President Barack Obama delivers a statement from Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, during his vacation August 20, 2014. Obama condemned the Islamic State militants who beheaded American journalist James Foley. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
U.S. Military Failed In Rescue Attempt For Journalist Foley -- Reuters
(Reuters) - The U.S. military earlier this summer carried out an attempt to rescue journalist James Foley and other American hostages held in Syria, a U.S. official said on Wednesday, in an operation that the Pentagon said ultimately failed to find the captives.
Foley, 40, was beheaded by an Islamic State militant in a video that surfaced on the Internet on Tuesday. President Barack Obama expressed revulsion on Wednesday at the execution and vowed the United States would do what it must to protect its citizens.
The unsuccessful rescue operation "involved air and ground components and was focused on a particular captor network within ISIL," the Pentagon said in a statement, using a different name for the militant group. "Unfortunately, the mission was not successful because the hostages were not present at the targeted location."
Read more ....
More News On The U.S. Military's Attempt To Rescue James Foley And Other Hostages
U.S. staged secret operation into Syria in failed bid to rescue Americans -- Washington Post
U.S. launched secret mission to rescue American hostages in Syria -- AP
US Military Launched Secret Rescue Operation in Syria for James Foley, Other Americans -- ABC News
US attempted rescue of hostages including James Foley -- Global Post/AFP
US forces 'tried and failed to rescue Foley' -- Al Jazeera
America's FAILED raid to rescue James Foley: White House reveals how US special forces stormed ISIS camp just a month ago - only to find hostages weren't there...as Obama goes back to his golf -- Daily Mail
US reveals failed special forces mission to free James Foley within Syria -- The Guardian
US troops attempted rescue mission in Syria, could not find hostages -- CSM
U.S. Forces Tried to Rescue Slain Journalist James Foley, Other ISIS Hostages -- NYMag
US launched failed rescue operation to free James Foley and other hostages -- Mirror
12 comments:
I've got a feeling this was the reason for Obama mysterious return to DC from his vacation. Either he anticipated making a "Bin Laden's dead" statement or to plan dealing with the failure and probable execution. I could very well be wrong, but a lot of things point that way.
That's probably not too far from the truth. Foley had bprobably been killed not long after the strike but they had to confirm it and prepare some sort of statement.
I concur. For President Obama to return to Washington on a few days notice tells me that it must have been a national security reason .... not a political one. The political decisions can always wait till after the vacation.
I like the explanation. It puts the president in a better light than if he came back for Ferguson. After so many nights of protest speaking to the nation would be appropriate. Although he flubbed it.
if we are risking special forces teams for a journalist and from some reports a very strident, partisan one, I have to wonder what other types of American citizens are worth of rescue form terrorists/
What type of Americans are worth saving from terrorists? That is a debate that can only occur in the West .... everyone else usually does not care what happens to their citizens in another country. But it is also whaty makes America unique.
What I like about America is it's perception .... rightly or wrongly (and I believe rightly) .... in it's fierce belief that we will defend your right to say what you want even when we disagree with it .... a belief that is enshrined in law.
This mindset also applies to U.S. citizens who are abroad and are in a difficult situation .... sometimes because of their own actions. The need to help/save/bring them back home .... even when they may not deserve such attention .... is an ideal that peoples of the world do take notice .... and respect.
I have hard time believing that Obama would rescue missionaries like Martin and Gracia Burnham. I really do. He might if it were easy or if there were political points to be scored. But other than that they are SOl. I can see people on the LEFT and some on the right Isolationists or "we cannot save the world" crowd saying they new the risks. The argument would be they knew the risk like mountain climbers
I do not think many Americans consider the value that expats, business people and others bring to their country in terms of international relations, GDP, ideals, tech, etc. It is a utilitarian argument, but a valid one.
3 or 4 mountaineers were kidnapped by Islamic terrorists, who were Uzbek, prior to 911. The Uzbek terrorists want to overthrow the government ob Uzbekistan. They travel all over Central Asian states doing whatever the heck they want. By what right? What did the U.S. government do? I do not think the Government cared or that the American people by and large knew or cared.
A Chinese diplomat a few centuries back who was at a small kingdom somewhere in the Himalayas. He was insulted and by extension China was as well. He traveled around the region and gathered armies from several neighboring kingdoms. The slight was avenged. That is power.
In the modern world .... this is how the Soviet Union exercised power on a small scale .... but carrying an international message.
Ever wonder why Russian diplomats are rarely if ever kidnapped and killed by Islamic radicals in the Middle East? Read this post ....
http://articles.latimes.com/1986-01-07/news/mn-13892_1_soviets
I know from my own sources (because I was working for the foreign office at the time) that the real story is even more brutal than what the L.A Times post reveals. Suffice it to say that since that operation .... Russia has a reputation that the families of these radical Islamists do not want to visit on themselves .... even almost 30 years later.
I remember that WNU. If I remember well and perhaps this is what you're alluding to, they killed a bunch of the family members. And they were killed in very very hard ways.
No words can accurately described what happened to these militants and their family members.
We were told that the Soviet Union's Alpha Group was prepared to slaughter everyone who was even remotely linked (family wise) to the kidnappers .... and that after that .... they would then go after the family members of other Shiite leaders who had nothing to do with this kidnapping. So it was not a surprise that these diplomats were then released within hours.
As to the Shiite leader who ordered the kidnapping .... he himself was killed by his colleagues a few months later.
Thankyou for the link.
I like stories with a happy ending or a silver lining
"As to the Shiite leader who ordered the kidnapping .... he himself was killed by his colleagues a few months later."
Not totally happy but the best that could be done after the kidnappers did what they had done.
Here is the story I was referring to.
Over the Edge: The True Story of Four American Climbers' Kidnap and Escape in the Mountains of Central Asia Hardcover – April 2, 2002
by Greg Child
http://www.amazon.com/Over-Edge-American-Climbers-Mountains/dp/0375506098
I do not have a link for the Chinese story. What can I say. I run across something that makes an impression and then I don't write it down. Just Dumb! :(
Maybe you Chinese friends might have heard about it.
My Chinese friends probably do not know the story. But my interest is piqued .... and one thing that I can share with you about the Chinese is that they are always hungry to know more about their history than what is the official version.
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