Rolling up Al Qaeda in Somalia

[Drake Tungsten]

I must say, the distinction Drake makes is something Ive seen before. Some standup comedy guy in the 70s said "A *** isnt a queer. A *** is a guy who wont the guys in beating up the queers"

George Carlin...

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
Unfortunately, many homosexuals still live up to the whiny, girly stereotype that made them synonymous with the term in the first place...

Why is that "unfortunate"?


There are annoying gay people and there are annoying straight people. Deal with it.

I'm sure the "girly" men have gay men taht find that trait attractive . If it works for the individual involved, why should anyone else care

[Drake Tungsten]

I don't like whiners.

[Dinner]

Stop whining.

[Last Conformist]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
I don't like whiners.

The irony is palpable.

[Dinner]

Beat you to it.

[Chemical Ollie]

Originally posted by Oerdin


Sorry Ollie but this is retarded.

That's the strongest argument you could find?

[Patroklos]

U.S. official

Can anyone here claiming murder and mayham produce a source that has a name, or a department, or anything that might indicate it was not produced by me?

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Chemical Ollie


That's the strongest argument you could find?

Just the most deserving.

[DanS]

Originally posted by Patroklos
Can anyone here claiming murder and mayham produce a source that has a name, or a department, or anything that might indicate it was not produced by me?

I knew you were on deployment near the Horn!

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Arrian
At the end of the day, MOBIUS and dannubis would only be happy if the US gave up trying to get this guy. As long as he hides in villages surrounded by civilians (which will be all the time), he's immune. And that's ok, 'cause after all, America was asking for it anyway.

-Arrian

Sadly, that sounds about right.

[Patroklos]

I knew you were on deployment near the Horn!

I was back in September/October. But mostly in the Gulf of Aden looking for slave and drug trafficing into Yemen and to stop terrorist/arms smuggling into Somalia.

Interestingly enough we didn't find very much "refugee" traffic from Somalia. There was hardly any maritime activity at all, to include piracy.

[DRoseDARs]

I'm not registering (unless I have already; too long ago to remember if I did) to get the rest, but here's a blurb from the WaPo:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011102329.html?sub=AR

US has entered Somalia! Small team entering to find out who exactly was killed in airstrike.

"NAIROBI, Jan. 11 -- A small team of American military personnel entered southern Somalia to try to determine exactly who was killed in a U.S. airstrike Monday that targeted suspected al-Qaeda figures thought to be hiding in swampy mangrove forests along the Indian Ocean, U.S. sources said Thursday.

So far, "no one can confirm a high-value target" among the dead, said one U.S. source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. But items recovered at the strike site -- a piece of bloody clothing and a document -- indicated that Aden Ayrow, head of the military arm of the deposed Islamic Courts movement, had been at the scene.

The strike killed eight to 10 people suspected of terrorist links, according to another source, a high-ranking U.S. official in the region who spoke Thursday and declined to be identified. The people were fleeing with remnants of the Courts movement, which was swept from power last month by invading Ethiopian forces who installed in its place the country's U.S.-backed transitional government.

The search team marks the first known case of U.S. military boots hitting Somalian soil since a disastrous mission to stabilize the country ended in 1994 after Somali militiamen downed two Black Hawk helicopters and killed 18 U.S. soldiers in the capital, Mogadishu. It was unclear Thursday if the search team remained inside Somalia."

[Chemical Ollie]

Originally posted by lord of the mark

Im sure if they are active in Afghanistan, they are quite willing to call in airstrikes when that is tactically required.

Well, sorry for a late reply, but this thread moved forward (or flipped out) a little faster than my real-life could keep up with.

Very little is known in the public about Sweden's most recently set-up special forces SSG (Särskilda Skydds-Gruppen = Special Protection Group). They keep a very tigh lid on anything about them. Swedish media claims they have more training, but less combat experience, than SAS and SEAL. All of the personnel are professional soldiers with officers rank (as opposed to the volontary conscripts we normally use), so they can deploy on foreign missions with short notice. Their average age is 31, so they're not hot-headed teens.

A quick googling found this, a source I don't know the credibility of:

http://www.specialoperations.com/Foreign/Sweden/ssg.htm

For the airstrike option, I would say the Euro-***(TM) policy would apply: If they saw Bin Ladin in his cave through the binoculars, an airstrike would probably be called (if they didn't have the possibility to score themselves, which they wouldn't hesitate to do), but if they saw him hiding in a tent at a refugee camp, they would rather back off than risk killing 100's of innocents in the process. The domestic debate if a Swedish force called for an airstrike that killed lots of innocents would make our government fall, without doubt, no matter which political faction that was ruling at the moment.

And if chased into a corner and running low on ammo during a firefight in an urban area, they would rather do like the Brits (fix bayonettes and charge) than do like the Americans (call an airstrike). That's the Euro-***(TM) way.

My speculations are not based on any knowledge of SSG tactics, as those are top secret, but rather on Swedish politics and mentality, which would very likely have impact on the way SSG works as well.

[Drake Tungsten]

Euro-***(TM) policy...

That's the Euro-***(TM) way.