US special forces commanders are worried that their elite troops will be “tweeted” into combat in Nigeria, a new report said Tuesday.
The Twitter hashtag #bringbackourgirls became an international rallying cry to prod the Nigerian government into action to get the 300 school girls back from the terror group Boko Haram, after first lady Michelle Obama and others retweeted it around the world.
But now, “two well-placed defense department sources” told NBC News that senior Special Operations commanders — in charge of the Navy SEALs and Army Delta Force and Ranger Regiment — have said “the hashtag will bring us out” in a rescue operation.
“We’re being tweeted into combat,” an unnamed military official told the network.
The White House and Pentagon officials had previously said no military operations were on the table – but any special forces operations would be cloaked in total secrecy.
Currently there are 16 US advisers in Nigeria and another 80 US Air Force personnel assigned to neighboring Chad to oversee drone surveillance operations.
But some special forces sources believe that could change.
“There is a logic building that it took US 10 years to search for Osama bin Laden and then we found him,” one told NBC, “so why not spend a few months looking for the girls in Nigeria and find them too?”
But others say such a mission would be fraught with difficulties that could make a rescue nearly impossible.
Col. Jack Jacobs, a Medal of Honor recipient and military expert, said the hostages were likely separated into smaller groups and hidden in a remote jungle controlled by terrorists.
“First, you need accurate, complete intelligence about the hostages’ locations and the size and disposition of the forces guarding them, both extremely difficult to obtain and verify,” he told the network.
“And you would have to be prepared for the deaths of some — even most — of the girls. This would be a raid infinitely more difficult than the one to capture Osama bin Laden, and one that would almost surely to end in tears.”
Also Tuesday, The Telegraph reported that Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan rejected a deal to free about 50 of the schoolgirls — even after watching a video in which the terrified victims begged him to save their lives with a prisoner exchange.
Sources told the paper the heartbreaking video was delivered to Jonathan by an intermediary who had connections to Boko Haram, who snatch ed the girls on April 15.
But Jonathan scuttled a tentative deal that called for the girls’ release last week after Western governments pressured him not to negotiate with terrorists because it would only encourage more kidnappings, the paper said, citing a source.