America has a lot to answer for

[JOHN HABS]

watching rap vids, sipping is coke with is bucket of kfc. with is baseball cap on back to front ...saying... a'm just chillin dude

 

 

Hi johncocker,

must admit I had to have a laugh at your reponce to the thread I originally posted......

although it may appear that I was having a rant - I do have a sense of humour !

[Harleyman]

anyone that thinks bud is great must drink a lot of water, because thats what it takes like, and very weak water at that, ive tasted stronger coffee

 

Bud Lite may be somewhat tame but it allows for longer civilized social drinking before the inevitable happens and one sinks into the state of slurred words, dumb comments and subjecting the unfortnate lug holes of others to a rendition of "Show me the way to go home"

 

I must be out of practice because when I'm over there three pints of Brit beer is enough to put me three sheets to the wind

[Mr Prime]

Bud Lite may be somewhat tame but it allows for longer civilized social drinking before the inevitable happens and one sinks into the state of slurred words, dumb comments and subjecting the unfortnate lug holes of others to a rendition of "Show me the way to go home"

 

You make that sound like a bad thing!

 

I for one aim to recreate the key scene from 'Jaws' every time I hit the alehouse.

[Alcoblog]

Any nation that produces Harley Davidsons and Confederate motorcycles can't be that bad to my way of thinking!

[Harleyman]

Any nation that produces Harley Davidsons and Confederate motorcycles can't be that bad to my way of thinking!

 

Best post

[callippo]

The rescue attempt failed because there was a collision between two of the choppers during a sandstorm. Choppers are complex enough to operate even during normal conditions.

 

Also rescuing hostages from a country like Iran presented far greater difficulty than doing the same from a militarily inept country like Uganda who had a dope for a president. That was a pushover by comparison

 

the mission had already been aborted on the grounds of it being considered logistically impossible to continue, BEFORE the helicopter collision that caused the loss of life to the American servicemen. And sandstorms in Middle Eastern deserts ARE 'normal' conditions. You'd have thought they might have considered that they might run into one.

 

but in a way you are right, of course it was far more difficult than Entebbe, which is why Eagle Claw should never have been attempted in the first place. It was without doubt the most misconceived hostage rescue mission of all time.

 

here's some of the others :

 

Ma'alot High School 1974

protaganists - Israel and the Palestinians

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma'alot_massacre

 

Loss of life : 30 (22 child hostages, 3 captors, 5 bystanders).

 

evidence that the much vaunted Israelis don't always get it right. This disastrous rescue bid directly led to the Israelis improving their training in hostage scenarios - which brought results two years later in the form of the most successful hostage rescue bid ever - at Entebbe, Uganda.

 

Egyptian raid on Larnaca International Airport 1978

protaganists : Egyptian and Cypriot armed forces, plus Egyptian terrorist and a planeload of hostage observers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_raid_on_Larnaca_International_Airport

 

Loss of life : 15 Egyptian soldiers, plus unknown number of Cypriots

 

surely the most surreal hostage situation ever. The hostage takers on the aircraft, who had already surrendered, must have wondered what the hell was going on when the Egyptians decided to open fire on their Cypriot opposite numbers on the airport tarmac. The resulting battle lasted over an hour and the Cypriot President was nearly killed.

 

Operation Eagle Claw 1979

- USA/Iran (though Iran didn't do anything)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Eagle_Claw

 

Loss of life : 8 (all rescuers)

 

this misconceived overly-complex mission, the first ever undertaken by the US Delta Force, and which even its planner only rated as having a 30 to 40 per cent chance of success and should never even have been attempted, will go down as one of the greater embarrassments in modern US military history. On the upside at least it resulted in a comparitively modest loss of life, and none of the hostages it sought to rescue were killed or injured - but very possibly only because the rescue force never got anywhere near them.

 

 

Grand Mosque Seizure, Mecca 1979

protaganists : Saudi Arabia , Pakistan,France/Sunni Muslim militants

http://middleeast.about.com/od/terrorism/a/me081120b.htm

Loss of life - 127 rescuers, 368 captors, plus unknown number of hostages and bystanders

 

the big one. By far the biggest loss of life in any hostage situation, this one is also noteworthy as being the only instance I can think of of of a host nation, Saudi Arabia, accepting assistance from a foreign power, not only the Muslim Pakistanis, but also France, whose commandos were required to convert to Islam before entering Mecca.

 

Massacre in Malta - Egypt Air Flight 648, 1985

Egypt/Palestinian militants

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EgyptAir_Flight_648

Loss of life : 58 hostages, 1 militant

 

another big mess up on the part of the Egyptians. The Maltese, whilst allowing the Egyptians in despite their past bad form, for whatever reason, possibly because the Maltese have always wanted to have good relations with the Arab world, refused an American request to get involved, even though the Americans had easily deployable resources close by.