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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stories of Special Forces Operators podcast. Listen to

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<v Speaker 1>some of the bravest and toughest people on the planet

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<v Speaker 1>share their stories. Sit back and enjoy.

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<v Speaker 2>Have you ever wondered what your fairy friend is really thinking? Well,

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<v Speaker 2>let me introduce to you my new book, Dog Psychology

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<v Speaker 2>by doctor Carlos Vasquez. As a psychology professor with over

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<v Speaker 2>ten years experience, I've unlocked the secrets of the canine psyche.

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<v Speaker 2>I will teach you how to understand your dog's body language,

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<v Speaker 2>to code their barks and wines, solved behavioral puzzles, and

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<v Speaker 2>strengthen your pond like never before. With Dog Psychology, you'll

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<v Speaker 2>see the world through your dog's eyes. Don't just be

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<v Speaker 2>a dog owner, become a dog whisperer. So go get

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<v Speaker 2>Dog Psychology by doctor Carlos Vasquez, available now on kindle

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<v Speaker 2>or paperback on Amazon. Welcome back. Everybody tell you we're

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<v Speaker 2>looking at Operation Barras BABRS. It's a operation that happened

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<v Speaker 2>in Sierra Leone, So let's find out what's going on

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<v Speaker 2>in freetown. Sierra Leoned, Britain's elite Special Forces SAS and

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<v Speaker 2>Parachute Regiment executed a high stakes rescue operation in Sierra

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<v Speaker 2>Leone twenty five years ago. They freed eleven British soldiers

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<v Speaker 2>held hostage by the notorious West Side Boys militia. The

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<v Speaker 2>dubbed Operation Barris, the mission unfolded and the dense jungles

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<v Speaker 2>along the Roquale Creek fifty miles east of Freetown, marking

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<v Speaker 2>a decisive blow to the rebel group and underscoring the

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<v Speaker 2>United Kingdom's resolve in West Africa's crumbling stability. The crisis

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<v Speaker 2>began in August twenty fifth, when a patrol from the

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<v Speaker 2>Royal Irish Regiment, part of a UN backed training mission,

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<v Speaker 2>was ambushed near the villages of Gabaribana and Macmeni. The

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<v Speaker 2>West Side Boys, a splinter faction known for their brutal

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<v Speaker 2>and erratic behavior, seized the soldiers, demanding the release of

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<v Speaker 2>their imprisoned leader, Faux de Calais, and other concessions. Negotiations

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<v Speaker 2>faltered as the rebels, often intoxicated by drugs and alcohol,

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<v Speaker 2>paraded their captives captives, escalating tensions in a nation still

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<v Speaker 2>reeling from a decade long civil war. Britain's response, however,

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<v Speaker 2>was swift and surgical. At dawn on September tenth, two

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<v Speaker 2>Chinook helicopters carrying approximately one hundred and fifty SAS and

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<v Speaker 2>paratroopers descended on the twin villages. The operation was meticulously coordinated.

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<v Speaker 2>While says commandos stormed to barry Bona to extract the hostages,

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<v Speaker 2>Paris hit mag Benny the paratroopers to neutralize rebel reinforcements,

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<v Speaker 2>supported by the Lynx helicopters, firing on enemy positions he

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<v Speaker 2>had sought. Lasted about twenty minutes. That was it, but

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<v Speaker 2>was fiercely contested. The rebels, armed with AK forty sevens

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<v Speaker 2>and RPGs, mounted a disorganized resistance, only to be overwhelmed

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<v Speaker 2>by the British forces precision and power. All eleven hostages

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<v Speaker 2>were maasingly rescued, though five have been moved prior to

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<v Speaker 2>the raid and were freed in a secondary action. The

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<v Speaker 2>cost was sleep, though one SAS trooper, Private brand Tenian

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<v Speaker 2>was killed and several others wounded. Estimates suggest twenty five

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<v Speaker 2>rebels die, with dozens more captured, including Calais, whose arrest

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<v Speaker 2>may cripple the group's leadership. The operation's success hinged on

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<v Speaker 2>weeks of intelligence from MI six, their international kind of

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<v Speaker 2>equivalent to the CIA in the US and reconnaissance by

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<v Speaker 2>the Special Boat Service for Sierra Leone. Operation Barus is

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<v Speaker 2>a double edged sword. The west side Boyd's a thorn

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<v Speaker 2>in the government's sites and splintering from the Armed reugh

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<v Speaker 2>Forces Revolutionary Council have been weakened, potentially easing pressure of

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<v Speaker 2>Free Town's fragile coalition. Yet the raid exposes the limits

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<v Speaker 2>of the UN mission and the Sierra Leone Army, both

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<v Speaker 2>reliant on foreign intervention to maintaining order. Britain's three hundred

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<v Speaker 2>strong troop presence at the time, ostensibly for training, now

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<v Speaker 2>appears as linchpinn in the country's security, so Operation Barras

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<v Speaker 2>stands as a stark reminder folks the stability there remains

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<v Speaker 2>a foreign import, just with blood and audacity sometimes, but

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<v Speaker 2>a great operation that saved those hostages. Incredible job by

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<v Speaker 2>the SAS