Yemen hostage: US reveals bid to rescue Luke Somers

[webfact]

Yemen hostage: US reveals bid to rescue Luke Somers

WASHINGTON: -- The US has revealed it tried to rescue UK-born American hostage Luke Somers, who is being held by al-Qaeda in Yemen.

President Barack Obama authorised the mission last month, it said.

"Regrettably, Luke was not present, though hostages of other nationalities were present and were rescued," the National Security Council said.

A man identifying himself as Luke Somers, who was abducted in 2013, has appeared in a video, saying his life is in danger and appealing for help.

The video also shows a member of al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) threatening to kill Mr Somers unless unspecified demands are met.

Mr Somers, 33, worked as a journalist and photographer for local news organisations and his material appeared on international news outlets, including the BBC news website.

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30338031


-- BBC 2014-12-05

[kaobang]

US raid just killed him and a south african hostage who was goin to be released tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!

US and UK are against ransoms its their right and their citizens but they have no right to kill hostages from other countries

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30358665

"the long arm of american justice"Obama said and now where is the justice for the south african national or the british woman killed by the US troops in Afghanistan

Obama give the Nobel back

[Ulysses G.]

Too bad the second mission failed, but did kill some terrorists. That helps some.

[kaobang]

Too bad the second mission failed, but did kill some terrorists. That helps some.

dont tell that to the south african hostage family or they would kill you

[Lissos]

US and UK are against ransoms its their right and their citizens but they have no right to kill hostages from other countries

Yet, had this succeeded, you and others would have cheered special forces for having brought back these two men alive in a daring operation. Look at it this way, a spokesman on hostage incidents commented on this incident earlier today saying that in past cases they've received announcements from militants holding captives that they will release captives in coming days but the outcome of it had been - "We promised to release him, but hey we didn't say that we'd release more than his head did we". In other words, execution happened anyway. I trust these guys know more about this complex game than we. It must have been a tough call, but the alarming mixed message coming from the militants that death was imminent for one man but release was imminent for the other, didn't make sense. It sounds like the mission almost succeeded in that they managed to get both men out of the area, but they had already been severely wounded. It is a thankless task that intelligence agencies and special forces do, because the masses generally only hear about attempts that failed. Successes? Well the masses just take those in their stride or the details are never released publicly. I appreciate that none of this will be solace for the relatives of the south african, but would you trust the word of an al Qaeda negotiator in Yemen?

[Lite Beer]

US hostage Luke Somers and SA Pierre Korkie killed during Yemen rescue bid

UK-born US journalist Luke Somers and South African teacher Pierre Korkie have been killed by al-Qaeda militants in Yemen during a failed rescue bid.

Saturday's operation was carried out by joint US and Yemeni special forces in the southern Shabwa region.

US President Barack Obama condemned the "barbaric murder" of both hostages.

They were being held by militants from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), regarded by the US as one of the deadliest offshoots of al-Qaeda.

Read More: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30358665

-- BBC 2014-12-06

[Ulysses G.]

US and UK are against ransoms its their right and their citizens but they have no right to kill hostages from other countries

The TERRORISTS killed the hostages, not the US or UK.

[craigt3365]

US raid just killed him and a south african hostage who was goin to be released tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!

US and UK are against ransoms its their right and their citizens but they have no right to kill hostages from other countries

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30358665

"the long arm of american justice"Obama said and now where is the justice for the south african national or the british woman killed by the US troops in Afghanistan

Obama give the Nobel back

I would tend to think Obama had more info on this situation than you did, and per the article, made a decision to try and rescue them immediately:

President Obama said he authorised the raid to rescue Mr Somers and other hostages held in the same location.

He said information had "indicated that Luke's life was in imminent danger".

And this wasn't the first attempt to rescue one of the hostages.

[impulse]

US raid just killed him and a south african hostage who was goin to be released tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!

US and UK are against ransoms its their right and their citizens but they have no right to kill hostages from other countries

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30358665

"the long arm of american justice"Obama said and now where is the justice for the south african national or the british woman killed by the US troops in Afghanistan

Obama give the Nobel back

I would tend to think Obama had more info on this situation than you did, and per the article, made a decision to try and rescue them immediately:

Perhaps not...

Arrangements for Korkie's release may have been missed by the White House.

The Obama administration assessed that there were two individuals at the location but did not know one was South African or that negotiations were underway for his release, a senior State Department official told CNN's Elise Labott.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/06/world/meast/yemen-u-s-hostage-killed/index.html

Edited December 7, 2014 by impulse

[kaobang]

US and UK are against ransoms its their right and their citizens but they have no right to kill hostages from other countries

The TERRORISTS killed the hostages, not the US or UK.

the South africa hostage would be alive today with his family

South african lifes matter

[Suradit69]

US raid just killed him and a south african hostage who was goin to be released tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!

US and UK are against ransoms its their right and their citizens but they have no right to kill hostages from other countries

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30358665

"the long arm of american justice"Obama said and now where is the justice for the south african national or the british woman killed by the US troops in Afghanistan

Obama give the Nobel back

I would tend to think Obama had more info on this situation than you did, and per the article, made a decision to try and rescue them immediately:

Perhaps not...

Arrangements for Korkie's release may have been missed by the White House.

The Obama administration assessed that there were two individuals at the location but did not know one was South African or that negotiations were underway for his release, a senior State Department official told CNN's Elise Labott.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/06/world/meast/yemen-u-s-hostage-killed/index.html

Neither armed raids nor negotiations have a particularly successful track record in these situations. And obviously the much vaunted high-tech "intelligence" services are rarely as well-informed or flawless as they are portrayed in the movies.

If the South Africans were negotiating, apparently they were unaware that an American was being held with the South African or, for reasons best known to them, chose to keep the American government in the dark.

Hindsight ( and armchair quarterbacking after the event) is always better informed. Unfortunately you have to operate with the limited information you have at the time. Aside from the opportunity for political back slapping or finger pointing, it's difficult to decide whether acting or waiting will be the right choice to make.

Edited December 7, 2014 by Suradit69

[neverdie]

Too bad the second mission failed, but did kill some terrorists. That helps some.

dont tell that to the south african hostage family or they would kill you

I am sure UG won't sleep tonight after hearing that.

The US, can't win. Do nothing, people die, people whinge.

Do something, people die, people whinge.

Not one member of that strike team wanted the hostages to die. These men at the pointy end risked their own lives in an attempt to save others......it didn't pay off, sad, but still a good effort with all the right intentions.

The world must rise up against TERRORISTS, these bastards need to be stopped.

[Chicog]

One can only hope that they managed to wipe out every single one of the terrorists in the process.

They were absolutely correct to go in if they had verifiable intelligence that yet more heads were about to roll.

If the South Africans were negotiating without telling anyone else, they screwed up. Everyone knows the US are active against terrorism in Yemen.

[Scott]

A troll post has been removed.

[car720]

US raid just killed him and a south african hostage who was goin to be released tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!

US and UK are against ransoms its their right and their citizens but they have no right to kill hostages from other countries

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30358665

"the long arm of american justice"Obama said and now where is the justice for the south african national or the british woman killed by the US troops in Afghanistan

Obama give the Nobel back

I would tend to think Obama had more info on this situation than you did, and per the article, made a decision to try and rescue them immediately:

Perhaps not...

Arrangements for Korkie's release may have been missed by the White House.

The Obama administration assessed that there were two individuals at the location but did not know one was South African or that negotiations were underway for his release, a senior State Department official told CNN's Elise Labott.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/06/world/meast/yemen-u-s-hostage-killed/index.html

Neither armed raids nor negotiations have a particularly successful track record in these situations. And obviously the much vaunted high-tech "intelligence" services are rarely as well-informed or flawless as they are portrayed in the movies.

If the South Africans were negotiating, apparently they were unaware that an American was being held with the South African or, for reasons best known to them, chose to keep the American government in the dark.

Hindsight ( and armchair quarterbacking after the event) is always better informed. Unfortunately you have to operate with the limited information you have at the time. Aside from the opportunity for political back slapping or finger pointing, it's difficult to decide whether acting or waiting will be the right choice to make.

A well considered response. I particularly agree with the Hollywood part. However, perhaps you underestimate the power of propaganda to the yanks. To my way of thinking what Obama was hoping for was a real good John Wayne to the rescue or a raid on Entebbe. It would also have come to his political rescue. I find myself in kaobang's corner on this one. But, before any further comment I must investigate if it is policy for South Africa to negotiate. If it is then the yanks had no right to jeopardize another countries citizen just for the sake of glory or do they consider that saving their own is more important than saving another. These things make for great movies but peoples lives should come first.

[car720]

Too bad the second mission failed, but did kill some terrorists. That helps some.

dont tell that to the south african hostage family or they would kill you

I am sure UG won't sleep tonight after hearing that.

The US, can't win. Do nothing, people die, people whinge.

Do something, people die, people whinge.

Not one member of that strike team wanted the hostages to die. These men at the pointy end risked their own lives in an attempt to save others......it didn't pay off, sad, but still a good effort with all the right intentions.

The world must rise up against TERRORISTS, these bastards need to be stopped.

Neverdie old mate, I don't think there is a man here with a bad word for the teams involved. They were just doing their job the best they could, as always, and power to them.

This is more about the decision makers and their motives.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth.

[Ulysses G.]

To my way of thinking what Obama was hoping for was a real good John Wayne to the rescue or a raid on Entebbe.

I'm no fan of Obama, but there are no guarantees when it comes to these things and he knows it. It is better to try and fail a rescue, than to not even try to attempt it. I give him credit for that.

Edited December 7, 2014 by Ulysses G.

[Anthony5]

US and UK are against ransoms its their right and their citizens but they have no right to kill hostages from other countries

Yet, had this succeeded, you and others would have cheered special forces for having brought back these two men alive in a daring operation. Look at it this way, a spokesman on hostage incidents commented on this incident earlier today saying that in past cases they've received announcements from militants holding captives that they will release captives in coming days but the outcome of it had been - "We promised to release him, but hey we didn't say that we'd release more than his head did we". In other words, execution happened anyway. I trust these guys know more about this complex game than we. It must have been a tough call, but the alarming mixed message coming from the militants that death was imminent for one man but release was imminent for the other, didn't make sense. It sounds like the mission almost succeeded in that they managed to get both men out of the area, but they had already been severely wounded. It is a thankless task that intelligence agencies and special forces do, because the masses generally only hear about attempts that failed. Successes? Well the masses just take those in their stride or the details are never released publicly. I appreciate that none of this will be solace for the relatives of the south african, but would you trust the word of an al Qaeda negotiator in Yemen?

If this one had succeeded people would have cheered, because it would have been a surprise it didn't fail like all the previous ones.

http://www.sunherald.com/2014/12/06/5953903/sister-american-hostage-killed.html

Hostage's death a reminder rescue missions often fail

It was the third U.S.-led hostage raid since July that failed to rescue its target alive,

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2014/12/06/5953903/sister-american-hostage-killed.html#storylink=cpy

Edited December 7, 2014 by Anthony5

[neverdie]

To my way of thinking what Obama was hoping for was a real good John Wayne to the rescue or a raid on Entebbe.

I'm no fan of Obama, but there are no guarantees when it comes to these things and he knows it. It is better to try and fail a rescue, than to not even try to attempt it. I give him credit for that.

Just admit it, you love Obama.

[Chicog]

But, before any further comment I must investigate if it is policy for South Africa to negotiate. If it is then the yanks had no right to jeopardize another countries citizen just for the sake of glory or do they consider that saving their own is more important than saving another. These things make for great movies but peoples lives should come first.

You should also investigate whether or not the South Africans told the Americans that they were negotiating for a hostage.

From what I can determine, this was being done on the quiet, and the Americans would have no way of knowing what they were up to. In fact it's not even clear if the SA gov't was involved.

Korkie and his wife Yolande were kidnapped by the militants in Taiz, Yemen, in May last year. Yolande was released on 10 January and returned to South Africa on 13 January. The Gift of the Givers helped negotiate her release.

At the time of the kidnapping, Korkie was a teacher in Yemen, while his wife did relief work in hospitals.

The kidnappers demanded about R32.5m in exchange for Korkie's safe return.

The foundation had tried to make contact with al-Qaeda through international media and circulated an interview with their office manager in Yemen, Anas al-Hamati.

Al-Hamati was forced to leave Yemen at the end of January for his own safety after al-Qaeda accused him of stealing the ransom money.

Tribal leaders in Yemen then took over the talks with Al-Qaeda.

On 25 February, tribal leaders found out that Korkie was still alive but in bad health. Since then no more information was available on his condition.

Korkie was, however, spotted three times.

Edited December 7, 2014 by Chicog

[Lissos]

the South africa hostage would be alive today with his family

South african lifes matter

As I say, you can't know (that he would have been released, and would be alive now with his family) but are gambling that the promise would have been honoured. While I'm aware of incidents like the Taliban honouring the release of Bowe Bergdahl who was then picked up (a release based on a prisoner swap that made people question if the stance about non negotation with captors was still in place or not) , al Qaeda is probably less certain because they are made up of people from all sorts of nations with differing outlooks, not the tribal pashtun code of the Taliban for example. Even 'if' the second stream of deals about the south african 'would' have led to a release, this is no consolation for the U.S as 'their' man was about to be killed imminently, by all the indications. For this reason we could say the same thing about him, that just because a south african may have been released soon, that doesn't mean the U.S should be expected to back off and keep away if their man is about to be executed.

American lives also matter.

http://www.sunherald.com/2014/12/06/5953903/sister-american-hostage-killed.html

Hostage's death a reminder rescue missions often fail

Let's be clear about what your own article actually says :

The death of American photojournalist Luke Somers in a special forces rescue operation in Yemen on Saturday was a reminder that such high-risk missions are as likely to fail as to succeed.

Thus, it is 50/50, and that is the reality of these missions which everyone involved directly or ordering them is aware of. It really can go either way, depending on all sorts of friction factors on the ground. While they try to gain as much information as they can possibly get, but there is always going to be a black spot of total uncertainty in these scenarios which these guys are trained to try and adapt to very quickly as it all arises.

More from the article you linked to :

Because the U.S. government is unwilling to bargain for their freedom, a military rescue becomes the hostages’ only hope for survival.

So, at the end of the day, the American's life was in imminent danger by all indications and the alternative was to do nothing and then hear about his execution, or to start handing out goodies to hostage takers. The British and American stance of not paying hostage takers can't claim to be a better or worse method, it is simply a stance and one that is held firm to. While it may not eliminate cases of Brits or American still being taken, it remains firm in that doing so is not going to profit hostage takers one iota, financially. Even if for a moment we believe that nutters like Islamic State would have released people like Alan Henning for the right amount of money or a cessation of air strikes, the guy may be back with his family but now Islamic State has even more cash in hand and would have been carrying out more and more kidnappings in future because of the outcome.

Other nations are suspected of paying out ransoms, but at what cost in the bigger picture? It becomes profitable in the bigger picture, either financially or militarily. Yemen has been notorious since the mid 90s for locals kidnapping tourists termporarily every so often in order to force the local government to build a road, etc. It became so widespread to the point that visitors could 'expect' a high chance of being held at some point because it paid the hostage takers off each time. Now we're just seeing an extension of that reward system there, mixed in with al Qaeda elements.

While individuals may object to themselves being expected to sacrifice themselves for a greater good, that is pretty much the stance of Britain and the United States Government on this matter. Other nations where family or Government quietly raise funds to pay off hostage takers may get their man back alive with far more certainty, but at what cost? Great cost and fallout. Don't get me wrong, I'm not under any illusions that our Government would view us as heroic for any longer than the sound bite on their podiums takes to utter if we were kidnapped and were executed, but the thought of hostage takers getting away with it and also profiting from our capture from a "cash for release" deal is something that personally would grate on me more than the thought of a showdown where myself and my captors all ended up dead in a rescue attempt. Each to their own, but - "If I'm going down, you're going down with me" is how I'd want it to be. In the case of a family member being held captive, I'm sure it woudl be far more difficult to make that choice for someone else. The temptation must be huge, to pay whatever captors want to get a loved one back, but again, at what cost?

[Thaiready]

If they idiots would keep their butts out of these hell holes they wouldn't be a need to negotiate or rescue anyone.

[Neilly]

If they idiots would keep their butts out of these hell holes they wouldn't be a need to negotiate or rescue anyone.

Yeah...and you know sh1t

I worked in Yemen for approx 14 years...they are nice people, but with a few bad apples...pretty much the same world over

[Bwanatickey]

Well I am sure the hostages where hoping to see a special forces team enter the room and rescue them. Even if they fail to save you, it was a better death than the beheading that was sure to come.

The terrorists release no one now, talk of release is just another torture technique.

It like a cat releasing the mouse from its claws, only to snatch the hope of escaping back again.

[atyclb]

Maybe we ought to consider a Golden Rule in foreign policy: Don't do to other nations what we don't want happening to us. We endlessly bomb these countries and then we wonder why they get upset with us?

Ron Paul

[Lissos]

Even if they fail to save you, it was a better death than the beheading that was sure to come.

To be fair (with great reluctance) to al Qaeda, they frown upon that sort of murder (flying airliners into buildings seems to get a green light though). It was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq 10 years ago who it seems resurrected gruesome executions by knife beheading (influenced by the Chechen wars?), and although he is now dead, the black masked knife wielder with an orange jump suit wearing hostage is his legacy from beyond the grave.

[Ulysses G.]

Maybe we ought to consider a Golden Rule in foreign policy: Don't do to other nations what we don't want happening to us. We endlessly bomb these countries and then we wonder why they get upset with us?

Ron Paul

Was this sandwiched between all the racist, bigoted, homophobic stuff in one of his crazy newsletters? No one needs lectures on foreign policy from the likes of Ron Paul.

[phutoie2]

Three raids now , all failed. The opposition seem to be one step ahead all the time. There was some dumb yank on the radio yesterday, using phrases such as , "taking everybody out in the room" and "Murphys Law". Too much Andy McNab.

[Ulysses G.]

There have been numerous successful raids that the public has never hear of. Count on it.

That is how special forces usually works.

[Credo]

I believe there was recently a rescue attempt that was successful, but one of the main hostages for the raid wasn't there.