This so called reporter could not wait for the facts before dragging these heroes names through the mud! There was no concern for their families or their service to this country!
This Article was in the Washington Post, and it's a bit clearer.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/mysterious-fa... What was Interesting was what a commenter wrote, his quote verbatim:
moonshade
7/13/2012 2:29 AM ADT
Mali is in West Africa, not North Africa. Yes the Senator got it wrong, but that doesn't excuse a journalist.
As stated, these men were there to carry out humanitarian aid programs, with yes, the end goal of counterterrorism. This is well documented. Taking someone out of poverty drastically reduces their likelihood of becoming terrorists. What kind of top secret missions were these men on? Well, I worked with one of them to procure mosquito nets to use in one of their projects. The only thing they had to do with counterterrorism was trying to prevent malaria from spreading, to give a better life to Malians, so that they didn't feel like they had to turn to violence to improve their position.
Their presence was well known in Mali as they worked side-by-side with Malians on a daily basis. They had many Malian friends and colleagues.
Work aside, they also had wives and children. Please make sure you get your facts right before publishing material. Yes, all activities were suspended because of the political situation in Mali. But that doesn't mean that everyone there is immediately whisked away. There was a gradual draw down of personnel by all diplomatic missions in Mali as there was no immediate threat of violence to foreigners. This meant that these men, like everyone else in similar positions had a lot of free time on their hands. Not only that, but for two of them it was their last week in Mali, and I'm sure they were trying to make the most of their remaining time. So yes, they probably went out. Yes there were other people in the car with them, but this isn't entirely suspicious either. Few people have personal cars in Bamako and it would be normal to give rides to friends, or maybe just someone you wanted to make sure got home safe. I have personally seen one of these men insist on giving rides home, even to strangers, to ensure that they got home safe.
And finally, driving in Mali is dangerous. Extremely dangerous. There are fatal accidents all the time, just like there are in the US.
I obviously was not in the vehicle, so I do not know the entire story. But either was the author of this article. Please try not to state assumptions and conjecture as facts. That's not reporting and poor jornalism at best
Anonymous
10 months ago
This so called reporter could not wait for the facts before dragging these heroes names through the mud! There was no concern for their families or their service to this country!
mz66
10 months ago
3462 Comments
Nice find, Lonna. Unverifiable, of course, but it sounds plausible and rings true.
LonnaNJ
10 months ago
5062 Comments
This Article was in the Washington Post, and it's a bit clearer.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/mysterious-fa...
What was Interesting was what a commenter wrote, his quote verbatim:
moonshade
7/13/2012 2:29 AM ADT
Mali is in West Africa, not North Africa. Yes the Senator got it wrong, but that doesn't excuse a journalist.
As stated, these men were there to carry out humanitarian aid programs, with yes, the end goal of counterterrorism. This is well documented. Taking someone out of poverty drastically reduces their likelihood of becoming terrorists. What kind of top secret missions were these men on? Well, I worked with one of them to procure mosquito nets to use in one of their projects. The only thing they had to do with counterterrorism was trying to prevent malaria from spreading, to give a better life to Malians, so that they didn't feel like they had to turn to violence to improve their position.
Their presence was well known in Mali as they worked side-by-side with Malians on a daily basis. They had many Malian friends and colleagues.
Work aside, they also had wives and children. Please make sure you get your facts right before publishing material. Yes, all activities were suspended because of the political situation in Mali. But that doesn't mean that everyone there is immediately whisked away. There was a gradual draw down of personnel by all diplomatic missions in Mali as there was no immediate threat of violence to foreigners. This meant that these men, like everyone else in similar positions had a lot of free time on their hands. Not only that, but for two of them it was their last week in Mali, and I'm sure they were trying to make the most of their remaining time. So yes, they probably went out. Yes there were other people in the car with them, but this isn't entirely suspicious either. Few people have personal cars in Bamako and it would be normal to give rides to friends, or maybe just someone you wanted to make sure got home safe. I have personally seen one of these men insist on giving rides home, even to strangers, to ensure that they got home safe.
And finally, driving in Mali is dangerous. Extremely dangerous. There are fatal accidents all the time, just like there are in the US.
I obviously was not in the vehicle, so I do not know the entire story. But either was the author of this article. Please try not to state assumptions and conjecture as facts. That's not reporting and poor jornalism at best
DALLASCRANE
10 months ago
19386 Comments
RIPB
ssu459
10 months ago
152552 Comments
So ,I am gathering, from the headline only,that the ladies of the night in Mali are a tougher breed than our Special Ops. people?
Jonas
10 months ago
38348 Comments
So what was the nature of this special operation?