The Shocking True Story of Extortion 17 as told by a Navy SEAL’s Father

Townhall.com ^ | November 10, 2013 | John Ransom

[Kaslin]

There was a time when America’s Commander-In-Chief held a certain poise, a refinement of manner, a humble je ne sais quoi. And nothing could be more important to the families of America’s soldiers than assurance that the lives of their sons and daughters are valued above everything except the liberty they defend. Aaron Carson Vaughn, a member of the elite SEAL Team VI special forces once wrote a note of assurance to his concerned parents about his chain of command saying, “They won’t let me die.”

This week, America honors her heroes in recognizing Veterans Day, including our brave SEALs. That virtuous moniker is actually an acronym for Sea, Air, And Land, indicating that these guys cover every quarter and every dimension. Members of the United States Navy SEALs are a special kind of human, incredibly smart athletes with unthinkable endurance and unimaginable tolerance for pain. The greatest attribute of a SEAL is devotion.

But in a brand new book, a tragic truth is revealed about the Obama Administration’s unrequited devotion from our most selfless of heroes. Aaron Carson Vaughn is honored by his heartbroken dad in Betrayed, The Shocking True Story of Extortion 17 as told by a Navy SEAL’s Father. The book chronicles the events that led to the death of Aaron Carson Vaughn and was authored by Billy Vaughn, with co-authors Monica Morrill and Cari Blake.

The book details the events of August 6, 2011 in Afghanistan surrounding the shooting down of an American Chinook helicopter that held the evocative name of “Extortion 17.”A high-value Al-Qaeda leader was pinned down in a village by U.S. Army Rangers. Three hours into the intense ground engagement, Extortion 17 was tasked to carry seventeen SEALs into the battle with the onerous task of capturing the Al-Qaeda leader alive.

The Chinook was operated by a crew of five from the National Guard and carried an additional 22 Navy personnel in support of the elite SEAL team. One Afghan interpreter was also on board and, just before taking off, seven Afghan commandos were curiously assigned to the final flight of Extortion 17.

As the Chinook approached its destination, the enemy could be seen running into a building with a tower that gave them an advantageous shooting position. The two Apache escort helicopters had all the visibility and firepower to resolve the battle before Extortion 17 delivered the SEAL team. But the Apaches were denied permission to attack.

Under the Obama Administration’s new rules of engagement, no strike could be made on that building without assurance that no civilians were inside. The enemy knows these rules, which is why they run into buildings where civilians may be located.

Under the protection of Obama rules, the enemy set up on the tower of the building and shot down Extortion 17 using three rocket-propelled grenades. The Chinook fell to the ground in a tremendous explosion, killing all 30 people on board.

The parents of those SEAL Team members who died were gathered for a briefing and were given hundreds of pages of information from the investigation of the event. Betrayed includes many pages of that original material; material that raised enough unsettling questions that Billy Vaughn wrote a book.

One question asked at the briefing was why, even in the minutes following the shoot-down of Extortion 17, America’s massive firepower was withheld. Three-star Admiral Robert Harward explained to the parents that a drone strike wasn’t used because, “we need to win their hearts and minds.”

Evidently, this policy of social politeness on the battlefront motivated the Obama Administration to relegate authority over American troops under Afghanistan command one year before the Extortion 17 crash, the greatest loss of U.S. military SEALs in a single incident. All knowledge, forethought, and mission planning for American troops within that country are under the joint oversight of the Operational Coordination Group, a command of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Billy Vaughn, along with co-authors Monica Morrill and Cari Blake, have brought this story to their fellow countrymen because the American media does not. While George W. Bush was in office, we were treated to a steady drumbeat of casualty reports. But the silence of American media over the past five years has covered up the fact that far more of our troops have been killed and injured under the Obama Administration’s rules of engagement.

During the seven years of war in the Bush Administration, 630 Americans died in Afghanistan and 2,638 were wounded in action. During the first four years of the Obama Administration, 1,544 Americans have died in Afghanistan and 15,036 have been wounded in action.

In his most recent weekly message President Obama recognized veterans, saying, “As long as I’m your President, I will make it my mission to make sure that America has your back.” I encourage every American to have our veterans’ back by reading the book Betrayed, which you can find at www.specialopsbetrayed.com.

The steep reality is that history judges.Kindly or harshly, a didactic perspective will ultimately have its say.

[MestaMachine]

In time there comes a reckoning. You might postpone it for a little while, but it comes as sure as day turns to night and vice versa. I pray it comes swiftly and G-d bless our Troops.

This is a Threat Matrix list documenting threats within and without. Anyone wanting on or off please advise.

[TurkeyLurkey]

A couple of things I know for sure...history doesn’t judge men, God does, and Christ does, and God’s Word does. Every person who comes into this world will be judged accordingly—the believer at the Judgment Seat of Christ, where he/she will give an account of his deeds, i.e., what he DID with God’s Word, and be rewarded accordingly, and the unbeliever at the Great White Throne Judgment at the end, when he/she will be judged for rejecting God’s Son, His Word, and what he/she DID without God’s Word, and then he/she will be thrown into the lake of fire.

[M Kehoe]

I thought the worst CIC was Jimmah Carter. I stand corrected.

5.56mm

[wastoute]

I said to an AD Major in 2008, “Eventually you (the military) will have to make a choice. Are you going to protect the people from the politicians or the politicians from the people.” I see nothing that has changed this in the interval.

[ExTexasRedhead]

Here’s a link to send to your address list(s) and ask them to forward the link to their address list(s):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqtJrJ40Cio

These families deserve the truth.

[bert]

Query?

Are the Wookie and Wookie spawn civilians?

Is it an international war crime to attack it?

[AKinAK]

There will be no impeachment of this president ONLY because he is black. There would be riots the likes of have never been seen before with spillover to the suburbs.

I WELCOME IT !

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.

[Mears]

bfl

[mabarker1]

Impeach !

And then off to the Gallows broadcast live on EVERY Channel!

[freekitty]

Obama and his kind need to be charged with treason.

[The Toll]

Lucky shots with RPG’s just don’t get this lucky folks. I will NEVER believe this was done with some left over Soviet RPG 7. NOPE!

[Kaslin]

The entire administration needs to be charged with treason

[bert]

I don’t advocate impeachment....... it will accomplish nothing.

[Kaslin]

Very well said.

BTTT

[justa-hairyape]

He despises the military.

Stalin and Pol Pot killed their military elites. All of them. This is just a way for Obama to get our elites killed and make it look like happenstance. And anyone who complains about this in the military, sends up an NSA flag and they are pushed out of the military. Right now, being a member of the US military, is perhaps the most dangerous occupation on the planet. They are being spied on by the own government and are purposely being sent into no win scenarios.

[pax_et_bonum]

Just purchased it on Amazon.

***

Just purchased it for my Kindle.

[JimRed]

Not just the soldiers, but the folks who sent them.

That's what I've been saying for quite awhile. When it's SHTF time, those who GIVE THE ORDERS must be primary targets. Lots of "accidents" or disappearances. Work DOWN the chain-of-command instead of Up it.

[JimRed]

There would be riots the likes of have never been seen before with spillover to the suburbs.

Alinsky them with the truth. Obama is one eighth black, seven eighths white (three eighths Arab = white). Black conservatives should be challenging his claim to blackness by mocking it, and proclaiming how things have become worse for blacks since he took office.

[Carriage Hill]

I’m ready, dammit!