Posted on 03/05/2011 10:33:13 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
SAS unit, diplomat 'held' by Libya rebels
LONDON (AFP) – A Special Air Service (SAS) unit and a junior diplomat were being held by rebels in eastern Libya following a bungled mission to put the envoy in touch with them, The Sunday Times said.
The broadsheet, citing sources, said the SAS unit, thought to be up to eight men, were captured along with the diplomat they were escorting through the rebel-held east.
"We can neither confirm nor deny the report," a Foreign Office spokeswoman told AFP.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said: "We neither confirm nor deny the story and we do not comment on the special forces."
The uninvited appearance of the SAS alongside the diplomat "angered Libyan opposition figures who ordered the soldiers to be locked up in a military base," the weekly said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Anything that can’t fit into a neat mission category is the appropriate mission for the SAS. A mission of putting diplos into contact with rebel leaders in a chaotic and fluid situation is just such a messy, undefined mission. So you give it to your best, smartest and most flexible troops: the SAS.
If it was blowing a hole in a wall, use Rangers. This was not blowing a hole in a wall. So you use guys that are a lot smarter. Don’t worry, when they come out, they’ll have met what passes for rebel leadership.
They’ll have accomplished their mission.
And the simpletons who think the SAS troops were cowards for not shooting their way out of a roadblock while surrounded by 100s of twitchy Libyans rebels WHO THEY ARE TRYING TO MEET, NOT KILL, can go back to their child-like comic-book view of the world.
SAS unit, diplomat 'held' by Libya rebelsOkay. Someone tell me having gays openly serving in the military or woman in combat arms units doesn't eventually affect the entire structure.
This would never happen to the SAS 20 years ago, NEVER!
an aside: Maybe two years ago I caught a program on the Military Channel about the UK's Royal Marines. Once, as good as ours (maybe). But NOW, the DI's have to 'be nice' to recruits during training, and if the recruits still don't 'like it', they can quit!
England is DOOMED!
Cheers mate. I have no military experience whatsover, but I understand some of the people who made those kinds of comments about the SAS and this situation have.
Pretty sorry state of affairs if people who should know better don’t...
You, with no military experience, at least grasped the crux of the situation.
Idiots on this thread who think Rambo was a real person do not.
Newsflash to them: Chuck Norris was not an actual Delta leader.
The Royal Marines are supposed to be a highly-trained and motivated light infantry commando force. I would have thought that forcing people who don't want to be there to stay is not really the point if you are trying to find the kind of people who won't quit when the going gets tough, even when they are given the option of an easy way out...
Scorpion nad frog. They just can’t help it.
2/3 of SEAL tadpoles quit during training.
I guess this proves SEALs have wimpy training. (I graduated from BUD/S Class 105 in 1979.)
I can’t believe the # of blithering idiots on this thread.
Hey Condor51, SLY STALLONE AND CHUCK NORRIS DID NOT SHOOT REAL BULLETS IN THOSE MOVIES.
They just didn't 'quit the Royal Marines', like prospective SEALS who 'ring the bell' and go back to their regular units (or SF who don't meke it through Robin Sage, or guys with Ranger School, etc.)
They're allowed to quit the military and go home. Again they're quitting not flunking out or failing any tests.
And you're kidding about Stallone right? I thought he had real guns and live ammo (never watched a Chuck Norris movie)
being held by rebels in eastern Libya following a bungled mission to put the envoy in touch with them
mission accomplished ??? ASSuming they find some sort of leaders and aint beheaded...
i will also go out on a limb and bet that jesse ventura wasnt there carrying an electric minigun...
you've more than expressed the proper perspective
They don't have a safety on their keyboards and their magazines are apparently not full
.
I know a former SEAL, and after speaking with him about previous missions, nothing specific mind you, I’ve come to the conclusion that if a SOF mission goes bad, it’s usually the fault of a politician somewhere.
bttt
Nawww, couldn't be. Why would I give SAS any credit?
[quote]They just didn’t ‘quit the Royal Marines’, like prospective SEALS who ‘ring the bell’ and go back to their regular units (or SF who don’t meke it through Robin Sage, or guys with Ranger School, etc.)
They’re allowed to quit the military and go home. Again they’re quitting not flunking out or failing any tests.[/quote]
The SAS and (presumably) the SEALS are units you apply to join having already served some time in a regular branch.
The Royal Marines is not a special forces unit, it is a ‘regular’ unit that people apply to join straight from civvy street. Therefore, there is no unit to return to in most cases if you flunk out of Royal Marine selection and training.
Again, the Royal Marines are a sub-special forces elite light infantry force, they want people who are highly motivated and determined. If you don’t want to be there, it is no loss to them if you quit, because they are the kind of military unit that doesn’t want quitters in its ranks...
This is how they advertise for recruits, if it gives you some idea of who they want to apply in the first place:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUcaM_0ztbM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12660163
Looks like they’ve been released, as expected. Certainly a better result for all concerned than would have been the case if they had tried to shoot their way out, gotten killed in the process, achieving nothing except pissing off the Libyan Rebels, who will in all probability be forming the new Libyan government that we will all be having to deal with when they finally take Tripoli and hang Gaddaffi’s bullet-riddled carcass from the nearest lampost...
“A Special Air Service (SAS) unit and a junior diplomat were being held by rebels in eastern Libya following a bungled mission to put the envoy in touch with them”
Is it just me or does it seem the SAS accomplished their mission? I’d say it took balls of steel to accept a mission whereby they were to escort a VIP into hostile territory and ask to meet what might be crazy nut jobs. I doubt they are being “held”, rather, they are being used, as expected, as “bargaining chips.” It simply allows the rebels to save face and get the British more of what they went there for. Again, balls of steel.
“The SAS and (presumably) the SEALS are units you apply to join having already served some time in a regular branch.”
Nope. No “regular” time required. In fact, many units throughout the DoD prefer that you never step foot into another unit only to learn bad habits they then have to unlearn.
They have now been released.
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