302 Iranian Soldiers Die in Plane Crash

AP-Yahoo! ^ | 18 Feb 2003 | ALI AKBAR DAREINI

[IowaHawk]

"At Iran Air, we love to crash... and it shows!"

[leadpenny]

. . . operated by Turkey's military . . .

Turkey?

[onedoug]

Russian airplane is an oxymoron.

God, in Thy ways....

[Mike Darancette]

Allah better empty the barracks, 21744 virgins is quite a logistical feat!

I wonder if they are re-cycled?

[buffyt]

I hope those 21744 virgins bathe more in the hereafter than they did while here on earth! PeeeeUewwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[Tijeras_Slim]

I wonder if they are re-cycled?

[paul51]

Nice work, whoever is responsible

[Newbomb Turk]

Center fuel tank explosion ?

[yankeedame]

I dunno.... I read these stories and I keep thinking about that plane crash back in,what was it, the 1960's. Mao's unoffical successor and his family were fleeing Red China heading for the Soviet Union when their plane "accidently" crashed to smithereens in Mongolia.

Do you suppose this may have been the case here? You know, realizing war was on the horizon these people decided to cut and run, and as a result were shot down?

[freedomtrail]

KARMA.

[BlackVeil]

en route from Zahedan, on the Pakistan border[Parkistan border? Surely an error. Means Afghan border], to Kerman, about 500 miles southeast of Tehran I wonder about the causes of this. Given that the plane crashed in the mountains, and there had been snow falling, it is probably an accident. However, the revolutionary guards - on exactly that eastern border - were being moved in recently to conduct sweeps against Al-Qaida operatives who have been crossing the border from Afghanisatan. They are said to have arrested quite a number. The Iranians have their own factions in Afghanistan, and don't seem to want the wild card al-Quaida.

Payback time?

[Jhensy]

Is DU blaming America yet?

Took them about 2 posts.

[leadpenny]

I was wondering the same thing at 22. It has to be a misprint. A NATO country working in Iran? Doesn't make sense.

[eno_]

A lot of mullahs just lost their favorite preatorians. The rest will be stretched thin. Could be prelude to a coup.

[Future Snake Eater]

Is DU blaming America yet?

Hell, I was hoping it was us. Oh well, I guess you can't argue with the results, regardless of the cause.

[NormsRevenge]

Our "Insert more coins ally", Turkey? I'm shocked!

[ladylib]

What a bunch of dummies. You'd think they would divide them on separate flights -- you know, how company executives do or members of large families -- in case of an air crash.

[Dog Gone]

If these were even regular Iranian soldiers, I'd feel some sympathy, because I think Iran is getting ready to come back from the dark side.

But these were the storm troopers who would do their best to prevent that.