, clear for everyone to see.
Barry the Loser.
bee-otched.
At least he died knowing someone gave a damn, rather than on his knees having his head carved off with a buck knife.
New bumper sticker: US special operations forces, if I'm captured by militants, DON'T TRY TO RESCUE ME!
dizzy, you have to first leave your mom's basement to be captured.
Moral of story: don't risk your life for banksters.or their minions unless it is to overthow them and take back your country.
q99x2, Spot-On, Survival 101; Don't do stupid shit, in stupid places, with stupid people.
Black Jimmy Carter just had his Iran hostage moment.
Us special forces, not so special, Spetsnaz would kick their fucking Ass.
leon, I'll take $1,000 on the SEALs.
I'll take $2000 on Spetsnaz. The US Mil is a bit too gay and black for any hope of success in much of anything but butchering poorly armed locals.
A fool and his money are soon parted!!
I'm not worried, they'll print moar.
US special forces use all the ability they have to carry out their missions. Spetsnaz use all their ability to complete their missions. Both are composed of human beings with various levels of intelligence and ability. Both are probably similar in the abilities.
Don't buy into the US exceptionalism but don't buy into anybody elses either. These people aren't from the movies. They are trained, they act, that's it.
very well said.
Spetznaz trainees often die in training.
While this takes a good man out of the fight, it also weeds out the least strong.
They have no fear.
Spetsnaz probably would have run into the same issue, but something tells me they would have killed a lot more terrorists.
There are Special Forces then there are Special Operations.
Hey keyboard hero king leon, what's your source of great knowledge of special operations? Did you go to ranger school, airborne school, SFQC, SERE-C? Come on, enlighten me. Or maybe you're just talking out of your ass.
The Spetsnaz did such a great job on the Moscow theater raid, not.
They saved some, but they lost some.
That's statisticly better than complete failure.
If you think your Seals are so great, then Maybe it's your lack of knowledge that's the the problem.
I do not blame him for trying. It didn't work. This failed mission is one of the better thing she has done during his presidency, which says much on another level. Hard choice to send many people to save one. Nice try Mr. President.
I guess the dude gained some "understanding" there at the end.
Yeah, maybe the CIA was not a good choice after all.
It's obvious when the "Special Ops" isn't a phoney Hollywood/DOD production (e.g. killing "Bin Laden") and the real thing. Shades of Jimmy Carter. Wasn't Tom Cruise available ?
For this to succeed you'd have to disable or disarm any guard close to the hostage before he can shoot the hostage.
"Creative Writng" and wanted to "understand the world" - why attempt to put our troups in harms way for another fucking socialist - they are a dime a dozen.
Because our leader in chief is a libtard socialist who believes America belongs to brown people aka minorities.
I'd like to know what the South African President thought of this op? Did Obama take it upon himself as usual without consulting them? Lots of countries pay ransoms.
Considering the word was that the South African was to be released the next day, operation or not?
Probably not very highly. I guess the US didn't want to deal with the terrorists agian.... errr, I mean not have any more "terrorists" worth trading?
These stories are interesting to read, but a minute into it the doubts start to creep in. After all these years of utter lies, I just don't believe any story they (or their media stooges) put out.
The dude might be dead, might be in a dungeon someplace or might not have ever existed at all.
My bad.
Me too. My assumption is that everything we're told is lies unless there's firm evidence to the contrary.
you mean US black ops came out on top of US special ops.
Was Ross Perot and Jimmy Carter involved in this?
Nature of the Business.
it's to bad special forces can't pick their own special commanders.
if your in special forces in todays political foriegn policy your not going to achieve the reason you entered for.
half the world thinks your just american terrorist.
Unfortunately, part of the job description is that you don't get to pick and choose your missions.
It requires an enormous leap of faith that any successful mission will be an honorable service to your country and your fellow citizens to whom you swore to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Given the US track record, it's not a leap that I could or would take.
I can think of 535 worthwhile missions for them right now...
Reminiscent of the Vietnam War mantra..."we had to destroy the village to save it".....
RIP.
There used to be a time when young people doing good work were welcomed as heroes. Unfortunately the dual use by intel agencies around the world, including missionary workers has turned some of them into activists that are suspect, and fair game and a good source of income.
I would not recommend these lines of work for anyone, unless it is here at home, or their respective homes where charity should begin.
Maybe our reporters and teachers overseas should be issued explosive vests.
Theirs are.
Sending underwater demolition specialists into the desert.
Military intelligence.
Maybe the Special Ops team had been diversified? You know, they had to have persons of color, gays, lesbians, transgendered? Why not? That's what's happening everywhere else?
Links have been wiped now, but I read this morning that he was actually due to be released on Sunday. An aid group had been negotiating his release.
I'd rather die knowing I was trying to be rescued than die thinking no one cared.
Hate to see the headlines include “Botched” raid. A bunch of guys risked their asses to save a couple of people they didn’t even know, while the rest of the world doesn’t do a f***ing thing. Got a hostage problem? Terrorist threat? Dial ‘911-CALLUSA and we will pay all expenses and risk our lives; just sit on your asses and watch on T.V.. Let the f***ing Germans, or French, or Italians go do these things for a change, and we will watch on T.V.
Many of these ops carry less than 10% chance for success, but if the hostages are 100% dead anyway, we still try. The advantage always goes to the bad guys, and slowly they learn our tactics; expect us around 3am. They want to die martyrs and want to kill; big plus for them. When the mission fails everyone looks to see what could be done better the next time, but it will always be very risky. Do we want to get ten guys killed attempting to rescue one hostage? And, isn’t there some responsibility for the idiots who go to these cesspool countries to scoop a story or looking for adventure? Let them lose their f***ing heads, maybe they will learn?
p.s. This is not the same issue as dropping bombs and shooting missiles with lots of collateral damage considered to be okay. Just mail their relatives a condolence card and a check.
We do not negotiate for media crap hostages just pay our military with borrowed money to rescue them.
There are many angles to this:
How we are organized to conduct "rescue" operations, what we consider to be a "successful" raid, should civilians be a matter of concern in the first place, and -if they are- whether we should "bargain" for their release or let them languish or try to rescue them.
If we are going to try to rescue civilians when taken hostage, we should have deployed significant military forces on navy ships or in airbases close to the troubled areas, so that response can be quick and decisive. "Surprise' is pointless. Getting on the ground and closing in on hostage takers is most important. These should really be regarded as "search and rescue" missions, similar to actions taken when a pilot is shot down in enemy territory or a Special Forces team has been pinned down, unable to escape on its own.
Success in these operations should be determined in 2 ways: were the captives recovered alive is obvious. But a raid should be a "qualified" success should also if their remains have been recovered while in the process of wiping out the captive-takers. In the long run, this is even better than getting the captive out alive.
The US Gov't. should discourage all civilians from visiting or working in an area where there are terrorist organizations. Further the US Gov't should make it amply clear that the fate of those civilians, who choose to go into these troubled areas, will not be the concern of the US Gov't. It doesn't matter if these people are working for an NGO relief organization, or some religious missionary group. or some media organization.
If the US gov't -for some reason- feels that it serves a greater purpose for it to support or sponsor certain civilian operations, then the civilians operating in dangerous areas should expect both close-in military support and quick negotiations to secure their release, INCLUDING substantial payments to their captors for their release. Meeting with and negotiating with the captors will yield valuable intelligence-related information, which could be applied later toward operations which will lead to apprehension of the terrorist cells who were involved in the capture and release of the civilians.