Posted on 03/26/2011 9:16:53 AM PDT by FreeReign
WITH a stricken US pilot lost, alone and terrified in the dark, Gaddafi-hating villagers rushed to his aid and to thank him for taking on the tyrant.
But as they approached, American special forces unleashed a terrifying volley of gunfire, scattering them in all directions fearing for their lives. Shooting from an Osprey attack aircraft, afraid their comrades were about to fall into the hands of Gaddafi’s brutal forces, troops strafed the ground to clear the way for a dramatic rescue. But several villagers were injured in the melee, including a man who was said to have lost a leg.
Channel 4 reporter Lindsey Hilsum witnessed the aftermath. She said: “Osprey aircraft came in, all guns blazing, assuming, as the American military tends to do, that this was hostile territory.”
(Excerpt) Read more at mirror.co.uk ...
So, will Obama face war crimes in the Hague for this?
God, help us.
Interviewing for NPR
Could this be what Obama wants? An event that will further discredit (to the Left) America’s military? There was probably no ‘strafing’ at all, but all if would take is some villager firing his AK at the aircraft, and they’ll zap him. Of course, the media can then spin that into “strafing.”
"tends to do" - Yeah, no other nation protects their own from unknown hostiles.
Old story, maybe new details.
All this from Lindsey Hilsum, who I would wager has barely been in a fistfit in all their life, much less war.
Beat me by this much //.
>> Gaddafi-hating villagers rushed to his aid and to thank him for taking on the tyrant.
Is that a fact?
No slant in this article. No sireee. The editors of Pravda would be proud.
On FOX News this morning Norman R. Augustine the retired chairman and chief executive officer of the Lockheed Martin Corporation, the nation’s largest defense contractor,told Neal Cavuto:
“Airpower alone will not be successful and boots on ground will be needed.”
Obama: No U.S. Forces on the Ground in Libya . . . Except for Those Guys.
By Jim Geraghty
Posted on March 23, 2011 3:46 PM
NPR: “President Obama said Wednesday it was ‘absolutely’ out of the question that U.S. ground forces would be used in Libya.”
How would the president describe the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit? There is no such thing as a purely air-based combat mission; planes have problems and pilots end up on the ground, and then U.S. forces have to end up on the ground, hopefully briefly, to rescue them and bring them home safely. Ask Scott O’Grady how much time you can spend on the ground while patrolling a no-fly zone.
Details on the recent rescue:
The Kearsarge then sent up two MV-22 Ospreys carrying Marine rescue teams. As they were en route, the Harriers dropped two laser-guided bombs near the crash site, apparently to keep Libyans on the ground from approaching the pilot.
With additional helicopters hovering overhead for security, one of the Ospreys landed and picked up the pilot. He was then taken aboard the Kearsarge.
The weapons systems officer was recovered by what U.S. officials described as Libyan opposition forces. He is safe, officials have said.
There are about 2,200 Marines off the shore of Libya right now. http://www.nationalreview.com/blogs/print/262910
March 24, 2011
Are U.S. Troops Already on the Ground in Libya? | O’Reilly Factor
Special Guests | Col. David Hunt & Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer
RET. COL. DAVID HUNT, U.S. ARMY: Yes, absolutely. You’ve got British service been in there about three weeks ago and actually got captured and released. The French GIGN have been in there and our special forces and our U.S. intelligence operatives and their assets. We do not conduct operations like this, large scale air operations, without people on the ground. They have been very successful, very good, not a lot of contact with the rebels because you don’t know who to talk to. But, yes, we have got intel gathering and rescue guys and special operations guys on the ground, have had them for about 12 days.
O’REILLY: Now, do you agree with that, Col. Shaffer?
LT. COL. TONY SHAFFER, FORMER ARMY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: Yes, I have heard from my sources — I got a call from one of my key sources on Monday and that’s exactly what’s going on. Let’s be really clear here. You have got to have these individuals doing what Dave just said, especially when you are talking about trying to protect, and the stated goal here, Bill, is humanitarian support. So you don’t want to have weapons hitting the wrong targets. So, Dave is very good on the fact that we have special operations guys sitting there with laser designators. Bill, you saw…
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/transcript/are-us-troops-already-ground-libya#ixzz1HiPalxMr
If true, this is tragic, but these soldiers are in a war zone (or ‘kinetic’ zone) - there is no way the osprey pilots could know these locals were “friendly”. In war, you have to assume everyone is an enemy - especially in hostile situations like in the middle east - you can’t tell friend from foe. The pilots did the right thing.
Yep, I love it. In Afghanistan our soldiers cannot defend themselves if “noncombatants” (including women and children) are even in the vicinity if the shooters. But that is Bush’ war.
In Onada’s Libyan War there apparantly are no ROE. The Usurping Marxist occupying the WH is a clear and present danger to America.
Not possible. Obama specifically said 'No US troops on the ground'. This pilot clearly disobeyed a direct order from his commander-in-chief. He will probably be court-martialed.
Yes, older story but new details.
Assuming, the details are true.
Isn’t this what obozo claims makes more terrorists?
Pray for our Troops
It's hard to figure out what is fact, with all the news reports that we read.
Villager Younis Amruni was first on the scene of the crash... Younis said: “We saw the plane fall in front of us and explode and we saw the pilots coming down in parachutes. We didn’t know if it was Gaddafi’s or coalition forces.”
And we're supposed to believe they didn't have the knives out?
So, will Bush face war crimes in The Hague for this?
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