crime

5 Japanese among 41 hostages held by Islamic militants in Algeria

29 Comments

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29 Comments
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Oh this is going to be really messy. SAS, COS and the Algerian GIS is going head butt each other on who is going to lead.

I wonder if Abe is gutty enough to send SFGp to get involved.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Abe should send the JSDF immediately! This is the chance he has been waiting for!

2 ( +5 / -3 )

And suddenly everyone in Japan starts to care about the ongoing conflicts in Mali & North Africa.

8 ( +14 / -6 )

TheXyco hit the nails right on the head LOL, television shows about Mali now on air on most channels

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Time to call The Navy SEAL's...

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Thats going to be confusing for Abe. Looks like Japanese are victimized once again. maybe Abe can go there to negotiate!!

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Time to call The Navy SEAL's...

SAS can handle this.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Many of the fighters and weapons in Mali were displaced from Libya after the 2011 armed uprising that overthrew veteran dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

I thought that these were the good guys.

Ooops.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Well, Kudos for the press for at least identifying the ideology of the kidnappers. Usually the press tiptoes around it.

In the event, we all know that Japan (i.e. Japanese taxpayers) will fork out the ransom money. Targetting Japanese is good business... as the jihadis will undoubtedly register.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Mali was a good country, until soldiers got angry about having crappy gear. They overthrew the democratic government and was slowly taking over. Then the Islamic extremists attacked the soldiers and gained control of the north.

Anyways, I hope they send in a competent special forces team to rescue the hostages. SAS, Seals, Flotilla 13, Delta, etc. I'm not sure how good the French Naval Commandos are. They can have the JSDF shadow them to learn from them, but that may slow down the other special forces teams.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Mali was a good country, until soldiers got angry about having crappy gear. They overthrew the democratic government and was slowly taking over. Then the Islamic extremists attacked the soldiers and gained control of the north.

Yet again another consequence of the "Arab Spring." These rebels gained much of theiir money and equipment while fighting for Khadafi in Libya, and then left fully armed when he was finally overrun. Now we have this to deal with. France has already gone into high alert over potential terror attacks also. Now I guess they can take the lead and the US can just sit this one out since everyone seems to think that it's all the US fault.

I hope that the people are safe. The French also led a terror raid in Eastern Africa over the weekend, and one of their special forces members was left behind and captured. So, if they decide to kill off that guy, I would imagine that those who are captured here will face a similar threat.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Remember that two Somali pirates are on trial here in Japan. So if Japan does give them a harsh sentence will this have some affect on the outcome of the hostages. If for some reason they are lef off lightly, I forsee Abe being removed from office, for not being tough enough.

Abe should send the JSDF immediately! This is the chance he has been waiting for!

Not that easy. Since this does not have anything to do with an actual attack on Japan, these guys will not see any effort from Japan in terms of a military strike to get them back. If anything,depending on how much embarrasement this causes the J-gov, they will be seen as it was their fault for being in such a dangerous area, therby excusing the government from taking any action.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@ SamuraiBlue...SAS will get done 'nice and proper'....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Send in the SAS as soon as possible and take out the terrorists.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

Time to call The Navy SEAL's...

SAS can handle this.

SAS are already there. So is the ransom money from Japan.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Sounds like a job for Jack Bauer.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

These dudes ain't shy about blasting themselves to kingdom come, I don't suspect they'll treat hostages with any consideration.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Can someone fix that headline?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

gaijininfo;

" These dudes ain't shy about blasting themselves to kingdom come, I don't suspect they'll treat hostages with any consideration. "

They´ll keep them alive and undamaged as long as they value for ransom cash. Once the ransom has been paid, of course you are right. Why would they give a heck about the well-being of an unbeliever.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@Zen Student Jack Bauer and Bond are both blunt instruments. No, for this operation we need Ethan Hunt. These guys have hostages sitting on a gas stand.

With enough explosive charges in the right spots they could blow the whole facility to kingdom come. Unfortunately, with that much money on the line these hostages may discover the hard way that they are not the main priority. Deep pockets are already in back rooms with generals discussing how to recover the operations center and not necessarily the hostages.

I know this sounds sickening to you and I'll probably get a lot of negative clicks for it but I believe it to be the truth.

The world is now going to watch this live episode of "24". The focus in the media will be on how they recover the hostages but in secret bunkers the focus will be on how to recover control of the gas facility itself which if blown up BP will lose billions and global markets will be affected by the loss.

I would expect that drones are already in the air. If America's special forces have their way, these guys will be down without so much as a whisper.

What am I saying? Send in Batman. Batman has no jurisdiction.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

@TheXyco

And suddenly everyone in Japan starts to care about the ongoing conflicts in Mali & North Africa.

Well my country is no different. Wikipedia would be getting some serious clicks from the local media, frantic phone calls would be made to interview some suddenly famous professor.

Can I assume everyone in your country is an expert?

Your concern for the hostages is heartwarming by the way.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Keep the SEALs at home, I dont care of what happens in Africa.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

Alphaape:

" Remember that two Somali pirates are on trial here in Japan. So if Japan does give them a harsh sentence will this have some affect on the outcome of the hostages. "

No. It does not matter either way. If they get a harsh sentence, it will be reason to intensify the jihad. But there are always reasons to intensify the jihad. Our very existance as infidel societies is one. So don´t even try to think you can pacify jihadis that way.

If they get a light sentence, that is fine for the jihadis but don´t expect any sort of gratitude. You are fooling yourself if you think you can somehow expect give-and-take from people who regard our very existance as an insult to god.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Wow, I got a thumbsdown. Boo-hoo.

Still have not received a reply to my question though. But honestly it makes no difference. What's wrong with the Japanese media researching and presenting information for the public, just like what every other foreign country involved will be doing?

Regards who will rescue the hostages, if anyone actually does it, don't the Algerians have experience with fighting terrorists? If they were to ask for outside help, my GUESS would be that, as an ex-colony, they might ask the French - what kind of rapport they have I do not know.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Reformed Basher:

" Regards who will rescue the hostages, if anyone actually does it, don't the Algerians have experience with fighting terrorists? "

The Algerians have several decades of fighting islamist terrorists (funny thing, suddenly our governments call them terrorists, while in Syria they call them "freedom fighters" and support them...).

But the Algerians do not exactly have much experience in rescuing Western hostages. In the Algerian struggle with the islamists, human lives hardly matter for both sides.

In the event, I think either the Westerners pay and allow safe passage, or there will be mass murder. Keep in mind, you are talking about warriors for God here.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@WilliB

Let's hope for the best. Not optimistic with al-Qaida either but one never knows.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

" Many of the fighters and weapons in Mali were displaced from Libya after the 2011 armed uprising that overthrew veteran dictator Moammar Gadhafi. "

This part of the article is cynicism at its worst. "Armed uprising"?? Duh.... the French, British and American governments helped the jihadis overthrow Gaddafi. On his own, he would have dealt with them.

Now we can enjoy the results of Sarkozy´s and Obamas stupid actions.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

@WilliB

So if your memory is long enough, would you include the Reagan administration in your list of "stupid governments" that that targeted Gadhafi? If not, please do explain.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

SAS can handle this.

No the French Gign will!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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