US soldier captured in eastern Afghanistan,

I wonder how long it was before the US military found out that one of their own was captured? They should have the resources to launch UAV drones and planes into the air to try and track their guy, but if too much time passes that would most likely no longer become an option.

If it was a british soldier that was captured, I'm not sure if we have the resources/manpower to pull off a rescue.
 
I would imagine that any sort of rescue would be extremely difficult as past experience has shown. Only hope that he gets released but on past form seems unlikely
 
One thing the US and US soldiers need to understand is that they are playing wargames at the back of someone elses backyard. If you do this, there will be times, where you will get creamed, so all parties know the risks involved.

Of course, its not nice to be captured and then tortured, but when you have invaded another country, you can't expect to get away with it, without taking casualties, yourself.

With regards to rescue - the USA has spent the last 8 years attempting to find a man called Osama Bin Laden, with no success. Do you honestly believe that the US have any chance of finding their soldier, if his captors wish to conceal him?
 
Two U.S. defense sources said the soldier "just walked off" post with three Afghan counterparts after he finished working. They said they had no explanation for why he left the base. He was assigned to a combat outpost, one of a number of smaller bases set up by foreign forces in Afghanistan, the officials said.
Click to expand...

source

didn't the same thing happen in Iraq once?
 
dowie said:
erm why on earth would you say that?
Click to expand...

Do you realise the amount of resources required to search a large area of a country, which consists of inhospitable terrain such as mountains, caves and desert?

Like I stated earlier, the USA, for all their technological know how and resources, couldnt find Bin Laden in 8 years...what gives you the idea that the British would be able to find a solider, taken captive, with an unknown location?
 
erm you said
If it was a british soldier that was captured, I'm not sure if we have the resources/manpower to pull off a rescue.
Click to expand...

in terms of pulling off a rescue - yes we do

now you're talking about locating the hostage - slightly different matter - but all the same that in itself isn't as much of a factor - think about it for a bit - HUMINT and SIGINT are more likely to be used for locating the hostage anyway. Whether they'd be able to locate the hostage or not isn't certain but the resources certainly are there.

FWIW we the british hostages caught in basrah a few years back were rescued OK.
 
Last edited:
If HUMINT AND SIGINT are "all that", how is it that they have failed to capture wanted Taliban leaders in Afghanistan/Pakistan for all these years?
 
sunama said:
Like I stated earlier, the USA, for all their technological know how and resources, couldnt find Bin Laden in 8 years...what gives you the idea that the British would be able to find a solider, taken captive, with an unknown location?
Click to expand...
The difference is that the military would know where he was taken hostage and when. With the insurgents on foot or in light vehicles over difficult terrain, it would be considerably easier to figure out where the soldier was taken to than to find Bin Laden somewhere in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

Not that the soldier in this case will be rescued. On the off chance that he is still alive, he'll be killed as soon as any rescue attempt begins.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom