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U.S. official: Killed forces were on Afghanistan rescue mission
CNN ^ | 8/6/11 | David Ariosto and Barbara Starr

Posted on 08/06/2011 2:31:09 PM PDT by truthandlife

Twenty-five U.S. special forces killed early Saturday in Afghanistan were on a mission to rescue another team of military personnel pinned down by insurgents, a U.S. military official told CNN.

The helicopter that went down in eastern Afghanistan carried 30 U.S. military members, including 22 Navy SEALs and three other special forces. They were part of a "quick reaction force" sent in to pick up others engaged in a fierce firefight, the official said.

In the single deadliest incident since the start of the decade-long Afghan war, the Army Chinook carrying a team of U.S. special forces and U.S. and Afghan soldiers went down in Wardak province.

Insurgents are believed to have shot down the helicopter, a military official said.

The majority of the Navy SEALs who died belonged to the same covert unit that conducted the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May, though they were not the same men, the official said.

"It's a big loss" for the SEALs, one of the officials said. "The numbers are high."

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: afganistan; afghanistan; alreadyposted; binladen; ch47; husseinsthecause; kia; military; muslimterroristpos; navy; navyseals; notbreakingnews; obama; obamaisafraud; obamasfault; obamatheterrorist; osama; postotus; rip; seals; sealteam6; taliban; talibanshootdown; troops; usn
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1 posted on 08/06/2011 2:31:13 PM PDT by truthandlife
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To: truthandlife
carrying a team of U.S. special forces and U.S. and Afghan soldiers

Hmmmm....

2 posted on 08/06/2011 2:35:16 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: truthandlife

Shades of Operation Red Wing (Seal Team 1) all over again. Not good.


3 posted on 08/06/2011 2:35:16 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Americans need to wean their government off of its dependence on foreign money.)
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To: truthandlife

What a tragedy. And what makes it even more tragic is that this is Vietnam Part II. As soon as we pull out, the bad guys will take over the country, just like they did in ‘Nam. A corrupt government, with an incompetent military, will not win against political (or in the case of Afghanistan) religious, fanatics.


4 posted on 08/06/2011 2:36:38 PM PDT by Signalman
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To: truthandlife
Last week there was an article about how Iran is really running all military activity in the Middle East and how intelligence says that they are planning on a Beruit-like event.

I am wondering if this was the handiwork of the Iranian Republican Guard? If so it is long overdue to go after them and hunt them down anywhere they can be found.

5 posted on 08/06/2011 2:37:01 PM PDT by Robert357 (D.Rather "Hoist with his own petard!" www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1223916/posts)
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To: truthandlife; Pride in the USA; Stillwaters
...on a mission to rescue another team of military personnel pinned down by insurgents

Will we ever know what became of the personnel they were trying to rescue? This just got even more horrible, if possible.

6 posted on 08/06/2011 2:38:33 PM PDT by lonevoice (schizophrenic hostage taking hobbit terrorist)
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To: truthandlife

It’s about time our side pulled off a big “oops...sorry ‘bout that” sort of thing.


7 posted on 08/06/2011 2:42:34 PM PDT by ryderann
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To: gaijin

Seal Team 6 - this wh gave them up. Just like guns to mexico and south america and drugs in to usa.


8 posted on 08/06/2011 2:44:00 PM PDT by edcoil (The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital. -- Joe Paterno)
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To: FlingWingFlyer

The comments made on the CNN page are disgusting.


9 posted on 08/06/2011 2:45:04 PM PDT by Josa
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To: Josa

I notice the tolerant left continue to refer to us as a bunch of homosexuals. (Teabaggers). I guess that’s about as low as they can go.


10 posted on 08/06/2011 2:47:40 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Americans need to wean their government off of its dependence on foreign money.)
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To: gaijin
I hate to ask about the team they were sent to rescue...

Mike

11 posted on 08/06/2011 2:48:04 PM PDT by MichaelP (The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools ~HS)
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To: FlingWingFlyer

Whoops! Read the ping and got this on the wrong thread. Disregard.


12 posted on 08/06/2011 2:48:37 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Americans need to wean their government off of its dependence on foreign money.)
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To: gaijin

Why are highly trained scarce and valuable specialists like SEALS being used for a mission like this that would be more appropriate for Rangers or airmobile infantry? If no one else was available than I would understand. Nonethelesw it would seem that you should save these guys for tasks that are appropriate for their unique skill level.


13 posted on 08/06/2011 2:49:07 PM PDT by DMZFrank
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To: truthandlife

I bet the enemy have been after them ever since their own Benedict Arnold president blew their cover and outed them ...


14 posted on 08/06/2011 2:54:31 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: truthandlife

Who was the brainiac officer who put such a large group of elite troops on one helicopter?

Shades of the Carter Iran rescue fiasco.

I thought SEALs traveled in smaller units to avoid this very scenario?


15 posted on 08/06/2011 2:59:17 PM PDT by anymouse (God didn't write this sitcom we call life, he's just the critic.)
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To: gaijin
I know. Afghan soldiers onboard. 'Hmnn' indeed.

A helicopter full of SEALs would be too much for a martyr to resist.

All they'd need is a single grenade.

I think I'll hold out for more information to become available, if it ever does.

16 posted on 08/06/2011 2:59:44 PM PDT by The KG9 Kid
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To: truthandlife

this was a setup from the word go. Put out some bad intel about HVT’s, knowing that the US military is going to send some ‘high speed unit’. If ST6 was on a rescue mission, then they were rescuing other members of their unit or another SPECOP’s unit. The bad guys, now being very well informed of the TTP’s, of our elite military units, were waiting on them.

Of course, if the moron-in-chief, had to let the world know who did it and how. Stating I and My, over and over again, to prove that he is in charge. The whole while, letting the world know how these operators do their job. Well, no more. For a little publicity and some rating in the polls, the secret is out and the bad guys have been paying attention.

God bless those men and their families.


17 posted on 08/06/2011 3:02:23 PM PDT by qaz123
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To: anymouse

No kidding! Damn...too many eggs in one basket!


18 posted on 08/06/2011 3:03:06 PM PDT by Kahuna
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To: truthandlife

This is very sad - all loss of life by our guys is sad, but this one is bad because it just seems preventable.

Why were they all together? How trustworthy were those Afghanis? (Personally, I don’t think any of them seem very trustworthy.)

This is all very depressing. Many people on other threads were speculating that it was Obama’s Ramadan gift to the Taliban, but I don’t think he’s smart enough to carry off something like that. But I doubt that he’s very sad that it happened.


19 posted on 08/06/2011 3:04:24 PM PDT by livius
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To: qaz123

I think sadly you are correct...


20 posted on 08/06/2011 3:05:32 PM PDT by truthandlife ("Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." (Ps 20:7))
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