Failed Navy SEALs raid on Somali target could bolster Al Shabab (Today)

Christian Science Monitor ^ | October 6, 2013 | Mike Pflanz

[jwalsh07]

Why do we even know what Seal Team 6 is doing? Same for Delta. This is craziness.

[Pan_Yan]

20 years and 2 days ago we lost 18 Americans in one of the more tragic episodes in modern US military history. What were trying to do that day? Cherry pick individual targets for arrest in an enemy stronghold during an ethnic civil war. Sound familiar? Same damn country even.

[tet68]

US troops were faced with heavier-than-expected return fire, and pulled out to avoid civilian casualties,

Proper previous planning prevents piss poor performance.
P7.

Civilians? How could they tell?

[wrencher]

our enemies laugh at us

[ansel12]

It isn’t you it’s the media, they are determined to convert “Special Forces” from the name of Special Forces into a generic term for all special operations.

What they will then call the actual famous 61 year old Army unit whose name is “Special Forces” is a mystery.

It is a little like when Clinton took the famous black beret of the Army’s famous, Airborne Rangers, and made it the hat for all of the Army.

[ansel12]

Why do we even know what Seal Team 6 is doing? Same for Delta. This is craziness.

Once a battle or operation is over and the results are out in the open, fires burning, casualties, destruction, how do you force the world's media to agree not to report on it?

[jwalsh07]

Simple, you don’t tell them crap. Or you could simply say that it was the REMF brigade. They wouldn’t know the difference.

[petitfour]

US officials should make no comment.

Maybe Barrycade can draw a better map to the homes of the participants in special operations. Democrats are good at putting folks in danger.

[willyd]

if you think for one second bozo is going to bomb africa...

[ansel12]

Reporters will still show up at the site of battle and destruction to report on the news.

[esoxmagnum]

To blame the House for funding cuts. They wanted it to fail. Politics. People die for dem politics.

[UnwashedPeasant]

"the Seals’ commanders made the call to pull out to avoid civilian casualties."

[hamboy]

So who told of the Seal’s raid?

Special ops raid shouldn't even ever get to the press, nor even confirmed if ever happened. Kinda wonder if this control-freak administration tryin' to get credit for doing it.

[PghBaldy]

According to Somalia, we informed them of the upcoming raid. No wonder it didn’t turn out well.

[Eagles6]

Of course, that’s it.

[Chainmail]

Once again, we're using the SEALs for raids that should be conducted by the Marines. SEALs are relatively lightly armed commandos, trained for fast, minimal contact operations. A Marine MEU is designed for everything from fast, small-scale combat operations to full-on sustained combined arms combat against everything up to regiment/brigade sized opponents.

Didn't anybody remember the Rangers and Delta in Mogadishu? They thought that a lightning fast raid of special operators could quickly run in, seize Mohammad Aideed and then escape. It turned out that the Somalis specialized in very fast and aggressive response and ramped up their numbers in minutes to the tens of thousands. Later on, everybody wondered why we didn't have any tanks or artillery ready for just such a contingency.

A MEU brings everything needed in one package for just such an occasion. SEALs aren't good at big fights: remember Grenada, Panama, the Gulf War, the Afghanistan "last stand"? Time to restrict our fascination with Soldier of Fortune magazine stuff and to go back to professionals.

[bert]

My analysis was that the raid in question was to be minimum contact and minimum duration and therefore SEALS were appropriate.

[AppyPappy]

Correct. Obama’s Chicago drone strategy of “If they are in a car, blow up the car. If they are in a building, blow up the building” is the most effective strategy. If you are going to send people, sends lot of people.

The Iraq strategy of using snipers as artillery is also effective.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

The Iraq strategy of using snipers as artillery is also effective.

What does that mean?

[AppyPappy]

Snipers were used as ‘stand-off weapons’ to keep the enemies’ heads down while troops advanced.