Posted on 10/09/2010 3:10:57 PM PDT by Eleutheria5
(Oct. 9) -- A British aid worker kidnapped in Afghanistan last month was killed by her Taliban captors during a NATO commando raid to rescue her.
Linda Norgrove, 36, had spent years working for charities and development projects in Afghanistan, and was on an American project in eastern Kunar province when her convoy was ambushed on Sept. 26. Police fought a gunbattle with the kidnappers before they escaped with Norgrove and three of her Afghan colleagues.
The Afghan men were later released unharmed, but Norgrove was held hostage for nearly two weeks before NATO forces decided to try to rescue her in a secret raid Friday night. Kidnapped Aid Worker Killed in Afghan Rescue Attempt UK Foreign Office / AP Aid worker Linda Norgrove was killed Friday night during an attempt to free her from Taliban militants, who kidnapped her on Sept. 26.
"Working with our allies we received information about where Linda was being held and we decided that, given the danger she was facing, her best chance of safe release was to act on that information," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement today, confirming her death.
The statement said Norgrove "was killed at the hands of her captors in the course of a rescue attempt last night," according to Bloomberg News. Hague expressed "deep sadness" at the news.
(Excerpt) Read more at aolnews.com ...
Agreed. One does not address cancer by removing external tumors while leaving internal tumors to grow rampantly. The Taliban are mere symptoms of the deeper disease of the mind brought on by a rejection of love as the central principle of moral life. The Judeo-Christian God is love. The god of Islam is little more than a poorly disguised proxy for Fate, a blind, impenetrable force of destiny that has “compassion” but no heart. The god of Islam is a wobbly shadow of the dysfunctional mind of its ancient founder, a shadow cast long and disproportionately large due to the theory of expansion through violence that is its true engine. Else it would have faded into nothing centuries ago. It consumes and gives back nothing in return. It is a true cancer, and while we need to keep the external tumors in check through force, the only long-term cure is individual and cultural transformation through the love and forgiveness of Christ, Christotherapy, if you will. This is not optional. The disease is metastasizing in Europe, here, and many other places. The human race is all one host, and the disease may take us all if we are not vigilant to fight it on every possible front.
Yes, the US is part of NATO, but if the US was involved in the attempt the media would have been all over it with headlines like, “American Led Rescue Attempt Ends in Tragedy,” or “US Troops Fail in Rescue Attempt, Captive Dies,” that sort of stuff.
Too bad you know, loud mouthed left wingers like NOW definitely have that old KGB propaganda down pat. Granted we still took down the Berlin wall but half moved to America dang it!
Too bad you know, loud mouthed left wingers like NOW definitely have that old KGB propaganda down pat. Granted we still took down the Berlin wall but half moved to America dang it!
Right. And really, they probably did her a favor; because if they, the righteous muslims, kill her; she has a shot at getting into paradise.
I guess in their culture it was a loving gesture to kidnap and kill this person who came to Afghanistan to serve other people...yep.
If I was King of the World, I’d make every man over 50 with a net worth of 5$million and above fight all the wars...
we’d see how soon conflicts would be resolved (in a sense).
Then carpet bomb then again.
(Not-that we can't try). :-\
Very sad breaking news on this one. The PM has announced that it may be she was actually killed by a rescuers grenade. This will of course trigger a barrage of arm-chair generals second guessing the decision for US Special Forces to go in - it is deeply, deeply sad - but it doesn’t change the following facts:
- At the point at which they thought she may be moved to AQ in Pakistan the tactical decision to go in became a no-brainer.
- The young men involved in the rescue operation were operating at real risk to their own lives - sometimes things go wrong. They remain heroic.
- The responsibility for her death remains with the kidnappers.
As with any operation that goes wrong lessons must be learned - lots of questions will be raised and SOP may be adjusted if necessary. But none of that changes that a choice had to be made, brave men made it - and although it didn’t pan out the way we would have prayed - it was still the right call.
Tey needed 3 snipers.Prhaps the location wasn’t suitable for it.
Fight in the wars, along with all other able-bodied soldiers. The side that recruits the younguns would simply massacre the side that didn’t, otherwise.
The Talibanies, of course, all were suffering reverse Stockholm Syndrome, and shielded her with their bodies, but alas the grenade thrown by the homicidal, maniacal cowboy special forces got past them, in their determination to stop her from telling the real truth about what is going on in Afghanistan./sarc
News of Norgrove's death and the bungled rescue operation has been greeted with dismay and trepidation by aid workers in Kabul, who expressed concern about the decision to launch a rescue attempt when Norgrove had been held for only three weeks. "Everyone in Afghanistan knows that you have to go through traditional tribal routes to get hostages free," said one aid worker. "All the Afghans say 'just why don't you leave it a bit longer?'"Translation: "Why didn't you just pay the ransom?"
The hard facts of life are that if you allow ransom, then kidnapping becomes a business, and there will be lots of kidnappings. But if kidnapping just means that kidnappers are hunted down and killed, even if we lose the hostage, then kidnapping becomes much less attractive.
I would critique your post, but frankly you are just an arse.
Sgt Dave?. I doubt you have attacked anything except a full bottle.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.