Algerian Islamists take hostages, including Americans.

Meanwhile, the world continues to be a dangerous place.

Islamist militants seized a foreign-operated gas field in Algeria early Wednesday and took at least 20 foreign hostages, including Americans, according to an Algerian government official and the country’s state-run news agency, in what the attackers called a retaliation for the French-led military intervention in neighboring Mali.

The Algerian agency said at least at least two people were killed in the gas-field seizure, including one British national, and the Algeria Interior Ministry said security forces had been dispatched to the area. The Algerian news agency said that the hostages included American, British, French, Norwegian and Japanese citizens.

First notified of the situation via:

Note that Panetta is apparently confirming that we have Americans being taken hostage.

Moe Lane

PS: In the spirit of First, Do No Harm I recommend that the President avoid what may be for him a powerful temptation to carpet-bomb the area and/or throw together a kludged, walking-disaster of a special ops mission.  He needs to take a breath, bring in the people in the military who actually know how to run a raid, give them their heads, and back them up if/when anything goes wrong.  That’d be the smart thing to do.

4 thoughts on “Algerian Islamists take hostages, including Americans.”

  1. Since when has this man in the White House cared about doing the smart thing and instead of doing the politically correct thing? Please, Moe – Don’t tease me with impossibilities! After all, don’t the Americans deserve it? Any new YouTube Videos they can blame this on? Except isn’t the other guy still in jail?

  2. Back in the day, there was a group that went by something like the Algerian Front for Salafi Preaching and Combat. They took a bunch of German tourists captive, and German government paid them off.
    .
    Personally, were I to be made captive by those who would use my life against the Constitution, I would rather die at the hands of the government, or my countrymen, than live to the harm of this great nation.
    .
    Best of all would be a show of strength, will and fortitude by killing the terrorists, rescuing the hostages, and safeguarding the capital equipment. Worse, but still a positive in my view would be swiftly destroying all three. Worse would be paying them off. Worse still would be waffling, trying to pay them off, fumbling, and ultimately having the hostages killed because the terrorists feel free to bite their thumb at America.

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