Libya broadcasts footage of helicopter crew

[Guest guest]

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2011/03/libya_broadcasts_footage_of_he.php

Libya broadcasts footage of helicopter crew

Friday 04 March 2011

Libyan state television has shown footage of the three-man Dutch helicopter

crew, captured by a government militia after a botched attempt to rescue two

European nationals from the port city of Sirte.

The men are seen in uniform in an office drinking soft drinks from cans. The

helicopter, a machine gun said to be on board and other weapons are also shown

in the report.

The broadcast said that Libya regards the Dutch nationals as having entered

Libyan air space without permission, in violation of international law.

Nos tv rebroadcast the footage but blocked out the faces of the men to keep

their identity secret.

Diplomacy

Intense diplomatic efforts are now being made to get the men freed, Nos said.

According to the Telegraaf, if the military had used a more modern helicopter

than the 1978 Lynx, the mission could have succeeded.

`With more modern equipment they could have spotted the Libyan ground troops in

time,' one military source told the paper.

Emergency

Former army chief of staff Dick Berlijn said it there must have been an

emergency to go to such lengths to get the two people out.

`If you have more time, you would send a much bigger Chinook helicopter with

special forces on board as protection,' he said. `But there does not appear to

have been enough time for that.'

The crew was arrested on Sunday after landing in Sirte, the birthplace of Libyan

leader Gaddafi.

The two Europeans, one said to be an employer of Dutch civil engineering group

Haskoning, have since arrived back home.

[Guest guest]

One wonders who they were after. Certainly if it was diplomats or citizens they could have called for permission to come get them, misstating their exact location a little. On the other hand, there are many reason to have tried to sneak out even honest citizens in this case.

Still, this is what we need to worry about when sending troops into Lybia, which seems an increasing probability. Even if they are just sent to deliver humanitarian aid and food as Obama said in a press conference recently, many things could go wrong. A helicopter could crash for mechanical reason or pilot error. They could come under fire from either side. Crew or soldiers on board could be pulled off and taken prisoner or killed on the spot. In any case, American hostages would likely get worse treatment than the Dutch.

In a message dated 3/4/2011 2:40:37 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, no_reply writes:

Libya broadcasts footage of helicopter crew