Linda Norgrove was an aid worker in Afghanistan who was killed when a rescue attempt was made by US Sepcial Forces. It looks as though she was killed by a friendly fire grenade instead of, as initially reported, a suicide vest worn by one of the captors.
Putting aside the fact the risks and such of being an aid worker in the area, the question is, should the rescue attempt go ahead? Some sources are saying that a negotiated release was possible, but that the decision was made to go ahead anyway.
More on the story here.
At what point, does negotiation run out and force become the answer? Should it be when all other avenues have been exhausted or should it become an option that is weighed up and taken if it is considered the best option.
Comments
You need to stop the negotiations long before all other avenues are exhausted.
There is supposedly going to be joint investigation into what went wrong, but as it appears it is being conducted by a US commander, I fully suspect there will be a full cover-up with a couple of platitudes aimed at the family and absolutely no comeback.
I'll wait for the footage to come out on Wikileaks.
Summary of details here
It looks as though one of the Special Forces screwed up, badly.
The soldier from the elite Seal Team Six special forces unit failed to see Norgrove and tossed his fragmentation grenade in, which exploded next to her.
The US is already going out of their way to make it as transparent as possible. Petraeus is a great commander and has a lot of experience in successfully dealing with the media, unlike McChrystal. Haven't you noticed there's a lot more media coming out of Afghanistan in the past two months compared to the past few years?
The US is already going out of their way to make it as transparent as possible. Petraeus is a great commander and has a lot of experience in successfully dealing with the media, unlike McChrystal. Haven't you noticed there's a lot more media coming out of Afghanistan in the past two months compared to the past few years?