Blackhawk crashed- all 6 aboard killed

[Vympel]

Unknown what did it- the number killed, and the fact that the helicopter burst into flames when it hit, would put the odds against mechanical failure- mechanical failure tends to be less mild and the pilots can *usually* perform a hard landing that isn't as bad. An SA-7 hit against a Blackhawk is guaranteed to do severe damage however. One official said it might have been an RPG hit.

(sick and tired of tasteless "blackhawk down!" headlines)

Elsewhere, a soldier was killed in an attack up in Mosul.

BBC

Worst. Month. Since End of War. Ever.

[Admiral Valdemar]

It has indeed been hellish, there have been at least two chopper crashes and numerous organised attacks on key facilities. I'm wondering how long this can go on before public outcry is heard and something is done.

[BoredShirtless]

Mosul, Iraq's third largest city and close to the semi-autonomous Kurdish areas, was quiet until relatively recently.

Vympel, is the resistance getting squashed in some areas and spreading in others, or is it just spreading?

[The Kernel]

This is starting to remind me of the Russian occupation of Afghanistan...

[Superman]

Kernal, you might be on to something there. How many helicopters have we lost now?

[Vympel]

Vympel, is the resistance getting squashed in some areas and spreading in others, or is it just spreading?

I don't think it's gotten squashed anywhere- there certainly haven't been any great 'victories' on the part of US forces in this thing. In the North, it's relatively quiet, but there are still attacks it seems- they've taken a jump recently though.

It has indeed been hellish, there have been at least two chopper crashes and numerous organised attacks on key facilities. I'm wondering how long this can go on before public outcry is heard and something is done.

No news is good news

- 'Body bags'='transfer tubes'

- Bush made no mention of the Chinook crash whatsoever.

- Recently, when an army major and the head of operations of an American agency here sought to take a reporter for coffee at the Rashid Hotel [in Baghdad], where senior American personnel live and eat, a sentry told them that no reporter could enter the hotel without an escort from the press office. The American officials were more astonished than the reporter.

- While US officials in Iraq urge reporters to write about new schools, bridges and other facilities are being rebuild, they refuse to answer all questions about how much the projects cost, and how the money is being spent. Also, corporations like Bechtel which are doing work in Iraq are refusing to give out lists of subcontractors. Situations like these led the humanitarian organization, Christian Aid, to charge last month that "US $4 billion in oil revenues and other Iraqi funds earmarked for the reconstruction of the country has disappeared into opaque bank accounts administered by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the US-controlled body that rules Iraq.

- Others columnists and security experts have complained that the White House has either overstated, or misstated, positive news about Iraq. For instance, the Washington Post reports that recently Vice-President Cheney discussed a poll conducted in late summer by the Zogby polling organization, and done in conjunction with American Enterprise magazine, on the Sunday morning talk shows.

Later John Zogby, who conducted the poll, said he was "floored to see the spin that was put on my numbers..."
"I am not willing to say they [the administration] lied," Mr. Zogby said. "But they used a very tight process of selective screening, and when they didn't get what they wanted they were willing to manufacture some results. . . . There was almost nothing in that poll to give them comfort."

- Mr. Sorenson also says that a US soldier, with whom he reguarly exchanges e-mails, has told him that "casualties in Iraq are not reported unless the press is nearby and gets wind of them."

Good ol "Perception Management"

[Howedar]

Well fuck.

[The Kernel]

Kernal, you might be on to something there. How many helicopters have we lost now?

Only two post-war to my knowledge, but given that they both have been such huge media grabs (not to mention in the same week) it's pretty obvious that they plan to step up these kind of attacks and there isn't much that can be done about it.

[Sea Skimmer]

Unknown what did it- the number killed, and the fact that the helicopter burst into flames when it hit, would put the odds against mechanical failure- mechanical failure tends to be less mild and the pilots can *usually* perform a hard landing that isn't as bad.

If it had external tanks fitted that could do it. Though the distances in Iraq don't usually demand those, but then Blackhawks even when hit by hostile fire generally don't burn.

[Vympel]

In retaliation, American troops backed by Bradley fighting vehicles swept through Iraqi neighborhoods before dawn Saturday, blasting houses suspected of being hideouts for anti-coalition forces with machine guns and heavy weapons fire

"This is to remind the town that we have teeth and claws and we will use them," said Lt. Col. Steven Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment.

Yeah, whatever. Winning hearts and minds!

[The Dark]

In retaliation, American troops backed by Bradley fighting vehicles swept through Iraqi neighborhoods before dawn Saturday, blasting houses suspected of being hideouts for anti-coalition forces with machine guns and heavy weapons fire

"This is to remind the town that we have teeth and claws and we will use them," said Lt. Col. Steven Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment.

Yeah, whatever. Winning hearts and minds!

Isn't that the same thing we (as in certain politicians and board members) keep screaming at Israel for doing?

To misquote Sean Connery, "who's the terrorist now, dog?"

[Vympel]

Never say I wasn't fair: the buildings were abandoned. Which is quite a striking metaphor really ...