Big Fat Story
Commandos used a high-placed spy to recover hostages who had been held for years.
Special forces are trained to be killing machines, but one of the most daring raids in recent memory occurred without a shot fired. In order to rescue 15 hostages, including former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, from rebel group FARC, the Colombian government placed a spy in their camp who gained their trust and even ascended to the upper reaches of the rebel leadership. Once the undercover operative had been given sufficient rank, they delivered fictitious orders to the militants guarding the hostages demanding that they be moved to a waiting helicopter to be taken to a new location. The supposed rebel helicopter was a disguised military vehicle, which took off in peace. Once in the air, the military quickly subdued the clueless guerrillas that came along for the ride and then announced to the hostages: "We're the national army. You're free." According to the freed Betancourt, who had been held captive for six years, the celebration was so jubilant aboard the aircraft that she was afraid they might cause it to crash.
Photo: AP Photo
Navy SEALS ended a hostage situation in seconds with precise sniper fire.
It only took three shots from Navy SEALs to dispatch the Somali pirates holding Captain Richard Phillips hostage on the Aden Coast. The stakes demanded nothing less—one stray bullet could have given the gunmen a chance to respond, by either returning fire or killing their hostage. The pirates were stuck in a lifeboat without fuel after they were forced from the hijacked cargo ship, the Maersk Alabama, by a reprisal from the American crew they had taken hostage. They escaped, one of them wounded, with the ship's captain, but with the USS Bainbridge trailing them at all times, their situation quickly grew desperate. Authorized by President Obama to use deadly force, a team of Navy SEALs parachuted into the area and took up positions on the back deck of the Bainbridge. As soon as they had a clear shot at all three of the pirates, they fired simultaneously, instantly killing their targets with perfect shots. The team then boarded the boat to confirm the targets' deaths, where they recovered Phillips.
Photo: Karel Prinsloo / AP Photo
Using a tunnel, explosives, and good intelligence to free 70 hostages.
Just before Christmas in 1996, some 14 Marxist terrorists in Lima, Peru, assaulted a gala reception at the Japanese ambassador's residence and fought police to a draw, setting off a months-long standoff as the government negotiated over more than 400 hostages' fate, many of whom were high-powered politicians, generals, judges, and business executives. Over the next 126 days, the captors, many of whom were only teenagers, released the vast majority of the hostages, but as discussions broke down over the remaining 71, the government followed through on its military option, which had been months in the planning. Tunneling underneath the ambassador's residence, commandos set off an explosion under a group of the terrorists while were playing their daily game of soccer, killing the majority of their forces. Two soldiers were killed in the ensuing gunfight. Then-president Alberto Fujimori was so proud of the operation that he entered the residence afterward to pose for photos with the bloody bodies of the defeated rebels.
Photo: Eugene Hoshiko / AP Photo
Daring Commando Raids
The Navy SEALS are the heroes of the hour after rescuing Capt. Richard Phillips from Somali pirates. But the operation was just the latest in a storied history of hostage rescues carried out by elite special forces around the globe. THE DAILY BEAST brings you six of the most daring commando missions of all time.
Britain's elite SAS freed a group of hostages in daylight on live TV in a precise and brutal operation.
England dealt with terrorism for decades during its conflict with the IRA, but it was an Iraq-financed operation from an obscure Iranian group that led to one of the most successful hostage rescues in history. In 1980, one week after Iranian separatists stormed Iran's Embassy in London, took 26 hostages, and demanded the release of alleged political prisoners in Iran, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ordered in Britain's elite SAS unit for Operation Nimrod. As live television cameras captured the event, commandos stormed the building through the windows, sparking a massive 11-minute gunfight in which all but one of the captors were killed and all of the hostages freed, except for one who had been shot by the terrorists. While the SAS unit's efficiency was undeniable, they attracted criticism for their apparent brutality. According to witness accounts, the final two terrorists threw their weapons out the window, waved a white flag for the TV cameras, and then sat with their hands on their head. But when the commandos entered the room, they identified the surrendered terrorists, threw them up against a wall, and shot them. The killings were later ruled a "justifiable homicide," as the officers said they thought the terrorists were reaching for guns or grenades at the time.
Photo: Rolls Press, Popperfoto / Getty Images
Israel's foreign hostage rescue, Operation Thunderbolt, became an international legend.
In 1976, a group of Palestinian and German terrorists hijacked Air France Flight 139, landing it first in Libya, and then moving on to Uganda, where dictator Idi Amin offered the captors sanctuary while they used the plane's 105 passengers, mostly Israelis, as bargaining chips. In response, Israel sent three Hercules planes into Uganda carrying 200 commandos, who charged the airport building holding the hostages. In a battle lasting just over a half hour, the troops freed the hostages and flew to safety, killing all seven hijackers and 20 Ugandan soldiers. Three hostages were killed during the operation and the combat operation's leader, Yonatan Netenyahu, died on the flight back of a gunshot wound. Netanyahu became an almost mythic figure in Israeli culture for his heroism and his younger brother, Benjamin, is currently the country's prime minister.
Photo: Hulton Archive / Getty Images
French commandos raided a plane that terrorists planned to crash into Paris, foreshadowing the 9/11 attacks.
Thanks to good intelligence and a brave rescue operation, France managed to halt a plan to crash an Airbus loaded with explosives and jet fuel into Paris, a plot that would later come to fruition in a similar coordinated attack on September 11, 2001. The French crisis began on Christmas Eve 1994, when Algerian terrorists dressed as airport-security agents took over Air France Flight 8969 before its scheduled takeoff. The terrorists quickly shot two hostages—an Algerian policeman and a Vietnamese diplomat—and threw them out of the plane. They then flew to Algiers, where they shot another hostage and demanded to be able to fly to Paris. The French managed to divert them to Marseilles for a refueling stop. Using intelligence from Algerian sources, officials concluded the hijackers were planning a suicide attack on Paris, a theory seemingly confirmed when the terrorists requested far more fuel than necessary for their flight. Determined to keep them from leaving the ground again, French GIGN troopers stormed the plane, throwing stun grenades through the cockpit door while a separate group shuffled the 173 hostages to freedom from the rear entrance. Despite a close-range gun battle in which terrorists threw grenades, the hijackers were dispatched with no commandos or hostages killed. The plane, it turned out, was rigged with explosives, but they had yet to be rigged to go off.
Photo: George Gobet, AFP /Getty Images
Using a tunnel, explosives, and good intelligence to free 70 hostages.
Just before Christmas in 1996, some 14 Marxist terrorists in Lima, Peru, assaulted a gala reception at the Japanese ambassador's residence and fought police to a draw, setting off a months-long standoff as the government negotiated over more than 400 hostages' fate, many of whom were high-powered politicians, generals, judges, and business executives. Over the next 126 days, the captors, many of whom were only teenagers, released the vast majority of the hostages, but as discussions broke down over the remaining 71, the government followed through on its military option, which had been months in the planning. Tunneling underneath the ambassador's residence, commandos set off an explosion under a group of the terrorists while were playing their daily game of soccer, killing the majority of their forces. Two soldiers were killed in the ensuing gunfight. Then-president Alberto Fujimori was so proud of the operation that he entered the residence afterward to pose for photos with the bloody bodies of the defeated rebels.
Photo: Eugene Hoshiko / AP Photo
French commandos raided a plane that terrorists planned to crash into Paris, foreshadowing the 9/11 attacks.
Thanks to good intelligence and a brave rescue operation, France managed to halt a plan to crash an Airbus loaded with explosives and jet fuel into Paris, a plot that would later come to fruition in a similar coordinated attack on September 11, 2001. The French crisis began on Christmas Eve 1994, when Algerian terrorists dressed as airport-security agents took over Air France Flight 8969 before its scheduled takeoff. The terrorists quickly shot two hostages—an Algerian policeman and a Vietnamese diplomat—and threw them out of the plane. They then flew to Algiers, where they shot another hostage and demanded to be able to fly to Paris. The French managed to divert them to Marseilles for a refueling stop. Using intelligence from Algerian sources, officials concluded the hijackers were planning a suicide attack on Paris, a theory seemingly confirmed when the terrorists requested far more fuel than necessary for their flight. Determined to keep them from leaving the ground again, French GIGN troopers stormed the plane, throwing stun grenades through the cockpit door while a separate group shuffled the 173 hostages to freedom from the rear entrance. Despite a close-range gun battle in which terrorists threw grenades, the hijackers were dispatched with no commandos or hostages killed. The plane, it turned out, was rigged with explosives, but they had yet to be rigged to go off.
Photo: George Gobet, AFP /Getty Images
Navy SEALS ended a hostage situation in seconds with precise sniper fire.
It only took three shots from Navy SEALs to dispatch the Somali pirates holding Captain Richard Phillips hostage on the Aden Coast. The stakes demanded nothing less—one stray bullet could have given the gunmen a chance to respond, by either returning fire or killing their hostage. The pirates were stuck in a lifeboat without fuel after they were forced from the hijacked cargo ship, the Maersk Alabama, by a reprisal from the American crew they had taken hostage. They escaped, one of them wounded, with the ship's captain, but with the USS Bainbridge trailing them at all times, their situation quickly grew desperate. Authorized by President Obama to use deadly force, a team of Navy SEALs parachuted into the area and took up positions on the back deck of the Bainbridge. As soon as they had a clear shot at all three of the pirates, they fired simultaneously, instantly killing their targets with perfect shots. The team then boarded the boat to confirm the targets' deaths, where they recovered Phillips.
Photo: Karel Prinsloo / AP Photo
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Well I never thought I would say it but the fact that we copied the French in dealing with the pirate thing was a good thing. Now if everyone did the same in a few weeks they would all be dead & that would be the end of the pirate thing for good. After we sink their ships we then need some BIG bombs dropped on the homes & compounds they use on land & then it will really be over...
Thank you.
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