Unlike in the movies, rescue missions rarely succeed. For every legendary success, like the Israeli commandos who rescued 102 hostages at Entebbe in Uganda in 1976, many more rescue missions fail. There was the infamous failed attempt to rescue U.S. hostage in Iran in 1979, and years before that in North Vietnam, a Special Forces raid on the long deserted POW camp at Son Tay, to name just a few. Last year, a French commando died in a failed rescue mission in Somalia. For every Captain Phillips, there are many disasters.
It’s a high-risk gambit undertaken by brave troops who understand …read more
Source: Newsweek
