Posted on 04/21/2017 9:24:21 AM PDT by huldah1776
A decorated retired Air Force officer who witnessed one of the most deadly attacks on Navy SEALs in U.S. history is breaking her silence, saying the government covered up evidence detailing that the 2011 downing of a Chinook helicopter gunship that killed 38 fighters in Afghanistan could have been prevented had it not been for restrictions to the military's rules of engagement that were changed under the Obama administration.
The mission
August 6, 2011: Retired Air Force Capt. Joni Marquez and her crew were working the dark morning hours aboard an AC-130 gunship after being summoned to a mission she describes as almost like a 9-1-1 type of a situation.
The gunship was ordered to fly close-in air support above Afghanistans dangerous Tangi Valley, in Wardak Province, assisting troops with the Armys 75th Ranger Regiment who were being fired on by eight heavily armed Taliban insurgents.
The Rangers had called in for assault helicopters to engage the enemy hiding among the rocky valley. The air weapons team fired on the Taliban fighters, but not all of the insurgents were killed as originally believed.
I had the sensor operators immediately shift to the eight insurgents the helicopters had taken out, Marquez told Circa, in her first interview about the incident. Two were still alive.
Marquez was the fire control officer aboard the AC-130 gunship....
Permission denied
That night it didnt matter, because the gunship was not given permission to fire. We had seen two of them (insurgents) moving, crawling away from the area, as to not really make a whole lot of scene, she recalled.
Monitoring the scene from above, she relayed the scene to the ground force commander. You have two enemy forces that are still alive, she said. Permission to engage.
They were denied.
(Excerpt) Read more at circa.com ...
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Jesse D. Pittman, 27, of Ukiah, California
I didn’t know him but know his aunt real well. Have met his dad a few times. Good people.
I apologize, I failed to mention that there are pictures of the deceased at the URL I gave. Good article. Two of the guys were from Shreveport, LA, my hometown. Didn’t know them though.
Thank you for the ping. Still breaks my heart. I’ve been wondering for a while if the pakistan IT guys had a hand in it with the deep state. Too much of a set up for me.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jul/26/wasserman-schultzs-pakistani-it-guy-arrested-airpo/
And our most trusted FBI has his “smashed” hard drives.
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