US helicopter 'shot down in Taliban trap'

Daily Telegraph (UK) ^ | 8/8/2011 | Unattributed

[1066AD]

"Now it's confirmed that the helicopter was shot down and it was a trap that was set by a Taliban commander," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official said the commander lured US forces to the scene by telling them there was a Taliban meeting taking place there.

[ngat]

“Today is not the first suggestion of an inside deal or a set up.”

No, but the first stories out appeared to be disinformation to set the tone; that the Chinook was brought down by a lucky shot from a single 60s era RPG, none of the Osama team on board, etc. Who is outing our clandestine units?

[elpadre]

sure - after all we have a record of running - think Vietnam (thank you Kerry's Congress), Somalia (thanks to Clinton)- and now Afghanistan? (thanks FR)

I like the slogan, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

[DJ Taylor]

In this attack, the Taliban used precisely the same type weapons and tactics against us that the Mujahideen used against the Soviets back in the 1980s. Nothing new here.

[xzins]

If true, then the entire “rescue mission” story is a lie. One is true and one is false. Wonder which it is.

Would 20 Seal Team members suit up to provide reinforcement for a pinned down Ranger team?

I’m more given to believing that Rangers would mount up to relieve Rangers. They are rock solid about “leave no man behind.”

Therefore, I’m leaning in the direction of their suiting up to take out an important Taliban commander. The questions would then remain how they planted intel with our SpecOps, how they knew the route the Seals would take, and why the mission might have required a single airframe inserting a fairly large force.

[TSgt]

Running?

I never said run.

I just don’t see the need to expend precious U.S. lives when we can leverage technology overwhelming force.

In fact, I want to fight harder. Stop pussyfooting around with these Muslim nations. Put them on notice!

[stationkeeper]

Your correct.....no viable alternative to the Chinook in the helicopter un-friendly Afghan terrain.

[JimSEA]

You can be confident that the Afghan Army, like the Pak Army is completely infected by the Taliban and other radical Islamist. The others are sympathetic to the radicals.

[Elendur]

Bring the troops home. Notify Afghanistan and Pakistan that they are considered hostile nations
///
Amen!
hold them responsible for any attacks by their citizens.
the Pakistani people in polls list the USA as their enemy.
we can’t change their hearts and minds, as long as we give money and build mosques,
and are forbidden to give Bibles even as gifts.

bring our troops home now!

[livius]

Citing intelligence "gathered from the area," the official blamed Qari Tahir, a Taliban commander, for masterminding the attack. He alleged that four Pakistani nationals helped Tahir carry out the strike...He said the intelligence also showed that the Chinook helicopter was brought down by multiple shots including "modern weapons" without giving further details.

I don't know how reliable this is, but the article also said that the place of the supposed meeting was in a valley, and there is only one way to fly into it, which would have brought them in close enough to be hit. It seems that other troops were already there, closing on the site of the supposed meeting, and the special ops flight was a standard back-up and not a last-minute extraction mission.

If this is the case, then clearly the Taliban knew the procedure and just had to rely on its being followed in order to spring their trap.

[yldstrk]

It was a trap alright..........

[org.whodat]

Doubt it, we should have sent a couple of drones.

[GranTorino]

If it was the same weapon that the Mujahideen used in the 80’s we got hit by our own stinger. Or perhaps something similar?

[onedoug]

I believe the jihadi in the White House is celebrating.

[MestaMachine]

Meanwhile, anyone who questioned this op and said it smelled rotten was accused of being a conspiracy nut by those who just KNOW everything the government tells us is a straight shot.
MY ASS!!!

[pepperdog]

I think they knew, I think someone who is in our government told them. I think it was planned revenge for Osama...and salve for the Muslims.

[MestaMachine]

bday gift FOR obama, ramamamama gift FROM obama.

[NavyCanDo]

“Bring the troops home. Notify Afghanistan and Pakistan that they are considered hostile nations”

Agreed. We can’t win a war when we don’t know who the enemy is. The smiling goat herder your convoy passes during the day is the same cold blooded killer launching rockets at your compound when the sun goes down. We can’t win it by doing knock & talks, and pacifying townspeople. We need to pull our people out, and using technology available to us, identify and destroy new terrorist training camps and other threats from the air. And that goes for both countries. Pakistan is no friend.

[WestCoastGal]

Did anyone listen to Navy SEAL Vaughn’s Dad this morning on the Today Show?

He told a story about wolves, sheep (who a lot of people are = followers) and the sheepdogs (military) who hunt the wolves (bad guys) He went on to say something about a head sheep who talked about things 90 days ago..........then I lost the gist of it because Lauer tried to stop him at that point.

It seemed to me the story was about voters, politicians, the head dope 0 and muslims?

[A.A. Cunningham]

Your(sic) correct.....no viable alternative to the Chinook in the helicopter un-friendly Afghan terrain.

You are both incorrect. There are two extremely capable alternatives when they are available and if SF would choose to utilize them; the CH-53E or the MV-22B.

‘Flying Tigers’ show true meaning of ‘horsepower’ with Super Stallion

12/10/2010 By Sgt. Derek B. Carlson 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing

A CH-53E Super Stallion with the Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361 returns to Forward Operating Base Jalalabad, Afghanistan to deliver a disabled H-47 Chinook for repairs Dec. 10. The Flying Tigers, based out of Camp Bastion, flew across the country to conduct the mission. Their Super Stallions are the only aircraft in country capable of a 23,500 pound external lift.

Ospreys Flying High, Fast Supporting War in Afghanistan

VMM-261 Inserts Troops Into Marjah

Marines from 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan, make their way toward three MV-22 Ospreys from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261, Marine Aircraft Group 40, MEB-Afghanistan, that will insert them into Marjah to help provide relief to an infantry battalion that had been engaged in a heavy firefight, Feb. 19. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Samuel Nasso)

[PieterCasparzen]

Bring the troops home. Notify Afghanistan and Pakistan that they are considered hostile nations and send nuclear tipped tomahawks their way as needed.

Enough is enough...

I agree 100%. This all makes me SICK. It is utterly vile. We would have to maintain a military presence in these countries forever to prevent ultra-crazies from taking them over instead of just the very-crazies that run them now.

We can not stay there forever. It makes absolutely no sense.

I thought from the time we first attacked Afgan and Iraq that we should ONLY attack, destroy and then COME HOME IMMEDIATELY.

THAT is the correct message to send.

Namely - DO NOT HARBOR PEOPLE WHO ATTACK THE U.S. - ROUTE THEM OUT AND KILL THEM ALL, OR IF WE FIND A LINK DOWN THE ROAD, WE WILL COME BACK AND CARPET BOMB ALL YOUR LARGE CITIES - AGAIN.

Do not waste time trying to TEACH them anything. They are adults. They all have the responsibility to figure out how to live their lives on their own.

In crooked crazy countries run by nasty dictators, it's very easy to deal with them. Just deal with them at arms length. Don't help them, don't trade with them, don't go near them. If they raise one finger against you, FLATTEN THEM WITH CARPET BOMBING. Then come back home IMMEDIATELY.