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Keyword: specialforces

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  • SEALs wounded in Afghanistan--prayer thread [Update at Post #108]

    11/01/2009 4:49:02 PM PST · by Travis McGee · 158 replies · 1,822+ views
    Nov. 1, 2009 | Travis McGee
    Yesterday, a squad of Navy SEALs engaged in combat operations in Afghanstan had several men badly wounded by RPG explosions. Freeper "Wardaddy" is related to one of them. Navy SEAL Bryan Stuart is Wardaddy's close cousin's son. He has been medevaced to Germany for surgery. Other details are sketchy as of yet.
  • Female Navy SEALs? Only In Hollywood!

    10/02/2009 8:49:14 PM PDT · by Saije · 48 replies · 1,877+ views
    US Navy Seals Blog ^ | 10/2/2009 | USNavySeals
    To day this day it stands true that there are no women in the Navy SEALs. This has been debated by many “equal rights” groups who claim that this is a sexist law. However, there has never been a woman who could pass the strenuous physical aspects of Navy SEAL training. In fact, there has never been a woman who has qualified to even be considered to enter BUD/S Training. Though this is true of the United States Navy, it’s not true where film is concerned. Specifically for the 1997 Ridley Scott film G.I. Jane, wherein, Demi Moore plays a...
  • How last week's extraordinary Special Forces mission to rescue... reporter unfolded

    09/12/2009 4:54:16 PM PDT · by naturalman1975 · 2 replies · 428+ views
    Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 12th September 2009 | Richard Kemp
    British journalist Stephen Farrell owes his life to a remarkable rescue by Special Forces in Afghanistan – organised last week by Cobra, the crisis committee that sits in Cabinet Office Briefing Room A. ..... Farrell was a great prize: a British journalist working for an American paper. His death would have been drawn out, probably preceded by a drip feed of videos in which he pleaded for Nato withdrawal from Afghanistan in exchange for his life. ..... But in every volatile and dangerous kidnap situation Cobra will look for a Special Forces rescue option as an alternative to negotiations. ........
  • Report: British special forces train Libyan troops

    09/12/2009 9:43:08 AM PDT · by NormsRevenge · 7 replies · 479+ views
    AP on Yahoo ^ | 9/12/09 | Raphael G. Satter - ap
    LONDON – Some of Britain's most elite soldiers have been training Libyan forces in counterterrorism and surveillance for the past six months, a newspaper said Saturday. The Daily Telegraph said a contingent of between four and 14 men from the Special Air Service, or SAS, were working with Col. Moammar Gadhafi's soldiers in Libya, a country once notorious for its support of terrorism. The paper cited an unidentified SAS source as saying that the training was seen as part of the deal to release Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, whose return to Libya last month outraged Americans and raised questions...
  • Remains of First American Lost in Persian Gulf War Found.

    08/02/2009 4:08:02 AM PDT · by mware · 75 replies · 4,366+ views
    Fox News ^ | 08/02/09 | fox news
    Breaking on Fox. Body now in US for further confirmation.
  • Storming a beach? It's how SEALs celebrate

    07/19/2009 5:43:09 AM PDT · by csvset · 35 replies · 2,063+ views
    The Virginian-Pilot ^ | July 19, 2009 | Bill Sizemore
    VIRGINIA BEACH What started in J.C. "Tip" Tipton's garage 40 years ago has morphed into one of the best live-action shows in town. Trouble is, it's not open to the public. Tipton was the first president of the UDT-SEAL Association, a support group for members and veterans of the Navy's underwater demolition and sea-air-land commando teams. The group has been celebrating its 40th anniversary this weekend during its annual East Coast reunion at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, where 4,000 active and retired SEALs, their families and guests saw a dramatic display of the clandestine warriors' skills and equipment Saturday....
  • Iraqi Special Forces on the hunt for al Qaeda ("We're absolutely killing them," Iraqi SOF commander)

    05/17/2009 11:20:26 AM PDT · by NormsRevenge · 7 replies · 1,166+ views
    Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 5/17/09 | Tim Cocks
    BAGHDAD (Reuters) – As U.S. troops gradually curtail combat operations in Iraq, Iraqi soldiers are taking over the task of securing the country -- and for Iraqi special forces, that means hunting down insurgents and militiamen. There are persistent doubts about Iraqi forces' readiness to take on an insurgency which, although weakened, is far from defeated and can still launch devastating attacks. "We're absolutely killing them," General Fadel Barwari, commander of the Iraqi Special Operations Force (ISOF), said with more than a hint of aggression, sitting in an office adorned with a stuffed eagle and rows of automatic weapons. "The...
  • U.S. Special Forces Sent to Train Pakistanis

    05/16/2009 3:18:39 PM PDT · by MyTwoCopperCoins · 38 replies · 929+ views
    The Wall Street Journal ^ | MAY 16, 2009 | The Wall Street Journal
    WASHINGTON -- The U.S. is sending Special Forces teams into one of Pakistan's most violent regions as part of a push to accelerate the training of the Pakistani military and make it a more effective ally in the fight against insurgents there. Senior U.S. officials said 25 to 50 Special Forces personnel are deploying to two new training camps in Baluchistan, a Taliban stronghold on the porous Afghan-Pakistani border. The deployment brings U.S. personnel deeper than before into tribal regions of Pakistan, which the Obama administration views as among the world's most-dangerous flashpoints. The Special Forces personnel will focus on...
  • Freedom for US contractor Don Ayala who shot dead handcuffed Taleban killer (Hero gets probation)

    05/08/2009 4:58:58 PM PDT · by mojito · 31 replies · 1,580+ views
    Times Online ^ | 5/8/2009 | Tim Reid
    A former US military contractor who shot and killed a defenceless and handcuffed member of the Taleban walked free today after a judge decided he had been provoked by the Afghan’s brutality. The extraordinary case of Don Ayala, a former US Army Ranger...ended in a Virginia courtroom when he was sentenced to probation for the killing of Abdul Salam in November last year. US prosecutors...originally charged Alaya with murder....But the judge decided that probation was warranted under the circumstances. Alaya was also fined $12,500. Ayala had pleaded guilty to the voluntary manslaughter of Salam, an undercover member of the Taleban,...
  • Navy Seal Pirate Shooting Update: Gertz Says His Pentagon Sources Didn't Lie

    05/06/2009 11:24:09 AM PDT · by Starman417 · 20 replies · 2,128+ views
    Flopping Aces ^ | 05-06-09 | Alec Rawls
    Background Joe Miller at Annenberg FactCheck says he was told by the Pentagon that the USS Bainbridge arrived at the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama on Friday February 10th and that authorization to send in the first SEAL team came at 8:00PM that night, rebutting a purported word-of-sailor report of a 36 hour delay. But news reports on the 9th said that the Bainbridge actually arrived before dawn local time on THURSDAY. Since 8:00 P.M. Friday was 4:00AM Saturday in Somalia, that would make the actual delay, local time to local time, about 48 hours. Bill Gertz at the Washington...
  • BUSTED: The Obama Pentagon flat-out lied about the SEAL team (ACTUAL DELAY, 52 HOURS)

    04/29/2009 8:30:53 AM PDT · by Starman417 · 40 replies · 3,324+ views
    Flopping Aces ^ | 04-29-09 | Alec Rawls
    With all the back-and-forth between Somali time and D.C. time, a lot of people let this slip through the cracks (including me). The "SEAL pals" email circulated by Rear Admiral Lou Sarosdy (USN ret.) claimed that Obama did not authorize SEAL teams to assist in the rescue of Captain Philips until 36 hours after these resources were requested by the captain on the scene. In their rebuttal campaign last week, anonymous Pentagon sources claimed that the USS Bainbridge did not arrive at the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama until Friday April 10th. It actually arrived on scene at 4:00 AM...
  • Ted Nugent: Us vs. pirates

    04/26/2009 6:21:59 AM PDT · by LA Woman3 · 14 replies · 1,163+ views
    The Waco Tribune-Herald ^ | Sunday, April 26, 2009 | Ted Nugent
    As one who was privileged and honored to train and hang out with the greatest warriors the world has ever known, it comes as no surprise that mighty U.S. Navy SEALS came through in the recent pirating of a U.S. Merchant Marine ship. The best of the best saved the kidnapped captain, killed three bad guys and captured a fourth. Those of us who cherish justice and good over evil salute the heroes of the American special ops and a commander in chief who gave the green light to do the right thing. God bless the warriors But if common...
  • Navy Seals web site

    Navy Seals web site I dedicated to my son.
  • Navy EOD Technician, Gives Life to Save Navy Seals

    04/12/2009 4:01:32 PM PDT · by OneVike · 27 replies · 1,867+ views
    Email | Unknown
    This is an e-mail I was given. Many may have received it, but the media will not do its job, so it is up to us. This is an inspiring story about a true hero who was buried at Ft Rosecrans, a beautiful resting place for some of our best....... PO2 (EOD2) (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Mike Monsoor, a Navy EOD Technician, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq, giving his life to save his fellow Seals. (Notice: Mike was not a Navy SEAL, he was EOD. He gave his life to save...
  • How SEALs Carried Out Their Mission

    04/13/2009 8:55:29 AM PDT · by Delacon · 148 replies · 6,977+ views
    The Washington Post ^ | Monday, April 13, 2009 | Ann Scott Tyson
    The operation to rescue Capt. Richard Phillips involved dozens of Navy SEALs, who parachuted from an aircraft into the scene near dark Saturday, landing in the ocean. The SEALs were part of a group of Special Operations forces involved in the effort, according to military officials. The SEALs set up operations on the USS Bainbridge, which had been communicating with the four pirates via radio and had used smaller boats to make deliveries of food and water to their lifeboat. Yet the pirates were growing increasingly agitated, the officials said. At one point Saturday, the pirates opened fire on one...
  • Captain Richard Phillips freed as US snipers kill three Somali pirates

    04/12/2009 5:31:34 PM PDT · by smokingfrog · 43 replies · 4,996+ views
    TimesOnline ^ | April 13, 2009 | James Bone in New York and Rob Crilly in Nairobi
    US Navy snipers killed three Somali pirates who had been holding an American merchant skipper on a lifeboat last night, rescuing the hostage unharmed. The US Navy Seals opened fire from about 25 metres away under standing orders from President Obama when they saw one of the pirates pointing an AK47 at Captain Richard Phillips’s back, putting his life in imminent danger. All three pirates were killed. A fourth, who had come aboard a nearby US warship to negotiate, was taken into custody. He was reported to be as young as 16. Captain Phillips, a former Boston taxi driver who...
  • Captain jumps overboard, SEALs shoot pirates, official says (breaking

    04/12/2009 12:14:16 PM PDT · by Lorianne · 90 replies · 4,576+ views
    The American captain of a cargo ship held hostage by pirates jumped overboard from the lifeboat where he was being held, and U.S. Navy SEALs shot and killed three of his four captors, according to a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the situation.
  • Navy SEAL Chases Men Who Killed His Dog

    04/11/2009 6:36:23 PM PDT · by USMCWife6869 · 31 replies · 1,261+ views
    Zoo News ^ | April 11, 2009 | Amy Lieberman
    Dasy wasn't just any household pet -- she was given to Luttrell following his return to the United States in 2006 from Afghanistan. Luttrell was the sole SEAL team member to survive an intense June 2005 firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Dasy, named after each of Luttrell's fallen peers, Daniel "Danny" Dietz, Matthew "Axe" Axelson and Michael "Yankee" Murphy, reportedly helped the SEAL overcome his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
  • Navy SEAL hero Marcus Luttrell chases men suspected of killing his dog in Huntsville, Texas

    04/08/2009 11:54:14 PM PDT · by Anti-Bubba182 · 99 replies · 6,766+ views
    AP ^ | 4-8-09 | Staff
    HUNTSVILLE, Texas – A soldier honored for surviving the worst single-day loss of life in Navy SEAL history chased three men through three counties after suspecting they killed his dog. A Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman says Marcus Luttrell was involved in the high speed chase in the early morning of April 1 after finding his yellow Labrador shot outside his Huntsville home. Onalaska Police Department stopped the suspects........"
  • Marcus Luttrell on Glenn Beck; (Rehab) Dog Killed (for the fun of it)

    04/06/2009 2:34:27 PM PDT · by STARWISE · 71 replies · 6,467+ views
    Marcus Luttrell, author of the book “Lone Survivor”, and survivor of the deadliest battle the U.S. Navy Seals have ever endured, is going to be on Glen Beck tonight to talk about his encounter with four young punks who killed his dog. Read more, see photos and video below. Marcus Luttrell is the lone survivor of Operation Red Wing; a special forces operation that took place on June 28th 2005 in Afghanistan’s Kunar province. The seals mission was to kill or capture Ahmad Shah, a high ranking Taliban official responsible for numerous killings in the region. Marcus Luttrell and three...
  • Special Ops to the Rescue

    03/20/2009 1:48:28 PM PDT · by ADReditor · 9 replies · 563+ views
    American Daily Review ^ | 03/20/2009 | Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Paul Vallely
    Special Operations and Covert Operations to the Rescue Most Americans desire an effective change in current Iraq war strategy and the wider global war against Islamic extremists and nations supporting them. President Bush and the new U.S. Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, could deliver it by placing experienced unconventional warfare leaders in charge of the war effort. Since forcibly removing Saddam Hussein from power in 2003, the U.S.-led coalition has been unable to quell insurgent, terrorist and sectarian generated violence concentrated mostly in four of 18 provinces and Greater Baghdad which are dominated by majority Sunni populations. About 150,000 Iraqis and...
  • Over 70 US military advisers work in Pakistan: report (courtesy of the NY Times)

    02/22/2009 7:44:39 PM PST · by NormsRevenge · 20 replies · 567+ views
    AFP on Yahoo ^ | 2/22/09 | AFP
    WASHINGTON (AFP) – Over 70 American military advisers and technical specialists are secretly working in Pakistan to help its military units conduct operations against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in western tribal areas, The New York Times reported. Citing unnamed officials, the newspaper said the advisers mostly include US Army Special Forces soldiers. Overseen by the US Central Command and Special Operations Command, the advisers provide the Pakistani army with training and intelligence, the report said. But they do not get involved in combat operations. The advisers form part of a secret task force that was started last summer with the...
  • Captain Extraordinary Ivan Castro of the U.S. Special Forces (American Hero)

    02/03/2009 5:42:08 PM PST · by GSP.FAN · 5 replies · 409+ views
    National Review Online ^ | Feb 2 2009 | Jay Nordlinger
    CAPT. IVAN CASTRO will tell you he's an ordinary man, basically. You may wish to disagree. He is an officer in the U.S. Special Forces, and blind. He was blinded while fighting in Iraq about two and a half years ago. He did not then leave the military. He persevered, to an astonishing degree. He has attracted interest all over the country, as well he might.
  • Member of original Navy SEAL unit dead at 84

    01/09/2009 9:03:54 AM PST · by Perdogg · 15 replies · 582+ views
    Miami herald ^ | 01.08.09
    Roy Boehm, who helped start the U.S. Navy's first SEAL team, has died. He was 84. Boehm, a retired U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, died at his southwest Florida home Dec. 30, his son, Robert Boehm, said. "He was a true patriot, he was what you called a man's man," the younger Boehm said. "He always put his country first." Lt. Nathan Potter, Deputy Public Affairs Officer for Naval Special Warfare Command, said though Navy does not officially recognize a first SEAL, Boehm was the first officer in charge of one of the original teams.
  • Legendary 'First SEAL' passes away [Roy Boehm]

    01/03/2009 6:44:35 PM PST · by 2ndDivisionVet · 26 replies · 1,651+ views
    The Charlotte Sun and Herald ^ | January 3, 2009 | Greg Martin
    Boehm pioneered Navy's unconventional warfare Roy Boehm of Punta Gorda, a cantankerous retired U.S. Navy lieutenant commander who fought three wars, started the Navy's first SEAL team and shared his harrowing adventures --and his battles against military bureaucracy --in an autobiography, has completed his last mission. Roy Boehm, who had struggled with health problems for many years, died at home Tuesday night. He was 84. His widow, Susan Boehm, declined to be interviewed about her husband. In fact, she pleaded that no story be written. Susan said she was trying to carry out her husband's last wish, that his death...
  • Let's Be Worthy of Their Sacrifice

    01/02/2009 11:03:57 AM PST · by Doctor Raoul · 7 replies · 993+ views
    Wall Street Journal ^ | JANUARY 2, 2009 | Karl Rove
    The next day, I got an email from the retired Navy Seal buddy who'd talked me into speaking at NSWF. He shared a picture of the sign the wounded Seal put on his Baghdad hospital door. On it, the Seal had scrawled that visitors shouldn't "feel sorry" for him. "The wounds I received," he wrote, "I got in a job I love, doing it for people I love, supporting the freedom of a country I deeply love. I am incredibly tough." And on his sign he promised "a full recovery" and wrote that his hospital room was a place of...
  • A surge of Special Forces for Afghanistan likely (Green Berets)

    12/23/2008 11:19:35 AM PST · by NormsRevenge · 14 replies · 691+ views
    Christian Science Monitor on Yahoo ^ | 12/23/08 | Gordon Lubold
    Washington – The Pentagon is likely to send up to 20 Special Forces teams to Afghanistan this spring, part of a new long-term strategy to boost the Afghan security forces' ability to counter the insurgency there themselves. The "surge" of elite Special Forces units would represent a multiyear effort aimed at strengthening the Afghan National Army and police units that the US sees as key to building up Afghanistan's security independence, say defense officials who asked to remain anonymous because the controversial decision has not yet been announced. The US already plans to send thousands of additional conventional forces to...
  • Outnumbered More Than 10:1, Green Berets Take 'Em All Down

    12/14/2008 1:01:51 PM PST · by Bill Dupray · 49 replies · 1,863+ views
    The Patriot Room ^ | December 14, 2008 | Bill Dupray
    Oh, and by the way, they'll be receiving 10 Silver Stars for their trouble. From the Washington Post. After jumping out of helicopters at daybreak onto jagged, ice-covered rocks and into water at an altitude of 10,000 feet, the 12-man Special Forces team scrambled up the steep mountainside toward its target -- an insurgent stronghold in northeast Afghanistan. "Our plan," Capt. Kyle M. Walton recalled in an interview, "was to fight downhill." But as the soldiers maneuvered toward a cluster of thick-walled mud buildings constructed layer upon layer about 1,000 feet farther up the mountain, insurgents quickly manned fighting positions,...
  • SAS to take on Taleban 'decapitation' mission after leaving Iraq

    12/13/2008 11:50:07 AM PST · by Mercia · 13 replies · 864+ views
    The Times ^ | December 13, 2008 | Michael Evans, Defence Editor
    Two SAS squadrons are to switch from Iraq to Afghanistan next year to mount one of the biggest covert operations for decades against the Taleban leadership and opium smugglers, who help to fund insurgents. They plan to mount a combined operation with the Special Boat Service (SBS), the Royal Marines’ equivalent of the Army’s elite regiment, which is leading covert missions in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. The SAS served with distinction in Afghanistan during the early years of the campaign from 2001. It became involved in highly unusual formation assaults on the Taleban and al-Qaeda terrorists, and also in...
  • Soldiers' valor under fire better than a movie

    12/13/2008 5:43:45 AM PST · by DJ Taylor · 39 replies · 1,573+ views
    The Fayetteville Observer ^ | December 13, 2008 | Henry Cunningham
    About 100 Special Forces and Afghan soldiers each were carrying more than 60 pounds of equipment when they jumped from helicopters onto icy, jagged rocks and waist-deep running water in 30-degree temperatures on April 6 to assault a terrorist stronghold in Afghanistan. Seven hours later, the members of Special Forces A-Team 3336 would have encountered a tenacious enemy in the Shok Valley and earned 10 Silver Stars, the Army’s third highest award for combat valor. The award of a single Silver Star is considered a significant combat decoration. The 12-man A-team is the basic fighting unit of Special Forces. The...
  • 10 Green Berets to Receive Silver Star for Afghan Battle

    12/12/2008 5:38:21 PM PST · by neverdem · 33 replies · 1,993+ views
    Washington Post ^ | December 12, 2008 | Ann Scott Tyson
    Page A01 After jumping out of helicopters at daybreak onto jagged, ice-covered rocks and into water at an altitude of 10,000 feet, the 12-man Special Forces team scrambled up the steep mountainside toward its target -- an insurgent stronghold in northeast Afghanistan. "Our plan," Capt. Kyle M. Walton recalled in an interview, "was to fight downhill." But as the soldiers maneuvered toward a cluster of thick-walled mud buildings constructed layer upon layer about 1,000 feet farther up the mountain, insurgents quickly manned fighting positions, readying a barrage of fire for the exposed Green Berets. A harrowing, nearly seven-hour battle unfolded...
  • Green Beret James Alford is buried with full honors

    12/06/2008 7:52:34 AM PST · by mdittmar · 35 replies · 2,113+ views
    Marshall News Messenger ^ | December 05, 2008 | Steve Bandy
    KARNACK — Once stripped of his Special Forces patch and seemingly headed for a dishonorable discharge, Staff Sgt. James "Jamie" Alford was laid to rest with full military honors here Friday.More than 20 Green Berets from his old unit at Fort Campbell, Ky., were on hand to mark his passing. Alford, 30, died Monday, six years after doctors told him he had only a few months to live.Alford enlisted in the U.S. Army in October 1996 at the age of 17 and, upon completion of Basic, Infantry and Airborne training at Fort Benning, Ga., was assigned to the 82nd Airborne...
  • US 'has launched secret attacks on al-Qaeda since 2004'

    11/10/2008 5:31:52 PM PST · by do the dhue · 59 replies · 432+ views
    telegraph UK ^ | 11 Nov 2008 | telegraph
    A classified order authorising attacks on al-Qaeda anywhere in the world, even in countries not a war with the US, was approved by Mr Bush and signed by former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the newspaper said, citing anonymous US officials.
  • Syria-Iraq: Bloody Border, Messy Politics (Michael Yon)

    10/27/2008 7:04:35 PM PDT · by Dawnsblood · 12 replies · 680+ views
    Pajamas Media ^ | 10/27/08 | Michael Yon
    Late Sunday, U.S. Special Forces struck positions across the Syrian-Iraq border, inside of Syria, apparently killing nine people, most of whom were non-Syrian Arab fighters on their way into Iraq. Of course there is a great cry rising from the Syrians today. For years, tons of explosives and a long line of foreign terrorists have streamed across the Syrian border into Anbar Province and Nineveh Province in Iraq. I must have spent a total of about nine months in Nineveh, about eight of which were in the capital of Mosul, and another month in Anbar. Foreign terrorists were caught or...
  • US forces kill eight in helicopter raid on Syria

    10/26/2008 10:29:20 PM PDT · by Soliton · 14 replies · 719+ views
    guardian ^ | Monday October 27 2008 | Ian Black,
    American helicopters flying from Iraq landed inside Syria yesterday and dropped special forces who killed eight people, the Damascus government said last night, as Washington admitted it had targeted "foreign fighters." Syria warned that it held the US "wholly responsible for this act of aggression and all its repercussions". It described the dead as Syrian civilians, five of them members of the same family. Syrian state television reported that the attack was against a farm near Abu Kamal, five miles from the Iraqi border. Doctors in nearby al-Sukkariya said another seven people were taken to hospital with bullet wounds.
  • US special forces launch rare attack inside Syria

    10/26/2008 4:23:46 PM PDT · by NYTexan · 36 replies · 1,536+ views
    DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - U.S. military helicopters launched an extremely rare attack Sunday on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as "serious aggression." A U.S. military official said the raid by special forces targeted the foreign fighter network that travels through Syria into Iraq. The Americans have been unable to shut the network down in the area because Syria was out of the military's reach. "We are taking matters into our own hands," the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the political...
  • A warning Syria's President Assad must heed -- US Special Forces cross into Syria

    10/26/2008 5:38:02 PM PDT · by Ernest_at_the_Beach · 29 replies · 1,709+ views
    The Times (UK) ^ | October 27, 2008 | James Hider: Analysis
    The US airborne raid into Syrian territory marks the culmination of years of frustration with Damascus’s reluctance to police its own border with Iraq, the main point of entry for foreign jihadists. Since the 2003 invasion, Syria, fearing that it could be the next target for regime change, has allowed Islamic militants to cross its desert borders freely. Significantly, the village of al-Sukkari farm, which US forces raided, is just over the border from the Iraqi city of al-Qaim, which, since 2003, has been a key funnelling point for jihadists entering Iraq on the so-called rat run to the Sunni...
  • U.S. special forces rescue U.S. hostage in Afghanistan

    10/23/2008 2:02:13 PM PDT · by ZEO90 · 14 replies · 759+ views
    Reuters India ^ | Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:58pm IST | Reuters
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. special forces in Afghanistan last week rescued a kidnapped American civilian in a night raid on an insurgent stronghold west of Kabul, U.S. military officials said on Thursday. The American, who was not identified, was abducted in mid-August while working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Officials said special forces units, acting on an intelligence lead, freed the captive on Oct. 15 in Wardak province.
  • The Bear Was a Goat

    10/04/2008 5:25:12 AM PDT · by PurpleMan · 14 replies · 1,016+ views
    Nat'l Review On-Line ^ | November 12, 2007 | James S. Robbins
    In May of 1992, Guy R. “Bear” Barattieri achieved the singular distinction of graduating last in his class at West Point... “he was an American hero in every sense of the word. He was one of the most down to earth, giving individuals I ever knew, he had a love for his family that was enormous, and he wore his belief in this country on his chest like a badge of honor.”
  • SAS kill hundreds of terrorists in 'secret war' against al-Qaeda in Iraq

    08/30/2008 7:13:20 PM PDT · by Labour-Watch · 39 replies · 2,602+ views
    Daily Telegraph (London) ^ | Aug 31, 2008 | Sean Rayment
    Hundreds of terrorists have been killed by the SAS waging a "secret war" against al-Qaeda in Iraq, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose. More than 3,500 insurgents have been "taken off the streets of Baghdad" by the elite British force in a series of audacious "Black Ops" over the past two years.
  • Job-Seeker Who Changed Her Gender Goes to Court

    08/20/2008 4:56:29 AM PDT · by SilvieWaldorfMD · 27 replies · 489+ views
    Washington Post ^ | 8/20/08 | Del Quentin Wilber
    Diane Schroer, a 52-year-old former Army Special Forces commander, testified yesterday in federal court that she was "disappointed and dismayed" when an official at the Library of Congress rescinded a job offer even though she was the star candidate. The offer, for a job as a terrorism research analyst, was pulled the day after Schroer told her future boss that she was making the medical transition from being a man, David, to being a woman, Diane. "I honestly felt a little surprised and shocked," Schroer testified during the first day of the trial in her discrimination lawsuit against the Library...
  • Coast Guardsmen to Join Navy SEAL Teams (TONK! WOW!)

    08/15/2008 5:51:34 PM PDT · by SandRat · 20 replies · 376+ views
    WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2008 – Coast Guardsmen soon will be training to join Navy SEAL teams, a senior Coast Guard officer said today. Rear Adm. Thomas F. Atkin, commander of the Coast Guard’s deployable operations group, said four Coast Guardsmen -- two officers and two enlisted sailors -- will be selected to begin basic underwater demolition school later this year. If they graduate, the admiral said, they will become full-fledged members of Navy SEAL teams and deploy with those teams worldwide. Atkins called the development the beginning of an exciting new era in the Coast Guard. “Certainly this is historic,...
  • Secret work of SAS in Iraq exposed

    08/11/2008 8:08:09 PM PDT · by Labour-Watch · 11 replies · 231+ views
    The Daily Telegraph ^ | Aug 11, 2008 | Thomas Harding
    The secret work of SAS troops battling Al Qa'eda terrorists in Iraq has been exposed by the American commander in the country. British special forces had played an "immense" role in taking out terrorist bomb-making cells and insurgent leaders over the last five years, said Gen David Petraeus. In one incident the SAS blended into the heavy Baghdad traffic by hiring a pink pick-up truck and removing their military clothing to capture a terrorist, the general said.
  • Afghanistan Doesn't Need a (Obama)'Surge'

    07/23/2008 7:48:09 AM PDT · by Cronos · 16 replies · 274+ views
    Wall Street Journal ^ | July 22, 2008 | ANN MARLOWE
    Barack Obama said: "We need more troops, more helicopters, better intelligence-gathering and more nonmilitary assistance to accomplish the mission there." Mr. Obama should have supported the surge in Iraq, but that doesn't mean that advocating one in Afghanistan makes sense ==== snip ====== Regional Command East has been applying a standard formula in 14 Afghan provinces, usually with great success. Even privates can tell you that it's about living among the people, building projects for them, and, in the Pashtun belt, getting the tribes on your side >==== snip ====== Nuristanis -- who were converted from paganism to Islam only...
  • Colombia hostage rescue 5 years in the works

    07/10/2008 7:10:59 PM PDT · by RDTF · 13 replies · 263+ views
    Seattle Times via WaPo ^ | July 9, 2008 | Juan Forero
    For months before a group of disguised Colombian soldiers carried out a daring rescue of three U.S. citizens and a prominent Colombian politician from a guerrilla camp, a team of U.S. Special Forces joined elite Colombian troops tracking the hostages across the jungle in the country's southern fringes. The U.S. team was supported by a vast intelligence-gathering operation based in the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, far to the north. There, a special 100-person unit made up of Special Forces planners, hostage negotiators and intelligence analysts worked to keep track of the hostages. They also awaited the moment when the rescue...
  • SOCOM Leads the Way?

    05/21/2008 2:33:09 PM PDT · by Dawnsblood · 18 replies · 167+ views
    Weekly Standard ^ | 5/21/08 | Stuart Koehl
    So what is the answer? The Marines may have hit on the solution: rather than lowering the quality of special operations troops in order to increase the size of the force, they are raising the quality of their line troops to take on some of the missions currently performed by special operations forces. This has been done by training certain Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs) to be "Special Operations Capable"; such units are now designated as "MEU(SOC)s." A typical MEU(SOC) is built around a Marine rifle battalion reinforced with an artillery battery, an amphibious assault vehicle company, a reconnaissance platoon, and...
  • German Special Forces in Afghanistan Let Taliban Commander Escape

    05/19/2008 4:14:31 PM PDT · by gpapa · 19 replies · 223+ views
    Spiegal Online International ^ | May 19, 2008 | Susanne Koelbl and Alexander Szandar
    German special forces had an important Taliban commander in their sights in Afghanistan. But he escaped -- because the Germans were not authorized to use lethal force. The German government's hands-tied approach to the war is causing friction with its NATO allies. The wheat is lush and green in the fields of northern Afghanistan this spring. A river winding its way through the broad valley dotted with walled houses completes the picturesque scene. Behind one of these walls, not far from the town of Pol-e-Khomri, sits a man whose enemies, having named him a "target," would like to see dead....
  • US Special Forces fighting inside Sadr City

    05/09/2008 7:53:04 PM PDT · by Tennessean4Bush · 18 replies · 247+ views
    The Long War Journal ^ | 5/9/2008 | Bill Roggio
    Soldiers from Company A, 64th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division set concrete barriers in place in the surroundings of the southern portion of the Sadr City district of Baghdad May 3. (US Army photo/Specialist Joseph Rivera Rebolledo) The battle for Sadr City continues as US and Iraqi forces continue to erect the concrete security barrier on Qods Street, the main thoroughfare that divides the southern third of Sadr City from the northern portion. US Special Operations Forces teams have entered the fray, and the specialized teams are fighting inside the Mahdi Army bastion for...
  • U.S. Special Operations Forces kill 11 Special Groups criminals in Sadr City

    05/09/2008 5:25:32 PM PDT · by mdittmar · 19 replies · 260+ views
    Multi-National Corps – Iraq ^ | May 9, 2008 | Multi-National Corps – Iraq PAO
    BALAD, Iraq – Responding to attacks on Iraqi and Coalition forces, U.S. Special Operations Forces killed eleven Special Groups criminals in the Sadr City area of Baghdad May 9.U.S. SOF were providing security for Coalition forces who were making safety infrastructure improvements in Sadr City.During the operation, Special Groups criminals attacked Iraqi and Coalition forces with rocket propelled grenades and small-arms fire from the ground and from rooftops. U.S. SOF returned fire, killing nine. The firefight continued, and U.S. SOF authorized a Coalition aircraft to engage. The aircraft fired one Hellfire missile, killing two criminals.-30-
  • Mary Tillman Talks About Her Son

    05/09/2008 1:18:59 AM PDT · by Westlander · 10 replies · 222+ views
    WXYZ.COM ^ | 5-8-2008 | WXYZ.COM
    Pat Tillman's mother spoke with Action News Anchor Robbie Timmons today, while on a book tour for "Boots On The Ground By Dusk."