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| India-Pakistan |
| And Credit For The Kill Goes To SEAL TEAM 6 |
| 2011-05-02 |
| The military team that killed Osama Bin Laden is an elite special forces group unofficially called Seal Team 6. Officially, the team's name is classified and not available to the public, technically there is no team 6. A Tier-One counter-terrorism force similar to the Army's elusive Delta group, Team 6's mission rarely make it to paper much less the newspaper. It shows how important the publicity about Bin Laden's killing is to the U.S. that this morning, Team 6 is front pages news. The members of Team 6 are all "black" operatives. They exist outside military protocol, engage in operations that are at the highest level of classification and often outside the boundaries of international law. To maintain plausible deniability in case they are caught, records of black operations are rarely, if ever, kept. The development of SEAL Team 6 was in direct response to the 1980 attempt to rescue the American hostages held in Iran. The mission was a terrific failure that fell apart at many points and illustrated the need for a dedicated counter-terrorist team capable of operating with the utmost secrecy. The Team was labeled 6 at the time to confuse Soviet intelligence about the number of SEAL teams in operation at the time. There were only two others. Team 6 poached the top operatives from other SEAL units and trained them even more intensely from there. Even among proven SEAL's the attrition rate for Team 6 is reported to be nearly half. There are no names available for current Team 6 members, but the CIA does recruit heavily from their numbers for their Special Operations Group, so it makes sense that they were chosen to work with the CIA on this mission. Team 6 is normally devoted to missions with maritime authority: ship rescues, oil rigs, naval bases or land bases accessible by water. There are no waterways near Bin Laden's compound. When a former Navy SEAL was called for a comment about this article all he could say was: "You know I'd love to help you man, but I can't say a word about Team 6. There is no Team 6." |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #21 These were LB drivers from the 160th. The pilot probably smacked down a roof defense cell on his way out. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2011-05-02 22:54 |
| #20 Is it possible to give these guys the CMOH? I doubt it. It would make them targets. Perhaps they could issue a medal to the team and display it at HQ, if such a place exists? Picture of the downed helicopter. Looks like they clipped the wall. They blew it up. Given those guys' testosterone level, I'm surprised it didn't end up entirely outside the compound wall. |
| Posted by: gorb 2011-05-02 22:23 |
| #19 I have never figured out why it was printed |
| Posted by: chris 2011-05-02 22:04 |
| #18 "the next AID check to pakiland" I demand a refund! |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2011-05-02 19:24 |
| #17 just take the helo cost out of the next AID check too pakiland! Especially since they have been hiding him for 10 plus years. |
| Posted by: chris 2011-05-02 18:11 |
| #16 > how about we split the 25 million reward between the members? I must've been in business too long, as I thought, that'll just about cover the cost of the Helo... |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2011-05-02 16:26 |
| #15 since they probably not abloe too receive the CMOH, how about we split the 25 million reward between the members! |
| Posted by: chris 2011-05-02 14:11 |
| #14 Congrats again to the FBI for promptly updating its records. |
| Posted by: Matt 2011-05-02 13:41 |
| #13 The nomenclature is SEAL Team Six, but that's exactly the sort of detail that I'd expect a journalist to get wrong. |
| Posted by: gromky 2011-05-02 13:26 |
| #12 Job well done. |
| Posted by: Dave UK 2011-05-02 13:15 |
| #11 Picture of the downed helicopter. Looks like they clipped the wall. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2011-05-02 12:58 |
| #10 ROE: "Cut down their groves and vineyards, and plow their fields with salt. Make their wives widows and their children orphans. Collect all bodies if possible, take DNA samples if you can't. Take pictures. Recover all useful intelligence information. Leave smoking holes as needed. The Secretary may disavow all knowledge of your actions. Happy hour is from 2000-close. This ROE is classified." |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-05-02 12:12 |
| #9 And apparently their mission was to kill, not capture Bin Laden. The rumblings I have been hearing is that they were to go in and, if possible, capture. But dead is an acceptable outcome as well and the rules of engagement were almost zero in the building. Which means if it moves, or hides behind a woman, or is said woman, it either complies or dies. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2011-05-02 11:27 |
| #8 Has the New York Times published their name, home addresses, and that of their next of kin yet? And yes - that is a serious question. And apparently their mission was to kill, not capture Bin Laden. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2011-05-02 11:06 |
| #7 Navy SEAL Team 6 |
| Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2011-05-02 10:45 |
| #6 Brave men! Thanks! |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2011-05-02 10:43 |
| #5 Is it possible to give these guys the CMOH? We must continue to hunt and kill people who advocate the violent destruction of our country. Too bad we can use this operation as a warning to Hamas and Hizbullah. Who's next? Zawahiri? |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2011-05-02 10:34 |
| #4 US Navy DEVGRU and CIA SAD are the names you want to google. |
| Posted by: The Other Beldar 2011-05-02 10:18 |
| #3 Well done, gentlemen. Well done. |
| Posted by: Mike 2011-05-02 10:16 |
| #2 ..and thanks to the judiciary's striking down of the Stolen Valor Act, there are now 25,000 new members of SEAL TEAM 6 as of today. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2011-05-02 10:10 |
| #1 “We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.” George Orwell Amen... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2011-05-02 10:04 |
