While Afghanistan is used as a ritual invocation of the Success of Bush's wars of liberation, there is still a war going on there. And it appears to be heating up: Chinook that crashed in Afghanistan likely brought down by enemy fire: Fate of 17 aboard unknown; terrain hampering rescue efforts by Joseph Giordono and Jason Chudy, Stars and Stripes Stars and Stripes Mideast edition 06/30/05. Emphases are mine:
"Initial reports indicate the crash may have been caused by hostile fire," Lt. Col. Jerry O’Hara, a Combined Joint Task Force-76 spokesman, said Wednesday. ...
The helicopter — flying with a second Chinook at the time of the crash — was part of Operation Red Wing, which U.S. military officials described as an ongoing effort launched after "a series of harassing attacks and intelligence-gathering activities against Afghan and U.S. forces" in Kunar Province. ...
Other pilots in Afghanistan said the incident, while tragic, was not unexpected.
"Last week, we had four of our own shot up. It’s something we think of quite regularly," said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert DePartee, a CH-47D pilot with Company D, 113th Aviation Regiment, an Oregon National Guard unit at Kandahar Airfield.
"The ’47 is a large target, but it has to take hits in certain areas to bring it down." ...
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Russell Smith, another CH-47 pilot with the Oregon Guard, said encounters with armed enemies were frequent. ...
If confirmed, Tuesday’s incident would be the first time enemy forces have shot down a U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan since Operation Anaconda in 2002. During that fight, a Chinook carrying special operations troops was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade and forced into an emergency landing. Six servicemembers were killed in an attempt to retrieve a seventh who had been killed after being knocked out of the helicopter when it was hit.
Tuesday’s crash is the second in Afghanistan involving a Chinook in recent months. On April 6, a Germany-based CH-47 Chinook crashed in a dust storm southwest of Kabul, killing 15 servicemembers and three civilians. The helicopter crew was part ofGiebelstadt’s Company F, 159th Aviation Regiment, known as "Big Windy." Also killed were several members of the Vicenza, Italy-based Southern European Task Force (Airborne).
That incident was single worst loss of life for U.S. forces since the 2001 invasion. There are around 19,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, along with another 10,000 from other countries.
There have been recent other reports recently indicating an increasing sophistication in guerrilla attacks in Afghanistant, possibly as a result of jihadist veterans of the Iraq War taking part. If this turns out to have been a shootdown, it could be another reflection of increased lethality in attacks there.
And if I'm not mistaken, 19,000 troops is the largest number the US has officially had there so far.
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