14 Americans and several Afghans Killed in Helicopter Accident in Afghanistan

[Cowlesy]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/world/asia/27afghan.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print


October 27, 2009
14 Americans Die in Afghan Helicopter Crashes
By DEXTER FILKINS

KABUL — Fourteen Americans were killed in Afghanistan on Monday in two separate incidents involving helicopters.

Seven American soldiers and three civilians were killed in a helicopter crash in western Afghanistan, military officials said, and in southern Afghanistan, the midair collision of two coalition helicopters resulted in the deaths of four U.S. soldiers. A spokeswoman said gunfire from insurgents was not to blame for the collision.

The spokeswoman, Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, would not specify an exact location for the deadly crash in the west, although she said the craft was a large Chinook helicopter and the military was “98 percent sure that insurgent activity was not involved.”

A reported 26 people were injured in the crash — 14 Afghan Army soldiers, 11 U.S. troops and an American civilian.

Not sure why the title of the article and the numbers don't add up, but it (@#)$@#)($@# sucks.

Bring'em home.

[olehounddog]

Do think they are gonna say 3 choppers got shot down? 98 % sure? wonder what formula they use for that #.
BRING'EM HOME NOW

[itshappening]

time to end this now

[Pants]

Americans are dying while our President is out playing Golf or campaigning. Playing the Violin while Rome is burning.

[rpfan2008]

Hope THIS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igla) was not the cause.

[Cowlesy]

It is so easy to seem so disconnected from it, but there are probably several spouses, parents and kids who lost a spouse, son or daughter or parent in some far-off desert, FOR WHAT?????????????

"Fight'em there so we don't fight'em here????"

Even Admiral Mullen says AL QAEDA ISN'T EVEN IN AFGHANISTAN anymore, they're all in PAKISTAN --- so WHY are we still there making widows of Americans.

:mad::mad::mad::mad:

So these stupid sh*theads like Kristol and Kagan can bring Democracy to Afghanistan? GTFO.

If I were President, Executive Order #1 would be to send those a-holes to the front-lines, with BB Guns.

[PBrady]

At least a couple who died (haven't seen any exact number) were DEA agents.

Unbelievable.

[brandon]

Do think they are gonna say 3 choppers got shot down? 98 % sure? wonder what formula they use for that #.
BRING'EM HOME NOW

That's what I was thinking.

98% my ass.

[olehounddog]

At least a couple who died (haven't seen any exact number) were DEA agents.

Unbelievable.

Probably placing an order for the next shipment.;)

[Scofield]

What the hell is the DEA doing in Afghanistan?

[Bruno]

What the hell is the DEA doing in Afghanistan?

well, poppy production is at all time highs since we entered the country, so I imagine they were just doing their jobs of pretending to do something

[rpfan2008]

YouTube - Former D.E.A. Agent Michael Ruppert On C.I.A. Drug Dealing 5 Of 11 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaNWOGttzgs&feature=related)

[HOLLYWOOD]

"...three American law-enforcement officials were killed." Who's paying for Law enforcement in Afghanistan? I didn't know, American laws apply to a foreign sovereign nation.

It will all be swept under the political carpet as Heroism, with fat life insurance payments, medals, certificates, and honor guards, for the government pawns.

So sick of this crap by the lying Elitists...

16 dead 2 weeks ago...
12 dead last week...
14 so far this week...

Military Industrial Complex and .Gov power and money profiteers, enjoying more future funneling of taxpayer monies.

Perpetual Profit and Power Scheme

Liberals & Lefties? Code Pink? Anti War protesters? Democratic party? MSM? Air America? Uh I forgot... the more important issues getting; Gay marriage passed, Saving the 3-eyed speckled toe frog, and Gulf Stream jets for Imperial Congress... how silly of me to forget. :rolleyes:

[Meatwasp]

When are the American people going say enough is enough. I just grieve for those families of the fallen soldiers. When will it end!!!!

[phill4paul]

I want these guys home safe. I want them to understand that the sacrifices of their fellow troopers were not in vain if they come back w/ a clear understanding that each and everyone of them are the ones that have the power to wage war. Not the politicians. Not the generals in the board rooms.
God I am so sick of a one party political system that would waste the youth of out nation on perpetual war.

[qh4dotcom]

When are the American people going say enough is enough. I just grieve for those families of the fallen soldiers. When will it end!!!!

Another 7 American soldiers who sadly trusted the politicians in Washington with their lives, went to Afghanistan looking for trouble and paid for their foolishness with their lives. What a pity.

It's not the American people who should have to say enough is enough...it's the soldiers the ones who should have the guts to do that and resist being deployed. If everyone resisted there would be no Iraq or Afghanistan war now.

[Bucjason]

I'm sure these dead soldiers parents will be consoled when they remember that thier president is a Nobel Peace Prize winner....

[Cowlesy]

Chalk up another 8 American Soldiers dead in Afghanistan because of bombings.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/world/asia/28afghan.html?hp

[MRoCkEd]

Gotta love war.

[constituent]

Another 7 American soldiers who sadly trusted the politicians in Washington with their lives, went to Afghanistan looking for trouble and paid for their foolishness with their lives. What a pity.

It's not the American people who should have to say enough is enough...it's the soldiers the ones who should have the guts to do that and resist being deployed. If everyone resisted there would be no Iraq or Afghanistan war now.

I hope you're bracing for it...

[constituent]

Gotta love war.

It's not war that's keeps them going, it's the glory.


Beyond Hero Worship
by Norman Solomon

"Happy is the country which requires no heroes," Bertolt Brecht commented. Today, by that standard, the United States is a very unhappy country.

These days, the public's genuine eagerness for heroes is difficult to gauge. If media output is any measure, the hero industry is engaged in massive overproduction. Whether the "products" are entertainers, star athletes or politicians, the PR efforts are unrelenting. Some brands catch on.

In mass culture, the media consumer is constantly encouraged to swoon for personalities who seem to turn glitz into a verb. From MTV to the mall multiplex, the role models are on the market, glorious in two dimensions.

Among politicians, heroism has become a holy grail. During his first months as president, George W. Bush -- a militarist without a military record to speak of -- could hardly qualify. On his resume, the only people he had killed were death row prisoners in Texas. But in the aftermath of 9/11, with the title of "wartime president" conferred on him, Bush made use of ample opportunities to sprinkle himself with heroic stardust, marinated in blood, from Afghanistan and Iraq. Others died, he preened.

Now, with the election scarcely two months away, the media spotlight is largely focused on military backgrounds. The partisan crossfire has put the big propaganda guns in the hands of veterans.

Someday, the news media may get around to re-examining the assumption that killing foreigners in their own country is the best patriotic credential imaginable.


The website this is source (http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0827-15.htm)d from sucks, but I think the article makes a good point. This is circa 2004, btw.