Report: Ninth helicopter downed in Iraq.
By on Feb 22nd, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Report: Ninth helicopter downed in Iraq.
Yet another U.S. helicopter has been downed by insurgent attacks in Iraq, according to Arab media reports being investigated by the Pentagon. If confirmed, it will be the ninth helicopter downed in Iraq since January 20. More here.
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Where is a Vet who’s been to Iraq to offer some insight as to why we’re sending choppers on suicide missions?
February 22nd, 2007 at 12:56 pmyes, the insurgency is in its last throes… their growing temerity in attacking US helicopters only proves their desperation! Once they start sinking our ships in the Persian Gulf, then we will have them and will have won!
/sarcasm
February 22nd, 2007 at 12:57 pmWe can’t travel the roads because of IED & other dangers.
Choppers move slow, but don’t need airports to land. As insurgents become better trained in RPG’s & bigger caliber guns, it will become commonplace to see choppers downed by ground fire.
Chimp ‘N Chief doesn’t care. It’s his war, & damnit, he’ll do as he pleases. Next he’ll be blaming Iran for exporting the weapons bringing down the choppers. No plan; just finger pointing. Well, here’s a finger for you Chimpman.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:00 pmThe Iraqis are becoming more sophisticated in their weaponry. If this keeps up, we won’t be able to get our troops out Iraq. And there will be no safe means of getting from the airport to the Green Zone.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:03 pmZim – I grasp the i.e.d. rationale for air ops, but doesn’t altitude come into play?
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:11 pmAnd Bush’s escalation is not going to put a stop to this, either. What a f**king mess, created by fascist neocons and supported by voters from “Stupidistan”.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:13 pmAhh more good news, maybe the generals will get tired of Little Hitler Bush and they’ll be the ones who say “No, sit down – shut up, we have all the guns”
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:22 pmThe Iraqis are becoming more sophisticated in their weaponry. If this keeps up, we won’t be able to get our troops out Iraq. And there will be no safe means of getting from the airport to the Green Zone.
Comment by CoffinsDrapedWithFlags
This sucks. Maybe they’re just now learning how to use our weaponry we’ve lost/sold in Iraq? Seems you don’t need to much sophistication to shoot down a slow moving helicoptor at low altitude, just good aim and one high powered rifle.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:26 pmCannon fodder.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:41 pmThe downing of helicopters is the fault of Democrat surrender monkeys.
/sarcasm off
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:41 pm#8, they’re not using high powered rifles to shoot down our helicopters, they’re using SAM’s. It’s unlikely in the extreme that anybody, no matter HOW good of a shot they are, could shoot down a helicopter with one rifle.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:56 pmTom,
Altitude certainly is a factor, assuming you mean can’t we fly the choppers higher than ground fire can reach?
We can, but they have to land at some point to pick up & deploy troops. I believe that’s when we’re getting hit.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:58 pmZim – Y, drop and pick exposure makes some sense, but I still think there are some tactical miscalculations being made somewhere, to end up with 9 birds on the ground in a very short time.
February 22nd, 2007 at 2:04 pmDale is correct. There was a report I saw yesterday that said that chopper #7 was most likely shot down with a Russian Surface to Air Missile (SAM). Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG) aren’t as accurate as SAMs are. SAMs usually have some type of heat seeking or laser guided technology. RPGs are usually an aim and fire technology without guidance.
So, while Bush wants to blame an Iranian president with poll numbers like his own, it appears to me that we may have other bigger players in this fight.
We helped the Iranians fight Russia, why wouldn’t the Russians help the Iraqis fight us?
Because we are such good friends with them?
February 22nd, 2007 at 2:09 pmSpudge,
“We helped the Iranians fight Russia, why wouldn’t the Russians help the Iraqis fight us?”
Do you mean the Afghans?
February 22nd, 2007 at 2:22 pmIt’s unlikely in the extreme that anybody, no matter HOW good of a shot they are, could shoot down a helicopter with one rifle.
Comment by Dale
Really? An AR-15 round shot into the jet-engine compressor housing would do it, EASILY. But SAMs are more fun, and get the job done EVERYTIME.
February 22nd, 2007 at 2:25 pm#16, what you’re talking about is commonly referred to as a ‘golden BB’. It’d have to hit EXACTLY the right spot (something that wouldn’t be easy w/a moving target), and it still wouldn’t necessarily bring the chopper down … plus, apaches (esp. the longbow variant) are armored.
No, with the execption of raking the chopper with small-arms for an extended period, the best way is to use SAM’s (or RPG’s, with the limitation Spudge mentioned).
Doubtful if Russia is behind this; they just don’t have the money anymore to support things like this. No, I’d still say that either Iran or Syria is supplying the weapons… SA-7’s (the Soviet-era version of the Stinger) are available on the black market.
February 22nd, 2007 at 2:45 pmYes, you are correct.
Yeesh, all these back room deals are hard to keep track of.
Yes, Afghans.
February 22nd, 2007 at 2:55 pmAll the reports so far mention small arms fire AND surface to air missiles. 50 caliber machine guns could probably bring down the average helicopter fairly easily… now picture half a dozen men shooting in a coordinated fashion from different angles while the helicopter descends for a drop off or whatever, plus the added RPGs, SAMs, etc.
Anyway its pretty pointless to debate. Whats more interesting to me is why NOW? You tellin me that it took the insurgents 4 freakin years to figure out how to use their weapons and then to figure out that helicopters were easy targets?
That russian angle actually makes a WHOLE lot of sense.
February 22nd, 2007 at 2:55 pmThey wouldn’t NEED a lot of money to support this… they have HUGE weapons stockpiles and still have a very capable military. All it would take was a few well trained special OPS guys to bring in some weapons shipments and show the insurgents how to use them. BAM!
February 22nd, 2007 at 2:56 pmSo, then you would also have to agree that Iranian manufactured weapons can be found on the black market?
February 22nd, 2007 at 3:00 pm#20, but they have nothing to gain. Sure, it’ll hurt us, and they may win some friends w/the insurgents, but it wouldn’t be worth the chance of us finding out.
February 22nd, 2007 at 3:00 pmNot sure I would call 50 caliber small arms.
A hell of a lot of fun to shoot though.
February 22nd, 2007 at 3:04 pmI am not sure Putin cares.
I have been saying all along that having our military stretched thin makes us vulnerable. When the Premier of China came to the US, he didn’t meet with George W Bush first, he went and talked to Bill Gates.
The Russians and Chinese have partnerships with Iran, who we are mad dogging right now and they have held joint military games in Dec. ‘04 against a “made up Western country.”
Who do you think that country is?
February 22nd, 2007 at 3:07 pmThe War Profiteers must love it.
At a cost of $16 million per Apache, replacing these helicopters will add nearly $150 million to their bottom line, and that’s just one month’s worth. At this rate, helicopter sales alone could total $2 billion this year.
February 22nd, 2007 at 3:20 pmEvery day we’re there means more money for Halliburton, Bechtel, CACI, KBR and others. It means more deaths of our guys for a hopeless cause. It means more tax revenue going to support this insanity at the expense of our own domestic needs.
February 22nd, 2007 at 3:34 pmAnother chopper down? How many lives and how much did it cost?
Look everybody – here are good, white, American guys who believe the same thing as that crazy leader of Iran:
http://www.finalsolution88.com/bigbook.htm
http://www.whiteprideradio.com/
http://www.natvan.com/national-vanguard/assorted/hoax.html
http://www.aryan-militia.com
http://www.americannaziparty.com/rockwell/materials/books/pdf/WhitePower.pdf
SO – anyone who wants to paste up some jibber-jabber emanating from muslims in the middle east – I invite you to get a real good taste of what your fellow citizens have to say about the world and the people in it, and then adjust your goddamned self-righteousness accordingly.
enough of this – somebody get us rid of the paste-troll, dammit!!!!!
February 22nd, 2007 at 4:13 pmaryan-militia
Do you know the seven aryan tribes . . one of them is Iranian ?? that means they are encouraging a sort of civil war ..No ??
February 22nd, 2007 at 5:12 pm#20, but they have nothing to gain. Sure, it’ll hurt us, and they may win some friends w/the insurgents, but it wouldn’t be worth the chance of us finding out.
Comment by Dale
First of all, thank you for being a civilized, well-spoken troll (in a non-offending sense).
Second, and on topic: The weapon business is not about making friends. It´s all about the money. US sells weaponry to almost every country in the world, even those warlords in Somalia. Russia must be doing the exact same thing.
Now, you ask what if US finds out? Come on!!! As if US didnt know how this works. US know exactly who is in the weapon selling business, Germany knows, Switzerland knows, etc. Of course they know whether Russia is providing weapons to insurgents or not. As Russia knew that US provided weapons to the Taliban. Thats what the whole weapon dealing business is about and governments make millions out of it. As long as we continue arguing about Dems or Reps, good or bad, muslim and christian, war corporations have a free ride and governments profit from it. We just get the sweet version of things.
February 22nd, 2007 at 5:26 pmwhy my post was erased?
February 22nd, 2007 at 6:07 pmbut it wouldn’t be worth the chance of us finding out.
Comment by Dale
Like US didnt know.
February 22nd, 2007 at 6:18 pm“A billion tons of cartridge rounds,
February 23rd, 2007 at 7:31 pmHelicopters downed with miss-siles!
Mix it up and make it nice,
POP! Goes the CHIMPya!!!!!”
My Trusted Cracks
I can not agree with you in 100% regarding some thoughts, but you got good point of view
March 19th, 2008 at 7:20 am