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Bosonic

(3,746 posts)
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 04:44 PM Oct 2013

U.S. Says Navy SEALs Stage Raid on Somali Militants

Source: New York Times

NAIROBI, Kenya — A Navy SEAL team targeted a senior leader of the Shabab militant group in a raid on his seaside villa in the Somali town of Baraawe on Saturday, American officials said, in response to a deadly attack on a Nairobi shopping mall for which the group had claimed responsibility.

The SEAL team stealthily approached the beachfront house by sea, firing on the unidentified target in a predawn gunbattle that was the most significant raid by American troops on Somali soil since commandos killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Qaeda mastermind, near the same town four years ago.

The Shabab leader was believed to have been killed in the firefight, but the SEALS were forced to withdraw before that could be confirmed, a senior American official said. Such operations by American forces are rare because they carry a high risk, and indicate that the target was considered a high priority. Baraawe, a small port town south of Mogadishu, the Somali capital, is known as a gathering place for the Shabab’s foreign fighters.

“The Baraawe raid was planned a week and a half ago,” said an American security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity about a classified operation. “It was prompted by the Westgate attack,” he added, referring to the mall in Nairobi that was overrun by militants two weeks ago, leaving more than 60 dead.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/world/africa/mall-attack-also-involved-kenyans-official-says.html?_r=1&

33 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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U.S. Says Navy SEALs Stage Raid on Somali Militants (Original Post) Bosonic Oct 2013 OP
All during the shutdown Gop'ers going to be pissed. Historic NY Oct 2013 #1
Will the Seals who risked their lives get their next paychecks on time? JDPriestly Oct 2013 #25
Active duty military are exempt from the shutdown. Ranchemp. Oct 2013 #26
"An outrage. We want an investigation." - RepubliBaggers (R) Berlum Oct 2013 #2
Nice. n/t Benton D Struckcheon Oct 2013 #3
Bravo Zulu, SEALs. n/t cloudbase Oct 2013 #4
Why was the word "targeted" from the article replaced with "seized" in your post? George II Oct 2013 #5
Assuming good faith on the OP's part, it could have been the paper's edit. (nt) Posteritatis Oct 2013 #11
Looks like the NYT can't make up their minds how to say it Turborama Oct 2013 #27
I would love it if this particular Somalian is also one of those elephant poachers. NCarolinawoman Oct 2013 #6
Oh, wouldnt THAT be something! 7962 Oct 2013 #30
Good. Take that you evil, murderous thugs. DevonRex Oct 2013 #7
Oh, it's gonna get shoved in 'em. sofa king Oct 2013 #24
The Obama Administration will come for you - Iliyah Oct 2013 #8
Nice vdogg Oct 2013 #9
According to the article, he was killed - "seized" was the OPer's own word, and it was incorrect! George II Oct 2013 #10
Not according to this article vdogg Oct 2013 #12
That isn't the article cited though George II Oct 2013 #15
In the current version of the NYT article: muriel_volestrangler Oct 2013 #20
Actually, it wasn't "the OPer's own word", you presumptuous buffoon Bosonic Oct 2013 #14
How do you know that, you pompous buffoon? The killing of the terrorist... George II Oct 2013 #18
How do I know what? Bosonic Oct 2013 #19
LOL piedmont Oct 2013 #29
From my experience of participating in and hosting LBN I can vouch for Bosonic's integrity. n/t Turborama Oct 2013 #28
not at all - they likely wanted him dead pasto76 Oct 2013 #23
On a side note vdogg Oct 2013 #13
The NYT article, posted today, has a footnote that it will appear on page A1 on Sunday.... George II Oct 2013 #16
At the time I wrote that vdogg Oct 2013 #22
Dom Lemmon just reported on it too on CNN IcyPeas Oct 2013 #17
I hope the target was killed rollin74 Oct 2013 #21
Apparently he was not. Daniel537 Oct 2013 #32
Alex Jones: US admits SEAL raid was staged! n/t Orsino Oct 2013 #31
Everything is staged according to that fat f*** of a Bircher. Crowman1979 Oct 2013 #33

Berlum

(7,044 posts)
2. "An outrage. We want an investigation." - RepubliBaggers (R)
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 04:46 PM
Oct 2013

"What right does Obama have to succeed where xCommander George AWOL Bush, Dickie 'Five Military Deferments' Cheney, and all the rest of our vast cabal of vaunted Republicon Chickenhawks have so miserably and disgracefully FAILED?" - RepubliBaggers (R)

George II

(67,782 posts)
5. Why was the word "targeted" from the article replaced with "seized" in your post?
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 05:19 PM
Oct 2013

Last edited Sat Oct 5, 2013, 06:00 PM - Edit history (2)

He wasn't seized, he was killed - big difference!

also....republicans are going to whine that Congress wasn't consulted, but only because they're so damned jealous that the Democrats have a LEADER with cojones!

Turborama

(22,109 posts)
27. Looks like the NYT can't make up their minds how to say it
Sun Oct 6, 2013, 01:02 AM
Oct 2013

Check out the edits to the OP and the new title at the link: "U.S. Raids in Libya and Somalia Strike Terror Targets"

NCarolinawoman

(2,825 posts)
6. I would love it if this particular Somalian is also one of those elephant poachers.
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 05:24 PM
Oct 2013

As I understand it, many of these guys are behind a lot of that stuff.... Evil all around.

sofa king

(10,857 posts)
24. Oh, it's gonna get shoved in 'em.
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 10:55 PM
Oct 2013

The timing of this operation just happened to require virtually all of the Department of Defense to come back to work early.

But in addition to that, this is a cordial little reminder to the Republicans that the war they started is still ongoing, that the U.S. still operates in a state of emergency created by Republicans, and if the President doesn't get what he wants, he might just call out the Guard and forcibly detain Members of Congress in the Capitol until they fix things (Article II, Section 3, U.S. Const.), which he can do in times of extreme crisis, like right now, thanks to the Republicans.

The House was scheduled to go into recess from October 12-21. Not gonna happen now.

vdogg

(1,384 posts)
9. Nice
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 06:10 PM
Oct 2013

No drone strike, no collateral damage. Sending in the seals is risky though, they must've wanted him alive. I'll be interested to find out who this character is.

George II

(67,782 posts)
10. According to the article, he was killed - "seized" was the OPer's own word, and it was incorrect!
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 06:18 PM
Oct 2013

vdogg

(1,384 posts)
12. Not according to this article
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 06:31 PM
Oct 2013
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/05/20833640-two-raids-in-two-countries-net-two-of-the-worlds-most-wanted-terrorists?lite

In twin raids in Africa on Saturday, U.S. commandos captured two of the world’s most-wanted terrorists – a senior al Qaeda official who allegedly planned 1998 embassy attacks in Kenya and Tanzania and a “high-level target” from Somalia’s al Shabaab, sources tell NBC News.
Word of the dual operations came in quick succession, with the sources first saying that U.S. Special Operations forces captured the unidentified “high-value target” during a pre-dawn raid on an al Shabaab stronghold in southern Somalia, striking back at the Islamic militant group blamed for the recent attack on a Kenyan shopping mall.

muriel_volestrangler

(101,382 posts)
20. In the current version of the NYT article:
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 07:02 PM
Oct 2013
American official initially reported that they had seized the Shabab leader, but later backed off of that account.

Bosonic

(3,746 posts)
14. Actually, it wasn't "the OPer's own word", you presumptuous buffoon
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 06:35 PM
Oct 2013

The NY Times article has been edited multiple times, as is often the case for LBN articles FYI. It's not practical to assume anyone can continuously monitor the source article for any tweaks...

George II

(67,782 posts)
18. How do you know that, you pompous buffoon? The killing of the terrorist...
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 06:44 PM
Oct 2013

...is noted more than once in the article, and it states that the Seals had to withdraw, indicating that there was NEVER any mention of a "seizure" of anyone.

Was your obnoxious insult truly necessary?

Bosonic

(3,746 posts)
19. How do I know what?
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 06:50 PM
Oct 2013

That I didn't copy/paste the first 4 paragraphs of the article, and then deliberately change one word for shits and giggles???

I'd have to say mainly because I have a working memory of my past actions.

I'm beginning to think my 'obnoxious insult' was too mild...

pasto76

(1,589 posts)
23. not at all - they likely wanted him dead
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 08:06 PM
Oct 2013

firing a missile into a building and then waiting... for some manner of battle damage assessment or remotely received intel;



or send in a team of the most highly trained - and these days most experienced, ever- commandos to positively ID, positively engage and positively verify the death of said person. With a dozen sets of eyes to report/debrief as soon as they get back to the ship.

I dont believe that president obama would authorize such an operation unless the intel on this was platinum, and the value of getting this guy dead was high.

vdogg

(1,384 posts)
13. On a side note
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 06:33 PM
Oct 2013

Why is MSNBC the only major American source reporting on this? It's front page on the BBC.

George II

(67,782 posts)
16. The NYT article, posted today, has a footnote that it will appear on page A1 on Sunday....
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 06:40 PM
Oct 2013

...don't you consider them a "major American source"?

vdogg

(1,384 posts)
22. At the time I wrote that
Sat Oct 5, 2013, 07:54 PM
Oct 2013

I had visited ABC, CNN, CBS, and FOX, all of which had nothing. Yes, NYT is major, but television outlets and their websites tend to be visited by more people. Perhaps I should have been clearer.

 

Daniel537

(1,560 posts)
32. Apparently he was not.
Mon Oct 7, 2013, 02:31 PM
Oct 2013
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57606218/navy-seals-abort-mission-to-capture-al-shabab-leader-in-somalia/

"MOGADISHU, Somalia In a stealthy seaside assault in Somalia, U.S. special forces on Saturday struck out against Islamic extremists who have carried out terrorist attacks in East Africa, before eventually aborting the mission to capture a leading terrorist suspect linked to last month's Nairobi shopping mall attack after a fierce firefight.

A U.S. Navy SEAL team swam ashore near a town in southern Somalia before militants of the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group al-Shabab rose for dawn prayers, U.S. and Somali officials told The Associated Press. The raid on a house in the town of Barawe targeted a specific al-Qaeda suspect related to the mall attack, but the operation did not get its target, one current and one former U.S. military official told AP."

Crowman1979

(3,844 posts)
33. Everything is staged according to that fat f*** of a Bircher.
Mon Oct 7, 2013, 02:41 PM
Oct 2013

I wonder how that tin-foil asshat will be able to live if he doesn't have access to steaks or whatever else he shoves down his gullet 24/7.

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