Originally Posted by
hadriel
Most ideal situation: police negotiators go in, successfully negotiate with the guy to surrender, all hostages freed safely, no one gets hurt. Guy gives information to police, and in this case it's very important for fighting terrorism, e.g. where he went, how he converted, if there are other cells in the city etc. etc.
Dead people don't talk.
Also, any death is not ideal at all. In a hostage situation of, say, 20 hostages and 5 hostage takers, sacrificing 1 hostage to save the rest of the 19 is not an option. Sacrificing 1 police to save all 20 is also not an option. Unless there is a very very clear evidence of the hostage takers' intent to kill all the hostages (in which case there's very little benefit to them) then will the police move in with force. The case of the failed rescue effort in Yemen is a good example, but in this case the Islamic State probably has little to lose and far more to benefit, in a sad twist of story.
And, for the sake of being obvious, snipers can only shoot what they can see. They can't see behind walls...
Hadriel
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