Posted on 08/07/2011 9:31:04 AM PDT by US Navy Vet
Makes ya wonder.
Crash investigators can tell fairly easily if the explosion came from INSIDE or OUTSIDE the chopper..
I knew a girl in school whose family were muslim (Mom and 3 kids, the mother was a widow). I remember my friend telling em that her mom had been gambling (I’m from Las Vegas), and lost a lot of money. When retelling the story, my friend told me she asked her mom why she kept on putting more money in if she kept losing, and she replied “The Devil made me do it!” (In all seriousness).
"I'm a better conservative than you because I think Barack Obama killed the SEALs, sold our nuclear launch codes to Satan, then jumped in his time machine and shot Ronald Reagan. Oh, you don't believe me? I guess you're a DU troll!!1!1!!1"
It's just sad. Normally, we'd make fun of this kind of fact free, emotionally driven thinking.
Thanks for asking the question here.
I expect a lot of people are wondering the same thing and will tune into whichever news media can provide the straight facts (dare I say "fair and balanced"?).
;-)
Maybe they didn’t. Maybe they were just taking advantage of a target of opportunity.
So what have the investigators said?
If they are on a mission and it was critical possibly even stealth needed, why wasn't the "Stealth" BlackHawk Variant utilized even if the size of teams aboard were less?
Are their that few made, or are they on hold after the incident getting Bin Laden?
Lay off the nut case nonsense. The government and the military did not conspire to murder special operations personnel from three branches of the service, and murder 38 of our and Afghanistan’s most elite, and destroy a special operations Night Stalker helicopter.
It was shot down as they were leaving the scene, so it could have just been a lucky shot by a straggler. However, I blame our elected government for not fighting the war the way a war should be fought. All out. Bush made the same mistake. We only encourage the enemy by not fighting like men. I also do not doubt the possibility of a traitor, either on the local scene or here at home.
You gonna get in trouble!
Agreed. Sometimes sucky things happen in war. When you hear hooves and all that.
With friends like we have in the Middle East, they don’t need spies and we don’t need enemies!
Excuse me? You have your opinion, and I have mine. Cyberspace is still a free area (for now, at least).In fact, it's the only free space left in the world. Please don't try to ruin it for others.
“A chinook is a major target and a slow one at that.
You got that right. Rode a few in VN.
Sat on my helmet but “pucker factor” was still 100%.”
Just spent the morning at the range with a friend who was an FO in Vietnam. He is furious at this. Can’t believe they used a “cargo helicopter”(his words) to insert these troops into a “hot LZ.” “Why didn’t they use several Blackhawks?” He believes someone high up should go down for this.
Troll/sarc
“Let’s assume all the element of surprise was gone and the big, fat chopper was coming in slowly like a sitting duck for several minutes, the perfect target, again, just like Mogadishu.”
Good assessment for the moment. Maybe further intel will eventually explain the tragedy better, even more sinister factors. The Chinook is a reliable heavy lift machine, but could also be described in civilian terms as an ideal target. The tactics of the enemy should not be discounted, as you mention, in Mogadishu. This was the experience repeatedly in Iraq as well. Improvised ambush. A strategy, which, if it works, draws a predictable response. Played out in countless ‘B’ grade western movies.
I understand the feeling.
Hey. Wait a minute. Who said they did? I said I didn't know the story, but there is more to it. I believe there's a bigger picture. Either someone knew it was a dangerous mission but did it anyway, or someone knew later something was going to happen and didn't stop it. I just feel it could have been prevented.
I can have my opinion, and this is it. I'm sticking to it. My conscience wouldn't let me do otherwise.
Someone should tell your friend that chinooks have been the work horses for combat missions in Afghanistan. They can fly higher, faster, and better at those high altitudes than Blackhawks. They are actually preferred there to Blackhawks.
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