Abu Sayyaf raid required U.S. troops to use ‘hand to hand’ combat

washingtontimes ^ | May 16, 2015 | Kellan Howell

[PROCON]

U.S. Special Operations Forces had to fight “hand to hand” in Friday night’s raid that killed the Islamic State terrorist group senior commander Abu Sayyaf, several defense officials told The Daily Beast Saturday.

Troops from the U.S. Army Delta Force landed near a multi-story building with Ospreys and Blackhawks and were met with resistance when they entered, including “hand to hand” combat, one official told The Daily Beast.

There was some resistance from armed guards and from the terrorist commander himself, but the troops were well prepared to handle that, another official said.

[steel_resolve]

Why the move on him now? Was Abu Sayyaf going to publicly disclose his donations to the Clinton Foundation or something?

[Lorianne]

Not that is funny!

[balch3]

It is great to hear the Delta Force is still around.

---

They don’t write books and make movies, they just do the job and fade into the background.

[onedoug]

That’s what this was, by extension.

[Toespi]

So predictable. This African American guy who works for my husband and also happens to be a left-winger, declared to my husband last week that he is no longer a Democrat, but is now an independent....(the recent Clinton debacle has sort of put him over the edge) Well, it was short lived, this morning he called my husband just orgasmic over this ISIS kill, you would have thought Obama was there, then he actually declared that the planning for this raid is probably one of the reasons Hillary has been so quiet. He is a very loyal, hard working guy but most of all he is comic relief.

[VerySadAmerican]

Shoot the hostage.

[OKSooner]

" Isn’t this the kind of mission that is supposed to be under the radar? "

Yes, one would think so, wouldn't one?

But one would be mistaken if it's a mission that might help 0's political fortunes.

Pray for the continued safety of these Delta Force soldiers and their families until January 20th, 2017.

[DaxtonBrown]

Hand to Hand? Doesn’t that call for women?

[Iron Munro]

I remember an old military saying...”IF YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO STICK’EM YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO SHOOT ‘EM.”

Words of wisdom.

Unless you are out of ammo.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

The M-14 is the last weapon really designed for close combat. It has a sticker on one end, a club on the other, and a firearm between.

The M-16 is not designed for bayonet work as after you shoot, to get a good thrust you must move the hand to the “wrist” of the rifle, and the butt stock cannot be used as a club.

AK, same problem. The last really good bayonet use was on the SKS and M-14.

With a straight grip rifle,(1903, M-1 Garand, M-14, you can shoot, thrust, club without moving the hand from firing position.

Interesting isn’t it, once you use up your ammo, you have the same weapon used four thousand years ago. A sticker on one end, and a club on the other.

Reminds me of the duel between Achilles and Hector in the movie HELEN OF TROY (1956). The only thing missing was the firepower between the point and the club.

[longhorn too]

“shoot through them, for Pete’s sake. These women are NOT your friends”

Amen brother, next time the women may not be as willing to Stand by their Man!

[Eagles6]

You win the cigar!

[b4its2late]

Definitely

[Chickensoup]

there is no professional courtesy here. The terrorists would kill, torture and maim our women in a heartbeat

[Beave Meister]

This is a old high school friend of mine Ret. Col Pete Blaber Delta Force. He's written a book called "The Mission, The Men, And Me, Lessons from a former Delta Force Commander" He's actually one of the funnies guys I grew up with. I lived in Southern California for about 18 years and Pete now lives there so we use to get together for dinner quite a few times. Great guy. He planned Operation Anaconda and the bombing of Tora Bora. He's also the one who came up with the idea of following the courier which led to the killing of Osama bin laden. That's how he knew bin Laden was in Tora Bora back in 2001. And he bombed the sh!t out of it.