Insurgents destroy US helicopter, damage nine in Iraq

[maddezmom]

Source: Middle East Online

WASHINGTON - Insurgents destroyed a US military helicopter and damaged nine others in a mortar attack on a US airfield north of Baghdad, a US defense official said Wednesday.


The attack, which occurred Sunday at a US air base at al-Taji but was not disclosed by the US military command in Baghdad, also wounded four US servicemembers, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.


"One helicopter was destroyed and nine were damaged," said the official, who said that six of the damaged helicopters have been repaired and are "fully mission capable."


Insurgents appeared to have targeted the aircraft rather than have struck them with random fire, the official said.



Read more: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=20727

[Selatius]

1. Maybe that's why there haven't been major incidents of helicopter downings recently

They simply don't report them anymore.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

2. that, or they ain't flying

for fear of falling.

[krispos42]

3. They are targeting the expensive, hard to replace hardware now

A Black Hawk costs a cool six million each, and Sikorsky is not exactly on a war footing.

Hmmmm... the fundamentalist Islamic insurgents that we trained in Afghanistan to bleed the Soviet Union white have formed an organization to pass those techniques onto a new generation in Iraq to bleed us white!

Oh, the irony. The bloody, bloody irony.

[xchrom]

4. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[callous taoboy]

5. The price of one of those chopper could've provided the funds my

school desperately needs to advance forward for years to come.

[Roland99]

6. They were obviously trained in Iran.

:sarcasm:

[fed-up]

7. "The attack, which occurred Sunday...but was not disclosed by the US military command" nt

[Javaman]

8. Every time one of these attacks occur, I think of how moron bremer

cut loose the military, the police and the security forces at the beginning.

then I think of all the Iraqi "soldiers" we trained only to have them vanish when the training was over.

And the military is surprised at how well the insurgents adapt to the changing battle field.

indeed the military lives by the parable: "give a man a fish he eats for one day, teach him out to fish and he eats for life"

Well those insurgents that the US trained are having a heck of a meal right now.

sigh.

[maddezmom]

9. AP: Mortar rounds hit helicopters at US base

Mortar rounds hit helicopters at US base By HAMID AHMED, Associated Press Writer
9 minutes ago



BAGHDAD - Mortar rounds hit a U.S. Air Force base north of Baghdad on Thursday, destroying one helicopter and damaging nine others, police said.

The attack at Taji, a major Air Force on the northern outskirts of Baghdad, occurred about 2 a.m., the police said.

"There was an indirect fire attack on the base at Taji which resulted in damage to some aircraft," the military said. Indirect fire is a term the military generally uses to describe rocket or mortar attacks.

The attack destroyed one helicopter and damaged nine others, the police said.

An Iraqi civilian who works at the base said he saw about 16 damaged helicopters, some of them set on fire by the attack. The worker spoke on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070517/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_us_base_attack;_ylt=At1S1fauLVZay.jsdMcNrNELewgF

[sabra]

10. so did it happen today or last Sunday?

[ckramer]

11. Sounds like watching a Vietnam movie

They are bolder and bolder.

[hatrack]

12. Not surprisingly, their tactics continue to improve nt

.

[cliss]

13. Helis are seen as high-value targets.

They are unbelievably expensive (I think around $7 million, or $6 as written above).

I think earlier in the occupation, we had really big helis moving around, that could carry larger numbers of troops. They were large and cumbersome and were easy targets.
At some point, they switched to smaller helis. Especially the mercenaries like BlackWater have their own helis. They are really tiny. They are designed to move quickly and they flow low to the ground so they won't get hit.

But they do.

I read one story about an Iraqi farmer who had an old Kalashnikov (old Russian rifle), aimed it up at the American heli, and brought it down.

How many aircraft have we lost now?

Hundreds. It's a real sensitive area for the Pentagon to talk about this. I almost get the feeling it hurts them MORE to talk about Helis brought down than troops getting killed.

Anyone know why that would be?
I have no idea.

[daleo]

14. And with all the mortar attacks on the Green Zone

They will be needing all the helicopters they can get their hands on.

[rocktivity]

15. Oh, so now they're strolling onto the air bases at their leisure

But that shouldn't be surprising since they can apparently stroll into the Green Zone as well.

:(
rocknation

[Lone_Star_Dem]

16. It would appear they've improved their aim

One of the almost constant things they say when there are mortar attacks on the Green Zone is, "the attacks seldom cause casualties or damage because they are poorly aimed and the area contains much open space, but some have proven deadly."

If they can do this type of damage on a target I tend to doubt they've not been doing damage in the Green Zone. Perhaps it just a matter of them not wanting to go into what they've been targeting there.

[TheLastMohican]

18. The Iraqi Republican Guard officers

should have a couple of good artillery officers who know how to zero mortars on the target. This hit is very similar to last year hit when 3 or 4 rounds nailed the canteen and wounded and killed 22 or so soldiers at one time.

[Hardrada]

17. Tan Son Nhut airbase in VN was regularly targeted.

Fairly early in VN war also some types of aircraft were taken out of the line since they proved to be vulnerable. The B-57 bomber which looked so effective in appearance. The VC discovered its wings were full of fuel. We are now reactive and can't adapt to a clever enemy and can only "triumph" at an unimaginable cost.

[Massachusetts]

19. Could this be part of their larger strategy?

FUBAR!!!!

Bring OUR TROOPS Home KNOW!!!!