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They are also damn easy to shoot down, and they are not designed for close ground support.

They are not that easy to shoot down with Triple-A and the Iraqis are not that good at shooting down B-52's.

As for your second point, they are good at carpet bombing. Carpet bombing is good at turning AAA gunners and infantryman brains into mush. They cannot take out the tanks, but they CAN take out the AA artillery and crew so the Apaches can get to the armor a bit easier.

It will be interesting to read someday how much air-defense supression went on before the Apaches went in to take on those tanks. We either did that supression and didn't do as well as expected or did not expect that much AAA.

Enough bickering, already. Yes, all helicopters are easy to shoot down. But, only if they are attacked unexpectedly. I'm now going to dispel some of these rumors.

How many of you have ever seen how our attack helicopters work? They will fly in small groups, accompanied by scout helicopters(usually OH-58s). It is rare for more than one helicopter to be visible at a time. They pop up and down and share information electronically. If an Apache launches a Hellfire, depending on the mode (in this case LOAL (Lock On After Launch)), the Hellfire will climb, nose over and start looking for a properly coded laser splash. This laser splash can come from any of their counterparts. So, they can continue to pop up and down and pass off the target, thus reducing exposure. It is a truly amazing dance in the sky to witness.

FYI... I am a former Army Aircraft Armament Platoon Sergeant. I've seen these manuevers with Cobras(AH-1), Kiowa Warriors(OH-58D), and the Apache(AH-64).