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| Iraq | ||||
| 13 dead as US helicopter shot down | ||||
| 2003-11-02 | ||||
| A US Chinook helicopter has been shot down in Iraq, killing at least thirteen people on board and wounding 20. The helicopter, which was hit as it flew towards Baghdad airport, came down near the village of Baisa, south of Falluja. A US spokesman said that the helicopter was one of two Chinooks heading towards Baghdad carrying personnel on a rest and recreation trip. He said that the helicopter, carrying 30 people including five crew, had been "shot down by an unknown weapon". Witnesses said that two surface-to-air missiles had been fired but that only one hit its target. Troops kept reporters back from the crash site as another military helicopter with a red cross sign landed. Another US soldier died when his vehicle drove over a bomb planted on a road in Baghdad. The soldier, who was from the 1st Armored Division, was evacuated to hospital after the explosion but died a few hours later. More, from CNN, courtesy Rafael... Anyone up for resumption of major combat in Iraq? I’d say it’s time to do some major ass kicking. The U.S. death toll from a downed Chinook helicopter near Fallujah, has risen to 13, military officials said. The helicopter was shot down by a shoulder-type ??? probably French-made missile, about 60 kilometers west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, at 8 a.m. Sunday, witnesses told CNN. It was one of three separate attacks Sunday, which saw at least one other U.S. servicemen killed in a convoy attack in Baghdad at about midnight. It is the deadliest combat day for the U.S. since March 23, the day 28 American troops died in battle. Between 32 and 35 people from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division were traveling on the Chinook, which was one of two flying to the Baghdad International Airport from a U.S. base camp. A second convoy was attacked in Fallujah, about an hour before the Chinook incident, but it is not clear whether any injuries were sustained. CNN’s Matthew Chance said crowds of Iraqis gathered quickly in the "flashpoint" city chanting anti-U.S. slogans. The attacks came as coalition forces were on alert for a threatened "day of resistance," following a warning from the U.S. Consulate Office in Baghdad. The consulate said U.S. military patrols, hotels, markets, and non-governmental organizations could be among the sites attacked. "could be"??? In a bid to boost security and stability, U.S. administrator for Iraq Paul Bremer said the United States is stepping up efforts to hand over more responsibility to Iraqis themselves. Coalition forces will speed up the training of Iraqi police and military, he said, and the size of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps will be doubled by March. "We will have over 200,000 Iraqis involved in their own security forces by September next year," Bremer added. Despite the attacks, the U.S.-led coalition had been able to reopen justice courts, build jails and recruit 50,000 Iraqi police officers. A coalition military official said 33 attempted attacks are made against U.S. troops every day. Coalition officials blame forces loyal to ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, terrorist groups and other insurgents for the attacks. Bremer said officials believe Saddam is alive and in Iraq, though there is "no indication" he is behind the attacks. But he added: "His capture, or killing him, is one of the top priorities." Yes I’d say so. I’m surprised he’s managed to evade capture for this long, if he’s still in Iraq.
And more detail, from Chi Tribune, courtesy of Steve White... Insurgents shot down a U.S. Chinook helicopter in central Iraq on Sunday as it carried troops headed for R&R, killing 15 soldiers and wounding 21 in the deadliest single strike against American troops since the start of war. Damn! The aircraft was hit at about 9 a.m. and crashed amid cornfields near the village of Hasi, about 40 miles southwest of Baghdad and just south of Fallujah, a center of Sunni Muslim resistance to the U.S. occupation. Fallujah, the new parking lot for the US Army in Iraq. At the scene, villagers proudly showed off blackened pieces of wreckage to arriving reporters. Round up each one and beat ’em with clubs. NO ONE displays wreckage where our soldiers die. "This was a new lesson from the resistance, a lesson to the greedy aggressors," one Fallujah resident, who wouldn’t give his name, said of the helicopter downing. "They’ll never be safe until they get out of our country," he said of the Americans. But before we leave, we’re going to deal with you and your pals.
Dammit, we have to get all the ammo dumps secured. The 10-ton Chinook — the military’s heavy-lifting workhorse used primarily for moving troops and equipment — was the biggest U.S. target yet shot from the skies. The downed craft belonged to the Army’s 12th Aviation Brigade, supporting the 82nd Airborne Division Task Force. A U.S. military spokesman, Col. William Darley, confirmed the casualty count of 15 dead and 21 wounded. Some of the American troops killed in the downing were believed to be from Fort Carson, Colo., post spokesman Lt. Col. Thomas Budzyna said. The helicopter was part of a formation of two Chinooks carrying a total of more than 50 passengers to the U.S. base at the former Saddam International Airport, renamed Baghdad International Airport, which the military calls BIA. "Our initial report is that they were being transported to BIA for R&R flights," a U.S. command spokeswoman in Baghdad said. She said at least some were coming from Camp Ridgway, believed to be an 82nd Airborne Division base in western Iraq. Command spokesman Darley said he didn’t know whether the troops were bound for leaves at home or abroad outside Iraq.
Time to clean out the Sunni triangle. Bastards. | ||||
| Posted by:Bulldog |
| #16 I agree surround Fallugah(and all the rest of the towns where this crap is coming from)Go through the town house by house,lot by lot,building by building(using dogs)every home in wich automatic weapons found arrest every male over the age of 15 years.Nothing in nothing out,if the residents need food,water,medical they can report to check points.This PC,touchy/feely make nice crap is costing lives. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2003-11-3 9:06:45 AM |
| #15 Stevie says we need more deaths? Fine. Let's all hope that Stevie dies next. |
| Posted by: Uncle Joe 2003-11-2 11:58:37 PM |
| #14 May God bless the 15 families that just suffered the unbearable loss. Their sons will never return. The families will live in denial that the unbearable has happened. Some will continue to speak of their sons in the present tense patiently waiting for them to return - only to eventually face a very hard unchanging reality. Nothing that we say can console them. Those families will never heal. The funerals will have closed coffins. When helicopters crash - they burn. Mothers in denial will be convinced that some horrible mistake has been made - that could not possibly be their son - God could not be so cruel. Why would God test them so? My prayers tonight are with those families. |
| Posted by: JP 2003-11-2 10:28:24 PM |
| #13 Bulldog - the V22 Osprey has more bugs than a Microsoft product, and needs some more R&D before it's completely trustworthy. The better solution is to have these R&R flights escorted by a pair of Apaches. NOBODY is gonna mess with that killing machine, not if he's got an IQ higher than a sand flea's. As for Fallujah, we need to impose an 8PM to 8AM curfew, and whack HARD anybody that breaks it - no questions asked. Then slowly start dismantling the town, a block at a time. I think you'll probably find some surprised in the area if you look hard enough. We've been too "sensitive". Now it's their turn to be sensitive, or be stomped. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-11-2 7:24:57 PM |
| #12 Is it time to have another look at the V22 Osprey tiltrotor? |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-11-2 5:25:11 PM |
| #11 On July 10, 2001, Lt. Gen. Sanchez became commanding general of V Corps' 1st Armored Division. He held that position for nearly two years before assuming command of the corps on June 14, 2003. OK, it looks like Sanchez was appointed in June, not in August, as I suspected, which means he was the head honcho through the quiet period. My mistake. My understanding of the reason for the lack of helicopter mishaps in Afghanistan was that (1) our helicopters always took off at night, (2) airbase security extended out for miles and (3) helicopters went straight up to cruising height in a spiral pattern over the airbase, instead of gradually reaching that height over the badlands. I wonder if base security has been truncated, choppers are taking off during the day or helicopters in Iraq are not taking precautions against hand-held SAM's. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2003-11-2 3:10:12 PM |
| #10 Turn in the weapons now.... Boom! Well said Fred and I totally agree. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2003-11-2 3:08:03 PM |
| #9 BTW, whatever happened to Ramadan??? This is how Ramadan is celebrated -- killing the kaffir. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-11-2 2:02:54 PM |
| #8 Draw them out of the cities and urban centers, and f&ck them. It's obvious they have an itch that needs scratchin'. Folks, I know we believe that our troops are superior in training, equipment and morale to the Russians, but what makes anyone think this doesn't have the potential to turn into another Chechnya, with foreign jihadis flooding in from all over. If someone doesn't start using their full intelectual capacity on this the jihadis will continue to take advantage. Wasn't it Bush himself that said American troops are for fighting wars and not keeping the peace? So what the hell are they doing there now? Trying to keep the peace while jihadis take shots at them. BTW, whatever happened to Ramadan??? |
| Posted by: Rafael 2003-11-2 1:37:15 PM |
| #7 i agree with bush...this copter downing shows we r winning in Iraq and that they r really desparate now. Now all we need is more deaths to show we r truly really winning. |
| Posted by: stevestradamus 2003-11-2 1:30:04 PM |
| #6 Actually, it sounds like the commander of forces in Iraq, Sanchez, needs to be replaced. Ever since he signed on, casualties have been going through the roof. The brass may have felt that Iraq was stable enough for officers to go through the usual ticket-punching exercise for aspiring military leaders. It appears that we are going to need our best seasoned men in there until the situation truly stabilizes. Note that we have not lost a Chinook in this manner in Afghanistan despite two years of operations. Sanchez is in well over his head. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2003-11-2 1:09:08 PM |
| #5 "Making a desolation and calling it peace." I like it. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-11-2 11:53:46 AM |
| #4 There is a better way. Surround Falluja with barbed wire and cut off its water. Force all people to leave the town through limited exits, and allow them to leave with one empty car or one small suitcase. Allow no one back in until terrorists are caught or given up to US forces. Do not back down to human rights groups who will scream "abuse", etc. Stand firm, and if necessary make Falluja a deserted city as an example to others residing in the Sunni Triangle. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-11-2 11:47:40 AM |
| #3 I would delay an ROE change in Fallujah until the next bombing in Baghdad so as not to appear to be reactive. I recommend a surpise cordon of whatever area Al Sadr controls. Time to make an example of someone. Jarhead outlines a great technique of widely varied responses to confuse the enemy. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-11-2 11:42:53 AM |
| #2 Fred - your commentary makes far more sense than our current ROE. I wish you were in charge -- this approach is what they would understand and respect / fear - the same thing in Arabia. Sooner or later, and I hope it happens here in Iraq and very soon, indeed, we will realize that our legacy of chivalry is ours alone. They not only do not share it, few of them even understand it. Those that do just use it against us - these are their "leaders" and spokesdink apologists. Those that don't, well, they are the cannon fodder who do the killing and dying. When we get a clue, they will do a lot more of it. Islam started this drive to their goal of Global |
| Posted by: .com 2003-11-2 10:20:19 AM |
| #1 The missle was most likely French made. I think we should impose sanctions on France for this. |
| Posted by: Charles 2003-11-2 8:13:42 AM |