31 U.S. and 7 Afghan Soldiers killed in Afghanistan

[Public Enemy]

31 U.S. special forces troops, 7 Afghan soldiers perish in chopper downing by Taliban


KABUL, Afghanistan -- Thirty-one U.S. special forces troops and seven Afghan soldiers died when their helicopter was shot down during an overnight operation against Taliban insurgents in eastern Afghanistan, according to statement issued Saturday by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Most of the dead were U.S. Navy SEALs. It was the worst single-day toll for American forces in Afghanistan since U.S. troops entered that country nearly 10 years ago, and one of the largest tolls in a single incident of either the Afghan war or the fighting in Iraq.
The last time the U.S. military suffered such catastrophic losses was in January 2005, when 30 U.S. Marines and a sailor were killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq's Anbar province; throughout the country, another six U.S. troops died on the ground the same day.
U.S. officials in Afghanistan provided no details, but a senior Pentagon official in Washington confirmed that the helicopter had been shot down, though he said he could not provide details.
The Associated Press reported that the SEALs were from SEAL Team 6, the same unit that provided the troops for the May 2 raid that killed al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden, but that could not be verified independently. The Pentagon released no information on the dead.
That so many of the military's most elite forces could be killed shook troops around the world. It takes years to train a Navy SEAL unit, and however many of those killed on the Chinook were SEALs will have reverberations across the force.
Navy SEALs operate *******ily throughout Afghanistan conducting raids, searches and high-risk operations. Traveling in a group of a dozen or more, they go after high-profile targets or wanted figures, yet they rarely release details on their missions. But in 2008, then-President George W. Bush awarded a Navy SEAL, Lt. Michael Murphy, a Medal of Honor posthumously. He was the first Medal of Honor recipient from the war in Afghanistan.
A villager in the area where the helicopter went down told McClatchy he heard rocket fire. He said he later saw the helicopter burning in an orchard about a half-mile from his home.
"Smoke was rising from the helicopter," Mansour Majab said.
In his statement, Karzai said the helicopter went down in Maidan Wardak province, west of Kabul. He expressed his condolences for the deaths to President Barack Obama and the families of the American dead.
Obama issued a statement from the White House. It read:
"My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the Americans who were lost earlier today in Afghanistan. Their deaths are a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the men and women of our military and their families, including all who have served in Afghanistan. We will draw inspiration from their lives, and continue the work of securing our country and standing up for the values that they embodied. We also mourn the Afghans who died alongside our troops in pursuit of a more peaceful and hopeful future for their country. At this difficult hour, all Americans are united in support of our men and women in uniform who serve so that we can live in freedom and security."
The Afghan defense ministry confirmed the deaths of seven Afghan commandos in the crash. Gen. Zahir Azimy, the Afghan army spokesman, placed the crash in Logar province, however.
The Taliban claimed credit for the attack in a statement.
-------------------------


What a bloody day for the U.S. military. Whats weird about this incident is that 22 of the killed soldiers were NAVY SEALS, belonging to Seal Team 6... the crew which killed Osama Bin Laden. The Government claims that no members of Seal Team 6 that participated in the OBL raid were killed... but how do we know that when those names were never released?? Again, its the government's word we have to take over all others.

I am not sure what to believe anymore. Anyways, feel bad for those that got killed and won't return to their families.

[Swifto]

The Taliban got very lucky.

Sad to lose so much talent.

RIP.

[Shol'va]

Fvck it. It's more than time for us to either get serious over there or get out. No more pvssy footing around. Either we send them in to win the war or come home. I'm sick of this Sh*t. And since we know these guys are coming in from Pakistan and Pakistan refusing to stop it then they are fair game as well using everything at our disposal. Just My opinion. You can't win a war when you tie the military's hands behind their backs and give them a 10,000 page booklet on what to do and not to do while over there. War is war and you fight to win or GTFO. Again just my opinion

[Public Enemy]

Fvck it. It's more than time for us to either get serious over there or get out. No more pvssy footing around. Either we send them in to win the war or come home. I'm sick of this Sh*t. And since we know these guys are coming in from Pakistan and Pakistan refusing to stop it then they are fair game as well using everything at our disposal. Just My opinion. You can't win a war when you tie the military's hands behind their backs and give them a 10,000 page booklet on what to do and not to do while over there. War is war and you fight to win or GTFO. Again just my opinion

Mate, no amount of gun fire, bombings, raids, and offensives can slow down a insurgency which has already won the hearts and minds of too many Afghan people. The U.S. military can bombard Afghanistan to dust, but the insurgency will get stronger with every casualty.

This war was not meant to be won. America has to admit defeat... again. It was a ****ing stupid idea to begin with! Why the hell would you send in these soldiers to a place where war is as common as seeing clouds? The British, Soviets and others all believed they can win in that country, we all know what happened to them. The end result of this war will be America withdrawing, Insurgents more then likely waging full out war on Karzai regime and winning, Karzai and others will end up getting executed or fleeing, and then a Insurgent civil war will most likely spark to decide who takes Afghanistan. What did we get? Nothing, a country which will be as bad as it was during Taliban era, only worse with all the new toys the insurgents can now play with due to the help coming from Pakistan. Best solution for America is to pull out and leave and stop the aid to nations like Pakistan, Egypt and Israel and finally focus on the AMERICAN people. But this would not be the best solution for Afghanistan, because I predict that it won't take much for the Insurgents to smack around the Afghan regime after American soldiers are removed fully.

[Shol'va]

Mate, no amount of gun fire, bombings, raids, and offensives can slow down a insurgency which has already won the hearts and minds of too many Afghan people. The U.S. military can bombard Afghanistan to dust, but the insurgency will get stronger with every casualty.

This war was not meant to be won. America has to admit defeat... again. It was a ****ing stupid idea to begin with! Why the hell would you send in these soldiers to a place where war is as common as seeing clouds? The British, Soviets and others all believed they can win in that country, we all know what happened to them. The end result of this war will be America withdrawing, Insurgents more then likely waging full out war on Karzai regime and winning, Karzai and others will end up getting executed or fleeing, and then a Insurgent civil war will most likely spark to decide who takes Afghanistan. What did we get? Nothing, a country which will be as bad as it was during Taliban era, only worse with all the new toys the insurgents can now play with due to the help coming from Pakistan. Best solution for America is to pull out and leave and stop the aid to nations like Pakistan, Egypt and Israel and finally focus on the AMERICAN people. But this would not be the best solution for Afghanistan, because I predict that it won't take much for the Insurgents to smack around the Afghan regime after American soldiers are removed fully.

My feelings as well. I am just sick and tired of us losing all these great men of our military for nothing. Well not exactly nothing as big business is making tons of money off of the blood of our soldiers. Can you say military contractors? But we went to war in Irag because saddam had all those tons and tons of weapons of mass destruction and we had to invade to get them all out of his hands. Remember? No wait they never found anything did they? Yeah we have no business over there, again my opinion. All we are doing is making those people hate the US and give creedance to the Al Queda type groups that we are indeed invaders. If we find plots to cause the US harm then that is a different matter and we should send in our elite teams to take out the offenders. And we can do it as we got Osama Bin Laden that way so we know it works well with credible evidence. America used to be the most respected and feared country in the world. Now we are even losing our credit ratings. And the next time Congress and the Senate want to start a war overseas I say lets send them over there to fight it.

[Public Enemy]

My feelings as well. I am just sick and tired of us losing all these great men of our military for nothing. Well not exactly nothing as big business is making tons of money off of the blood of our soldiers. Can you say military contractors? But we went to war in Irag because saddam had all those tons and tons of weapons of mass destruction and we had to invade to get them all out of his hands. Remember? No wait they never found anything did they? Yeah we have no business over there, again my opinion. All we are doing is making those people hate the US and give creedance to the Al Queda type groups that we are indeed invaders. If we find plots to cause the US harm then that is a different matter and we should send in our elite teams to take out the offenders. And we can do it as we got Osama Bin Laden that way so we know it works well with credible evidence. America used to be the most respected and feared country in the world. Now we are even losing our credit ratings. And the next time Congress and the Senate want to start a war overseas I say lets send them over there to fight it.

****ing right on man. American people have been stepped all over for the past decade. Its time to take a stand and say enough is enough. These wars are not slowing down terrorism, they are giving people who hate the U.S. more propaganda to incite more hatred towards the United States. People need to realize that the Middle East does not dislike America because of freedoms and all that, they dislike the United States because of the invasions. What America should have done is aided the Norther ******** to take back Afghanistan and told Pakistan "You either stop supporting the Taliban, or we shut off the aid". But like you said man, this war was never about stopping Taliban or making Afghanistan peaceful, there is big money involved in these occupations... war is big business today.

[jasc]

Terrible man... RIP to our fallen...
We SHOULDN'T even be there... pull out, let them police their own nation. We send our soldiers in to hostile territory and continue to try to police nations that don't even want us there...
Our government cannot accept their failure to accomplish anything and will continue to send troops over there to try to prove a point. Its sad.. and if it's for $ and to show that we are the worlds police, how many lives must we lose? Whats a soldiers life worth? This stuff really irks me..
My little brother just left the military after being enlisted for 4 yrs and spending most of his time over there.. Thank god he came home alright, but the same can't be said for some of his friends.. RIP

[Times Roman]

Fvck it. It's more than time for us to either get serious over there or get out. No more pvssy footing around. Either we send them in to win the war or come home. I'm sick of this Sh*t. And since we know these guys are coming in from Pakistan and Pakistan refusing to stop it then they are fair game as well using everything at our disposal. Just My opinion. You can't win a war when you tie the military's hands behind their backs and give them a 10,000 page booklet on what to do and not to do while over there. War is war and you fight to win or GTFO. Again just my opinion

I vote we get out. Remember, we are spending $2billion/month here. The only people that want "us" here are those making a buck off us. The rest want us out.... which is the majority of the population. Thiis is NOT a war, we are nation building here, which is not, in my humble opinion, a proper role for the US government. If they want to nation build, let them build nations domestically, within our own borders.

[crazy_rocks]

even if we do decide to get out of there its still not over. we are still gonna be be pulling operations there for a very long time.

[38jumper38]

It's time to bring our boys back home.

[Str8Jakked]

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"- Life of Reason, Reason In Common Sense, Scribner's, 1905- Page 284

[wmaousley]

My ? for the US Navy is why were 3 teams of SEAL's on the same aircraft. DOD SOP for SF movements state clearly that all teams movements are to be done simultaneously but separate. (Not Together) Someone will get burned for this big time.

[lovbyts]

My ? for the US Navy is why were 3 teams of SEAL's on the same aircraft. DOD SOP for SF movements state clearly that all teams movements are to be done simultaneously but separate. (Not Together) Someone will get burned for this big time.

I hope so, pretty stupid call. RIP

[crazy_rocks]

My ? for the US Navy is why were 3 teams of SEAL's on the same aircraft. DOD SOP for SF movements state clearly that all teams movements are to be done simultaneously but separate. (Not Together) Someone will get burned for this big time.

if this is the case its not the first time the seals have made dumb dumb mistakes.

[Flagg]

It makes me laugh when people say "we should get serious over there", I mean how much more fvcking serious do people expect the US and Allied forces to be?

I mean Christ, does anyone think the Russian army are slouches? They couldn't get the job done in the 80's.

Lets all face it, you go to war with Afghanistan, and everyone dies. And that's the way it's been since the late 19th Century.

[dec11]

It makes me laugh when people say "we should get serious over there", I mean how much more fvcking serious do people expect the US and Allied forces to be?

I mean Christ, does anyone think the Russian army are slouches? They couldn't get the job done in the 80's.

Lets all face it, you go to war with Afghanistan, and everyone dies. And that's the way it's been since the late 19th Century.

i agree. and its home time

[Matt]

The reason we will never get the job done over there imo is because we live in a time when its classed as wrong to line up an entire village and shoot everyone. If the US wanted to defeat the taliban then without doubt they could stick two fingers up at the rest of the world and just slaughter everyone over there that they didn't like, end of story....

However, imo we shouldn't be over there, and should of left a long time ago. Lets stop trying to dictate how the world should live and leave them to it...

[Shol'va]

It makes me laugh when people say "we should get serious over there", I mean how much more fvcking serious do people expect the US and Allied forces to be?

I mean Christ, does anyone think the Russian army are slouches? They couldn't get the job done in the 80's.

Lets all face it, you go to war with Afghanistan, and everyone dies. And that's the way it's been since the late 19th Century.

I was one who said that only because our government has made it impossible to fight a real fight over there with so many restrictions to fighting. It's insane we have to be all touchy feely and not disrespect their laws or their religion or this or that while attempting to kill them. If there are women or children outside we can't shoot at the bad guys. If the bad guys haven't said prayer we have to stop and wait till their finished before we kill them. If the sunsets on a certain day we can't kill anyone that day. We must stop our shooting to respectfully bury the dead we just shot in accordance with their religion directly after killing them. And the list goes on. Ok maybe not all true but you get the picture. A war cannot be fought and won when you put so many restrictions on the fighters that they cannot do their jobs without putting them all at an unnecessary risk due to an insane political correctness gone wild. If the American military's hands were so bound like this during WW2 Germany would now be the one world system. My opinion But again to me bottom line that I think we can all agree on is we need to get out of there and let them settle it for them selves.

[Flagg]

So you think the rules of engagement dictate that we should shoot through women and children if there is reasonable cause to believe the bullets will reach a suspected target?

No offence but perhaps you should do a little more research. Do you have any idea how many civilian lives have been lost over there? You do realise, that when some dickhead soldier accidently shoots someones kid or someones sister/mother, you are effectively creating, another terrorist.

And again, the Russians didn't give a shit about collateral damage, yet they still couldn't get the job done in the 1980's.

Do you want the region nuked off the map or something?

Yes I agree with you on the fact that we should get out of there. Money being spent to rebuild other countries, when it's countries at home that are in dire need of fixing.

[Times Roman]

The reason we will never get the job done over there imo is because we live in a time when its classed as wrong to line up an entire village and shoot everyone. If the US wanted to defeat the taliban then without doubt they could stick two fingers up at the rest of the world and just slaughter everyone over there that they didn't like, end of story....

However, imo we shouldn't be over there, and should of left a long time ago. Lets stop trying to dictate how the world should live and leave them to it...

Until recently, warfare doctrine would have the slaughter of the losing side, and there would be no more enemy.

Some suggest, in the darkness of night behind closed doors, that this is the only solution to the Isreali / Palestine problem. We should leave them alone, and one side will wipe out the other side, and there will be no more conflict.

[Shol'va]

So you think the rules of engagement dictate that we should shoot through women and children if there is reasonable cause to believe the bullets will reach a suspected target?

No offence but perhaps you should do a little more research. Do you have any idea how many civilian lives have been lost over there? You do realise, that when some dickhead soldier accidently shoots someones kid or someones sister/mother, you are effectively creating, another terrorist.

And again, the Russians didn't give a shit about collateral damage, yet they still couldn't get the job done in the 1980's.

Do you want the region nuked off the map or something?

Yes I agree with you on the fact that we should get out of there. Money being spent to rebuild other countries, when it's countries at home that are in dire need of fixing.

Unfortunately yes I do...Way too many. 1 is too many. However with that said Do you know how many the Taliban have killed? And why are there no terrorists against the Taliban when they kill all those over there? Since we are the infidels, we should leave, besides nothing we do or say is going to affect anything over there. And the reason the Russians lost... Too Much Vodka..

[paulzane]

Sorry to hear!

[Times Roman]

So you think the rules of engagement dictate that we should shoot through women and children if there is reasonable cause to believe the bullets will reach a suspected target?

No offence but perhaps you should do a little more research. Do you have any idea how many civilian lives have been lost over there? You do realise, that when some dickhead soldier accidently shoots someones kid or someones sister/mother, you are effectively creating, another terrorist.

And again, the Russians didn't give a shit about collateral damage, yet they still couldn't get the job done in the 1980's.

Do you want the region nuked off the map or something?

Yes I agree with you on the fact that we should get out of there. Money being spent to rebuild other countries, when it's countries at home that are in dire need of fixing.

There's a reason the Russians refer to Afghanistan as the Russian Viet Nam. The Russians didn't lose the war due to lack of capability. And in fact, early on, they were kicking the Afghan's butts. But the politicians became involved, and wanted continuous progress, and success, like they had early on. Which forced the Russians into battles they should never have gotten involved in. They were forced to over reach, and the Afghans chopped their hands off. The politicians were insistant about involving heavy armour, against the recommendations of their generals. So long columns of heavy armour would weave in and out of skinny valleys, trying to get to where the action was. Which made them very vulnerable. And the Afghans capitalized on this weakness. They would createe avalanches of large boulders behind the column, then in front, effectively stopping the entire column. Then, the Afghans could take their time, from high up in the mountains, reigning down RPG's and anti tank weapons, killing everything. Heavy armour is the opposite of what it takes here to succeed. The generals knew it. Had they succeeded in convincing the politicians to let them fight the war the right way, it is highly probable the outcome would have been entirely different.

[crazy_rocks]

^ yup plus they tried converting afghan to a communist country and most were not gonna go along with it even though there was some support. they needed afghan so they could built a passage to the indian ocean. if they couldnt convert the population then they would have to fight forever as long as they wanted passage. that of course wouldnt work. you can only fight so long. i actually met a former afghan general who was on the soviets side. they even sent him to moscow to get educated as an investment into the communist future of afghanistan. i happy we were able to take mountain strongholds that the soviets couldnt take.

[*Anonymous*]

Terrible loss of life.

[Shol'va]

There were other contributing factors for the Russian failure in Afghanistan as well. For instance the US was also involved, helping the Afghans and training Osama Bin Laden teaching him how to fight the war against those commie infidels. It was our way of paying Russia back for supplying all that ammo to the viet cong in the Vietnam war. But unfortunately for Us Osama came back later in life to bite us in the butt. (Twin Towers).

[crazy_rocks]

There were other contributing factors for the Russian failure in Afghanistan as well. For instance the US was also involved, helping the Afghans and training Osama Bin Laden teaching him how to fight the war against those commie infidels. It was our way of paying Russia back for supplying all that ammo to the viet cong in the Vietnam war. But unfortunately for Us Osama came back later in life to bite us in the butt. (Twin Towers).

also the soviets field tested a sniper rifle in vietnam...on us.

[auslifta]

Does anybody else think this does not add up? Seal team 6 was on that helo, the same team that "took down" osama. So many seals in one helo. I think there is more to this story than we will ever know about. Too many things don't add up about it. The whole Osama raid was suss to begin with, with the way the body got "dumped". Then this crash happens, in a chinook, (that is pretty hard to take down) filled with seal team 6. The team the seals call on when they need the best.

[crazy_rocks]

Does anybody else think this does not add up? Seal team 6 was on that helo, the same team that "took down" osama. So many seals in one helo. I think there is more to this story than we will ever know about. Too many things don't add up about it. The whole Osama raid was suss to begin with, with the way the body got "dumped". Then this crash happens, in a chinook, (that is pretty hard to take down) filled with seal team 6. The team the seals call on when they need the best.

they were from team 6 but each seal team is like an organization, not some platoon size force like some civilians think. a seal team is at a naval base then eventually its broken down into squadrons or something. it wasnt the same squadron that was on the raid...they say. if some of the guys who were on the helo were also on the osama raid it may be kept secret because its that much more of a victory to the enemy. we would not wanna give them that satisfaction.

as far as the body the body being dumped fast. yeah i guess but make no mistake we got him whether he dead or a prisoner somewhere. i dont see the connection of the body being dumped to fast and the crash in a chinook being fishy, unless you were getting at something else.

theres usually something were not told though. thats how it should be. i wouldnt have it any other way.

[auslifta]

I know how the SEALS are organised, I have a bit of knowledge on elite military units. Team 6 were reported on that chopper. Team 6 were supposedly the ones that raided osamas compound. There were alot of suspcious circumstances around that raid. And now the team that can be connected to it are all dead. You dont see the connection? Right when the credit rating of America got down graded for the first time ever, surely that would make front page news and make all other news swept under the rug.

[crazy_rocks]

I know how the SEALS are organised, I have a bit of knowledge on elite military units. Team 6 were reported on that chopper. Team 6 were supposedly the ones that raided osamas compound. There were alot of suspcious circumstances around that raid. And now the team that can be connected to it are all dead. You dont see the connection? Right when the credit rating of America got down graded for the first time ever, surely that would make front page news and make all other news swept under the rug.

there were i think 2 seals from other teams in that helicopter also. but no the team that did the osama raid are not all dead like you say. thats why there is no connection. as far as reported none of these seals were on the osama raid but who knows maybe some actually were. some. what would be the chances if all the seals from the osama raid also being in that helicopter?

to be specific though team 6 lost 10% of its men. that shows you how big that team is. now of course the osama raid wasnt even a seal mission itself. it was a delta force, seal combined mission and of course a few cia. that reduces the number of seals on that raid a bit.

as far as the news. i dont see much swept under the rug regardless of what alex jones says. there has been plenty of coverage on the economy and the credit rating, london riots...but naturally one story will take priority over another. theres always something to report.

[wmaousley]

I know how the SEALS are organised, I have a bit of knowledge on elite military units. Team 6 were reported on that chopper. Team 6 were supposedly the ones that raided osamas compound. There were alot of suspcious circumstances around that raid. And now the team that can be connected to it are all dead. You dont see the connection? Right when the credit rating of America got down graded for the first time ever, surely that would make front page news and make all other news swept under the rug.

They were 21 from SEAL Team 6, but none from the bin laden raid, stop with the conspiracy theory's. Pentagon released a statement saying no member of the Bin Laden raid team was on board that HELO.

Update from Ft. Benning, Ga; 1st BTN 75 Rangers were pinned down in a fire fight, and the SEAL Teams (That were shot down) were the QRF (Quick Reaction Force)that was supposed to support them with fire support.

[terraj]

Who gives a fvck?

Nice one man....enjoy your short stay here arsehole

[terraj]

Lol...I knew it.

I actually agree with some of what you say in the first paragraph, but I could not speak poorly of those decreased....to sad a loss, your government has much to answer for.

[Times Roman]

What else?
Oh yeh, baselines a racist, stevey's still suckn zyzzs cock in his coffin, times roman is still occassionally an asshole. Dec11 is the asshole most of the time. Auslifta believes in conspiracies, stack it is still stackin it, dsm is still burying it, marcus is still writing long boring interviews, bojangles is still the man.

Well, I'm glad we're not being judgemental here...

[Matt]

What else?
Oh yeh, baselines a racist, stevey's still suckn zyzzs cock in his coffin, times roman is still occassionally an asshole. Dec11 is the asshole most of the time. Auslifta believes in conspiracies, stack it is still stackin it, dsm is still burying it, marcus is still writing long boring interviews, bojangles is still the man.

Do you know how fvckin sad you look coming back to a place your not wanted, you must really lead a sad sad existence....

[Shol'va]

Holy crap...I didn't see that one coming at all and I used to be able to spot him a mile away. I need glasses. lol

[FRANK WHITE]

This is an older thread but an important one. Believe me or not. I don't care. SEAL team six did not lose 21 members that night. There where a couple SEAL members but the rest were Afghan commandos. God bless America

[lovbyts]

So you bumped an old post to tell us this rumor? Why do you say this?

[FRANK WHITE]

Because I was reading through it and felt I needed to say that.