According to the Antiwar Movement of the 1970s, the controversial film The Green Berets was about such an operation. The film ended up being a box office success, grossing $32 million in 1968.
But in 2013, the U.S. Special Forces Delta Team did enter Tripoli, Libya, and extracted Abu Anas al-Libi. He had been part of Al Qaeda, in a joint operation between the FBI, CIA and Delta Forces. He was wanted for his role in the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Fifteen years later, the case against him was reopened.
This operation was conducted in lieu of a drone strike, which had become very common and standard practice when identifying a terrorist in transit or in an inhospitable area. This alternative solution has two benefits:
Politically and internationally, condemnation and reproach are minimized, since you have a live hostage.
Tactically and strategically, you have one person to interrogate, which may lead to others who could meet the same fate instead of being killed by a drone.
Arresting someone would be considered more humane, legitimate, rational and civilized.
In contrast, death by drone, as in the case of Qasem Soleimani in January 2020, is still categorized as murder.
Ayman al-Zawahiri also fell on August 2, 2022 in Kabul from a drone strike, joining the list Maher al-Awlaki in Yemen in 2011, and Jihadi John (Mohammed Emwazi), the ISIS executioner, who was also killed in a drone strike. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2006 and Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harit, linked to the attack on the USS Cole in 2002, are also part of this tally.
The drone assassination program has been widely criticized and considered barbaric, but as it turns out, it has been in active use from 2002 to 2022; it remains an option, a card in the deck, just in case. Bringing a live prisoner to justice, trying and sentencing him under a legitimate judicial system carries much more weight.
These operations are not always successful and can fail or be aborted for a myriad of reasons.
In 1970, the United States executed Operation Ivory in North Vietnam. The plan was to free 61 U.S. prisoners of war at Son Tay prison, 23 miles west of Hanoi. The operation was a tactical success, but no prisoners were found on site: they had been moved to another camp.
So not everything that is well planned and executed ends in success when working behind enemy lines or in a foreign country. The time factor has been a determining factor in many operations.
In the case of Osama bin Laden, there were several aborted operations. One in particular, in December 1998, when intelligence sources identified him as being at the governor's mansion. After subsequent updates, the cruise missile was not launched for fear of killing some 300 people, mostly women and children. It was not until 2004, when the 9/11 Commission submitted its report, that it was learned that Bin Laden had already left the mansion; had it been fired, the missile would have killed 300 innocent civilians. In another incident, during a wedding he attended, the same thing happened: intelligence sources noted that he had left the site minutes before impact, so the attack was called off.
As these incidents accumulated and knowing the imponderability of a moving target, other options were sought, and the arrival of the Predator drone filled the void. Thus, drones used for reconnaissance and surveillance became part of the hunter drones.
Not all operations end well; the risks are incalculable if something goes wrong. A special forces team could suffer casualties, injuries or even be captured, creating a major political disaster. The captured member could be used as a hostage or as propaganda against us.
Capture operations can help U.S. intelligence and serve as a good public relations strategy. They remain an available option and should be executed when possible, without abandoning lethal operations altogether. Death by drone will remain an option for the foreseeable future.
Occasionally a success story does occur: the video of the capture of Anas al-Libi shows how he was pulled from his car and pushed into a white van in less than 60 seconds, without firing a single bullet, in the middle of downtown Tripoli. A small detachment of 8 to 10 men carried out the operation. The rest of the control - drone surveillance, air crews and operations center - could exceed 100 people, but only 8-10 were on the ground.
So, for those who have recently been added to the list of terrorist organizations, don't forget that this option is still part of the repertoire and has not been discarded. Catch and Snatchoperations , extractions, rescue operations: all of these are practiced, rehearsed and studied in all Special Operations Commands.
References
ABC News. (October 7, 2013). Missing in 60 seconds: Video shows secret U.S. counterterrorism capture.https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/60-seconds-video-shows-us-secret-snatch-operation/story?id=22449318
Brookings Institute. (October 10, 2013). Byman, D. L. Captures vs. drones. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/captures-vs-drones/.
NBC News. (October 6, 2013). Al Qaeda leader captured in Libya was on FBI's "most wanted" list.https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/al-qaeda-leader-seized-libya-was-fbis-most-wanted-list-flna8c11344117
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