Page 136 - Islam Denounces Terrorism
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Military Operations Do Not Produce a
Solution to Terrorism
If we look back at history we will see that military operations
did not bring any solution to terrorism. Operation Eagle Claw
is one example of this. The operation staged by the U.S. mili-
tary in April 1980 to free the 52 U.S. citizens being held hostage
in the U.S. Embassy in Iran ended in a disaster due to a sudden
sandstorm. An accident during refuelling en route to the USS
Nimitz, the centre of the operation, led to the destruction of a
C-130 Hercules plane and a U.S. helicopter. The U.S. Army lost
eight soldiers, two military planes and one transporter, and
had to withdraw from the region without carrying out the
operation.
Another instance took place in Somalia. An operation in 1994
under the command of Gen. William F. Garrison ended in a
failure and the deaths of 24 Pakistani and 19 U.S. troops in