Re: [GZG] Re: Gzg-l Digest, Vol 21, Issue 22

["Allan Goodall" <agoodall@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 1/25/07, Fred Kiesche <godel2escher2bach@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Greetings:
>
> "There's an excellent scene in Blackhawk Down which shows what happens when snipers get involved
> in close-range fighting with masses of folks."
>
> I'd call that an exception to the rule. They were trying to buy time for a close colleague (a
> helicopter pilot). They were the only assets around. They knew it was a possible suicide mission.
> I wouldn't call what they did a SOP.

I've only seen the last half hour of the film, and I wasn't too
impressed. I did read the book (while it was being posted in serial
format at the Philadelphia Inquirer web site). This past weekend there
was a documentary about the incident. Although the documentary
recreation didn't look like it had enough Somalians (sp?) in it, it
did a good job of showing what happened to these two men. It was tear
jerking, as it included an interview with the pilot.

The pilot deserves some credit. He was taken by the crowd, who
stripped the bodies of the snipers and other crash victims. They came
close to killing the pilot, but a representative of the warlord
(Aidid?) recognized the pilot as a valuable bargaining chip. They took
him away. Later, they tried to get him to admit that the U.S. presence
in Somalia was a mistake. He would not do that. He said what he needed
to stay alive, but he would not denigrate the U.S. mission. At one
point on a videotape he was asked what he thought of civilians being
killed by U.S. forces, in an obvious attempt to get the pilot to
denounce the U.S. mission and to admit that it was U.S. policy to kill
civilians. He replied by saying that if civilians were being killed,
that was not good. He answered them truthfully and honestly, but
without giving them anything they could use in propaganda.

He had a bible with him. His captors thought he was doing a lot of
praying, but in fact he was keeping notes of his captivity in the
margins of his bible. When he was finally released, they of course let
him take his bible with him...

In spite of the ever-present possibility of immediate death, he kept
his wits about him while managing to appear to cooperate without
really cooperating.

--
Allan Goodall            http://www.hyperbear.com
agoodall@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
awgoodall@xxxxxxxxx
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