Afghanistan

Chinese Reportedly Get Peek at Secret SEAL Chopper

Pakistan has let the Chinese study — and take samples from — the stealthy MH-60 helicopter used by Navy SEALs in their raid that killed Osama bin Laden May 2, the London-based Financial Times reported Monday:

“The US now has information that Pakistan, particularly the ISI, gave access to the Chinese military to the downed

“DOD Identifies Service Members Killed In CH-47 Crash”

It’s kind of mind-numbing how we’ve become “used” to the historically small number of our troops dying in our recent wars. They tend to happen no more than a handful at a time, which I guess makes them easier to handle.

But every once in awhile you get a list like this, of those who perished early Saturday in the CH-47 …

Fog of War: Taliban Claim Chinook Killer Still Alive

As soon as we heard Marine General John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, was going to brief Wednesday morning, we knew he’d have something positive to say: a U.S. F-16 terminated the Taliban who downed the CH-47 Chinook in the Tangi Valley over the weekend with extreme prejudice early Monday.

But as sure as day …

Training Kills, Just Like the Taliban

The Pentagon is fretting whether or not to release the names of the 22 SEALs who perished in the CH-47 crash in Afghanistan on Saturday. Ultimately, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, after hearing the concerns of commanders about releasing the names of special-operations troops, has decided to do so. Their names should be out by …

Some Good Chopper News: Shootdowns at 15% of Vietnam’s Rate

The fact that the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan claimed Wednesday morning that the U.S. has killed those responsible for downing the CH-47 Chinook — killing 38, including 22 Navy SEALs — last weekend is good news, relatively speaking. “At approximately midnight on 8 August coalition forces killed the Taliban insurgents …

The Whack-a-Mole Endgame Begins in Afghanistan

Cap Ferrat, France

President Obama’s surge and de-surge strategy in Afghanistan has landed the United States in a strategic cul-de-sac. As America withdraws troops from remote areas of Afghanistan like the Tangi, Korangar, and Pech Valleys, insurgents are flooding back in to wreak havoc, necessitating US retaliatory raids, …

Second-Guessing the Doomed Chinook Mission

Pentagon corridors, and military blogs, are already aflame with whispered second-guessing following Saturday’s shoot down of the CH-47 in Afghanistan that killed 38, including 22 members of the elite SEAL Team 6 and their support element. No one likes to discuss publicly what — if anything — went wrong, but with five or more …

Afghan Chopper Tragedy, on PBS

[vodpod id=Video.14758247&w=425&h=350&fv=width%3D514%26amp%3Bheight%3D290%26amp%3Bvideo%3D2086102756%26amp%3Bplayer%3Dviral%26amp%3Bend%3D0%26amp%3Blr_admap%3Din%3Apbs%3A0]

Monday night, your Battleland scribe appeared on the PBS NewsHour to discuss the downing of the CH-47 in Afghanistan.

Pondering the Decade Since 9/11

The news of the shooting down of a Chinook with 30 U.S. troops, mostly Special Forces, dead is chilling.

With the 10th anniversary of 9/11/2001 fast approaching, it heightens the sacrifices of the military, as President Obama recently remarked.

I often think that we—we being both the military and the nation—have not really …

Suicides, PTSD and Drug Abuse Among Combat Vets

Once again, the Congressional Research Service has badgered a federal agency – in this case the Department of Veterans Affairs – and come up with snapshots about how U.S. vets seeking VA services are faring (CRS reports are not officially released to the public – dammit, you paid for them, and Congress works for us, so why does …

SEALs Emerge, Blinkingly and Broken-Heartedly, From the Darkness

The war in Afghanistan is pushing the Navy’s SEALs — long hidden in the pitch-black world of special operations — into the shadows. While we can now discern some of what the Pentagon likes to call their TTPs — tactics, techniques and procedures — there’s still much we can’t see. But it’s plain that the recent double-barreled news …

How the Taliban Brought Down the SEALs’ Chopper

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbAPSlYRA40]

I have flown in CH-47 Chinook helicopters over Afghanistan, like the one shot down on Saturday, which killed 38 people, including 22 members of the elite SEAL Team 6. Believe me, it’s not a ride for the fainthearted. In addition to needing straps for rucksacks and weapons, you need …

  1. 1
  2. ...
  3. 20
  4. 21
  5. 22
  6. ...
  7. 33