Apparent Assassination Attempt on Karzai Fails

FNC ^ | 9/16/04 | AP

[Coop]

KABUL, Afghanistan — An apparent attempt to assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai failed Thurdsday when a rocket that was fired at his helicopter missed by 300 yards, the U.S. military said.

The American military helicopter was preparing to land in Gardez, 60 miles south of Kabul, when the rocket was fired. The aircraft immediately turned around and returned to Kabul, U.S. military spokesman Maj. Mark McCann said.

[Coop]

Thank God these cowardly idiots are generally lousy shots.

[Dog]

Whew....

[VisualizeSmallerGovernment]

Gee. It's a darn shame someone's been shutting down terrorist training camps all over the world. Now who could THAT be?

[Coop]

:-) Not to mention these evil goons were probably scrubs, since many of the starters are, umm, no longer in the "game."

[Leatherneck_MT]

This reminds me of a story Gene Duncan told in his book "Green Side Out".

Here it is.



PROPER SIGHT ALIGNMENT

Dear Tom:

The following story was told to me by one of my aviator friends.

In the early sixties, he was flying unmarked helicopters in Viet Nam in support of the South Vietnamese Army. He had just led a flight of three H345 into a landing zone to pick up an ARVN patrol. He sat there in his helicopter, vibrating with the gyrating blades. He saw the ARVN patrol coming toward the aircraft from his right side.

He glanced nervously out the left window of his cockpit and saw a zip in black pajamas rise up out of the tall grass and aim a rifle dead on the window from which he was watching. He said he damned near voided! He had no weapons on his unmarked and technically illegal aircraft, so all he could do was watch what he knew was approaching death.

Then the zip did a strange thing. He took the rifle out of his shoulder, looked at the left side of the rifle stock, placed it back in his shoulder and aimed again, but this time about fifteen degrees forward of the helicopter. He then fired one round. The ARVN saw him, ran over and killed him and took his rifle.

The ARVN then boarded the helicopters and returned to their base. After landing, the ARVN showed my friend the Viet Cong's rifle. On the stock was a crude drawing showing the various helicopters and how much the shooter should lead them.

Your friend,
Gene

[Lijahsbubbe]

How many attempts does this make? I don't know how this guy can take it! I'd be downing the valium.

[AfghanJohn]

Lousy shots? yes.

Idiots? Crafty might be a better word.

Cowards?

That same description was made of those who attacked the USS Cole years ago. Calling them cowards overlooks their willingness to take bold, crafty risks to promote their cause. They are crafy, risk-takers who are lying in wait for the next opportunity. Rembmer, they failed on the first attack on the World Trade Center. Cowards give up, they never will.

[Coop]

Crafty might be a better word.

Evil, cowardly idiots. This time may have involved a military target, but these are the same idiots that slaughter aid workers, children, whatever innocents they can. There's nothing crafty about that.

[Coop]

Cowards give up, they never will.

No, they don't. They run and hide until the danger to them has passed.

[AfghanJohn]

Evil? Yes. My point is that we should never underestimate these guys. Satan himself is described as evil and crafty. These folks are trapped in an evil, demonic world view and are motivated by forces way beyond what is seen by the naked eye. Enough said for now.

[AfghanJohn]

They run and hide until the danger to them has passed.

They don't merely wait for the danger to pass, they wait for the next opportunity to strike.

Don't underestimate these guys.

Simply calling them coward diminishes the grave danger they pose to freedom and the long view they have across generations to continue the fight.

Bush hinted at this last week when he sort of mis-spoke and said we cannot win. I believe what he was referring to is the fact that they will never, never give up. After we are long dead and gone these guys will be around. The battle will never be over, as Bush later explained, by the signing of a peace accord. We are in it for the long haul, beyond our lifetime.

[tallhappy]

Remember how 911 started.

Assasination of Northern Alliance leader. Two days later 911.

[Lunatic Fringe]

a rocket that was fired at his helicopter missed by 300 yards

I couldn't miss by that much if I were TRYING!

[Old Sarge]

Oh, now THAT is a war story I couldn't even come up with! And I don't doubt it's true!

Now, there's a nomination for the Darwin Award!

[TexKat]

People run away from the dust as the helicopter carrying Afghan president Hamid Karzai is about to land in Gardez, September 16, 2004. A rocket was fired at his U.S. military helicopter as it was landing in the southeastern town of Gardez but the landing was aborted and Karzai returned safely to Kabul. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

U.S. military personnel ride on a Humvee in the city of Gardez after a rocket attack, September 16, 2004. A rocket was fired at Afghan President Hamid Karzai's U.S. military helicopter as it was landing in Gardez but the landing was aborted and Karzai returned safely to Kabul. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

Afghan president Hamid Karzai smiles as he speaks to reporters in Kabul, September 16, 2004. A rocket was fired at his U.S. military helicopter as it was landing in the southeastern town of Gardez but the landing was aborted and Karzai returned safely to Kabul. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

[ridesthemiles]

Thank God these cowardly idiots are generally lousy shots.""

Those wonderful discount prices on the "seconds" will get you every time. Perhaps the next batch will explode immediately upon firing!!

[Branzburg]

Nice find...puts things in perspective

[Coop]

Perhaps the next batch will explode immediately upon firing!!

I'll second that!

[mtbopfuyn]

We all knew he would be targeted. I'm somewhat concerned he'll turn to the dark side one day, but so far he's been one of the good guys.

[Coop]

You have to admire folks like him, Allawi and Musharraf (with some caveats), who try to do the right thing while knowing they'll be targets. I wonder if I would be as brave.