Posted on 11/02/2003 11:24:41 AM PST by Lessismore
Fifteen American soldiers have been killed and 21 wounded in an attack on a US military helicopter in Iraq, the US military has confirmed.
It is the highest number of casualties suffered by the US-led coalition in a single incident since Saddam Hussein was toppled in April.
The helicopter came down in a cornfield near the flashpoint town of Falluja, 50 kilometres (32 miles) west of the capital.
Iraqi witnesses said it was hit by one of two surface-to-air missiles fired at it, but the US military has not confirmed the cause.
One military spokesman said the helicopter was hit by an "unknown weapon", but later, the military said it might have crashed while taking evasive action.
"We are aware of eyewitnesses seeing what they presumed to be missile trails," US army Colonel William Darley told reporters.
'Tragic day'
The helicopter was one of two twin-rotor Chinooks flying nearly 60 personnel from a US military base to Baghdad International Airport, from where they were due to fly abroad for rest and recreation.
Sunday marked the start of an expanded leave programme for US personnel - many of whom have been in the region for more than a year.
The helicopter was almost totally destroyed in the incident, which happened at about 0900 (0600 GMT). Television pictures showed US personnel recovering the dead and wounded from smoking debris.
Responding to the news, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the US would continue its war on global terror and efforts to stabilise Iraq.
"Clearly it is a tragic day for Americans," Mr Rumsfeld told ABC television.
"In a long hard war we are going to have tragic days."
Some Iraqis in Falluja expressed delight at Sunday's attack.
"The Americans are pigs. We will hold a celebration because this helicopter went down - a big celebration," an Iraqi farmer near the crash site told Reuters news agency.
The downing of the helicopter was one of a number of attacks on US forces in Iraq on Sunday.
One American soldier died when his convoy was attacked in the early hours in Baghdad, while unconfirmed reports say up to four troops were killed in an attack on a convoy in Falluja.
Falluja lies within the so-called "Sunni triangle" of central Iraq - a largely Sunni Muslim area where resistance to the US-led coalition's occupation has been intense.
US military officials have repeatedly warned that hundreds of surface-to-air missiles remain unaccounted for in Iraq.
The Chinook, which has a crew of four, is a heavy-lift helicopter used primarily for moving troops and transporting artillery.
Intensified attacks
A total of 138 American troops have now been killed in attacks since US President George W Bush declared major combat operations over on 1 May - more than died in the war itself.
Attacks on coalition troops have intensified in the past week, reaching an average of more than 30 a day.
The BBC's Jill McGivering in Baghdad says the planning and execution of some recent attacks has led to speculation the militants opposed to the coalition have now formed into a more cohesive, better organised force.
There had been rumours that this weekend would see co-ordinated attacks on coalition targets.
A senior British member of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, told the BBC that the people carrying out the attacks were a "nasty mix".
He said they were supporters of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, "imported terrorists", and criminals released from jail by the former regime before it fell.
Sunday's incidents follow an announcement by the chief US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, that he wants to accelerate the handover of authority to Iraqis.
MAJOR POST-WAR ATTACKS
27 Oct: 36 killed in co-ordinated suicide attacks on Red Cross HQ and police stations in Baghdad
29 Aug: Shia Muslim cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim among 80 killed in bombing in Najaf
19 Aug: UN special representative among 22 killed in attack on UN HQ in Baghdad
Do the wounded ever die anymore? Seems I never hear the wounded being added to the number killed on the news reports.
After the attacks on the UN and the Red Cross (both of which could have been prevented if they had worked with us to implement proper security), does anyone think that any "international" force will not be attacked?
The dems and the euros think that these attacks are motivated by the same anti-americanism that motivates them. They're not. They are motivated by a desire to reinstate Saddam or a Saddam-like Sunni despotism that will restore these yahoos to the top of the social and economic pecking order.
They continue to attack because they don't feel they've been defeated, and our habit of running away every time a convoy is hit only shows our cowardice to them, not our resolve.
It's time to take these videos and round up every single one those scumbags and they're fathers and throw them in prison, and to respond to every attack with crushing force, and keep doing it until this bs stops or these towns are depopulated of their male population.
they're fathers = their fathers
This could be our first one to round up. He's definately with the enemy.
All I'm saying is I would like to see a change in tactics, but then again, I'm not there on the ground and so far the powers that be have done a pretty amazing job.
But maybe that's because I expected around 1500 KIA in the invasion alone. Why are there so many people (left and right) who think this has to be a garden party or its a failure? I saw the video of our Marines being welcomed with applause by the Shiites in Bagdhad; that doesn't mean there is not a significant part of the population that wants us dead. And my guess is that when a new government is established, there will still be some fighting and/or terrorism going on, as there is in almost every country from Casablanca to Jakarta.
If any adminsitration has to make major policy changes because they're stampeded by a hysterical weekend of press coverage, God help us.
And I doubt Bush will change anything, except speeding up the build-up of Iraqi forces. He and Rumsfeld will do what they think is right, regardless of the bs in the press. And if we don't like it, we can vote Bush out of office, which is obviously what the press is working to achieve every day. If that means abandoning another country to despotism and making sure evety American killed their died in vain and aiding terrorists, they and the dems are more than happy to oblige.
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