I ask this in all seriousness. Should the US institute a secret Hannibal Directive if a pilot, special ops troop or other personnel is captured by terrorists? A little background. The IDF has the HD as a backup if efforts to rescue captured personnel prove futile. What is it? It means that they attempt to kill the captors AND the IDF member by use of air, artillery, or naval gunnery strikes.
Is it the right thing to do?
I just don't know.
What I do know is that ISIS has changed the game...well quite honestly they simply raised awareness. Many people have been tortured and then mercilessly killed by terrorists. They just never broadcast it live for the world to see. Remember the attack in Mumbai? Want to know why I was so outraged? Because the terrorists attacked, brutally beat, raped an elderly woman while her husband watched, castrated him and then shot them both in the face.
You know the issues with ISIS and their decapitating journalists. So what should we do if one of our pilots is captured? Could we consider a full on Tomahawk strike a gentle mercy? I'm wondering.
Is it the right thing to do?
I just don't know.
What I do know is that ISIS has changed the game...well quite honestly they simply raised awareness. Many people have been tortured and then mercilessly killed by terrorists. They just never broadcast it live for the world to see. Remember the attack in Mumbai? Want to know why I was so outraged? Because the terrorists attacked, brutally beat, raped an elderly woman while her husband watched, castrated him and then shot them both in the face.
You know the issues with ISIS and their decapitating journalists. So what should we do if one of our pilots is captured? Could we consider a full on Tomahawk strike a gentle mercy? I'm wondering.
Pilots should be given the choice prior to going feet dry.
ReplyDeleteSnake and nape or TRAP.
Get it in writing, signed and witnessed.
Given the small number of recovery successes and even recovery tries during Desert Storm and OEF I'd say the successful TRAP is a rare event.
Usually the pilot dies, is captured anyway or the TRAP is ambushed in recovery.
The IDF does NOT have a directive for killing captors and prisoner (IDF soldier). If you dig up the comment I wrote when you had a post about this during the Gaza operations, you'll see that. What was done, initially in individual commands and later more army-wide, was to clarify that IDF soldiers should not withhold fire because of a fear that they might hit the captured IDF soldier. That is still pretty different than a protocol that directs killing the enemy and their prisoner. Even some of the Israeli press succumbed to lazy journalistic efforts and ethics, and preferred to print the sensational story instead of the truth. THERE IS NO DIRECTIVE to kill captured Israeli soldiers. (At least according to the few people that would really know, and speak to the public.)
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