Honor and Glory to Akil, the dog of the special wards dead hero

19/03/15

He fought as an element of the special forces. He preferred to take some bullets to save the lives of his comrades. Akil, the Tunisian dog of the special departments who raided the Bardo museum, died as a hero.

HERO

The wolfhound was one and a half years old.

The "warrior" left the operational theater lifeless now, on a stretcher.

People huddled in front of the museum, at the passage of the lifeless hero began to applaud, scream and honor the fallen man who sadly made his way through the crowd.

Honor and glory to every living being that fights against terrorism.

Honor and glory to men, women and animals who fight against devious enemies and who carry out massacres in the name of a distorted religion. Terrorists exalt their martyrs, we remember our warriors for freedom, without any distinction.

Honor and glory to Akil, the dog who died as a hero.

MORE LETHAL THAN ONE BULLET, FASTER THAN A MAN

When US President Barack Obama went to Fort Campbell for an advertised (but very private) meeting with the commando who killed Osama Bin Laden, only one of the 81 members of the super-secret unit Seal DevGru (or Seal Team Six), has been identified by name: Cairo, the war dog of the Seal.

Cairo, like most Navy Seal dogs is a Belgian Malinois. And like human Seals, dogs are the best of the best.

The Malinois breed is similar to the German shepherd, but smaller. An adult male weighs about 30 kg. German shepherds are still used as war dogs by the American military, but the lighter Malinois are considered better for tandem launch with parachutes and for abseiling, techniques often used by Seal teams. Like their human counterparts, Seal dogs are highly qualified, super motivated, experts in unconventional tactics and able to carry out missions on the sea, in the air and on land (the acronym Seal means precisely Sea, Air and Land). Dogs also have some specific characteristics: with an 40 sense of smell that is more developed than in humans, dogs are trained to detect and identify both explosive material and hidden hostile subjects.

Dogs are twice as fast as a fit human, so anyone trying to escape could never be faster than Cairo or his friends. Seal dogs are also paratroopers: jump or tandem with their handlers or alone if in the water. Seal dogs are faithful, fearless and fierce. They are more lethal than a bullet. Their titanium canines can tear every armor worn by a human.

When the Seal DevGru team entered the compound of Bin Laden, the first to touch Pakistan was Cairo. And like the human Seal, Cairo also wore the best ballistic protection available on the planet: a Kevlar armor, called "Storm K9". Cairo was also equipped with special equipment for night vision with infrared functionality to allow the operator connected remotely to identify human figures even through the cement, thanks to the heat emitted. The Seal, which has its own unlimited budget that cannot be modified or reduced by law, then added other hi-tech details that made the armor "Storm K9", the best "assault dog of the planet". They bought four for a total of 86 thousand dollars.

WE DO NOT ABANDON ANYONE

On February 10th last year the Taliban fighters showed in a video a dog captured in eastern Afghanistan. It was a Military Working Dog (MWD), a dog belonging to the SAS (Special Air Service), the elite of the British special departments.

The short video was released through a twitter account used by the Taliban for propaganda purposes. In the video you could see several Taliban fighters surrounding the chained dog, while at least two M-4 rifles equipped with suppressors, advanced optics and other special equipment. Probably the SAS dog disappeared during a night raid on 23 last December in the Alingar district. It is possible that the dog separated from its 'handler' during a firefight with the Taliban, making it impossible for anyone to recover it.

In the same operation, a special forces soldier, Captain Richard Holloway, was killed and killed.

The dog was a Belgian Malinois named Colonel (Colonel) and was found wearing a small GPS tracking device, a torch and a small camera. All these elements were on a system of suspenders worn by the dog, the same type of equipment used to infiltrate and exfiltrate animals in the wake of special departments.

In the video, "Colonel" was shown disoriented, a little undernourished and chained. According to the Pentagon, this was the first incident in which a special ward dog was taken prisoner. In the past, there were cases in Iraq where propaganda rebels showed dogs and then used them as unconscious kamikazes.

Immediately after the video was released, the Special Operations Command ordered shadow missions to retrieve that missing team member. Several SEAL and SAS teams participated in the operations. Needless to say the echo that this operation had in the United States and Great Britain.

Beyond the operations conducted (covered by military secrecy), this is yet another example of the different approach that Italy's allies have in dealing with the "Special Departments" issue. A patriotism that I am sorry to say, in Italy it lacks completely.

The "Do not abandon anyone" directive applies to everyone.

Franco Iacch