Posted on 08/06/2011 5:53:22 PM PDT by Steelfish
August 6, 2011
Afghan Chopper Crash Kills 22 SEALs; 37 In All
PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO 08.06.11 Taliban claim responsibility for Afghan chopper crash Afghan chopper crash kills 22 SEALs; 37 in all 31 Americans killed in Afghan chopper crash
(CBS/AP) KABUL, Afghanistan - Insurgents shot down a U.S. military helicopter during fighting in eastern Afghanistan, killing 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the same elite unit as the Navy SEALs who killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials said Saturday. It was the deadliest single loss for American forces in the decade-old war against the Taliban.
CBS News correspondent David Martin reports that the dead include members of the Air Force and Army, but most of them were Navy SEALs from Team 6. In addition to the 22 SEALs killed, there were three other special operators, plus 5 crewmen. The group on the downed Chinook were a back-up force called in by another team which had run into trouble when it hit the target of a special raid. The lead team called for help and the Chinook was coming in when it was shot down.
The downing, in which seven Afghan commandos were also killed, was a stinging blow to the lauded, tight-knit SEAL Team 6 months after its crowning achievement. It was also a heavy setback for the U.S.-led coalition as it begins to draw down thousands of combat troops fighting what has become an increasingly costly and unpopular war.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Alas, it’s all too easy to believe. The article states this Chinook-load was a backup force called in after the initial team was bogged down.
I.e. just like “Blackhawk Down” the initial surprise was lost and the backup chopper was probably hovering in one place for far too long.
Even so, it might have been a straightforward crash. I’ve read Michael Yon’s blog and some of those so-called “routine” chopper insertions sound incredibly dangerous with low-light conditions, dust and static electricity.
I thought Obama said he was going to start bringing these Soldiers back in July?
I guess he left out the part about the body bags.
FUBO
This is a horrible loss.
Hussein has mismanaged this war, our economy, and nearly every crisis during his internship. Why the hell does anyone support this clown? God bless our fighting men and women....I wish they had someone in charge who had a pair.
National Security, Debt Ceiling etc all held hostage to Obama’s re-election prospects.
I would like to know why, if this was a Taliban “compound”, the commanders didn’t call for a couple of JDAMS to destroy it before putting operators in. According to the sketchy news so far, an extended firefight had already been going on. One wonders if this was a result of rules of engagement to minimize collateral damage. If so, someone at the top of the theatre command structure needs to be relieved, and an investigation needs to launched to determine who is responsible for implementing the ROE and why.
Why do Spec-Op’s men fly aircraft that can be heard approaching from 20 miles?
Some one ORDERED it
It was special ops aircrew, flying them in army special ops helicopters.
http://nightstalkers.americanspecialops.com/
Let Army risk their own with this sort of stealth tactic.
Why use seal team 6? why not the 82nd airborne rangers?
This is an elite army helicopter unit that specializes in this special operations flying, because no one else in the military can do it.
This is the same helicopter unit that took them in on the Osama raid.
It makes me mad, that our Sailors and Marines are being pushed around by God knows who.
Let the Marines land expeditionary forces.
They know the job well.
I’m just carping.
And I am angry that Obama has the death toll skyrocketing like the national debt.
You couldn’t have put it better. This guy’s inexperience and judgment has been catastrophic for the nation and set us back 30 years.
We have an out-of-control political judiciary, a biased mainstream media that backs him, hordes of Hollywood dogs that run after him, an illegal immigration population that surpasses the populations of several states, a burgeoning medical and social security crisis, an infrastructure collapse, educational outputs in free-fall, and manufacturing industries decimated with cities and towns bankrupt and record high unemployment and under-employement with teenage black unemployment at over 70%.
Yet most white females, adults from 18-29, blacks (90%) and most Jews (78%) vote for this scoundrel. What the hell explains this?
“The... force called in by another team which had run into trouble [during] a special raid... The lead team called for help and the Chinook was coming in when it was shot down.”
Kind of wondering now about the outcome of the battle. If the force called in to reinforce the group in trouble was shot down and all hands killed, what happened to the team in trouble?
So: Question one: Was the chopper given any fighter/fire cover - or were they denied because of the murderous ROE put in by this administration - that would not allow fire power because of ANY possibility, even with NO evidence, that a civilian “might” be in the area.
Question Two:
Where did the Taliban get the fire power to take down this chopper?
Did they, as they bragged and promised, use ordinance this regime gifted to them when they ordered the pull out of our troops in No. Eastern Afghanistan - and left the Taliban great stores of weapons? (Never heard of that being done before in the annals of warfare.)
The media dutifully buried these actions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WamBeYQeRvE
and again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uj6sRlzgik&feature=fvwrel
air cover denied when needed
excerpt: “U.S. commanders, citing new rules to avoid civilian casualties, rejected repeated calls to unleash artillery rounds at attackers dug into the slopes and tree lines — despite being told repeatedly that they weren't near the village.
“We are pinned down. We are running low on ammo. We have no air. We’ve lost today,” Marine Maj. Kevin Williams, 37, said through his translator to his Afghan counterpart, responding to the latter’s repeated demands for helicopters.”
(This is far from an isolated incidence. Our KIA’s have more than tripled since this new regime put in his new ROE.)
http://webnews.ampnetmedia.com/2009/09/were-pinned-down-4-u-s-marines-die-in-afghan-ambush/
George W Bush believed in a surge in the campaign in Afghanistan and Iraq to get the upper hand.
Now Obama is playing the good Muslim by getting US Service Personnel killed.
Several months ago it was reported that casualties were up in Afghanistan...
Not the Lame Stream Media cares...
On the hand, the actions of our grossly incompetent president is leading to the deaths of more and more service personnel.
Let us, for the sake our nation, that Obama is just a one term president.
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