Posted on 03/05/2011 10:33:13 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
SAS unit, diplomat 'held' by Libya rebels
LONDON (AFP) – A Special Air Service (SAS) unit and a junior diplomat were being held by rebels in eastern Libya following a bungled mission to put the envoy in touch with them, The Sunday Times said.
The broadsheet, citing sources, said the SAS unit, thought to be up to eight men, were captured along with the diplomat they were escorting through the rebel-held east.
"We can neither confirm nor deny the report," a Foreign Office spokeswoman told AFP.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said: "We neither confirm nor deny the story and we do not comment on the special forces."
The uninvited appearance of the SAS alongside the diplomat "angered Libyan opposition figures who ordered the soldiers to be locked up in a military base," the weekly said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Name the last time Rangers or SEALS were captured.
An SAS unit, supposedly the most elite of them all, gets captured? That boggles the mind. Let’s all hope they’re OK.
We probably don’t want to go there. I have a feeling that they were there on a pretty heinous mission in the first place (like maybe covering tracks or something worse).
They need to change their name to the Not-So-Special Air Service, it seems.
Strains one’s belief. Maybe the “junior” diplomat was a lefty and told them not to shoot?
Chaperoning a diplomat is an inappropriate mission for SAS, don’t you think? Rescuing one seems more appropriate for the unit like SAS.
Yep, good point. I suppose it's possible a SAS unit might have been taken, but we see claims like this all the time by rabble forces, and they're never true. Just have to wait and see.
The British are acting the way the French get accused of doing. Last time it was a bunch of sailors and royal marines getting captured within sight of a Royal Navy “warship”.
Britian’s moral decay is almost complete. Like a termite riddled 2x4, it looks the same,,, but is rotten all the way through.
Would the “8 SAS men killed in Libya clashes” do it for you? Remember, this is not Nazi Germany or Russia invading UK and they surrendered. In a few days they will be free
Yep, a few days ago it was a news of Libyan government forces captured a team of Dutch marines’ commandos and their chopper.
The UK needs to send in more men—some ships and planes. Side with the Bengazi Rebels, declare them the real Government of Libya, Sign a new oil deal with Libya sending her oil to BP, and support them in their march on Tripoli. That’s how Sir Winston would have done it.
The Libyan rebels are supposed to be potential allies, perhaps blasting their way out of there would not have been the best option if the goal was to foster closer cooperation.
I’m sure it will get straightened out soon enough...
“The UK needs to send in more men—some ships and planes. Side with the Bengazi Rebels, declare them the real Government of Libya, Sign a new oil deal with Libya sending her oil to BP, and support them in their march on Tripoli. That’s how Sir Winston would have done it.”
Or maybe the SAS team was sold out.
It’s not that simple. The SAS guys were riding shotgun for some spook/diplomat types. You are in vehicles. You roll into a crowded stretch of road with 100s of people around. Then you are funneled into a roadblock/checkpoint with dozens of AKs, RPDs and rockets aimed at you.
Going down in a blaze of glory just to not be captured is not an option, because your very mission (mission comes first) is to put those diplos into contact with unknown rebel leaders.
So don’t get snarky about SAS guys compared to SEALs or anybody else.
I was a SEAL officer, I’m proud no SEAL has been captured in combat, but this was not combat. It’s an ongoing diplomatic overture. That is their mission, to go find the rebel leaders.
In the chaos of March 2011 Libya, you can’t expect this mission to go down smoothly.
Look, if you are in a vehicle that rolls into a roadblock on a channeled highway and you are surrounded by 100s of rifles and MGs aimed at you, while on a diplomatic mission to find the unknown rebel leaders....
Do you really think shooting your way out is a feasible option?
You probably think Custer was a coward, all he needed to do was charge the Indians and take them all out.
Life ain’t that simple.
Also the reality is that all we really care about in that area of the world is oil and ultimately no matter who comes out on top in Lybia, the oil there will flow again. If we go marching into Lybia to setup a new "rebel" government it'll cause more problems in countries like Saudi Arabia that are much more important to us and we don't really know what we'd be getting.
We shouldn't be placing troops on the ground in Lybia when we may very well need them to protect the oil fields in Saudi Arabia in the very near future.
You are on the right track. Their mission was to get their diplos into contact with unknown rebel leaders. This is not a cookie cutter operation. They had to go to the heart of rebel activity to find the rebel leaders.
Now, we’ll find out from this if the rebel leaders are actually rabid islamicts, who won’t play nice with Brits, even Brits who are trying to help them.
You are an idiot.
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