Posted on 12/06/2014 9:38:37 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
United States military and intelligence officials are still piecing together what happened early Saturday that sabotaged an attempt to rescue two hostages from al Qaeda in Yemen.
Despite being ready with a roughly 40-man special operations team and days to plan the operation, U.S. photojournalist Luke Somers and South African teacher Pierre Korki both died shortly after the midnight raid. The key problem, officials told the Wall Street Journal, came when some kind of sound alerted militants who were holding the hostages that the special operations team was nearby. The militants were part of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP.
It could have been a dog bark or any number of noises, but military officials who spoke to the Journal said the militants suddenly opened fire when troops were about 100 yards away.
The raids failure came as a reminder that not all special operations can be as successful as, for example, the one that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011. Saturday's rescue bid followed another unsuccessful attempt to free Somers late last month, an operation that led to the southern Yemen compound that ended up being raided Saturday.
After President Obama approved the mission Friday morning, military and intelligence leaders scheduled it for early Saturday, which was about 5 p.m. Friday on the United States East Coast.
They believed that al Qaeda would kill Somers later that day. They knew there was another hostage in the compound, but they did not know who until after the operation.
Officials told the Journal that after the teams cover was blown, a militant ran into the building that they believed housed Somers. The militant likely shot both of them before running out.
The United States team then entered the building, and Somers and Korki were both alive. The hostages were loaded onto a helicopter and brought to a Navy assault ship off Yemens coast, the Journal said.
One died on the helicopter and another on the ship, but officials declined to identify which one died when.
No United States troops were injured in the operation, and they believe about six al Qaeda fighters were killed.
Soon CNN will headline “Operation was a Complete Success. Unfortunately, the Hostages didn’t Survive.”
LOL! So sad, but probably true.
Perhaps a phone call from Barry.
Makes one wonder if any of those “militants” have any captured night vision or other special technology.
Good question. At least Carter's failed mission was to rescue employees of the US Government, that was understandable.
I could have sworn OBAMA said Al Qaida was destroyed. He didn’t lie about that did he? (Joe Wilson should get the Freedom Award).
And the initial reporting said the poor guy had been moved prior to the raid, not killed during the raid. It isn't as if there was any kind of info fog due to rapidly moving events, this raid happened last month.
We know the MSM is always seeking to cover for this administration - why the misinformation?
United States military and intelligence officials are still piecing together what happened early Saturday that sabotaged an attempt to rescue two hostages from al Qaeda in Yemen.
“about six al Qaeda fighters were killed”
In itself, a very good thing. Just too bad it couldn’t have been 6,000.
Pretty hard on troops and hostages for a religion of peace.
Code Pink's Jodie Evans, far left, protests in Yemen with al Qaeda tied group al Karama, June 17, 2013. Photo via al Karama.
Perhaps a reading of President Franklin Roosevelt's Message and Prayer on June 6, 1945, might serve to remind us of things that once mattered in the life of the nation and its leaders. From the FDR Library, read the original of this Prayer. Or, listen to the voice of the President as he delivered that prayer on national radio.
Thank the lord it wasnt a republican president or this would be front page news for weeks on end
Could have been a perimeter trip wire but then SpcOps should expect that, I would think.
Agreed! Demolish a 9 sq. block area to dust!
Once this becomes common practice, the so-called slime civies will vacate the area around the site, clearly indicating that hostages are being held there.
They probably heard Biden ask ....are we there yet ?
If this raid just happened today, there were two raids. One several days ago where we rescued a bunch of people (8?) from other countries and killed 6-7 terrorists. But they missed the Americans that had been moved a few days earlier.
Now this raid to get the Americans. The previous raid included Yemen military to help us. I wonder if the “sound” may have been poor discipline from one of those guys. Or at worst a shout-out from someone to his brother-in-law the terrorist.
Time to put the varsity back in.
Or Jodie Evans
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