The SAS did. Since their inception during WW2, the SAS has been involved in numerous audacious missions. After narrowly escaping closure at the end of the war, they established the relevance in the Iranian embassy siege and during the Falkland’s war. Currently they are deployed in Iraq, Syria and also in Libya.

Main picture: The SAS squad disguised themselves as ISIS commanders’ wives to infiltrate Raqqa

To paraphrase a well-known maxim, “When in Rome dress like the Romans do,” the SAS did just that in January 2016. Their objective was to kill a senior ISIS Commander in the de facto capital Raqqa in Syria. In order to travel incognito this eight man SAS squad donned full-length Islamic dress as their normal SAS attire would have made them very conspicuous. Likewise they swopped their grass green Landrovers with their mode of transport becoming the ubiquitous Toyota pick-up truck

The daring raid took place near the ISIS headquarters in Raqqa where Jihadi John was killed

In case they encountered resistance from armed Islamic militants, all of their assault weapons, grenades and ammunition were secreted beneath their expansive ankle length robes

This was to be yet another high-tech mission where the role of the SAS was not to engage in actual fighting. Instead their role was to acquire intelligence; in this case to locate a senior ISIS Chief. Using a transmitter, they relayed the location and coordinates to a US Airforce Boeing AWAC aircraft circling out of view and earshot high above them.

ISIS displaying recapitated heads of captives

The AWAC in turn passed this information onto a US Reaper drone which did the actual destruction. It fired a Hellfire missile into the house vapourising it.

It was now that the SAS team was at greatest risk posed as the wives of ISIS chiefs by covering themselves from head-to-toe in the traditional black robes. Having managed to bluff their way through to ISIS’s headquarters, the exploding Hellfire missile alerted the jihadi militants in the area.

A classic fire fight ensued. Jihadi fighters rushed into streets. As a British newspaper stated, “The SAS [men] jumped out of the vehicle, lifted up their burkas and opened fire. It must have been a massive shock to the gunmen.”

The surprise was total. The jihadis were overwhelmed and the SAS men escaped in the confusion.

What was not disclosed in this report was that the SAS had received the assistance of a disgruntled ISIS member.

SAS in Iraq

In another recent operation, perhaps not as daring as the example above, again illustrates the lateral thinking of the SAS. In this case it was a British staff-sergeant who was part of an elite team of military advisors embedded in the Iraqi Army. They were involved in an operation to evict Daesh – ISIS – from Ramadi in Iraq.

Barrett .50 Sniper Rifle

The target of this operation was their Command Post which was well fortified. Initially they considered an air strike but the destruction of the Command Post would culminate in too much collateral damage. A rocket attack was evaluated but there was a possibility that the blast might cause the building to collapse. Again the possibility of collateral damage made this option unacceptable. Intelligence suggested that civilians were being held in the lower storey and in buildings close by.

SAS in operations

An alternative solution had to be found.

The SAS Staff Sergeant in charge of one of the SAS teams working with the Iraqis suggested something unique. His solution was simple but elegant: he would fire armour piercing rounds from his Barrett Light .50 calibre rifle. He fired 30 rounds. On capturing the Command Post, they discovered that one jihadi was instantly decapitated by the high calibre rounds whilst his accomplices were left in pieces, one being been cut in half by the ultra-powerful rifle bullets.
These two examples illustrate the effectiveness of elite forces in a war situation. It is not only their military prowess but their unconventional solutions which make them so effective.