Posted on 10/25/2011 3:00:32 PM PDT by STARWISE
By the time the CH-47 transport helicopter descended to 150 feet above an unprotected landing zone in Afghanistan around 2 a.m. on Aug. 6, the element of surprise had been lost.
Hours earlier, two other Chinooks had deposited 47 Army Rangers at another nearby landing site, undetected. The landing triggered a nighttime ground and aerial firefight that raged for several hours as a few Taliban “squirters,” as the military called them, tried to escape from the targeted compound and regrouped with other fighters.
*snip*
When the third chopper — carrying 38 passengers and crew, and one dog, in a reinforcement known as an “immediate reaction force” — approached, a small group of Taliban on a rooftop stood ready. They fired rounds of rocket-propelled grenades. One clipped a rotary blade, sending the CH-47 into a violent spin and then a fiery crash.
All onboard died, including 17 elite Navy SEALs. Naval officers console each other at funeral services for Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Joseph Strange, who was among the 17 SEALs killed on Aug. 6. As friends and families mourned, Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Colt and a team of specialists were conducting a full-blown investigation.
The loss of so many high-echelon special warriors drew criticism from some in the special-operations community. They said it was a needless waste of lives, a highly risky mission to round up or kill a relatively few enemy forces that the Rangers and air power could have subdued.
*anip*
“The shootdown was not the result of a baited ambush, but rather the result of the enemy being at a heightened state of alert due to 3½ hours of ongoing coalition air operations concentrated over the northwestern portion of the Tangi Valley,” the general wrote. He suggested that commanders change tactics.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
BTTT
“The shootdown was not the result of a baited ambush, but rather the result of the enemy being at a heightened state of alert due to 3½ hours of ongoing coalition air operations concentrated over the northwestern portion of the Tangi Valley,” the general wrote.
Try,...... loose lips sink ships. The whole story is fishy and only the seals knew the truth. When you tell a lie enough times it becomes the truth. These brave souls knew the truth and we will never.
They knew the truth about what? The OBL operation?
Well, it's always hard for an outsider to second guess this sort of thing, since all we know is the basic facts. But I find it extremely difficult to justify whoever ordered all those people to go in in a large, rather clumsy helicopter without any kind of fire support. And why send in Seals in the first place, when they could just send in more air support to shoot them up?
I think somebody screwed up. I hope it wasn't on purpose.
Where were the gunships? No Seal mission ever goes without them, especially if a firefight erupts. This is Blackhawk Down all over, imo.
Where were the gunships? No Seal mission ever goes without them, especially if a firefight erupts. This is Blackhawk Down all over, imo.
Any thoughts on this???
Do people really believe that in war, in the most perfect battle scenario with the most perfect battle context, only perfect decisions are ever made, by our very best people? If people believe THAT, THEY are making a mistake.
If this kind of analysis of every problematic situation in war was given, after D-Day, the kind of attention it is given today, Eisenhower could never have become President, nor could many of the generals under him.
Wonderful, fabulous “successful” D-Day was filled with “mistakes” and “needless tragedies”, with huge “unnecessary” losses of life. The public hand-wringing and “what if” speculation, and calls for more investigations in the newspapers would not have ended by VE day, or for a long time after.
Decisions are made. People try their best. They’re not perfect. Monday morning quarterbacking is easy - no one will blame you for anything because your critique is not a live decision that will affect anyone.
I regret the deaths, mourn the loss of the lives of our brave soldiers and pray for their families. I will not dishonor them by helping to fan speculation or desires to blame someone for every “mistake” - a sociological viral epidemic in our society.
The best laid battle plans become useless after the first round is fired.
This is a list from GeoffMetcalf.com of bodyguards who died mysteriously when the clintons were polluting the white house.
Maj. Gen. William Robertson
Deputy Commanding General, V Corps, Europe
Col William Densberger
V Corps Chief of Operations and Plans
Col. Robert Kelly
V Corps Chief of Intelligence
Spec. Gary Rhodes
Crew Chief
died: 2/23/93 - All were killed when their helicopter crashed in Weisbaden, Germany. No cause was ever determined. - V Corps figured prominently in the US Bosnia-Serbia peacekeeping operations, along with the carrier Roosevelt. These men, and 8 others associated with Clinton's visit to the Roosevelt all died within 4 months of each other.
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Steve Willis
Clinton bodyguard
Robert Williams
Clinton bodyguard
Conway LeBleu
Clinton bodyguard
Todd McKeehan
Clinton bodyguard
died: 2/28/93 - "executed" by gunfire in the Waco, Texas assault on the Branch Davidians. - All four were examined by a "private doctor" and died from nearly identical wounds to the left temple, so-called execution style. According to Linda Thompson, videotapes and other evidence indicates that none died from guns fired by Branch Davidians.
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Five Navy aviators Clinton bodyguards/escorts
(names not determined) died: 3/26/93 - all died in a crash of an E-2C Hawkeye in Italy. The crash occurred shortly after the plane was "waved off" from a landing attempt on the Carrier Roosevelt, due to a "foul deck". - All five men had been Clinton's escorts during Clinton's visit to the Roosevelt 2 weeks prior. Three other men, who had flown Clinton to the Roosevelt for that visit also died later in a helicopter crash.
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Staff Sgt. Brian Haney
Clinton bodyguard
Marine Sgt. Tim Sabel
Clinton bodyguard
Maj. William Barkley
Clinton bodyguard
Capt. Scott Reynolds
Clinton bodyguard
died: 5/19/93 - All four men died when their helicopter crashed in the woods near Quantico, Va. - Reporters were barred from the site, and the head of the fire department responding to the crash described it by saying, "Security was tight," with "lots of Marines with guns." A videotape made by a firefighter was seized by the Marines. All four men had escorted Clinton on his flight to the carrier Roosevelt shortly before their deaths.
Amen. Very well said.
From my front row seat 5,000 miles away, I’d say it sounds like a whitewash of a horrible, terrible, bogus mission.
I don’t want the government lying all the time to cover up for presidents in the name of national security. I want to know the truth. That is the only way we can advocate for their well being and interests in the face of political correctness.
God bless our troops.
This was either treason or gross incompetence.
Incompetence is when you dont think things out in war, swapping the seals into a single helo, and then making that helo not the usual battle hardened type of helo and then delaying the insert till the field was hot is not incompetence because it took thinking it out.
This was Treason. I believe they were sold out.
Front row seat or not, my money is on your gut feeling for it. This thing has been smelly from Day 1, and the odor has only gotten stronger.
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