The SAS odyssey in Benghazi is a flop!

It was to be a secret mission intended to penetrate into Libyan territory with a goal that remains unclear. A mission that the SAS elite troops usually do very well without anyone knowing it. But this one fell short...

Because disembarking from a helicopter, at night, a few men in an area where the rebels are on edge and fear an attack, is not the purest effect of discretion. The 7 SAS and the MI6 officer (and not a diplomat) were apprehended on Thursday, along with another civilian (another MI6 agent apparently residing there) who was an administrator at a farm near Benghazi and was supposed to secure their reception. The peasants are intrigued, armed youths arrive and surround the elite forces. They only have a few hours of flight time in terms of combat compared to the SAS. But the tension rises a notch when the Libyans discover that the men who say they are unarmed, in fact have arms and ammunition. In addition, they have passports of four different nationalities, as described by the media across the Channel. In short, enough to justify a few days in the hole, as in any country in the world, just to clarify the subject, then an expulsion... (also read certain details in The Guardian and the commentary of a former ambassador in The Telegraph)

But it is said that the British must drink the chalice to the dregs. The conversation between the British ambassador to Libya, Richard Northern, and the spokesman for the opposition leader, Mostafa Jalil, in which the former apologizes to the latter for this "misunderstanding", is captured by the Libyan services and broadcast on state television on Sunday. We hear a British ambassador, very embarrassed, who does not know which saint to devote himself to and which branch to cling to to justify the expedition of his nickel-plated feet. We understand it. Listen !

William Hague, the head of the Foreign Office, remains more forthcoming in the House of Commons on Monday (7 March) in the face of attacks from opposition MPs. He sticks to an official version (*), which seems very "unreal": the elite forces accompanied a diplomatic mission to make contact with the opponents of Colonel Gaddafi and it was necessary to ensure their safety. But no explanation on the reason for this disembarkation nor on the multiple passports (read the House of Commons report). It is indeed a strange method to contact the authorities of the constituted opposition, while the city of Benghazi seems easily accessible by road (via Egypt) or by sea. His Gracious Majesty's ship, the HMS Cumberland is also a regular at its docks in recent days. And the Italian patrol boat, Libra, docked there recently. They wouldn't have wanted to be caught that they wouldn't have been caught otherwise...

With the three Dutch soldiers arriving by helicopter and "tight" by a unit of the army of Tripoli, and the adventure of the SAS nickel-plated feet on the side of the opposition, without forgetting the team of the GIGN, supposed to accompany a convoy " French humanitarian organization in Libya, which had to lay down its arms because it had not asked for prior authorisation, that is starting to mean a lot!