# U.S. raid in Somalia frees U.S., Dane hostages **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 25, 2012, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-raid-in-somalia-frees-u-s-dane-hostages/610592 "2012-01-25T10:06:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-raid-in-somalia-frees-u-s-dane-hostages/610592/21 "2012-01-25T22:12:44Z")
According to CBS News, this was the same unit that killed bin Laden. [http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202\_162-57365428/seals-free-u.s-dane-hostages-in-somalia](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57365428/seals-free-u.s-dane-hostages-in-somalia) > [@](#): > > President Obama authorized the mission by SEAL Team 6 two days earlier, deploying the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden last year. Minutes after the president gave his State of the Union address to Congress he was on the phone with the American’s father to tell him his daughter was safe. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-raid-in-somalia-frees-u-s-dane-hostages/610592/22 "2012-01-25T22:28:41Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Are we just going to sink any fishing boats we find or are we going to capture/confirm them as pirates, put them back on a boat, and execute them afterwards? That’s exactly what the Russian special forces did. They caught a bunch of Somali pirates that attacked one of their ships, they caught them, rounded them up, gathered all the guns and such, then left them on their own boat and torched it. I’d be a bit more for the old maritime law of hanging em from the yardarm. The thing is, I’m normally a due process kind of guy. I can totally see where just the accusation could be overdone, or someone could be framed for that kind of thing with an abuse of power. At the same time, I’m not immune to the feelings of frustration and rage at the current status where piracy is rampant. They are dangerous thugs putting good people’s lives in danger. They hijack ships, take people hostage at gunpoint, even beat or shoot them. Then they ransom them back. Get money, do again. The job has a low cost of entry, a low risk to the pirates, and the payoff is pretty high. That is why it is so rampant. Try to change the economics of Somalia. Right. That worked last time we got involved there. So the next most effective method is make the risk outweigh the potential reward, make the likelihood of reward lower. Unfortunately, that puts the hijack victims in the middle by making their risks higher. It’s a difficult math. Kudos to everyone involved in this effort. Ultimate in ideal outcomes. All bad guys dead, all good guys safe. Win win. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-raid-in-somalia-frees-u-s-dane-hostages/610592/23 "2012-01-25T22:31:58Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > When people are firing weapons at you, it is a safe bet that they are not fishing. Unless you’re a fish. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-raid-in-somalia-frees-u-s-dane-hostages/610592/24 "2012-01-27T12:53:03Z")
How about we send out decoy boats, that look like regular merchant ships, but for whom the “crew” is a covert military unit? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-raid-in-somalia-frees-u-s-dane-hostages/610592/25 "2012-01-27T13:16:42Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > How about we send out decoy boats, that look like regular merchant ships, but for whom the “crew” is a covert military unit? I thought of that too, but it’s a huge sea and there are thousands of ships that pass through it unhindered every day. The chances of getting pirates to attack the one or few ships that are packed with a jack-in-the-box surprise is unfortunately very slim. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-raid-in-somalia-frees-u-s-dane-hostages/610592/26 "2012-01-27T16:46:11Z")
Yeah, you might get lucky, but that won’t happen that often. You could try arming commercial vessels, but that has risks as well. The current methods are station lots of naval vessels in the high target areas to do patrolling, and to try rapid response to distress signals. Or to mount commando rescue raids. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-raid-in-somalia-frees-u-s-dane-hostages/610592/27 "2012-01-27T16:47:38Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Obama seems to be having a good run in the “making bad people dead” stakes - Al Qaeda including Bin Laden, Somali pirates and kidnappers, etc. > > Is it just luck or is he (or his team) picking the right missions to send the SEALs out on (and/or using drones for)? I honestly wonder if it isn’t at least partly due to new technology. > [@](#): > > “During the course of the operation, the rescue force patrolled to the location and confirmed the presence of Mrs. Buchanan and Mr. Thisted guarded by nine captors,” the statement says. “All nine captors were killed during the assault.” How did they determine the exact number and identity of the people. Peep in windows? How did they manage to enter Bin Laden’s compound, kill him, and recover a treasure trove of intelligence, without sustaining any casualties? It seems like they might have had some idea of the positions of guards and others before entering. I think we may be seeing the results of some cutting edge surveillance technology. Infrared or microwaves through walls or tiny drones or something. (Not to subtract from the bad-assery in any way!) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-raid-in-somalia-frees-u-s-dane-hostages/610592/28 "2012-01-27T23:14:55Z")
I mean, these people (the American woman and Danish man) went to Somalia on their own volition. Is it the job of the US to rescue everybody taken hostage? I’m glad that the two were rescued. Bt anybody going to a place like Somalia needs a head examination. Suppose things went wrong? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-raid-in-somalia-frees-u-s-dane-hostages/610592/29 "2012-01-27T23:16:53Z")
It’s not like they were tourists. They were working for a legitimate NGO doing good works. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-raid-in-somalia-frees-u-s-dane-hostages/610592.md?page=1)