The Hunt Heats Up

Newsweek ^ | March 15 issue | Michael Hirsh and John Barry

[Anti-Bubba182]

March 15 issue - Admirers of Bill McRaven like to tell a story of his courage and grit. Not against the enemy, but against the legendarily ruthless Dick Marcinko, a gung-ho Navy SEAL commander in the Vietnam era who used to swallow sacs of cobra venom and boast that "killing is my mission." Marcinko once ordered McRaven, then a young lieutenant on the super-elite SEAL Team Six, to perform "some questionable activities," recounts a former Special Forces commander. McRaven refused and "would not back down." (Marcinko did not return phone calls seeking comment.) "McRaven was a hero among all the junior officers for his stand," says the commander. "It was considered a career-ending move."

[Travis McGee]

Ping

[LibWhacker]

Mmmm, cobra venom sacs . . . Especially good on Wheaties!

[Squantos]

"Bill is reputed to be the smartest SEAL that ever lived," .............

Damn , Thats gonna look good on his resume !

As to Usama....tick...tick....tick.....

Stay Safe !

[Cap Huff]

This has to do with Task Force 121. If you've not seen it you might be interested.

[Cap Huff]

Link here has some interesting information about the hunt for OBL and Zawahiri.

[LibWhacker]

Anyone know what Marcinko ordered McRaven to do? Perhaps it was to eat some cobra venom sacs:

Cobras are all venomous, yet most are not poisonous, so long as the venom glands are not eaten.

Don't know how reliable that is. Got it here, a cobra info site for kids. Still, wouldn't advise eating venom sacs since spitting cobras can do a lot of damage to you just spitting the crap on you, like blinding you, for example.

That aside, how good is this McRaven anyway? I'm a bit suspicious of anyone Newsweek slobbers all over, especially when they start pronouncing that he's the smartest SEAL ever. Sounds like the crap we heard about Hitlery. Maybe it'd be better to have someone like Marcinko chasing bin Laden, rather than Newsweek's favorite Navy SEAL? Just asking the guys who really know!

[SLB]

Would like to add to this, but loose lips - you know the rest.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the ping!

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for the ping, but I can't read anything from NewsWeak. They will find some way to insult our SpecOps, our military, Rummy and GW.

Please ping me on other Task Force 121 data.

[Cap Huff]

OK. I understand fully your disgust with this particular news outlet. I will remember to ping you to any other Taks Force 121 stuff I see.

[harpseal]

Re Marcinko: Personally I would prefer most of the other operator officers in charge of the op comparaed to Mr. Marcinko. Just a personal opinion.

[harpseal]

Re Cobra venom. If mixed with alchohol it is quite harmless and is fully digested by the stomach just do not have bleeding gums. Marcinko stated he had his mixed with cognac in Cambodia. This was not unique and the Indian Cobra's of SE Asia have different venom than the African spitting Cobra.

[harpseal]

I think sometime soon the task force will bag their quarry. The hard part is gathering the intel to know exactly where said quarry is. Therefor there will be a whole lot of sneak and peaks going on. Eyes on the ground sometimes even outdo eyes in the sky.

[Gritty]

McRaven certainly is one guy I wouldn't want hunting me! We are very fortunate to have such a wealth of talented people in our Special Ops.

Here is McRaven's book: Spec Ops : Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice

[Matthew James]

Isn't it nice to see real professionals in charge? Quite a difference from the Klinton days...

[NeonKnight]

It was my understanding that almost all snake venom could be consumed without danger of poisoning. It is only when injected into the blood that it is dangerous. Not sure about Cobra venom, but rattlesnake venom is just pure protein....your digestive tract can handle it.

[Travis McGee]

I always thought it was ME. But that's just IMHO.

[Travis McGee]

Amen.

[Travis McGee]

Marcinko is NOT what you think. And the incident McR may have refused to take part in may have been the ritual killing of stray dogs with a knife, but I may be mixing up my old stories.