Iraqi official: U.S. chopper downed by missile: 5th helicopter crash in 2 weeks

MSNBC.COM ^ | 2/7/2007 | AP

[Smogger]

CAIRO, Egypt - The U.S. military said Wednesday a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter went down about 20 miles northwest of Baghdad, while an Iraqi air force officer said it was downed by an anti-aircraft missile.

Al-Qaida-linked Sunni insurgents claimed responsibility for the alleged attack.

The claim was issued in an Internet statement signed by the Islamic State in Iraq, an umbrella group of several Sunni insurgent groups, including al-Qaida in Iraq. The authenticity of the statement -- posted on a Web forum where the group often issues statements -- could not be independently confirmed.

[Smogger]

My question is where are they getting these suddenly very effective surface to air missiles, and how best should we punish the Iranians?

[APRPEH]

do we know yet what type of missile or rocket is being used to do hit the helicopters?

[Albert Barr]

Seems Iran may be doing the same thing we did to the Soviets in Afghanistan. It is well past time to start doing something about Iranian meddling.

Sometimes it seems as if freerepublic is the only place where people "get it."

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

We need to start bombing Iran's border defenses NOW!

[jveritas]

I think we should not put every "helicopter crash" in breaking news section. It is a war and losses occur but we should not dwell on losses. Why isn't the Start of Operation to control Baghdad is in breaking news section? Is the breaking news section only reserved to bad news?

[pissant]

We will eliminate the threats by eliminating the jihadis there. Then on to Iran and Syria.

[cll]

"how best should we punish the Iranians?"

Easy: sink their Navy, dstroy their air force (if they have one), destroy all their armor, obliterate all their air defenses, MOAB all their nuclear plants, and execute all their agents inside Iraq.

[Wiggins]

Most likely through Iran and Syria with Russian help. They are probably thinking about how much damage the Stingers caused the Russians back in the 80s in Afghanistan and feel they could do the same to us in Iraq with a similar missile.

[jwparkerjr]

I can't for the life of me understand why we have not done more to punish Iran for its involvement in this war. What are we afraid of?

I know we can't launch an all-out war against them but gosh it seems like there would be measures we could take to mess with them and their ability to interject themselves into our efforts in Iraq.

Until we extract a price from them, and one they feel the pain of paying, they are going to go on doing whatever they can to mess with us.

To date they've paid absolutely no price for their three decades of poking us in the eye.

As far as they're concerned they can just go on doing whatever they want and think that we are somehow powerless to respond. No wonder they think of us a paper tigers.

[wideawake]

The headline is not "Helicopter crashes" it is "Helicopter downed by missile" and that is indeed breaking news.

It is hard evidence that Iran is involved.

[Smogger]

I am far from a pessimist about this war. My brother is in the Marines and may be deployed to Iraq any minute, and terrorist suddenly start having the ablity to shoot down helicopters left and right I think that is cause for some concern.

[greenthumbedislndr]

We shouldn't have helped those afgans against the russians... It would have been much better to have all these "mujahedin" potheads to be tied up fighting the russians than for us to have to deal with them. The russians would still be in Afganistan if we didn't help the freegin mooslum scum.

[RolandBurnam]

I nominate you for sec. of defense. If I were in charge, you would have just made top general. I like the way you think.

[FReepaholic]

...We shouldn't have helped those afgans against the russians... It would have been much better to have all these "mujahedin" potheads to be tied up fighting the russians than for us to have to deal with them. The russians would still be in Afganistan if we didn't help the freegin mooslum scum....

Different times. We were at war with the Russians then.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

[jdm]

This story could have a potentially larger impact as more information is learned and since the article states "fewer than 10 people were on board." That could mean up to 8 or 9 causalities.

[azhenfud]

I say we ought to mine the Iraq/Iran border so thickly a cat couldn't cross without becoming violin string material.

[Smogger]

MSNBC claims that 7 casualites have been confirmed. Notice I didn't make that the headline, but it will certainly be the lead on the news tonight.

[Wiggins]

It's not that we are afraid. This is not a united country. Especially on the war issue. We could launch an all out war with them and win if we wanted too. The trouble here is politics. Leftists and liberals who want to destroy our great nation. Nothing will happen to Iran or Syria unless the people here have it within them to fight. Right now not enough of them do.

[jveritas]

I am not saying that we should not be concerned about the losses of our heroes. However we are doing what the liberal media wants us to do "Focus on the bad news".