Hostage rescue, and no “Gutsy call” statement from VP?
Four hostages have been rescued by Special Forces who carried a long nighttime forced march and a firefight to release them. Oddly there are no ‘tense’ situation room scenes, nor ‘gutsy call’ statements from the leadership, and the only kudos apparent was given to the troops involved. A possible explanation might be; this one was carried out by the British SAS:
BRITAIN'S Special Air Service made a daring night-time march across the mountains in Afghanistan in a “breathtaking” operation to free the British aid worker Helen Johnston and three other hostages, David Cameron has revealed. … More than 10 of the heavily armed kidnappers were killed.The action was part of a joint UK/ US operation in which the American Special Forces attacked another area where it was thought hostages could be located:
The SAS opted for what Mr Cameron called their “long route march at night” because they did not want to tip off the hostage-takers by arriving in a helicopter. A helicopter raid to rescue another British aid worker, Linda Norgrove, in 2010 backfired disastrously. The Taliban panicked when they heard the helicopters and Norgrove was killed in the ensuing chaos. …
In a significant toughening of the government's stance towards those who kidnap Britons, Mr Cameron said the outcome served as a warning that such groups could expect “a swift and brutal end.”
A contingent of British and American special forces supported by a dozens more paratroopers had been flown by helicopter into the area early in the week. While the American special forces headed towards the cave complex, about 30 British SAS undertook a long march to the mud hut compound.
The Americans found a group of kidnappers in the caves and killed them. But there were no hostages.
At about the same time the British SAS came across all four hostages being held by the second group. Although the kidnappers were armed with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s, the SAS killed them after a firefight.
Our Commander in Chief is not fit to carry an SAS trooper's old jock strap...not that he physically could anyway.
ReplyDeleteProbably right Bawb. Cameron probably couldn't either, but at least he was prepared to give the credit to those who carried out the action.
ReplyDeleteYou mean there are other pronouns besides 'I' and 'me'.? Obongo must have been out smoking dope the day they taught that in English class.
ReplyDeleteSomething I read recently that impressed me was from the Falklands War, and Major John Kisley leading a handful of Scots Guards to take Tumbledown in that last desperate bayonet charge. In his personal account he down-plays all of his own contributions and praises the soldiers with him. (Rare even in the officer corps.) He never even calls himself "gutsy".
Meanwhile, Obama gives himself credit for making the sun rise while still trying to blame Bush for everything from cancer and locusts.