Taliban says it shot down US copter

[dArKeR]

The US blamed bad weather and said the crash had been an accident. "There was no indication of hostile fire," Moore said.

However, the ultra-Islamic Taliban militia, which continues to wage an insurgency in the war-torn country, later said it had shot down the helicopter.

There was no way to independently verify the claim.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/04/08/2003249598

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. The truth is out there, trust us when we tell you that this was

an accident, really...

Did the weather forecast include ground to air missiles?

Yes I am that cynical these days

[Erika]

2. The taliban is still out there with OBL?

I'm sure Bush might be interested at some time in the future when he's depleted the countries natural resources.

[merwin]

3. Hmm.. I guess DeLay is getting into too much trouble.. have to pull out

the Bin Laden card :)

[amber dog democrat]

4. It well could be true.

I am so skeptical of anything coming from official sources.

[Charles19]

5. "ultra-Islamic"? Maybe something was lost in translation :-) (n/t)

[leftofcool]

6. flip side of "ultra-christian" maybe???? eom

[unhappycamper]

7. keep in mind that Afghanistan was the USSR's Viet Nam

The Mujahideen defeated the (at the time) second greatest army in the world.

Here's an interesting read:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2001/soviet-afghan_compound-warfare.htm

[Xithras]

17. One big difference this time around.

The Taliban beat the Soviets in large part because they had an unlimited supply of American weapons and munitions. This time around they're limited to only the weapons that can be made by hand, or the few still in undiscovered bunkers around the country. As I understand it, since those bunkers were built with CIA help, we had a map of their locations and have already destroyed or captured all the ones that mattered.

The Taliban could potentially drag this out into a Palestinian-style dirty war of car bombs and random shootings, but without the popular support of the people they won't be nearly as successful. Most Afghani's regard the Taliban as being just as foreign as the American's.

[reprobate]

18. We know the insurgent iraqis have russian made rpgs and stinger type

ground to air missles, so is it so far off to think maybe the taliban have them too? Plus the fact that we can never, ever trust anything the administration says to us. Remember they told us from the beginning of their administration that they would lie to use. Ted Olson said so, so I believe it.

[Frederik]

19. They're regrouping

They may still have a few tricks up their sleeve. And, reportedly, their popularity is rapidly increasing. They're expanding their network of madrasas, among other things. I doubt the Pashtuns regard them as foreign, even though many probably don't agree with their stark version of Islamism.

Getting weapons into Afghanistan strikes me as having to be one of the easisest tasks in the world. And with opium production soaring, money should be no problem. As for the bunkers, my impression was that most of them only existed in Rumsfeld's imagination anyway.

Revival of the Taliban
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/GD09Ag01.html

Osama adds weight to Afghan resistance
http://atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/FI11Ag01.html

[DeaconBlues]

8. The sad thing is

in this age of neoconservatives its really hard to tell whose really telling the truth.

[TahitiNut]

9. "There was no way to independently verify the claim."

Where're the zebras? Damned referees! How dare they not call the plays? :silly:

[dArKeR]

20. We had plenty of "independent" verification on Bush's WMDs in Iraq

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. If it wasn't a Taliban action, where are the two missing persons?

They haven't turned up, have they? Are they prisoners of the Taliban?

[Igel]

11. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the NE blackout

back in '93.

There was no way to independently verify the claim.

Except the claim was based on early reports of what triggered it. Later reports placed the blame elsewhere, and the al-Qaeda claim was judged falsified and quickly forgotten. As are all other opportunistic claims.

[ckramer]

12. If they do this thing a couple of times then maybe people will start to

believe them.

[RaleighNCDUer]

13. Is it SOP that when two helicopters are flying together, and one

has mechanical difficulties and crashes, that the other continues on without landing to help survivors?

Why would the second not stop to give aid unless they were both under fire and it was too risky to do so?

I gotta wonder.

[daleo]

14. I never heard about this.

It certainly doesn't seem like it lines up with the "bad weather" story. The Taliban will have to remember to videotape its actions in the future, like with the Royal Air Force plane in Iraq.

[Richard Steele]

15. I think you put your finger on it, NCevilDUer!

The second chopper makes the Taliban's story ALOT more believable, and the Pentagon's look like utter BULLSHIT.

If there is ONE thing the Taliban has experience at, it's shooting down helicopters. Just ask the Soviet army.

[NNN0LHI]

16. The Soviets denied for years that their Hinds were being shot down...

...in Afghanistan. History truly does repeat itself. Just have to live long enough to witness it.

Don

[NNN0LHI]

21. kick