To the calm, Mother Earth's
Waiting breast;
Duty done, Like the sun:
Going West.
SEMPER FI SOLDERS
Posted on 08/22/2007 8:36:11 AM PDT by Dubya
BAGHDAD -- A Black Hawk helicopter went down Wednesday in northern Iraq, killing all 14 U.S. soldiers aboard, the military said, the deadliest crash since January 2005.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, lashed out at American criticism a day after President George W. Bush expressed frustration with the Iraqi government's inability to bridge political divisions.
"No one has the right to place timetables on the Iraq government. It was elected by its people," the Shiite leader said at a news conference in Damascus at the end of a three-day visit to Syria.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbc5i.com ...
Look at the “breaking news” sidebar much?
Wonder if the equipment is showing the strain of constant use
Thats where I spend most of my time. Why do you ask? Do you look it at much?
We have "GUIDELINES". About 4 hours. But a lot depends on the topic. Is it hot, is it in breaking news? How many other posts have been posted?
Is it so hot, we've been pulling tons of additional threads? If you post the exact same article 7 hours later, but it's number two in the breaking news sidebar, should we pull it? We discuss this behind the scenes. And sorry to say, a lot 'depends' on the situation. Case by case.
If it's just a generic repost, then we follow the four hour guideline. If it's a hot, everyone is following it, it depends. Moderating doesn't have the 'if then else' rules. It's a dynamic situation. Mostly we have a set of rules......Mostly, we can't follow them.
Jim always has the final say.
A lot of ego driven crap on this thread and not one word so far about these fallen heroes. God bless these soldiers and their families. Damn.
Regards
I agree with you.
Early this morning a U.S Army helicopter crashed just north of Baghdad, killing all 14 soldiers onboard. And at the same time, a suicide truck bomber in the northern city of Baiji killed at least 20 people outside a police station.
The reason why the helicopter crashed is still a bit unknown, but a statement from the U.S military said initial evidence indicates that the Blackhawk helicopter experienced mechanical failure and did not come under enemy fire.
Two helicopters were conducting a night operation when one of then went down. To keep the dangers of roadside bombers at a minimum, helicopters are often used to transport soldiers, but sadly, this time everything did not go as planed.
Since the conflict in Iraq started 63 helicopters have gone down, including 36 struck by enemy fire. Over January and February of this year seven military helicopters and one carrying private security contractors were taken down by insurgent fire, killing a total of 28 people. The incidents prompted the military to re-evaluate flight plans and tactics used to prevent anti-aircraft fire.
Today’s helicopter crash, is the deadliest U.S helicopter crash in Iraq since 31 soldiers where killed when their Super Stallion went down in January 2005.
Fourteen U.S. soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed in northern Iraq on Wednesday, the U.S. military said, in one of the worst incidents of its kind in the four-year war.
The military said in a statement that initial indications suggested the Black Hawk helicopter had suffered mechanical failure.
``There were no indications of hostile fire,'' the statement said.
``Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were on a night operation when one of the aircraft crashed. That helicopter had been carrying four crew members and 10 passengers,'' it said.
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