Thread: 31 American Troops Killed In NATO Helicopter Crash In Afghan

31 American Troops Killed In NATO Helicopter Crash In Afghanistan



By SOLOMON MOORE
08/ 6/11 05:57 AM ET

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A helicopter crash in Afghanistan's eastern Wardak province has killed 31 U.S. special operation troops and seven Afghan soldiers, the country's president said on Saturday. It was the highest number of casualties recorded in a single incident in the decade-long war.

President Hamid Karzai sent his condolences to President Barack Obama, according to a statement issued by his office.

"A NATO helicopter crashed last night in Wardak province," Karzai said in the statement, adding that 31 American special operations troops were killed. "President Karzai expressed his deep condolences because of this incident and expressed his sympathy to Barack Obama."

NATO confirmed the overnight crash and said the alliance was conducting a recovery operation at the site and investigating the cause of the crash, but did not release details or a casualty figure. The coalition said there "was enemy activity in the area."

"We are aware of an incident involving a helicopter in eastern Afghanistan," said U.S. Air Force Capt. Justin Brockhoff, a NATO spokesman. "We are in the process of accessing the facts."

A spokesman for Wardak province, Shahidullah Shahid, said the helicopter crashed in the Sayd Abad district of Wardak province. The volatile region borders the province of Kabul where the Afghan capital is located and is known for its strong Taliban presence.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed the downed aircraft was a U.S. military helicopter and that the Taliban fighters had brought it down with a rocket attack.

In a written statement released Saturday, Mujahid said that NATO attacked a house in Sayd Abad where insurgent fighters were gathering Friday night.

Mujahid said the Taliban fired on NATO and downed the helicopter, killing all the crew. He said eight insurgents also died.

in June 2005, 16 American troops were killed when a U.S. helicopter crashed in eastern Kunar province after apparently being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

At NATO headquarters in Brussels, an official said it was a twin-rotor Chinook helicopter. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was receiving his information from an Afghan officer in Kabul.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/0 ... k2%7C84153

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NATO bombs the Great Man-Made River
http://humanrightsinvestigations.org/20 ... ato-bombs/

This is just sad... I am a Veteran and it is time that we end these pointless wars.

welcome to ALIPAC KickAssArmyChick

Originally Posted by KickAssArmyChick

This is just sad... I am a Veteran and it is time that we end these pointless wars.

==========================================

So true. Our politicians send our youth to die on foreign fields while our own nation has been overrun from neglecting it's OWN border.

The Ulsterman Report: President Obama – What The Hell Is Going On?
Aug.6,2011
As Barack Obama dances barefoot on the White House lawn, members of the special forces unit that killed Osama Bin Laden are shot out of the sky in Afghanistan. For the first time in history America’s credit rating is lowered. The stock market continues its slide. Unemployment remains high. What the hell is going on?

To those who remain supportive of Barack Obama out of some semblance of political loyalty, white guilt, or stubborn refusal to acknowledge reality – it is time you come to your senses, and right quick. This man has been, and continues to be, an absolute failure on every conceivable level of leadership. His once soaring speeches now sound increasingly canned and stale. His disinterest in the job of being president ever more apparent. His shocking combination of arrogance and ignorance well known to those who have witnessed it in person – including a growing number of world leaders who leave an Obama sit down wondering to themselves (and soon after leaving clues to the media) how America could have been so foolish to have elected someone so clearly out of their depth.

Conflicting reports regarding the tragic death of several SEAL Team Six members are now circulating, with some indicating those killed were directly involved in the operation against the Osama Bin Laden compound and others indicating those SEALS killed were not part of the Bin Laden raid. Further details will likely unfold over the next 48 hours, but the story nevertheless is a reminder to all of just how odd the Osama Bin Laden killing itself was. No photos of Bin Laden’s body were released, despite both then-CIA Director Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telling the media those photos would be forthcoming. Reports of a detached and uninvolved Barack Obama being pulled off the golf course as the raid was already underway were soon after seemingly supported by the now infamous photo of the president sitting to the side against the wall of the situation room dressed in his golf attire, looking confused, uncertain, and most certainly, out of his element.

This detached behavior was recently seen again during the debt ceiling negotiations and even more recently during the aftermath of the historic downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, an event that will have far-reaching and negative implications for an already struggling American economy. Barack Obama said nothing regarding the downgrade, instead focusing on his own birthday party and fundraising for his upcoming 2012 re-election campaign. Reports have come forth detailing the First Couple dancing barefoot on the White House lawn during the birthday celebration (media were banned from the event) as Hip-Hop music blared from inside the White House. Has any American president so mirrored the tale of Emperor Nero fiddling away as Rome burned as has Barack Hussein Obama?

For those who know their American history, you cannot help but recall the then-shocking event of a sitting U.S. President declaring in the spring of 1968 that he would not seek nor would he accept, the nomination of his party to continue another term as president. Johnson acknowledged he had lost the support of the American people, and that his administration was no longer able to meet the considerable challenges facing the nation. So he stepped aside.

Read more: http://socyberty.com/history/the-ulster ... z1UHHXwpQF

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SEALs who caught Osama among those killed
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/story ... anistan_57

The Associated Press has learned that more than 20 Navy SEALs from the unit that killed Osama bin Laden were among the 31 U.S. soldiers lost in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

The operators from SEAL Team Six were flown by a crew of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. That's according to one current and one former U.S. official. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because families are still being notified of the loss of their loved ones. One source says the team was thought to include 22 SEALs, three Air Force air controllers, seven Afghan Army troops, a dog and his handler, and a civilian interpreter, plus the helicopter crew.

The helicopter crashed in eastern Afghanistan, killing a total of 31 U.S. troops and seven Afghan commandos, the country's president said Saturday. An American official said it was apparently shot down, in the deadliest single incident for American forces in the decade-long war.

The Taliban claimed they downed the helicopter with rocket fire while it was taking part in a raid on a house where insurgents were gathered in the province of Wardak late Friday. It said wreckage of the craft was strewn at the scene.

NATO confirmed the overnight crash took place and that there "was enemy activity in the area." But it said it was still investigating the cause and conducting a recovery operation at the site. It did not release details or casualty figures.

"We are in the process of accessing the facts," said U.S. Air Force Capt. Justin Brockhoff, a NATO spokesman.

But a senior U.S. administration official in Washington said it was apparently shot down by insurgents. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the crash is still being investigated.

President Barack Obama mourned the deaths of the American troops, saying in a statement that the crash serves as a reminder of the "extraordinary sacrifices" being made by the U.S. military and its families. He said he also mourned "the Afghans who died alongside our troops."

The death toll would surpass the worst single day loss of life for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001 -- the June 28, 2005 downing of a military helicopter in eastern Kunar province. In that incident, 16 Navy SEALs and Army special operations troops were killed when their craft was shot down while on a mission to rescue four SEALs under attack by the Taliban. Three of the SEALs being rescued were also killed and the fourth wounded. It was the highest one-day death toll for the Navy Special Warfare personnel since World War II.

With its steep mountain ranges, providing shelter for militants armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, eastern Afghanistan is hazardous terrain for military aircraft. Large, slow-moving air transport carriers like the CH-47 Chinook are particularly vulnerable, often forced to ease their way through sheer valleys where insurgents can achieve more level lines of fire from mountainsides.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday gave the first public word of the new crash, saying in a statement that "a NATO helicopter crashed last night in Wardak province" and that 31 American special operations troops were killed. He expressed his condolences to President Barack Obama.

The helicopter was a twin-rotor Chinook, said an official at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was receiving his information from an Afghan officer in Kabul.

The crash took place in the Sayd Abad district of Wardak province, said a provincial government spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid. The volatile region borders the province of Kabul where the Afghan capital is located and is known for its strong Taliban presence.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement that Taliban fighters downed the helicopter during a "heavy raid" in Sayd Abad. He said NATO attacked a house in Sayd Abad where insurgent fighters were gathering Friday night. During the battle, the fighters shot down the helicopter, killing 31 Americans and seven Afghans, he said, adding that eight insurgents were killed in the fight.

There have been at least 17 coalition and Afghan aircraft crashes in Afghanistan this year.

Most of the crashes were attributed to pilot errors, weather conditions or mechanical failures. However, the coalition has confirmed that at least one CH-47F Chinook helicopter was hit by a rocket propelled grenade on July 25. Two coalition crew members were injured in that attack.

Meanwhile, in the southern Helmand province, an Afghan government official said Saturday that NATO troops attacked a house and inadvertently killed eight members of a family, including women and children.

NATO said that Taliban fighters fired rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire at coalition troops during a patrol Friday in the Nad Ali district.

"Coalition forces responded with small arms fire and as the incident continued, an air strike was employed against the insurgent position," said Brockhoff. He added that NATO sent a delegation to meet with local leaders and investigate the incident.

Nad Ali district police chief Shadi Khan said civilians died in the bombardment but that it was unknown how many insurgents were killed.

Helmand, a Taliban stronghold, is the deadliest province in Afghanistan for international troops.

NATO has come under harsh criticism in the past for accidentally killing civilians during operations against suspected insurgents. However, civilian death tallies by the United Nations show the insurgency is responsible for most war casualties involving noncombatants.

In south Afghanistan, NATO said two coalition service member were killed, one on Friday and another on Saturday. The international alliance did not release further details.

With the casualties from the helicopter crash, the deaths bring to 365 the number of coalition troops killed this year in Afghanistan and 42 this month.

------

Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Mark S. Smith contribute to this report from Washington.

Originally Posted by HAPPY2BME

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http://humanrightsinvestigations.org/20 ... ato-bombs/

this has me absolutely OUTRAGED ... this is a MAJOR War Crime and those involved need to be put on trial at the Hague

You Cannot

let me repeat, Cannot;

NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE OR THINK YOU ARE

CANNOT Cause undue suffering to Civilians

Line these F'rs up and put their EVIL ASS ON TRIAL

Originally Posted by AirborneSapper7

You Cannot

let me repeat, Cannot;

NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE OR THINK YOU ARE

CANNOT Cause undue suffering to Civilians

Line these F'rs up and put their EVIL ASS ON TRIAL

===============================================

God help us.

It won't be safe for American anywhere in the world for decades.

This is truly sad that we lose so many of our young men and women in this war that has dragged on forever it seems. They said it would NOT BE LIKE VIETNAM and we would not be there long. Gee,just more BS from the mouths of our politicians. Let's bring'em all home and start rebuilding our great nation and taking out the garbage that has infiltrated our country