American contractor captured by Al Qaeda in 2011 says in video he feels "abandoned and forgotten" - Polidicks

How many lives are you going to risk for him? Is losing a young soldier worth saving a 72 year old man? It's not fair but life ain't fair

[QUOTE=FinalHunter;43376503]So what are you saying? We put the lives of four or more men at risk to try and save an old man who got himself into this position in the first place? We don't just have travel warnings for no reason. This guy knew there were insurgents in the area and went anyways. Just because they're highly trained Navy SEALs doesn't mean they're invincible and can save this guy without any causalities. There will ALWAYS be more important objectives for them than rescuing this one guy, regardless of how insensitive that sounds. If we knew his location, probably some shack in a village or in a mountain range in Pakistan or Afghanistan, we'd still have to set aside military assets for gathering intelligence, operational support, etc. And when the time came we'd have to insert a SEAL team(probably via air, risking more lives and costing more money) where they'd proceed through hostile territory to a location where they would be outnumbered and outgunned. I know to plenty of people here it seems as simple as "We have highly trained men for this, this guy is an American citizen, let's just send them right in!" but it isn't. We'd be putting time, money, and lives on the line for a 72 year old man who got himself into this situation, and honestly, he may be in a position where we could never feasibly reach him.[/QUOTE] You're acting as if he's a senile vacationer who foolishly ventured to that part of the world. He isn't. He was a contractor working as part of a project of the US government. We put him there. He may be 72 years old, but we are responsible for him, and we shouldn't turn our backs on him.

[QUOTE=Jund;43376303]It's far easier to kill someone than to save someone[/QUOTE] well there is our solution then, send a SEAL team in to kill him instead

What kind of US mission would send a 70 year old man into Pakistan, a nation which we have unsteady at best relations with? Especially after killing Osama there.

[QUOTE=darunner;43377125]What kind of US mission would send a 70 year old man into Pakistan, a nation which we have unsteady at best relations with? Especially after killing Osama there.[/QUOTE] First of all, he's been there for nine years. As for what he was doing, [QUOTE=the article]Weinstein was employed by J.E. Austin Associates Inc., a U.S. consulting firm based in Arlington, Virginia, that is a USAID contractor. He is a world-renowned development expert, according to the company's website.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=wikipedia]The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. USAID seeks to "extend a helping hand to those people overseas struggling to make a better life, recover from a disaster or striving to live in a free and democratic country."[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Apache249;43373925]He's an American being held by terrorists. In an ideal world, we wouldn't hesitate to rescue him.[/QUOTE] In an ideal world our government would get off its ass and do [I]anything[/I] productive. I can't see anything happening for this guy.

[QUOTE=Advancedrock;43375896]What I'm saying is that we lost no one killing Osama, I don't think this 72 year old will be that hard to get.[/QUOTE] Osama wasn't that heavily guarded and, to Al Qaeda at the time, he wasn't in charge nor that greatly important to the structure. He was virtually enjoying his retirement. This man is someone important to Al Qaeda and will be prepared to defend him.