SOFX The Crossroads of Special Operations
During Secretary of Defense James Mattis’ two-day trip to Indonesia and Vietnam, Indonesian special forces concluded an elaborate military demonstration by guzzling cobra blood.
Following a massive Jan. 24 parade of Indonesian armed forces that included fire-jumping, trick shooting, and other less-than-tactical feats of strength, commandos from the country’s elite (and disreputable) Kopassus special operations group decapitated King Cobras before imbibing their sweet, sweet blood. And according to a Washington Post account of the proceedings, Mattis appeared to like what he saw:
The real show-stopper came when camouflage-streaked soldiers wrangled various snakes including King Cobras, severed their heads with knives and drank blood on the steps of the headquarters building. At least one soldier bit into a snake’s neck as its tail whipped and curled and the troops belted war cries. He then knelt as a fellow soldier squeezed blood into his mouth from another snake.
