Iraq crash kills 14 US soldiers

BBC ^ | 8/22/2007 | Staff

[Cardhu]

Iraq crash kills 14 US soldiers

Fourteen US soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash overnight in northern Iraq, the US military has said.

The UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter carrying 10 soldiers and four crewmembers crashed after experiencing a mechanical malfunction, a US statement said.

There were reportedly no indications of hostile fire and the cause of the malfunction is under investigation.

The Task Force Lightning helicopter was one of two Blackhawks carrying out a night operation, the military added.

[usmcobra]

This could have easily have happened over here, helicopters don’t know what country they are in when they crash.

last week The Marines lost a Rescue Helicopter at MCAS Yuma, That particular aircraft had never been overseas.

My God have mercy upon our lost.

Low Flight
Dedicated to all Helicopter pilots

Oh, I’ve slipped the surely bonds of earth
And hovered out of ground effect on semi-rigid blades;

Earthward I’ve auto’ed and met the rising brush of
Non-paved terrain;

And done a thousand things you would never care to
Skidded and dropped and flared
Low in the heat soaked roar.

Confined there, I’ve chased the earthbound traffic
And lost the race to insignificant Headwinds;

Forward and up a little in ground effect
I’ve topped the General’s hedge with drooping turns
Where never Skyhawk or even Phantom flew.

Shaking and pulling collective, I’ve lumbered
The low untresspassed halls of victor airways,

Put out my hand and touched a tree.

[mware]

Fox News reported this about 15 minutes ago.

[jveritas]

And let Al Qaeda controls Iraq and the Middle East?! We are in Iraq to destroy Al Qaeda and we are going to stay there until we totally defeat the terrorists.

[dennisw]

Just DAMN!!!

Prayers up!

[Ben Chad]

Sad news. Condolences to the families. May we always remember these brave defenders of freedom.

[ladtx]

Written during another war but still appropriate.

A tribute to Army Aviation.

I AM ARMY AVIATION

My Olive green chest has donned a host of great names: Kelly, Rosbeck, Dempsey, Holloway and a multitude of others that have etched my worn and weary smile on history`s mirror.

From a humble beginning, I have climbed to the summit. I have seen my family mature in the hottest of cold wars and have mixed my blood, sweat and tears with the brackish paddies of Nam Can and the crytal blue of Dong Ha.

Thus, I have paid the price of involvement, earned my badge of courage and come of age. On my durable wing I have leisurely soared through the thin humid skies over Ia Drang and my rotor wash has uncovered" Charlie" in the mangroves of Ca Mau.

From Soc Trang, Blackhorse,and LANE, I have flown and have sent my tracers slicing through the Asian dusk and dawn....stabbing at the elusive shadows that menace freedom. My rockets have given relief to my brothers-in-arms and brought smoke, flames and death to our enemies.

With keen vision and through my ingenuity I have found my enemy....the tyrant, the oppressor, who would deny his fellow man`s rights. I have guided the awesome terror of my cousins` shells to fix the fleeting, faceless guerilla.

On my back the Queen of Battle showed the fury of her long rifle. Together, through swamp and jungle, we have pursued, engaged and won.

The battle for democracy will go on until free men everywhere have won the age old conflict with forces of oppression, the shadows of darkness, the face of hate.

Whether at home or on foreign shores, I will be there....keeping my faith in God and Country....BECAUSE...........I AM ARMY AVIATION!

This was written in 1970 by Major Larry E. Joyce, Infantry, U.S. Army

[xzins]

RIP, friends.

May the Lord lift you up on eagles’ wings.

[boxerblues]

I wonder if all the relatives were notified before this came out

No it hits the news first with no names and no specific unit, so military families sit it out and sweat for the next 48 hours, praying we never see that government car pull in the drive

[fatima]

Prayers for All.

[neverendinghunt]

i tend to agree. when saddam was in power, sure he had some bad ways of dictatorship but he held that country with an iron fist. We didn’t have this crazy religious strife we have now.

Can’t even justify why he was hung, we didn’t find proof that he was going to attack us with his WMD’s/yellowcake enriched uranium imported from africa.

How times change. Like the saying goes, if isn’t broken don’t fix it.

i guess terrorism or hostile fire has been ruled out?

-h

[mcshot]

I’ve read it was Rummy’s plan to get in, overthrow Saddam, and get out. That would have left a mess but ...

[George W. Bush]

Very sad. But such accidents are part of flying such extremely sophisticated aircraft. No one can build perfect aircraft.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Can’t even justify why he was hung,

Should have paid attention during his trial. This is why.

[varon]

We are in Iraq to destroy Al Qaeda and we are going to stay there until we totally defeat the terrorists.

As if Al Qaeda and terrorists existed only in Iraq.

[jveritas]

The majority of them are now present in Iraq.

[tobyhill]

Are you aware that the first gulf war ended in a cease fire with conditions for Saddam in which case he violated nearly everyone of them, including shooting at our pilots while patrolling the no-fly zones? Saddam broke it, not us, but we will make every reasonable attempt to put it back together in the best possible scenario which will be better than it was with Saddam.

[Leo Farnsworth]

“Can’t even justify why he was hung...”

I doubt if he was hung.

He WAS hanged, however. And most justifiably.

[cake_crumb]

D@mn.

Prayers up :-(

[NCWarrior]

Hindsight is useless to help Iraq, although it may give us a better idea how to handle future confrontations in the region. I have no doubt that we will have them.

We should have retained the Iraqi army, paid for an equivalent Shiite force, assigned them to partitioned portions of the country (with Kurdistan responsible for their own security), put a military council of equal representation in charge of the country with the instruction to plan for a democratic transition on their own timeline. Any attempt at a return to dictatorship would be met with a return visit by our troops, who otherwise would be stationed outside the region.

As it is, disbanding the Iraqi army was the worst decision that could have been made, converting security into insurgency. As it is, Iraq is facing a hellish Catch-22 around November of this year with the referendum on Kirkuk. If the referendum is delayed, the Kurds will join the civil war. If the referendum is held, the Arabs and Turkmen of Kirkuk will be slaughtered. We have no security forces, either internal to Iraq or American military, that can police that area and avoid either outcome.

[cake_crumb]

"I am beginning to ask why .....I wish we had just went there, got Sadamm, and headed out again...."

WHY would we take out Saddam and leave the stinking BA'ATHISTS in charge?? Saddam was only the head of the boil. THEY know why they're there, even if you don't. Have you forgotten...

Iraqi 55 Most Wanted List: Update

---

---

1.	Saddam Husayn GEN		President / Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) Chairman	Captured December 13th
2.	Qusay Saddam Husayn al-Tikriti		Chief, Special Security Organization/Special Republican Guard (SSO/SRG); Commander, Central Region Commander	Killed July 22nd
3.	Uday Saddam Husayn al-Tikriti		Member of the National Assembly, Olympic Committee	Killed July 22nd
4.	Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti GEN		Saddam’s Personal Secretary, National Security Advisor and Senior Bodyguard/Inner Circle	Taken into custody June 16th
5.	Ali Hasan al-Majid GEN		Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) / Commander, Ba'ath Party Regional Command / Inner Circle/ Presidential Advisor/ Head Of Central Workers Bureau	Taken into custody August 21st
6.	Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri LTG		Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) Vice-Chairman / Northern Region Commander / Inner Circle/ Deputy Secretary General, Ba’th Party Regional Command / Deputy Commander, Armed Forces
7.	Hani abd al-Latif al-Tilfah al-Tikriti COL		Director, Special Security Organization (SSO) And Responsible For Security And Investigations (MUDIRIYAH NUMBER TWO); Assistant To Qusay; Saddam's Nephew
8.	Aziz Salih al-Numan		Regional Command Chairman For Ba’ath Party Baghdad	Taken into custody May 22nd
9.	Muhammad Hamza al-Zubaydi		Former Secretary Of Ba'ath Party Northern Bureau, Former Deputy Prime Minister, Former Member Of The Ba'ath Regional Command	Taken into custody April 20th
10.	Kamal Mustafa abdallah Sultan al-Tikriti GEN		Secretary, Republican Guard/special Republican Guard (RG/SRG); Inner Circle	Taken into custody May 17th
11.	Barzan abd al-Ghafur Sulayman Majid al-Tikriti Bg		Commander, Special Republican Guard (SRG)	Taken into custody July 23rd
12.	Muzahim Sab Hasan al-Tikriti LTG		Commander, Iraqi Air Defense Forces / Deputy Director Organization Of Military Industrialization (OMI)	Taken into custody April 23rd
13.	Ibrahim Ahmad abd al-Sattar Muhammad al-Tikriti GEN		Chief Of Staff Of Iraqi Armed Forces General Staff & Army	Taken into custody May 15th
14.	Sayf al-Din Fulayyih Hasan Taha al-Rawi LTG		Iraqi Republican Guard (RG) Chief Of
15.	Rafi abd al-Latif Tilfah al-Tikriti MG		Director, Directorate Of General Security (DGS)
16.	Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti LTG		Director, Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS)
17.	Hamid Raja Shalah al-Tikriti LTG		Commander, Iraqi Air Force	Taken into custody June 14th
18.	Latif Nusayyif al-Jasim al-Dulaymi		Former Member Of Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) / Central Ba'ath Party Member / Deputy Secretary Of The Ba'ath Military Bureau/inner Circle	Taken into custody June 9th
19.	Abd al-Tawab abdullah Mullah al-Huwaysh GEN		Director, Organization Of Military Industrialization (MIC/OMI); Deputy Prime Minister Of Iraq	Taken into custody May 2nd
20.	Taha Yasin Ramadan al-Jizrawi		Iraqi Vice President	Taken into custody August 19th
21.	Rukan Razuki abd al-Ghafar Sulayman al-Nasiri Bg		Saddam’s Senior Bodyguard/head-Tribal Affairs/Inner Circle
22.	Jamal Mustafa abdallah Sultan al-Tikriti		Saddam’s Personal Security/ Deputy Chief-Tribal Affairs/Inner Circle/ Presidential Diwan/saddam Husayn’s Son-in-Law	Taken into custody April 20th, turned over the Coalition April 21st
23.	Mizban Khudr al-Hadi		Member Of Revlutionary Command Council (RCC)/central Euphrates Region Commander/ Ba'ath Party Regional Command Member/secretary Of Central Peasants Bureau	Taken into custody on July 9th
24.	Taha Muhyi al-Din Maruf		Vice President, Member Of Revolutionary Command Council (RCC)	Taken into custody May 2nd
25.	Tariq Aziz		Deputy Prime Minister / Revolutionary Command Council (RCC)	Taken into custody April 25th
26.	Walid Hamid Tawfiq al-Tikriti GEN		Governor of al-Basrah, Former Special Security Organization (SSO) Chief	Surrendered April 29th
27.	Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Jabburi al-Tai GEN		Iraqi Minister Of Defense; Inner Circle	Taken into custody September 19th
28.	Hikmat Mizban Ibrahim al-Azzawi		Deputy Prime Minister / Minister Of Finance	Taken into custody April 18th
29.	Mahmud Dhiyab al-Ahmad		Iraqi Minister of Interior	Taken into custody on July 9th
30.	Ayad Futayyih Khalifa al-Rawi		Quds Force Chief of Staff	Taken into custody June 4th
31.	Zuhayr Talib abd al-Sattar al-Naqib LTG		Director, Directorate Of Military Intelligence (DMI)	Taken into custody April 23rd
32.	Amir Hamudi Hasan al-Sadi LTG		Presidential Advisor, Scientific and Technical Affairs	Surrendered April 12th
33.	Amir Muhammad Rashid al-Tikriti al-Ubaydi LTG		Presidential Advisor	Taken into custody April 28th
34.	Hussam Muhammad Amin al-Yasin LTG		Head, National Monitoring Directorate (NMD) (SINCE AT LEAST 1992); Former Minister Of Interior	Taken into custody April 27th
35.	Muhammed Mahdi al-Salih		Iraqi Minister Of Trade	Taken into custody April 23rd
36.	Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti		Presidential Advisor; Half Brother Of Saddam Husayn
37.	Watban Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti		Presidential Advisor; Half Brother of Saddam Husayn	Taken into custody April 13th
38.	Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti		Presidential Advisor; Half Brother of Saddam Husayn	Taken into custody April 16th
39.	Huda Salih Mehdi Ammash		Central Ba'ath Party Regional Command Member, Head Of Professional Bureau and Student Youth Bureaus (MAJOR PLAYER IN BIOTECH/GENETIC PROGRAMS)	Taken into custody May 9th
40.	Abd al-Baqi abd al-Karim al-Abdallah al-Sadun		Central Ba'ath Party Regional Command Chairman, Diyala Region
41.	Muhammad Zimam abd al-Razzaq al-Sadun		Central Ba'ath Party Regional Chairman, Ninawah And Ta'mim Governorates
42.	Samir abd al-Aziz al-Najim		Central Ba'ath Party Chairman, Baghdad al-Resafa District	Taken into custody April 17th
43.	Humam abd al-Khaliq abd al-Ghafur		Minister Of Higher Education and Scientific Research	Taken into custody April 19th
44.	Yahya abdallah al-Ubaydi		Central Ba'ath Party Regional Chairman, Basrah Governorate
45.	Nayif Shindakh Thamir Ghalib		Ba'ath Party Regional Chairman An-Najaf Governorate
46.	Sayf al-Din al-Mashhadani		Central Ba'ath Party Regional Chairman, Al-Muthanna Governorate	Taken into custody May 24th
47.	Fadil Mahmud Gharib		Central Ba'ath Party Chairman, Babil Governorates	Taken into custody May 15th
48.	Muhsin Khadr al-Khafaji		Ba'ath Party Chairman, Al-qadisiyah Governorate
49.	Rashid Taan Kazim		Central Ba'ath Party Regional Chairman, Anbar Governorate
50.	Uglah Abid Saqir al-Kubaysi		Central Ba'ath Party Regional Chairman, Maysan Governorate	Taken into custody May 20th
51.	Ghazi Hammud al-Ubaydi		Central Ba'ath Party Regional Command Chairman, Wasit Governorate	Taken into custody May 7th
52.	Adil abdallah Mahdi al-Duri al-Tikriti		Ba'ath Party Regional Chairman, Dhi Qar Governorate	Taken into custody May 15th
53.	Husayn al-Awadi Bg	No Card Available	Ba'ath Party Regional Command Chairman, Ninawa Governorate; Bg In Chemical Corps	Taken into custody June 9th
54.	Khamis Sirhan al-Muhammad	No Card Available	Ba'th Party Regional Chairman For Karbala Governorate
55.	Sad abd al-Majid al-Faysal		Ba'th Party Regional Chairman For Salah al-Din Governorate	Taken into custody May 24th