Beach-based SEAL's grenade may have killed British hostage

[Blue_Tires]

Source: Virginian-Pilot

A military investigation into the death of a British captive during an attempted rescue 7,000 miles away will likely focus on the actions of a Navy commando based in Virginia Beach.

Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Votel, chief of staff at U.S. Central Command, has been tapped to lead the inquiry into the botched rescue of British aid worker Linda Norgrove in Afghanistan on Saturday.

According to the British newspaper The Guardian, Norgrove may have accidentally been killed by a grenade thrown by a Navy SEAL during the rescue. It also alleged that the SEAL did not immediately report having thrown the grenade. In the hours after the attack, British and U.S. military accounts said she died when a captor detonated a bomb.

Norgrove, 36, worked for a U.S. aid organization. She and three Afghan co-workers were ambushed and kidnapped on Sept. 26 while driving through Kunar province, in Afghanistan's mountainous eastern region.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and President Barack Obama approved the covert rescue mission, which involved a team of highly trained special operators rappelling out of a helicopter and into the compound.



Read more: http://hamptonroads.com/2010/10/beachbased-seals-grenade-may-have-killed-british-hostage

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The usual nutbars in the comments section...

[cliffordu]

1. Note to self: When rescuing hostages, try not to kill the hostages.

Couple of million dollars training that fucking idiot.

[Uncle Joe]

2. It seems to me the keyword in rescuing a hostage would be precision and

one thing that grenades; aren't noted for is being precise.

Thanks for the thread, Blue_Tires.

[Romulox]

7. Innocent people killed in a war of choice based on nothing but a pack of lies + inertia?

Who could've guessed? :shrug:

[usaf-vet]

3. Note to everyone:

How about we wait a little to see exactly what happened. Before we start throwing verbal ordnance at the rescuers.

[ManiacJoe]

4. You are obviously new to DU.

:evilgrin: Cannot let the facts get in the way of a good rant!

Be that as it may, welcome to DU.

[Nihil]

12. Note to "rescuers": It does not count as a successful rescue if the victim is in several pieces.

Neither does it support the good name of such "rescue forces"
when the first response is to attempt a cover-up.

(In the meantime, welcome to DU! :hi: )

[TexasObserver]

5. A grenade? Not a stun grenade, but a real granade?!

What kind of moron would throw a grenade into the area where a hostage was held?

Would he have done so if she had been a soldier? Of course not.

[Pavulon]

11. Those guys train for hostage rescue and grabbing people alive

it appears he executed poorly. Worse he did not fess up.

[The abyss]

6. British aid worker had ESCAPED Taliban captors….

Quote…….American officials initially claimed Miss Norgrove had been killed when one of her Taliban captors detonated a suicide vest.

But after reviewing footage captured on the Navy Seals' helmet cameras the U.S. was forced to apologise for the fatal blunder.

Now sources in Kabal and London have revealed new details about the raid

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1320363/Soldier-accidentally-killed-British-hostage-Linda-Norgrove-punished.html

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[madokie]

8. I sure hope thats not true

Navy Seals are highly trained and only a few who try out make it to the graduation ceremony. I spent a tour of duty at the Navy's SERE school where they are taught survival skills and I can tell you right up that no slackers are Navy Seal or UDT.

[Pavulon]

10. From the inteview I heard. he either thought he had a FB

grenade or just fucked up. Where the major problem happened is that he did not make that clear in after action reports.

Pretty sure ST6 guys would be able to hear the difference between a grenade they train with and some hadji vest.

[bemildred]

9. RE: comments section

1.) Notable lack of overt regret for this woman's unfortunate demise
2.) High defensiveness quotient

FWIW: I blame the command officers who ordered this fiasco, not the troops. Troops do as they are told, officers make bad decisions.