Rescue of F-15 WSO Reveals HUGE Cultural Divide Between Left and Right, Europe a

[SVPete]

Rescue of F-15 WSO Reveals HUGE Cultural Divide Between Left and Right, Europe and America

https://hotair.com/david-strom/2026/04/06/rescue-of-f-15-wso-reveals-huge-cultural-divide-between-left-and-right-europe-and-america-n3813577

The gap truly is unbridgeable.

It's hard not to conclude that after the event of this weekend, even if we held out hope that somehow, once the TDS is in the rear-view mirror, we might find a way to talk with each other.

As you might imagine, I, like many of you, was glued to news sources (X, in my case), vacuuming up as much information as possible about our downed WSO.
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... the overwhelming sentiment seemed to be satisfaction, and even a creeping hope that Iran would capture our pilot and WSO. And when the pilot was recovered, the intensity of the left's seeming hope that the WSO's fate would be determined by Iran was...disturbing.
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As we all know now, the entire US AND Israeli military—the Israelis sent special operators out to assist with the rescue of our WSO—moved heaven and earth to accomplish a miracle. Yet all the attention of the left—and the Europeans—was to heap scorn on America, our military, and even to crow about our losses of EQUIPMENT, as if anybody cares about replaceable equipment in such situations.
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The French commentators were particularly scornful. They focused on the loss of our equipment, saying that it was a waste and a sign of weakness that we expended so much time, effort, and treasure to rescue one man. The country that gave us the collaborationist Vichy regime, and which is now cooperating with Iran, is lecturing us about military strategy and tactics.

The military personnel of every nation where this was expressed should take heed. When they are in danger, France and nations expressing similar views will save planes and tanks and ______ and abandon them. Many/Most US Dems would as well.

[ADsOutburst]

The side that lectures us on valuing life over property is here to tell us about what a waste of machinery the rescue operation was.

[SVPete]

I saw that some retired general said that it takes a year to build a plane, but two centuries to build a military that values its soldiers so highly.

US military personnel should take note of pols, regardless of party, who complain about the cost of this rescue. Those pols see them as expendables and WILL betray them if they get into danger.

[SVPete]

Inside the daring rescue of airman behind enemy lines: How CIA assisted with 'deception campaign'

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/inside-daring-rescue-airmen-behind-enemy-lines-cia-assisted-deception-campaign

Details about the rescue are trickling in, including senior administration officials telling Fox News how the CIA deflected enemy attention with a "deception campaign."

The CIA spread word in Iran through multiple sources that U.S. forces had already found the second of two airmen who ejected from their F-15, and were moving him out of Iran in a maritime exfiltration elsewhere, sources told Fox News, but that was designed to buy time to find the stranded weapons system officer.

The CIA picked up a distress signal, passing the intelligence on to the Pentagon and White House, which ordered the immediate rescue mission, according to sources.
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Once the CIA confirmed Saturday morning that this was not a trap, the missing airman was located using advanced technical capabilities.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe informed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan "Raizin'" Caine and, ultimately, Trump.

"Within eight hours, we had planes in motion," the source said. "Within almost 12 hours we were on the ground in Iran.
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The U.S. used MQ9 Reaper drones to protect the area around where the airman was hiding and fired on anything that came close to that area and any area where U.S. forces were operating to prevent crowds or any Iranians from approaching, sources confirmed to Fox News.

"We executed multiple large-scale strikes in the surrounding area using every tactical jet in the U.S. inventory and B-1 Bombers to keep him safe," according to a senior U.S. official.
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Israeli intelligence had assisted the CIA in determining the location of the missing WSO and removing doubt about an Iranian "trap," halting its attacks in the area to facilitate the mission, an Israeli security official told Reuters.

"All Israelis rejoice in the incredible rescue of a brave American pilot by America's dauntless warriors," Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a statement Sunday morning. "This proves that when free societies muster their courage and their resolve, they can confront seemingly insurmountable odds and overcome the forces of darkness and terror."

Well, I can see why Candace Owens is spewing hateful absurdities about the successful rescue. JOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosss!!!!!!!!!!

[SVPete]

The European Mind Can't Comprehend Why We're Such Bad A****s

https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2026/04/06/the-european-mind-cant-comprehend-why-were-such-bad-as-n4951501

After an F-15E Weapons Systems Officer ejected injured over Iranian territory, the United States military and intelligence community moved Heaven and Earth to find him, rescue him, and return him safely home.  While we might never know the exact figures, somewhere between 100-200 personnel were involved in the rescue, including perhaps two small Night Stalker helicopters, and two MC-130J Commando II Special Forces cargo planes that had to be destroyed on the ground.
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Let me take you on a quick detour through exactly how American forces were able to track and finally pinpoint the location of the injured WSO. It's a nifty little device called the Combat Survivor Evader Locator (CSEL), and it's worn by pilots and combat aircrews at risk of getting shot down over enemy territory.

CSEL looks a little like an old-school satellite phone, and that's because they share some DNA. Automatically activated during ejection, a CSEL communicates in short, encrypted bursts the ejectee's location and movement. Short bursts prevent the enemy from triangulating a position ... frequency hopping prevents repeated attempts at listening, ...
When a rescue team gets close, CSEL changes modes, "guiding helicopters straight to them in terrain that would otherwise swallow a man alive," as Gene Robinson put it on X.
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This post is indicative of the mindset, and Western Europe's comparative inability to conduct such rescues.

)An embedded X post from some French guy)

But as I replied on X, we don’t call it our “greatest military success of all time.” We call it “business as usual.”

"If you want to know why the U.S. & IAF have the best and most committed pilots/aviators in the world, it’s because they know we will do everything in our power to bring them home."
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As another wit said, France can't afford to lose two of its 14 cargo planes, but we have hundreds. That's the inevitable result of free-rider military budgets that countries like France and Britain are willing to make.