generalspeaking

The Wait And The Agony

"It's now been well over a year since I've been kidnapped in Sana'a [Yemen's capital]. I'm certain my life is in danger. So as I sit here now, I ask, if anything can be done, please let it be done."
Luke Somers, British-born photojournalist, American citizen

"Al-Qaeda promised to conduct the execution today [Saturday] so there was an attempt to save them."
"They wanted to kill him -- they were supposed to kill him at dawn."
Major-General Ali a-Ahmadi, head, Yemen National Security Bureau

"The psychological and emotional devastation to Yolande [wife of Pierre Korkie] and her family will be compounded by the knowledge that Pierre was to be released by al-Qaeda tomorrow."
"It is even more tragic that the words we used in a conversation with Yolande at 5:59 this morning was 'the wait is almost over'."
The Gift of the Givers charity, South Africa

Communication, obviously was incomplete if not entirely lacking. The formula was predictable; al-Qaeda makes it a point to have videos produced featuring the pleas of wan and gaunt prisoners who have been abducted to make a point. That point being that Westerners wherever they can be found, whoever they happen to be, are legitimate prey for al-Qaeda.

The reality is that abducting Westerns has turned out to be a cash cow for al-Qaeda.

Exceptions being for those who are British or American. All others are redeemed by their countries eager enough to pay the extortionate millions to secure their nationals' release and safety, to return them to the loving arms of their waiting families. The videos are meant to heighten anxiety, to present the prisoners as desperate to escape the talons of their captors, pleading for intervention and rescue.

American authorities, with the experience of their nationals beheaded and the circulation of the videos to demonstrate that odiously fearful ending of life, perhaps felt that their success in killing Osama bin Laden at his Abbottabad compound through the special skills of Navy Seals, could be repeated in a rescue effort. They're slow learners; al-Qaeda has learned to move one step ahead, moving such prisoners to other locales at the merest whisper of suspicion that a rescue is planned.

Here, of course, the irony is that the families of both Luke Somers, taken captive a year ago by Yemeni jihadis and South African teacher Pierre Korkie who was abducted with his wife last year from the town they worked in would likely have found their freedom without the derring-do of the U.S. military. Successful negotiations had been concluded between the charity The Gift of the Givers and the Yemeni group, on behalf of Mr. Korkie, while Luke Somers' family had concluded concessions for his release.

The botched Friday rescue mission overturned those negotiations and invited fate to intervene, even while the abductees were on the cusp of release. Misfortune and bad timing, with American authorities denying they had any knowledge of those negotiations, and though it appears that Yemeni authorities did, that information was not conveyed to the Americans, their allies.

Tragic and sad that as the American soldiers stormed the compound holding the two men they discovered them to have been shot. A barking dog was said to have alerted one of the terrorists who, while gunfire erupted between the Americans and al-Qaeda, entered the compound to kill the prisoners.

Airlifting them to a waiting American warship off the Yemen coast, Mr. Corkie died in the air, and Mr. Somers died aboard the USS Makin Island.

Labels: Calamity, Hostages, South Africa, United States, Yemen

posted by Pieface @ Monday, December 08, 2014