This will be your last current events blog of the year!
Read the following article:
http://news.yahoo.com/least-13-killed-failed-u-bid-rescue-hostages-130544870.html
Answer the following questions related to the article:
1. Describe the situation in Yemen that precipitated the killings.
2. What does AQAP stand for, and what is it?
3. Did Yemeni forces help to plan the attempted rescue, or did the US act alone?
4. Name the two hostages, one American and one South African, who were killed in the attack.
5. Who is John Kerry? What reason does he give for going ahead with the rescue attempt?
6. What efforts was South Africa making to rescue the South African teacher that was being held hostage?
7. Knowing the background of the situation, are the US armed forces to blame for the death of the hostages? Why or why not?
Carter Billings 3rd (1 Al Qaeda held an American and a southern African teacher hostage and the U.S tried to rescue them. (2 AQAP stands for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and it is a branch of al Qaeda. (3 U.S officials say that the U.S acted alone, but Yemen's government claims to have helped with the raid. (4 The American was Luke Somers age 33 and the South African was Pierre Korkie age 56. (5 John Kerry is the U.S. Secretary of State and the rescue mission got pushed through due to information that the American's life was in great danger. (6 No real efforts were made by South America to rescue the teacher. Although, Gift of the Givers did try to secure him. (7 No, I don't think that U.S. armed forces are to blame they went in not knowing the resistance that they were going to face. There intentions were good with there eye on the hostages. They could not have known what was coming, so in that case I don't think that it is their fault for the hostages death.
ReplyDeleteAbbye Blocker
ReplyDelete1. At least eleven people were killed in a failed rescue mission.
2. AQAP stands for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. It is one of the movement's most dangerous branches.
3. The US acted alone on planning the attempted rescue.
4. Luke Somers and Pierre Korkie.
5. John Kerry is the US Secretary of State. He said that he went ahead with the plans of the rescue mission because the American's life was in eminent danger.
6. The three million dollar ransom was not paid for Korkie.
7. I do not think that the US armed forces are to be blamed for the death of the hostages because they attempted to save them but they were shot before they could find them. At least they tried, the South Africans didn't pay the ransom.
Emily Keller
ReplyDelete1) members of the AQAP had two hostages, an American journalist and a south African teacher. they were on a rescue mission when the people were killed
2) al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula,terrorist group
3)t US says they worked alone, but some Yemen residents say they worked together
4) American- Luke Somers, south African- Pierre Korkie
5) US Secretary of State, he was told that the American's ;life was in immediate danger
6) the Gift of Givers relief group tried to secure his release, he was expected to be released on Sunday
7) i don't think they were because they were using the knowledge they had, the American was in danger, and they were trying to save him. there was honestly not much they could do.
James Smelley
ReplyDelete1. Several hostages were killed in Yemen during a failed U.S. rescue mission.
2. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. It is an Islamic extremist group that branched from the original Al Qaeda.
3. The U.S. acted alone aside from the local residents.
4. Luke Somers and Pierre Korkie.
5. The U.S. Secretary of State. Because "The American's life was in imminent danger."
6. They paid the ransom and he was going to be released on Sunday before the Americans acted.
7. Yes, they are. Because if they would have waited just a little while longer, at least the African would have made it out. But because the very incredibly important American man was in such "imminent danger," they had to react quickly.
Shalyn Dale
ReplyDelete1) America was bombarding in and messing stuff up.
2) AQAP is al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula , same group different name.
3) US acted alone.
4) Pierre Korkie(African) & Luke Somers(American)
5) John Kerry is the secretary of state, he said the mission was approved because an American life was in harms way.
6) The Gift of Givers relief group was going to give $3Million for Korkie's life.
7) Yes they are, if they wouldn't have went bombarding into things Korkie and Somers would both be alive and Korkie would be a free man.
Kat Phillips
ReplyDelete1. there was a rescue misson was failed and 13 innicent people were killed by their captain as punishment
2. al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
3. alone
4. Luke Somers & Korkie
7. no because they had no possible way of knowing this would happen also they were just trying to save the people and bad things happen sometimes but they are not to blame
Ke-Anna' Rich: 1. A group in Yemen held two people hostage causing the US special forces to come rescue them.
ReplyDelete2.The al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a variation of the Daesh group that is in support of Osama bin Laden
3. According to Yemen forces they did assist, but US officials claim the US did it alone.
4. Luke Somers and Pierre Korkie
5. US Secretary of State; Somers life was in danger
6. They did nothing, because the demanded ransom was withdrawn.
7. The armed forces are in no way at fault, because they did their best to rescue the hostages, but AQAP members got to them first.
Makenzie Taylor
ReplyDelete1) U.S. special forces were raiding the village of Dafaar in Shabwa province.
2) AQAP stands for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. It is a dangerous group and threatening to America.
3) The U.S. says they acted alone, but Yemen's government and local residents say that they Yemeni forces also participated.
4) The American hostage was Luke Somers and the South African hostage was Pierre Korkie.
5) John Kerry is U.S. Secretary of State. He proceeds with the rescue attempt because of information that Somer's life was in imminent danger.
6) The relief group, Gift of the Givers, tried to secure the teacher's release.
7) I don't think that the US armed forces are to blame for the death of the hostages. The hostages were probably going to die whether they attempted to rescue them or not. Taking this risk was the right decision. This gave them at least some hope for a successful mission. If America had not taken action, then everyone would be blaming them for not doing anything about the situation.
Khushi patel
ReplyDelete1.
2.AQAP-al Qaeda in Arabian peninsula. It was formed by the merger of the Yemeni and Saudi branches of networks
3.yes the helped one of the witness say they heard a yemini solider
4.luke Somers and Pierre Korkie
5.U.S Secretary of state.because a Americans life was in danger.
6.nothing?
7.no I dont think so! Our army was actually trying to help them not kill them so it wasnt really their fault.
Josie Parham
ReplyDelete1- There is a terrorist group there and they are supporters and loyal to al Queda that Bin Laden made and they wanted money.
2- al Queda in the Arabian Peninsula
3- U.S. said that it was only the U.s. but Yemen forces said they helped.
4- Luke Sommers and Pierre Korkie
5- U.S. secretary of state and he said that it was because the hostages life was in danger.
6- They gave them 3 million dollars
7- I think that the U.S. was just trying to help and even though we didn't get to save the lives we still tried but i do think that U.S. should have sucked it up and said they both helped because that makes us look conceited. Overall i think we did what we thought was best and even though it didn't turn out well we have to make hard decisions and this one just didn't work out.
Lorenzo B. Winston:
ReplyDelete1. The situation was that U.S.-led forces fought Islamist militants in a failed rescue mission in Yemen on Sunday; which made the U.S. special forces raid the Daffar village in Shabwa province, shortly after midnight on Saturday, killing several members of the AQAP, also a woman, a 10-year-old boy and a local al Qaeda leader were among at least 11 people killed alongside two Western hostages.
2. AQAP stands for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. It is a militant Islamist organization, primarily active in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. It is also an al Qaeda organization founded by Osama bin Laden and the group has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United Nations, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the European Union and the United States.
3. The raid was carried out by the U.S. forces alone.
4. The American hostage was Luke Somers and the South African hostage was Pierre Korkie.
5. John Kerry is the U.S. Secretary of State. The reason he gives is because of information that the American’s life was in imminent danger.
6. The efforts from South Africa were that they didn’t want to assign blame for Korkie’s death.
7. I think that the U.S. armed forces should be held responsible for the death of the hostages because one, they decided to go to Arabian Peninsula themselves wanting to kill people. No one influenced them to go over there and raid their territory. Even though they were trying to rescue the hostages, they still pulled the trigger on the innocent hostages, but I don’t think that there should be a lot or heavy amount of charges of punishment knowing the background of the story and that the U.S. forces were actually trying to save them and not kill them. But in my opinion, the U.S. thinks they have ALMIGHTY GOD power and that they will get away with the “innocent” murder.
Lynsey Simpson:
ReplyDelete1. US led forces fought Islamist militants in a failed rescue mission in Yemen
2. al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a terrorist group
3. US acted alone
4. Luke Somers and Pierre Korkie
5. US Secretary of State, American's lives were in imminent danger
6. None, they chose to forgive
7. No, the 2 men were going to die anyways, this was just America's effort to get its people out of danger.
Troy Banks
ReplyDelete1. U.S. and Yemeni forces raided an AQAP stronghold, hoping to free hostages.
2. al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula & a branch of the terrorist organization al Qaeda.
3. U.S. officials claim that the U.S. acted alone, but witnesses report that Yemeni soldiers acted alongside the U.S. soldiers.
4. Luke Somers and Pierre Korkie
5. The U.S. Secretary of State & because information was received that the American's life was in immediate danger
6. They were going to pay the three million dollar ransom
7. I would say the U.S. is responsible, because if they hadn't raided the house, the hostages were expected to be released. While of course this can't be for certain, that they were actually going to be released, but the U.S.'s involvement obviously didn't help.
Leigh Davis:
ReplyDelete1. The situation in Yemen is that there are people that are in a certain group and they are holding many different people hostage and when the U.S. militant people were trying to rescue the hostages the hostages somehow got shot and killed.
2.AlQueda in the Arabian Peninsula, it is an extremely dangerous group that was formed by a couple of different network branches.
3.Yemeni forces said they helped carry out the attempted rescue, but the U.S. says they did it alone with no help from the Yeminian government.
4.Luke Sommers age 33 and Pierre Korkie age 56.
5.John Kerry is the U.S. Secretary of State and he said that the only reason they attempted the rescue is because there was information let out about an American's life being in imminent danger.
6.The South African people were not really making an effort at all to rescue the teacher who was being held hostage and they didn't want to start any drama either.
7.Knowing the background I believe that the U.S. shouldn't be blamed for the death of the hostages because I think that their intentions were only to try and stop this situation or calm it down and free the hostages. Yes, they might've provoked the people who were holding the hostages but in no mean did they mean to get them killed. I think that they wanted to save their people and it be done with but the people felt cornered and that provoked them and worsened the situation even more.
MacKenzie Jones
ReplyDelete1.) Several hostages being held in Yemen by the AQAP
2.) al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula; founded by the Yemeni and Saudi branches of the network that has been seen as one of the movements most dangerous branches.
3.) US acted alone.
4.) American- Luke Somers. South African- Pierre Korkie
5.) U.S. Secretary of State; information that the American's life was in imminent danger.
6.) They were going to pay the kidnappers for his release.
7.) To be 100% honest I'm confused and kind of lost on this topic. I'd probably have to say no, just due to the fact that more than likely no matter what limit the US would've gone to too save them the kidnappers probably would have killed the hostages regardless weather they already gave them money or not just in spite of the fact that they loathe America.
Olivia LeComte
ReplyDelete1. the AQAP was kidnapping people and using them for ransom to bring in more income.
2. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula they are a militant located primarily in the Yemen
3. the US claims they acted alone but locals claim the Yemen forces helped
4. Luke Somers and Pierre Korkie
5. The US secretary of state, because an american's life was in direct danger.
6. The Gift of the Givers had been working on freeing him and expected him home by Sunday.
7. No. The US armed forces went tin to do their jobs which is rescuing people. Unless they killed the hostages themselves, there is no reason at all that they should be blamed for it. The timing probably could have been better but they were just trying to save lives.
Kayla Fincher
ReplyDelete1. 11 people were killed when the U.S forces fought Islamist militants in in a failed rescue mission
2. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, A Yemen-based terrorist group.
3. According to U.S. officials the U.S. forces acted alone, but according to the Yemen government and local residents, Yemeni forces also participated.
4. Luke Somers and Pierre Korkie
5. John Kerry is the U.S. Secretary of State He allowed the rescue attempt because of information that the American's life was in imminent danger.
6. There had not been any ransom money paid to the kidnappers but the article went on to say that the Gift of the Givers (a relief group that had tried to secure his release) said. The group had expected Korkie to be freed on Sunday. I did not read about any other attempts of rescue for Korkie.
7.I do not feel that the U.S. armed forces are to blame for the death of the hostages. The hostages would have been killed even if the U.S. Armed Forces had not tried to rescue them. The AQAP only wanted ransom money and probably would have never received money, leaving them angry enough to kill their hostages.
1. A raid on a militant stronghold intended to free them.
ReplyDelete2. al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
3. Te US says they acted alone, but Yemen says they helped to plan it.
4. Luke Somers and Pierre Korkie
5. U.S. Secretary of State; because America's life was in "imminent danger".
6. A release group was expecting him to be freed because no ransom was paid until the U.S. intervened.
7. They are to blame, most people living in that area do not want their help. This only makes the general global mistrust and hatred of the United States stronger.
Grace Singley
ReplyDelete1. The U.S. tried to save the people being held hostage but others killed the people being held hostage because of the U.s. trying to help.
2. al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
3. The US acted alone because they were going against Yemeni.
4. Luke Somers and Pierre Korkie
5. U.S. Secretary of State; because the American's life was in serious danger.
6. They did not want to assign blame for his death.
7. No, because the people being held hostage were suffering worse being held hostage and the US was only trying to help.
7.
Alex Turner 3 period
ReplyDelete1. The U.S. Tried to evacuate the leftover people when they were rescued the captors got mad and decided to kill the hostages.
2. al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, formed in 2006 by the merger of the Yemeni and Saudi branches of the network
3. US acted alone
4. Luke Somers, 33, and South African teacher Pierre Korkie, 56
5. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the operation, the second attempt to free Somers in 10 days, had only been approved because of information that the American's life was in imminent danger.
6. They made no attempt
7. I don't think it was the US fault at all. They needed help so we helped them. This is the problem now a days with the US and other countries that need are help once we help they can never stand by themselves again without our help but claim that we are against them.
Reagan Ross.
ReplyDelete1)
2) "al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula"
3) "U.S. officials have said the raid was carried out by U.S. forces alone, but Yemen's government and local residents said Yemeni forces also participated."
4) Luke Somers, Pierre Korkie
5) U.S. Secretary of State; it had only been approved because of information that the American's life was in imminent danger.
6) it seems the kidnappers were asking for an amount of money if they released the teacher? I believe they asked for 3 million.
7) this article has been kind of hard for me to comprehend but I believe that they could be justifiably held to blame but not on the same token.