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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. ........

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...

Breaking on Fox. Body now in US for further confirmation.

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....

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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 I dedicated to my son.

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...

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...

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...

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.

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.

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 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...

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...

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.