Paul McCartney Schools MSM

Commando Team Wiped Out in Afghan Crash?

31 Americans, 7 Afghans killed in helicopter crash

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A military helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan, killing 31 U.S. special operation troops, most of them from the elite Navy SEALs unit that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, along with seven Afghan commandos. It was the deadliest single incident for American forces in the decade-long war.

http://news.yahoo.com/31-americans-7-afghans-killed-helicopter-crash-145151275.html

Never miss an opportunity to sell war propaganda. Instead of just telling us about the news, right there in the first paragraph we have to pull out the ghost of Bin Laden again.

Sometimes, when I hear news like this, I wonder if a crash even happened at all. It's not like our troops aren't in harm's way though, so let's not go too far off the ranch here, and go ahead and assume this crash did indeed occur. That the Chinook helicopter a group of commandos were flying in, was shot down by an insurgent rocket. But let's take a closer look at what's being reported here.

In the opening paragraph, they lead us to believe that the men who were killed are the same "heros" who killed Osama bin Laden. Indeed, that is what everyone is talking about. That the heros of the BinLaden raid have been murdered by the Taliban. Well, that's pretty convenient that the men who supposedly killed BinLaden are now dead too. After all, dead men tell no tales. And if you think Bin Laden was killed in that raid, then I will tell you about how my buddy just killed Bigfoot in Japan.

But digging a little deeper we see that the information about who was actually killed in the downing of the helicopter during a raid on insurgents, comes from unnamed sources. In other words, it could be completely fabricated. A yarn spun to pull at the heartstrings of Americans.

One current and one former U.S. official said that the dead included more than 20 Navy SEALs from SEAL Team Six, the unit that carried out the raid in Pakistan in May that killed bin Laden. They were being flown by a crew of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because families are still being notified.

That's not all I smell.

The Associated Press leaves themselves a back door here though when they add:

None of those killed in the crash is believed to have been part of the SEALs mission that killed bin Laden, but they were from the same unit as the bin Laden team.

Ok, Michael Jackson didn't come over to my house to use the bathroom. But his sister did!

Let's just see if there's anything missing!!!

But how about that Seal Team Six anyway? Oh, you mean that Seal team that doesn't exist? Oh, I get it, super-secret elite group, like our very own Al-Qaeda right? So secret they keep making headlines around the globe. Well, maybe Seal Team Six probably exists, they just can't tell us much about them right?

Naval Special Warfare Command is organized into the following configuration:

• Naval Special Warfare Group 1: SEAL Teams 1, 3, 5, 7
• Naval Special Warfare Group 2: SEAL Teams 2, 4, 8, 10
• Naval Special Warfare Group 3: SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1
• Naval Special Warfare Group 4: Special Boat Teams 12, 20, 22
• Naval Special Warfare Group 11: SEAL Teams 17, 18 (formerly Operational Support Teams 1, 2)

You know what I don't see there? A Seal Team Six.They might as well be telling us about the further adventures of the elite G.I. Joes.

Now just to be clear here. I am not trying to undermine the real tragedy here. I have close family in Afghanistan at this very moment, and have lost friends in Afghanistan and Iraq. Losing that many men in a single incident is a terrible loss. And they may very well have been elite forces as well, making it a severe blow to a small community of America's most prized operators. But just the same, let's not smear the tragedy with a face full of bullshit from the propaganda machine.

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