22 SEAL Team 6 members among those killed in Afghanistan

[krispos42]

Source: Los Angeles Times

By Laura King, Ken Dilanian and David S. Cloud, Los Angeles Times

August 6, 2011, 6:22 p.m.
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Washington—
Their name conjures up the most celebrated moment of America's post-Sept. 11 military campaigns. Now the Navy SEALs belong to a grimmer chapter in history: the most deadly incident for U.S. forces in the 10-year Afghanistan war.

Three months after they killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in neighboring Pakistan and cemented their place in military legend, the SEALs suffered a devastating loss when nearly two dozen of the elite troops were among 30 Americans who died when their helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan early Saturday.

It was the largest number of American troops killed in a single day in the war. U.S. officials said the helicopter appeared to have been felled by enemy fire, and the Taliban quickly claimed responsibility. Seven Afghan commandos and a civilian interpreter also were killed, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said.

No member of the Bin Laden raid team was among the dead, said a Pentagon official briefed on the casualties who was not authorized to speak publicly while families still were being notified. But he said 22 of the 30 were Navy SEALs, and a significant number were members of SEAL Team 6, the unit that conducted the Bin Laden raid and is made up of just a few hundred of some of the best-trained fighters in the U.S. military.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghanistan-chopper-20110807,0,1729289.story

---

Shit.

:patriot:

Mods, this is an update: originally the story was that Seal Team Six was not on board.

[Yon_Yonson]

1. He Who Lives By The Sword Dies By The Sword

Another shot fired in anger to speed our own demise, to aid the
beast that hunts us, upon retreat from blurring skies.
We suffer the pain of blood flow amidst a sea of closing doors; clutching tightly to the sound of our own screams ... these words won't reach the shore.
Burning down the sky till there is nothing left; we smother every feeling under the weight of regret.
Our fists held in the air won't give us the strength to decide:
What's right? Who's wrong?
Where do we go from here?
And as we're sinking to the bottom, we leave our anchors unrestrained; because the promise of redemption escapes us.
Peacefully, I will sleep beneath the scorching sheets; and upon the ice of failure, I will dream that I am one with the flames; and in the wind, the world will hear my name

We kill ... they kill that be the nature of war which Washington and the Military Industrial Complex wants so badly!

[No Elephants]

15. Thank you for that.

[PoliticAverse]

2. CNN update to the story...

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/08/06/afghanistan.nato.helicopter.crash/index.html?iref=BN1&hpt=hp_t1

[buckrogers1965]

3. Coincidence?

Or intelligence and tactical capabilities that make our own look weak in comparison?

[quakerboy]

4. in the course of a 10 year war?

in which we have lost approx 1400 soldiers, while killing over 15000 apparent enemy. The downing of one helicopter?

I will go with coincidence. Thanks for playing.

[Ter]

7. A coincidence that they were the same team that allegedly killed bin Laden

One of three things happened:

1) Coincidence, out of thousands of forces there, they happened to die.

2) Somehow the Taliban was tipped it was Seal Team 6 in that helicopter. A high-ranking mole has infiltrated intelligence.

3) A false flag attack, that team knew too much of what happened (and what didn't). The US government did it.

[quakerboy]

8. " No member of the Bin Laden raid team was among the dead, "

From the article in the OP.

That pretty well blows out your option 3.

Next, the article also states that there are hundreds of seals. If we start seeing massive numbers of them die in multiple incidents, then you might have grounds to wonder about option 2. But until this is more than an isolated incident, its more than a little hyperbolic to suggest Afghan moles within our intelligence operation. Chinese and Israeli I would buy. But what does Afghanistan have to offer?

That said, let me offer up a 4th option, since you didn't read the article. Also from the article "Seven Afghan commandos and a civilian interpreter also were killed, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said."

So that opens up multiple other options... for instance traitors within the Afghan structure. I would rank that one as a "known known", far more likely than "High ranking moles" in the US structure.

Then again, we could build wild conspiracies on a single incident. Given the unknown nature of the "civilian interpreter", we could suppose he was a Blackwater stooge, and that Erik Prince got his orders from GW, on behalf of his bosom buddies, the Bin Laden family, to avenge their fallen son by killing some alternate members of seal team 6 who were not on the Bin Laden Raid.

Out of the thousands of forces sent into enemy territory, some will die. If Seals are sent out on the hardest missions against the toughest targets, in the middle of a very hostile nation, despite their extraordinary qualifications, they are more likely to run into trouble. Out of how many missions the seals do in Afghanistan and Iraq, its actually a testament to our well oiled machine that their body count is not higher than this incident.

[Ter]

23. Yeah, I missed that part

So option 3 is almost certainly eliminated. As for the Seals, I always found them fascinating and knew about Team Six well before the bin Laden raid. From all I have studied, they are roughly 2,500 US Navy Seals, and two dozen or so of the most skilled are picked for Team Six. They are as different as night and day. A regular Seal is tough, but a Team Six member is beyond elite.

When you watch TV and they feature the Seals showing off their skills and shooting targets, those are just the regular ones. Team Six is still relatively classified as to what they could do, and would never be showcased on a show.

\

[boppers]

27. "Team Six is still relatively classified ...and would never be showcased on a show."

Hilarious:
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-schedules/special.html?paid=1.403.26425.0.0
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1969126/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership_Secrets_of_the_Rogue_Warrior:_A_Commando%27s_Guide_to_Success

[Ter]

28. I stand by my comments 100%

Any buffoon can make a documentary. By showcased I meant go on a TV show and talk, give an interview, and demonstrate. Run of the mill Seals do this to act tough, the way white belts like to wear karate t-shirts, and the way amateur soccer players go into malls and restaurants proudly showing off their uniforms. The real elite don't do anything like this and never give away their secrets.

[boppers]

29. All three examples (TV, Movie, Book) were done with the ST6 team founder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Marcinko

It wasn't a run-of-the-mill SEAL, it was *the* ST6 SEAL.

The founder.

Others from ST6 have since published/produced/consulted, as well.

[AtheistCrusader]

10. Correlation/causation. You are lacking it.

The tip of the spear is most likely to encounter the enemy, and thereby most likely to suffer casualties. ST6, and the Seals in general, are an integral part of the tip of that spear. Kill ANY forward operators, and you are likely to hit one of them.

It's not like they are just occasionally called out for Bin Laden and other notables. They are in the thick of the shit, most of the time.

[No Elephants]

20. What lack? The poster asked a couple of questions to which no one here knows the answer for certain

The best any of us here can do is a wild guess.

[AtheistCrusader]

26. Parsimony.

It's a useful tool.

[proverbialwisdom]

14. Incomplete list.

Did you know this? I didn't until yesterday. It complicates things, doesn't it?

http://consortiumnews.com/2011/07/28/glimmer-of-hope-for-afghan-peace/

Glimmer of Hope for Afghan Peace
July 28, 2011

In a little-noticed policy shift, the Obama administration renounced “permanent” U.S. bases in Afghanistan, addressing a central demand of the Taliban. Its leaders have signaled that peace talks are possible if the United States agrees to pull out its troops, as Gareth Porter reported for Inter Press Service.

By Gareth Porter

The Taliban leadership is ready to negotiate peace with the United States right now if Washington indicates its willingness to provide a timetable for complete withdrawal, according to a former Afghan prime minister who set up a secret meeting between a senior Taliban official and a U.S. general two years ago....

[No Elephants]

16. "Apparent" enemy?

[quakerboy]

25. Apparent enemy

Thats the best count I can come up with. But I am not there. I have no idea if they are inflating their counts(though it sounds like a very military morale sort of thing to do, and would fit well with my image of the sort of people who have given us Abu Ghraib, the Tillman incident, etc), or if some of the supposed civillian deaths were actually enemy, or visa versa, or if we occasionally blow up a few more enemy in a hideout than we realized. so apparent.

[No Elephants]

19. I don't know about your second question, but I don't think it was coincidence.

They had info from somewhere, IMO>

[quakerboy]

5. Can we bring our boys home now?

[harun]

6. No one comes home anymore, at least not for long. Wars that end were so

20th Century. 21st Century it works a little different.

[No Elephants]

21. Boys?

[quakerboy]

24. and Girls.

sorry about missing that.

[quakerboy]

9. Was that their original title?

it now reads "SEAL Team 6 members among 38 killed in Afghanistan"

By reading the article, the words are a bit scrambled... Should maybe have been something more like "Seal team 6 members Among the 22 Seals killed in Afghanistan". or what it is now.

[democrank]

11. Bring the troops home.

~PEACE~

[Yon_Yonson]

12. Bring the troops home NOW

I recall back in early 2000 the military people/wannabes over on Military.com posted a video of a Russian troop carrier being blown up by ‘Afghan Freedom Fighters’ back during the Russian debacle. Body parts being thrown in all different directions and the Military.com people were having fun with this desecration of 18 Russians soldiers. Of course and needless to say the destroying equipment was all American made and supplied.

So yesterday we witnessed Karma in action, such a useless waste! There is no glory in war ... only death and destruction!


:banghead:

[Robb]

17. If you think any death from violence is "karma in action"

... You could stand to bone up on your zen. :eyes:

[rosesaylavee]

13. Bring the Troops home NOW.

[Bo]

18. DISINFO......

SOUNDS FISHY

[No Elephants]

22. In what respect, Charlie?