Why US Special Forces Failed To Rescue James Foley -- Anna Mulrine, Christian Science Monitor
US intelligence officials still know relatively little about the workings of Islamic State militants. James Foley may have been traded by insurgent groups before ending up in IS hands, which complicates the intelligence picture.
Washington — The failed attempt to rescue journalist James Foley before he was killed by Islamic State militants – and the ongoing efforts to track down other American hostages before it’s too late – illustrate a glaring shortcoming in US military capabilities: that good US military intelligence on these militant groups is in short supply.
Although the Pentagon greenlighted the deployment of Special Operations Forces (SOF) to Syria – along with the US military’s most high-tech air and ground components – the mission did not result in a rescue.
“Unfortunately, the mission was not successful, because the hostages were not present at the targeted location,” Rear Adm. John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement Wednesday evening.
Read more ....
Update: The Rescue That Wasn’t -- Mark Thompson, Time
My Comment: It all comes down to intelligence .... specifically on what can you get on the ground. Syria is in the middle of a brutal civil war .... if the CIA has assets on the ground monitoring movement and operations .... I would only not be surprised .... I would be shocked. I am sure that they have supporters and allies on the ground .... but considering how dangerous the conflict has become .... especially in ISIS controlled territory .... such an intelligence asset will be having a very short life.
On a side note .... this is why I must disagree with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's comment today that the mission to rescue James Foley and others was flawless .... it was flawed on the most important thing .... the intelligence was wrong.
3 comments:
I have heard a couple reports they started taking heavy fire as they came in, just before landing. That is not surprise and they were incredibly lucky not to take any serious casualties. There is something wrong or something very big with this story that's being held back. Something happened before they got there that made the whole thing a dangerous mission in futility. I'm faulting the operators or their support people, their expertise and performance is what saved their butts.
That should read "not faulting"
I am reading the same thing. This operation could have ended up really bad. What saved them was their training.
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