Reply #132: Iraqi Resistance shoots down US helicopter, 31 Marines KIA ar-Rutbah

[jmcgowanjm]

IRR Wednesday, 26 January 2005

The US forces also evacuated a large number of wounded troops. Other American vehicles, meanwhile, loaded up and hauled away the wreckage of the helicopter that had been scattered over an approximately two-kilometer area.

Local witnesses told Markarat al-Islam that they hoped the
Arab and Islamic news media would come and take pictures
of the extent of the losses, which are what the local
Resistance inflicts on the Americans every day. They said
that the Americans were forced to announce the downing of
this helicopter – something they seldom do –
because numerous delegations of people from Baghdad
and other provinces were scheduled to arrive in ar-
Rutbah Wednesday and some of them were bound to have
seen the crash or heard about
it.

a local amateur photographer managed to take a video of
the wreckage of the helicopter and hid it in his shoe
when passing through one of the checkpoints thrown up by
the Americans around the crash zone. The amateur
cameraman pledged to gave the film to the Mafkarat al-
Islam correspondent so still pictures from it can be shown
on the website as soon as the cassette arrives in the
editorial office. The photographer told the correspondent,
“If I knew that a satellite TVstation would broadcast it, I
would have given it to them, but unfortunately there’s
nobody else here that I can give the cassette
to.”

Centcom had to talk because MSM was coming
and pics had been taken-the only reason this got
out.