30 U.S. special forces, 7 Afghans killed in copter crash

US loosing the War in Afghanistan.. For what they die.

Pacifying Afghanistan is like running an obedience school for pit bulls: it can be done, but it will take generations to alter the DNA. Knee-jerk reactionists will blame Obama for this, of course, but he was only doing what American history and tradition dictate: once in, America stays until it can leave on honorable terms. The problem is the price to pay for this may be beyond what America is willing to pay.

Still, the blame lies with those who got us into Afghanistan in the first place. If Obama had cut and run, he would have fared no better in the court of US right-wing opinion. This is just another lousy option left to him from the previous administration.

Thirty-one families in grief...sad

War is hell, not it is time for Americans to cry and suffer too, not just the Taliban and the rest of Afghans.

Oops! I meant NOW IT IS TIME to...but WAR IS HELL, has always been hell and will always be hell on earth. Give peace a chance! NMRK!

Thirty-One? THIRTY-ONE??

This is insane. I cant believe what I am reading....

US loosing the War in Afghanistan.. For what they die.

Actually the evidence points otherwise, attacks are down 20% compared to this time last year and that has been true for the past 8-12 weeks. Also this appears to be more of a mechanical issue or pilot error and was not shot down, although it is a possibility.

Laguna, financially is really the question because in terms of body count Afghanistan and Iraq are lowest casualty wars the US has ever fought in.

It was confirmed as hostile, the CH-47 was shot down by rocket!

I really hope all American soldiers will come home safe, including my best friend who has been deployed there a month ago. I pray almost every day. When I forget, I pray twice the next day. "I love you<3"

More lives sacrificed by the Obama government for nothing.

How stupid. How indefensible.

A terribly sad event for the families of the troops involved in this crash and my sympathies to them.

Operating helicopters in high altitude terrain is very dangerous and it takes very brave men to fly these missions day after day in defense of freedom.

Was that anything to feel sad about? america caused the entire mess for her own. It was Brezenski's idea to wage a covert war against the soviet union in afghanistan 1980s that created islamic militantisms!

It was confirmed as hostile, the CH-47 was shot down by rocket!

Actually there is no confirmation yet, having an anonymous source say they were shot down doesn't mean they were. For example Al Jazeera in one of their article are saying that one of their sources said the helicopter was taking off and then suddenly it went down, the source didn't say it was shot down or that they heard a loud explosion, it very well could be that it suffered a mechanical or pilot error that brought it down. But it very could have been shot down.

Still, the blame lies with those who got us into Afghanistan in the first place. If Obama had cut and run, he would have fared no better in the court of US right-wing opinion. This is just another lousy option left to him from the previous administration.

Laguna, I would rather have dumb ass right wing opinionists on my trail than invade some country i'm not even supposed to be in and have people trying to kill me.

america caused the entire mess for her own. It was Brezenski's idea to wage a covert war against the soviet union in afghanistan 1980s that created islamic militantisms!>

just a guy, a point that so many people willingly forget.

Ok now the evidence from the pentagon are saying that so far the evidence is that it was shot down.

There is so much conflicting collage of information coming in at the moment, it takes awhile before everything gets out and we can get 100% accurate and more detailed reasons as to what exactly happened. I heard, most of the men that were killed were the SEALs that were assigned to get Bin Laden Not sure if this is accurate or not, but if it was, that truly would be sad.

@bass4funk

but if it was, that truly would be sad

that is just the rule of war - kill and get killed.

the time when the US is out of resource is the time China will strike. looking forth.

america caused the entire mess for her own. It was Brezenski's idea to wage a covert war against the soviet union in afghanistan 1980s that created islamic militantisms!>

The ignorance on display here is something to behold. Militarism is synonymous with Islam. Just read the Koran.

Timing couldn't be worse for Obama. In the wake of the way he got slapped around on the debt ceiling by the Tea Party and then the SnP downgrade he needs a foreign policy achievement of some sort to have the MSM trumpet.

NattoToday,

Its easier for some Americans to blame the Koran and muslims rather than look at the possible causes and what their actions may have contributed to the problem.

BreitbartVictorious

Timing couldn't be worse for Obama. In the wake of the way he got slapped around on the debt ceiling by the Tea Party and then the SnP downgrade he needs a foreign policy achievement of some sort to have the MSM trumpet.

Im sure that the families of the 30 US and 7 Afghanis would agree that the timing is bad. Although lm tipping that they would be saying that for a different reason. Afterall we are talking about peoples lives not some idiot Presidents achievements and media reports.

I was hoping someone would bite. Thanks, spiderpig24

Afterall we are talking about peoples lives not some idiot Presidents achievements and media reports.

Yes. We are talking about lives.

If only someone had impressed that upon vainglorious blowhard Joe Biden, from whose big flapping mouth came the previously classified info that we even had a special forces group like Seal Team Six.

The US media largely protected Biden on yet another blunder. This is from The Telegraph:

" ...Since President Barack Obama announced that "a small team of Americans" had killed Osama bin Laden, US government officials have carefully stuck to the line that they will not talk about which units were involved. Obama did not say it was the SEALs. In numerous television appearances, Obama's counter-terrorism chief John Brennan didn't and his deputy national security adviser Denis McDonough didn't. Despite the numerous news reports that named the SEALs, none of the anonymous briefers from the CIA and Pentagon would confirm it."

[...}

"Here's a typical response to a question about the SEALs from a senior defence official in a Pentagon briefing on Monday: QUESTION: Can I ask you, can you confirm that it was a (Navy) SEAL team? And was this a specially designated team that had been practising or reviewing intelligence for a while and they were the unit of choice? SENIOR DEFENCE OFFICIAL: Not going to comment on units or numbers."

But Biden later blabbed that it was the SEALs who took out OBL.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/100086416/joe-biden-opens-his-mouth-about-us-navy-seals/

See, as an American,I believe that if these brave men are dead because of an idiot like Joe Biden there should be consequences.

BreitbartVictorious,

Yes. We are talking about lives.

No actually you where talking about political timing and how it will affect Pres. Obama. Personally who cares, 37 people are dead and you seem to worry about how it will affect the President. Maybe you should be more worried about their families and not grubby political points scoring.

If only someone had impressed that upon vainglorious blowhard Joe Biden, from whose big flapping mouth came the previously classified info that we even had a special forces group like Seal Team Six.

Sorry but if you didnt know that teams like the SEAL's existed you must have been living under a rock as knowledge of their existence has been around for years.

See, as an American,I believe that if these brave men are dead because of an idiot like Joe Biden there should be consequences.

These brave men arnt dead because their unit was linked to OBL death they are dead because successive US presidents have pursued a policy that lead to the current situation in Afghanistan and that ultimately led to the death of these men and many more from many nations.

spidapig

"Its easier for some Americans to blame the Koran and muslims... "

All the more so when we hear Muslim fanatics quote from it or see pics and vids wherein they brandish it in one hand and a gun or knife in the other.

A child of ten can fully understand the message.

Breitbart,

A child of ten can fully understand the message.

Do you know what the number of American casualties vs. the number inflicted?

BreitbartVictorious

All the more so when we hear Muslim fanatics quote from it or see pics and vids wherein they brandish it in one hand and a gun or knife in the other. A child of ten can fully understand the message.

And the same child of ten understands equally well when US forces kill their family. What better recruiting tool can terrorists ask for.

But l doubt you would understand that idea, as all you see is the US saving the world from the evil muslim hordes. And no lm no fan of muslims or muslim extremists l just believe the US is causing more harm in its approach

"And the same child of ten understands equally well when US forces kill their family."

Only US forces? How about Canadian, Australian, NATO, Russian, Chinese, Philippine, Israeli, Indian, Thai forces?

Hmm, so many hot-spots where - sorry - it's not mythical Muslim 'families' getting killed but hardcore violent jihadists, often foreign-born or trained .

Why would that be? I mean let's do some thinking here, spiderpig - whatever could be the common link?

What better recruiting tool can terrorists ask for."

The support of non-Muslims like spidapig and nattotoday?

BreitbartVictorious,

So predictable in your response. Oh it couldnt possibly be us that is part of the problem it must be purely the otherside. And anyone who dares to question our motives or actions must automatically support the extremists. As l said soooo predictable.

Breitbart,

The support of non-Muslims like spidapig and nattotoday?

Your panache for making unsubstantiated claims . . . do you really call yourself an American? I believe they have higher standards.

natto today

Do you know what the number of American casualties vs. the number inflicted?

Do you know the WHO's estimation of Afghan lives saved by the US-led ouster of the Taliban from Kabul?

It is far higher than the number of Afghans killed by their co-religionists since 2001, deaths you would like to attribute solely to the US.

Breitbart,

deaths you would like to attribute solely to the US. No, you have no reason to make such an obtuse charge, I've said nothing like that.

What if the american public realized that the object that shot down Chinook helicopter was a manportable surface to air missile 'Stinger' that was supplied to the mujahideen by the CIA back in 1980s?

Someday there will be no more U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.

pity U.S. special forces being shot in afghanistan, iraq, vietnam. they are just tools to satisfy the barbaric president.

HT - -

Seriously, you're linking the deaths of 30 American military men to Joe Biden saying something about the SEALs killing Osama Bin Laden?

It would have been better if Biden had never opened his blowhard mouth. Read the transcript above. Obama was prudent. Defense officials declined to credit any of our special forces by name. But Biden just couldn't resist.

myriad conspiracy theories about the media

Today comes the news that the WH has okay'd a film about the killing of OBL.

Scheduled release ?

October 2012.

"The White House is also counting on the Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal big-screen version of the killing of bin Laden to counter Obama's growing reputation as ineffectual.

"The Sony film by the Oscar-winning pair who made "The Hurt Locker" will no doubt reflect the president's cool, gutsy decision against shaky odds. Just as Obamaland was hoping, the movie is scheduled to open on Oct. 12, 2012 - perfectly timed to give a home-stretch boost to a campaign that has grown tougher."

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/otherviews/127067228.html?page=2&c=y

Also, you might want to take an opinion column written by someone known for her irreverence and plagiarism with a grain of salt.

"The moviemakers are getting top-level access to the most classified mission in history from an administration that has tried to throw more people in jail for leaking classified information than the Bush administration.

"It was clear that the White House had outsourced the job of manning up the president's image to Hollywood when Boal got welcomed to the upper echelons of the White House and the Pentagon and showed up recently - to the surprise of some military officers - at a CIA ceremony celebrating the hero SEALs."

Also, you might want to take an opinion column written by someone known for her irreverence and plagiarism with a grain of salt.

When it is opinion you can be sure I do.

Also note that this decidedly right wing view is coming from the New York Times, which would seem to single-handedly dismantle your theory that the mainstream media is just a pulpit for the left-wing agenda.

It is an opinion. To say that a Hollywood producer got "welcomed to the upper echelons of the White House and Pentagon" does not necessarily equal "Has access to top secret information and intends to reveal it to the public". In all likelihood, he's been given the chance to speak with top officials, who I'm certain will surely be careful to omit information they don't want the public to know.

You're extrapolating this into an extremely implausible scenario.

All readers back on topic please. Posts that do not focus on the shooting down of the helicopter will be removed.