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-RetweetTimes Online: Too Close to Bin Laden

Sat, Jul 9, 2005 at 7:54:10 pm PDT

Downed US Seals may have got too close to Bin Laden.

THE first sign of trouble was a radio message requesting immediate extraction. A four-man team of US Navy Seal commandos had run into heavy enemy fire on a remote, thickly forested trail in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

Trouble turned to disaster when a US special forces helicopter carrying 16 men was shot down as it landed at the scene, killing all on board. Almost two weeks later, a mission that led to the worst US combat losses in Afghanistan since the invasion in 2001 has turned into an extraordinary manhunt. It has also opened an intriguing new front in the coalition’s battle against terrorism.

The story of Operation Red Wing, a US-led search for Taliban and Al-Qaeda guerrillas in the mountain wilderness of Kunar province, contains remarkable human drama and an unresolved military mystery.

For five days amid the hostile peaks and ravines along Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan, a lone American commando eluded the guerrillas who had killed at least two of his colleagues and destroyed the Chinook helicopter.

When the unnamed Seal finally collapsed from exhaustion he was found by a friendly Afghan villager who summoned US forces. The subsequent search for his colleagues turned up two bodies and the manhunt for the fourth commando continues this weekend despite claims by Taliban guerrillas yesterday that he had been captured and beheaded.

“We killed him at 11 o’clock today; we killed him using a knife and chopped off his head,” declared Abdul Latif Hakimi, a Taliban spokesman who has made several false claims in the past.

Yet whatever the final death toll from the worst incident in the history of the Seals — the Sea Air Land Commandos — there were tantalising hints that the original mission had been far from routine.

According to former special forces officers and other military sources, the four-man Seal strike team may have come too close to one of the US-led coalition’s highest-priority targets — perhaps Mullah Muhammad Omar, the former Taliban leader, or even Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda. Other military sources suggested the target was a regional Taliban commander suspected of links with Al-Qaeda.

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74 comments

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1 mpax  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 5:55:38pm

Some day we will wake up to the headline that Hell has a new occupant, name o' bin Laden

2 O'Neill  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 5:56:11pm

All I can say to the boys is "Good Luck", and I hope the beheading story is bullshit.

S!

3 dll2000  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 5:58:19pm

Get close then daisy cutter. Repeat as necessary.

4 blutonazi98  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 5:59:22pm

i pray for the recovery and safety of our navy seals. they are our best.

5 mpax  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 5:59:24pm

I find the story of the beheading farfetched. If they, Heaven forfend, captured a US soldier, they'd make it a huge deal and play it for all it's worth. Photos, video, the whole nine yards. the one thing we can be sure about with the islamofascists is that evey word they say is a lie, including "and" and "the" (apologies to mary McCarthy)

6 Bubble Girl  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:01:30pm

Why so few men on this mission? Strange...

7 Anthony (Los Angeles)  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:02:35pm

I notice they quote Wretchard of The Belmont Club blog twice -- yay!-- but misidentify it as a "military blog" --boo!

Even if this mission was a failure, it has to have bin Laden and Mullah Omar worried. Bin Laden thought we were too weak to stick with it: Guess what, pal, we're coming for you and we ain't never giving up!

(As long as we don't elect John Kerry...)

8 dll2000  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:03:36pm

We cant put GPS devices on our special forces guys that help us locate them when in trouble? I know it can conceivably be hacked and then would be a nightmare, but we are the U.S. we need to work harder and smarter.

Problem is Dem politicians give our tech to commies in the interest of friendship who have no problem passing it on to Mullah Mullah Kareem Skyhook Jabberjaw.

9 brianstien  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:04:54pm

Part of me believes (hopefully) that the beheading claim is BS - particularly since the Islamofucks disseminate those videos with such glee - and there's no video here.

OTOH, I wonder if those same Islamofucks don't want to risk showing such a video, thereby pissing off some of the most lethal, badass mofos in the known universere; ie: the US Special Forces.

10 Great Cthulhu  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:04:58pm

FBI: Fire at mosque probed as hate crime

A fire at a Bloomington mosque early Saturday is being investigated as a hate crime by the FBI and members of its Joint Terrorism Task Force. The incident took place at the Islamic Center of Bloomington, where a ground-floor window was broken and an incendiary device was used to start a fire, an official of the mosque said.

FBI Agent Wendy Osborne confirmed that the FBI "received information on an attempted arson or some type of fire that occurred in Bloomington."

"The FBI did respond, and we are investigating and treating this incident as a hate crime, which we take very seriously," Osborne said.

Task force members are officers from local police departments. The force is used to assist the FBI in investigating any domestic or international terrorist act, she said.

A member of the mosque who stopped by between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. to use the restroom at the two-story brick building, located at 1925 E. Atwater Ave., discovered the fire before it caused extensive damage, said Nathan Ainslie, president of the mosque's executive board.

A burned Quran, Islam's holy text, was found near the broken window, and fire damage inside the building was limited to a wall, Ainslie said.

When asked if the mosque had received any messages or threatening calls, he said, "Not to my knowledge. I can't comment on some of this stuff, because the investigation is ongoing."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, D.C., released a statement Saturday saying, "We can only hope that the vandalism and fire were not prompted by the tragic events that occurred in London on Thursday."

On the day terrorists set off explosions in London, the council issued a statement advising mosques in the United States to step up safety measures, noting that at times of international crisis, anti-Muslim incidents nationwide tend to increase.

In its 2005 annual report, the agency noted it had received 141 reports of actual or potential violent anti-Muslim hate crimes in 2004, a 52 percent increase from the 93 reports received in 2003.

Ainslie said it was fortunate the mosque member stopped by. He said it is not unusual for the mosque to have members coming in at all hours of the day and night. "Students come here to pray, study or use the restroom," he said.

The incident left members of the 200-member mosque shaken but confident the act is not representative of the people of Bloomington. "We've had incidents of people throwing beer bottles and breaking our sign, but nothing like this, nothing so clearly a hate crime," Ainslie said.

"This is an attack on all the citizens of this city. It's an attack on peaceful, law-abiding people."

Ainslie said the mosque occasionally holds open houses.

"We plan to have another one in a couple of weeks," he said, "to invite members of the community to come and see what we are all about."

How much do you want to bet this ends up being a mosque members doing? Kinda fishy that members were there to put out the fire before it got out of control...

11 Bubble Girl  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:05:25pm
12 Egfrow  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:05:48pm

#6 Bubble Girl

My question is not why so few seals. That's how they best operate in small close knit teams. My question is how and why they were dropped into a meat grinder without knowing it was there? What happend to intelligence and recon operations? Then how as a seal team in a chopper so easily take out? Where was the Gunship air support?

13 Rayra[deleted]  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:06:00pm
14 jrdroll  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:06:27pm

#6

Why so few men on this mission? Strange...


Um They are US Navy Seal commandos.

15 ronaldusmagnus  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:06:38pm

That "other" high level guy is presumed to be Hekmatyar (sp?). He is one mean and ugly puss. He's one of the unspeakable bastards we had to cut a deal with during the Afghan wars of the 1970's and 1980's in order to help the muj give the boot to the Soviets.

The bastard repays us today by helping out obl and omar.

Empty a few silos on that whole area. Send them all back to hell.

16 Sol Roth  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:07:29pm

A. Pervez Musharraf please:
1. get the fuck out of the way,
2. throttle the Islamics in the region that get in the way,
3. reward the Paks that help our effort,
4. give us your Islamobomb before you get whacked and the Islamonazis seize it.

B. There WILL be homicidal payback for what these wackjobs did to the SEALs. I will bet the farm on it.

17 jlfintx  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:07:57pm

Bubbles, look at the forarms on that guy!

I sleep real peaceful knowing these young bucks got my back.

18 gymnast  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:08:14pm

This is the most coherent reporting of these events so far. Hopefully the end result will more than balance the cost and bring proper recognition to those whose sacrifice leads to ultimate victory over our foes.

19 Tanker J.D.  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:09:04pm

#6 BG

16 is the size of a special forces team. They are small, highly trained, very mobile; and trained to act as the cadre for a large (battalion sized) element of indigineous troops...

So, not suprising only 16 on this type mission...

20 jlfintx  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:09:37pm

Rayra, do a search of Black George Bush and it will be on that thread and Reaganite as well.

21 Rayra[deleted]  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:10:29pm
22 Bubble Girl  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:11:32pm

14

See 12...

I have the same questions... about this mission..

23 DCWonkWatchr  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:11:46pm

# 11 Bubble Girl

[Link: www.newsday.com...]

The SEAL LT found with Danny Dietz, from LI

24 sven10077  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:12:36pm

#6 Bubble Girl,

SpecOps operators don't grow on trees. The smaller the team the lower a profile and smaller the footprint they leave is. If they seriously think OBL is near they will start using LRSUs in the coming weeks and OBL won't even know they are there.

25 Terrye  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:13:32pm

These men usuallly work in secret in very small units. I have to admit I was surprised that this was the worse incident they have had. I would have thought they had faced losses before. They are the best of the best.

I am not sure if BinLaden is dead or alive or where he is, but I wish very much that we could get him and know we got him.

26 Tanker J.D.  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:14:38pm

from BG's link:

Last week, after the four cornered SEALs radioed for help, eight more SEALs and eight soldiers from the Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the Night Stalkers, flew toward the mountains in a Special Forces MH-47 Chinook helicopter.

this tells you what unit/ unit make-up the casualties were from...

that's more telling...

27 gymnast  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:14:59pm

#10, great cthulhu. From the evidence, it looks like a simple case of spontaneous combustion to me.

28 Rayra[deleted]  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:15:09pm
29 mpax  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:15:44pm

OT, but did y'll see this on Tim Blair's site?
[Link: www.werenotafraid.com...]

30 jrdroll  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:16:16pm

#22 bg

My question is how and why they were dropped into a meat grinder without knowing it was there? What happend to intelligence and recon operations? Then how as a seal team in a chopper so easily take out? Where was the Gunship air support?


The chopper was shot down. The event was f@22ed. Such is life.

31 KarmiCommunist  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:18:33pm

i was in the Special Forces, and was in *AWE* of what i saw of the US Navy Seal's, even in Jump School. Am not sure if the Marines or Navy have their own Jump School now, but just imagine going through an Army Jump School back then or even now, as a Recon or Seal?!?

If this article is true, then Osama bin Laden is basically dead...simple as that. If US Navy Seal's have gotten that close, then their thirst for Osama has increased 10,000 fold.

Osama...repeat to your friends, family, and yore guards what they must do if you cannot kill yourself. You & i both know what capturing you alive will mean...so to speak of the "Walking Dead."

Don't worry, humble me will take good care of your Wives and Daughters...

KårmiÇømmünîs† ;

32 Bubble Girl  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:18:42pm

23 DCDonkWatcher

Thanks for the link... these men have faces... have families..

33 Tanker J.D.  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:19:16pm

A SEAL team is a squad-sized element 12-16. A four person team would be a recon unit. The intel--- well, the recon unit would be part of gaining that. And if they are compromised, we try to pull 'em out. That was what was going on here. The rest of the seal team was after them, along with pilots, crew members and probalby delta guys from the Army. They got the rescuers, too,though, apparantly. That's part of the rist these guys run, and that they accept. Why no intelligence!? B/c these guys ARE the intelligence. If they get compromised, their colleagues do there best. But, in this case, the bad guys got lucky. Even a blind squirrell finds a nut every once in awhile...

34 Bubble Girl  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:19:54pm

24 Sven

I know...

35 Bubble Girl  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:21:19pm

The military has snipers in there too.. saw a clip of them taking out Taliban...

36 Tanker J.D.  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:21:31pm

Karmi Communist

I wen through ARmy jump school in the summer of '96 (Alpha Co.). There were a slew of special forces folks along w. us - Navy SEALs; Marine Force Recon (including an instructor); Air Force Rescue; Army Ranger, etc. It's a great atmosphere...

37 no2liberals  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:22:02pm

#28-Rayra

We can be certain of one thing, we will not know the real story for sometime, as all SEAL operations are classified.
IMHO, this was a sneak and peek, as I thought the SEAL's always worked in 8 man teams, as the extraction team was.
If our SEAL is still alive in that hell-hole, you can be certain he will not give-up, nor will they stop looking for him.

38 Egfrow  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:23:05pm

#28 Rayra

That is my point. How could we not see the mass of enemy there. That kind of activity should be picked up by intelligence. Unless the Seal team gave away thier position by accident. That area should have recieved a full force cleansing immediatly. Full Air, Airborne, etc. and find out WTF? That is cause for No mercy operation. That was inside the afgahnistan we should have full privelage to dispose of these vermon. Our Response to extraction and the failed extraction was my question. I don't know the what and the whys but I would sure like to.

39 sven10077  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:24:24pm

#34 BG,

the LRSUs and USAF CCs will start looking REALLY hard at the area if the debriefs have actionable intel, frankly I think they likely are NOT that close just in my gut, and that they stumbled onto an arms cache for the Taliban...but who knows?

40 goodbye_natalie  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:28:07pm

Let's hope we our politicians get a clue and start stepping over Musharraf to allow our military a little payback. Tell Perves time is up and we will now find the bad guys. Nukes or no nukes, we need to brutalize these thugs quickly and start sending a message.

I don't want their deaths to be in vain. Here's hoping their intelligence gives us what we need to blow every last parasite living on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border off the face of the earth.

And to our gutless politicians: either lead or get out of the way. Let the military use any means necessary! We'll worry about any political fallout after Moammar and the coward Bin Laden have their head's mounted in the Oval office.

41 jlfintx  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:28:36pm

Well, time for this extremist right wing Christian to read the book that causes all of us to splodydope and chop heads off.

/do I need it?

42 J.D.  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:33:08pm
...The military did not announce the offensive earlier because commanders did not want to tip off insurgents. The campaign includes 500 Marines from the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team-8, stationed in Okinawa, Japan, the military said. ...

...Elsewhere, a remote-controlled Predator drone conducted a strike Friday against militants near Qaim, an Anbar province town on the Syrian border, the U.S. military said. The Predator fired a missile at a truck carrying rocket-propelled grenades and suspected insurgents.

Two insurgents were killed, said Marine 1st Lt. Pamela Marshall, a spokeswoman.


Love those Predators.
U.S. Marines, Iraq Soldiers Launch Raids
No, we won't back down.

43 KarmiCommunist  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:33:35pm

#36 Tanker J.D.

Our Troops are kicking *BUTT*!, even in a place like the tough terrain of Afghanistan.

44 Belize042  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:35:32pm

#28 Rayra

Regarding the rescue attempt, the Rocky Mountain News article reports that the Chinook crash was witnessed by "Other helicopter pilots flying alongside." Due to terrain and enemy fire, the other choppers had to land some distance away from the SEALS and the crashed Chinook, apparently, which would explain the delay in reaching both sites.

45 ibu guru  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:41:51pm

#10

A member of the mosque who stopped by between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. to use the restroom at the two-story brick building, located at 1925 E. Atwater Ave., discovered the fire before it caused extensive damage

Now who in the world is going to stop by a mosque in the wee hours of the morning to use a restroom?

Is this another phoney-baloney put-up job manufactured so they can have another whine-a-thon? If some crazy really wanted to retaliate for the mass murder of dozens of commuters, it would come at Friday midday prayers when the bloody mosque is full.

Another load of manure thickly spread. I small ta-ta-ta-qqiya.

46 PETN Sandwich  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:45:05pm

OK, jumping to the end of the thread on this one -

Did the US DoD ever puplically announce that we are missing a SEAL in Afghanistan, gridsquare xxxyyy, if you see him please give him a ride home, you'll be reimbursed for your expense?

Yeah, right. The the US DoD always announces the last known location of MIAs.

47 Robert D  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:50:23pm

After thinking about this for a few days, and not being in touch with all our military lizards, I think we just give too much information to the public. Maybe not too much info, but it is ...

Why the hell should we even know about special ops? It is just unreal that we, as the general public, should even know that these brave men were even there.

48 PETN Sandwich  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:55:15pm

Uhh, Just skimmed through the posts and have to agree with Robert D, too much info to the public.

49 satan sidekick  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 6:58:03pm

#10 & #45

A member of the mosque who stopped by between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. to use the restroom at the two-story brick building, located at 1925 E. Atwater Ave., discovered the fire before it caused extensive damage, said Nathan Ainslie, president of the mosque's executive board.

The ONLY restroom in Bloomington? I would suspect the "restroom" user to be the culprit. Besides, how many non-Muslims have Korans at their disposal to burn or otherwise deface?

50 Buckaroo  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 7:00:38pm

# 49 s

"Besides, how many non-Muslims have Korans at their disposal to burn or otherwise deface?"

What -- millions upon millions of Americans **didn't** respond to CAIR's offer of a free Koran?
:-)

51 satan sidekick  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 7:03:11pm

50 Buckaroo

Let me rephrase that.

How many non-Muslims would WANT a copy of Satan's verses in their possession to burn or deface? I learned everything I needed to know about Islam on Sept 11th 2001.

52 Robert D  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 7:13:15pm

#51 satan sidekick

Got to agree on the Sept 11th comment. I don't need to know anything more about the muslim religion (race) that I don't already know. A religion of hate is doomed.

53 ploome hineni[deleted]  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 7:15:59pm
54 ploome hineni[deleted]  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 7:16:59pm
55 ploome hineni[deleted]  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 7:18:06pm
56 satan sidekick  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 7:20:00pm

53 ploome

Isolated incidents when Jews or Christians are gunned down in an airport terminal - a major hate crime that involves the FBI when a burning Koran is found lying on the sidewalk by a suspicious late-night urinator.

57 deadmaus  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 7:39:11pm

Thats right Belize42:

Militants hiding in thick forest hit the massive helicopter with what is believed to have been a rocket-propelled grenade, Yonts said.

The helicopter flew for about a mile before landing roughly on a small mountain ledge and then tumbling into a ravine, he said. Other helicopter pilots flying alongside reported the crash, but rescuers could not reach the wreckage until about 36 hours after it went down.

58 triticale  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 7:43:53pm

Blackfive has been tracking the SEAL situation in Afghanistan, and has personal details plus what he is able to tell about the mission.

59 GeeWiz  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 7:44:35pm

I don't think OBL is still alive. Just think for a moment of how we would handle his capture.

Would we put him in Gitmo?

Would we put him on trial?

Would we execute him on his guilt after his trial ?

What, just what would we do with OBL?

To do any of the above, we would undermine the WOT by creating a martyr, a symbol for the islamofanatics.

Picture the scene, you are a twenty-something patriot scouring the landscape of Afganistan (one hellish landscaspe) for the last several months and you finally come upon OBL (the main person responsible for 9/11). What would you do? I would put a bullet in him faster than you could say OBL.

Who would blame me? Would I be brought up before a military court? Don't think so. No complaints from the MSM about "his" treatment. No complaints from the ACLU. We could just go on sayn' that we still are looking for him and he just slips from our grasp. Works for me.

/just wondern'

60 Buckaroo  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 7:51:13pm

# 59 GW

Ever read "Killing Pablo" by Mark Bowden? When the Columbian cops finally got serious about the Medillin cartel, they would swarm into apartments of the drug lords, wait for them to insticntively grab their handgun, and pump dozens of bullets into them. Invariably, these encounters would be written up as "killed in a shootout with police"

I've always figured a similar fate should befall OBL ...

61 Timbre  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 7:59:01pm

We need a DNA bomb. You program the target DNA inside its guidance, then let it loose. It homes in on the one and only suspect in that area which matches the code. Unless he has a twin brother nearby!

62 GeeWiz  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 8:00:01pm

#60 Buckaroo

Haven't read the book, but I figure that we have more to gain by keeping OBL alive than announcing his death. I wonder if this latest Seal operation seals his fate(pardon the pun).

63 TGregg  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 8:03:10pm

Cut off his head, eh? I don't believe anything those losers say. They lie worse than any drug-using teenager with liberal parents.

64 GeeWiz  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 8:15:50pm

#63 TGregg

They are born and bred liars. Their "education in Islam" keeps them from seeing the truth. They are blind and we need to find a way to help them "see". My fear is that the only thing they see and respect is power. The liberals among us hesitate to use power as a tool to "educate" the islamofanatics.

65 Gadfly  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 9:07:54pm

This thing reeks of some sort of "bag a big prisoner for the 4th of July" stunt that went awry. I sure as hell hope I am totally wrong. I am puzzled, if there is enough evidence to send a SEAL team in why not just frag the whole damn area and later send in a DNA team? Tell me this isn't about pulling punches to avoid collateral damage please.

As for taking that stain OBL alive I can think of only two reasons - 1) to see if he'll name his supporters in the House of Saud, and 2) avoid making him a "martyr". Neither of these isn't worth harming one American's hair since we know which of the Saudis support him - all of them, and he's already a hero in their eyes so who cares.

66 ploome hineni[deleted]  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 9:16:59pm
67 GeeWiz  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 10:39:19pm

#66 ploome heneni

Agreed! Just consider for a moment what OBL's head would mean to the WOT. I would guess (I admit I'm no genius on policy) that the where-abouts of OBL and "his" status was kept "un-known". It works for "all" involved.

They,(al-Quida), and us get to keep "him" as a scapegoat. As long as "he" is out there, "he" is our target without framing Islam as the target.

68 amrilusaguy  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 10:55:32pm

some things are better left not discussed

that said

OBL needs to be captured, interogated with whatever sceince has to offer

and then left to rot

69 GeeWiz  Sat, Jul 9, 2005 11:13:14pm

#68 amrilusaguy

Things need to be discussed! I ask you what, just what could be gained by interrogating OBL that we do not already know. I want him dead and six feet under! I want him to suffer in hell so bad he will only dream about raisins, let alone virgins.

70 Beagle  Sun, Jul 10, 2005 1:03:23am

Fighting in mountainous tribal areas looking for individuals with help from some locals, but not others, knowing at any moment you might run into 50 heavily-armed body guards, some jihading for years all over the world, is probably one of the toughtest assignments anyone could undertake. The Soviets were clobbered in huge numbers when they moved in Afghanistan.

This tragedy could be viewed as a typical combat battle which we lost, or from the perspective of the young people lost, families and friends traumitized.

Helicopters and lightly armored vehicles are not always the best place to be in the Iraq or Afghan wars.

I know our soldiers are going to die. I hope our politicians aren't forcing the officers to use soldiers when a large air strike would do. I've heard disturbing reports about the Pakistani border not being as "allied" in the war on terror as we keep saying Musharraf is, not entirely surprising. Musharraf has the loyalty of most his military.

71 peggie  Sun, Jul 10, 2005 2:29:24am

damned if you do/damned if you don't. the clinton adm had the opportunity to take out bin laden, but didn't because of the fear of the killing of others [more as to how his base of voters would handle it]. i rather think of usama in a cave totally encased in cement. tar it over and open a casino.

72 amjoe  Sun, Jul 10, 2005 2:54:08am

#51 satan sidekick

That phrase oughta be on a t-shirt

73 7000 romaine  Sun, Jul 10, 2005 6:55:29am

er...we did bomb and kill 27 "civilians" in the area--16 of whom later turned out to be taliban--we "apologized" for the others---its going to be hard to get bin laden since he's probably in iran or a major city like karachi--he's got to be dimed out like saddam and his sons--geez we can't even get zawkhawi or izzat al duri and we know they are in theater or close by

74 willhemakeit  Sun, Jul 10, 2005 4:30:03pm

I think this four-man team was probably a sniper team sent in to take out a high-priority target like OBL or Mullah Omar. They were taking by surprise by a large force and they couldn't break away clean. The last thing a Seal Team wants to do is to call for back-up help, So it must have been a large force.


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 Frank says:

The crux of the biscuit is: If it entertains you, fine. Enjoy it. If it doesn't, then blow it out your ass. I do it to amuse myself. If I like it, I release it. If somebody else likes it, that's a bonus. -- What he's talking about is obvious. He said this in an interview with Playboy magazine on May 2, 1993.