Extortion 17
Objective Lefty Grove
Extortion 17-A CH-47 Chinook helicopter, like this one used for training, was shot down by the Taliban in Afghanistan, killing all aboard. A special-operations officer questions the use of the craft for such “hot-LZ” purposes. (U.S. Navy photograph via Associated Press)
By the time the CH-47 transport helicopter descended to 150 feet above an unprotected landing zone in Afghanistan around 2 a.m. on Aug. 6, the element of surprise had been lost.A bevy of surveillance and attack aircraft buzzed overhead, telling the Taliban in a collection of mud-brick homes in Tangi Valley that they were suddenly in the middle of Afghanistan's 10-year-old war.
When the third chopper — carrying 38 passengers and crew, and one dog, in a reinforcement known as an "immediate reaction force" — approached, a small group of Taliban on a rooftop stood ready.
They fired rounds of rocket-propelled grenades. One clipped a rotary blade, sending the CH-47 into a violent spin and then a fiery crash. All onboard died, including 17 elite Navy SEALs.
The loss of so many high-echelon special warriors drew criticism from some in the special-operations community. They said it was a needless waste of lives, a highly risky mission to round up or kill a relatively few enemy forces that the Rangers and air power could have subdued.
As funerals for the fallen sailors played out in small towns across America, Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Colt and a team of specialists had landed in Afghanistan for a full-blown investigation. He would determine the cause of the crash and whether commanders made the right call.
In his report summary, Gen. Colt, a helicopter pilot who had served in Army special-operations aviation, disagreed with the mission's critics and cleared the commanders. He said the decision to load all the reaction force onto a single helicopter was "sound." He said the "squirters" might have included the mission's original "Objective Lefty Grove"— a Taliban leader named Qari Tahir.
His summary does not tell the whole story. U.S. Central Command released hundreds of pages of interviews and exhibits that showed there were at least two tactical moves that came in for second-guessing.
For months, the special-operation task force in Afghanistan that vets targets and shapes commando strikes had been under pressure to clear Wardak province. Eliminating Taliban leaders was seen as a way to improve security in nearby Kabul.
The first Ranger strike arrived in two Chinooks, escorted by two Apache AH-64s, whose night-vision scopes give pilots a way to monitor the landing area for any ambushing Taliban. The Rangers, on foot, converged around a compound thought to hold the Taliban chieftain. During the attack, four fighters escaped and started joining others whom the military calls "movers."
One Apache killed six "squirters" with 60 30 mm rounds. That left two, with 11 movers, who congregated amid trees or in another compound. At some point, the Rangers and special-operations commanders talked about sending in reinforcements to catch them all. A mission was set, at first with 17 troops, then a total of 38, including SEALs, other Navy personnel, Afghan commandos and the air crew.
"We really just kind of talked the idea of inserting the element to maneuver on them, the enemy that got away," the Army Ranger task force commander later told Gen. Colt. As the reinforcement Chinook approached, it — unlike the first two choppers — had no AH-64 Apaches for surveillance or fire suppression. The Apaches had stayed fixed on trying to shoot the squirters and movers.
Gen. Colt told the Ranger commander: "I'm just going to give you the feedback. The AH guys, they really thought that their primary task was continuing to monitor these guys. … That's where their focus was. And as far as the amount of attention that they paid to the [helicopter landing zone] and the [infiltration] route, it was a secondary task to them."
The Ranger task force operations chief answered: "It might have just been their gut instinct … but I don't think they were directed to do that."
As the SEALs approached the landing site, Taliban in the tower of a two-story compound about 200 yards away fired rocket-propelled grenades. One hit the rotary blade.
Gen. Colt's executive summary does not explicitly say the Apaches were misused.
"The investigation disclosed that the special-operations task force commander did not reallocate the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft to ensure surveillance coverage for the ongoing [Ranger-led assault force] and the inbound immediate reaction force (IRF) mission," he wrote.
Gen. Colt also said that flights over the battle space for more than three hours put the Taliban on alert.
"The shootdown was not the result of a baited ambush, but rather the result of the enemy being at a heightened state of alert due to 3½ hours of ongoing coalition air operations concentrated over the northwestern portion of the Tangi Valley," the general wrote. He suggested that commanders change tactics.
Another issue raised by the mission's critics is why the task force was using conventional Chinooks and crews instead of special-operations Chinooks, with which commandos typically train.
The Ranger officer told Gen. Colt that he preferred to travel with Army Special Operations Aviation (ARSOA), which includes the MH-47, a specially configured Chinook. He said his "comfort level is low because they don't fly like ARSOA. They don't plan like ARSOA. They don't land like ARSOA. They will either, you know, kind of, do a runway landing. Or if it's a different crew that trains different areas, they will do the pinnacle landing."
The investigation discovered that ARSOA helicopters were pulled out of the area last year and moved to the south. "I still don't really understand the reasons behind that," an investigator said.
Gen. Colt concluded that the mission's Air National Guard crew was fully qualified.
After reading Gen. Colt's executive summary, a longtime special-operations officer still questioned the need for the mission.
The source said immediate-reaction forces are typically used if things are going very badly. In this case, the Rangers were not in danger of being defeated, had secured the objective compound and taken detainees, as the Apaches hunted the remaining Taliban.
"The report does not address the ongoing use of the CH-47 that was never meant for hot-LZs and the combat roles we have used it in for the last decade," the officer said. "It does not address why a CH-47 was used in lieu of a MH-47. It might have had the same outcome, but the MH-47s are somewhat better.
"The report was what I expected. Likely a well-meaning analysis based on misunderstanding, the use of SOF as well as wanting to protect the families from thinking their men died stupidly. I still think they died stupidly and never should have been used in this capacity."
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/24/full-story-of-seal-mission-in-question/#ixzz2TKuCbvEP
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread768859/pg1
The flight
had entered the Tangi valley traveling from NW to SE when EXTORTION17 at less
than one minute from touchdown was engaged by multiple RPGs from a point of
origin approximately 200m to their south. The second in a 2-3 round volley of
RPG munitions fired struck EXTORTION17 along the bottom forward surface of the
aft red rotor blade spar-box.
The document reads that the CH-47D Chinook, call
sign Extortion-17, was just about to land to drop off a team of Seals on August
6th. EX-17 was less than a minute from touch down and decending when they came
under attack. The tail number for the aircraft was 84-24175.
The location is given as:
N 34° 01' 21.93" E 068° 47' 07.55
which is a populated valley. 2 months previously, another CH-47 had been attacked in this same area by 5-6 RPGs and smalls arms fire.
EX-17 was found to have been hit in the aft rotor blade which resulted in a severe mechanical and dynamic imbalance resulting in loss of control to the aircraft and finalizing in a devastating crash. Fire from the crash consumed more than 80% of the aircraft.
The propeller was believed to have been hit by an OG-7 rocket propelled grenade, which is a standard high explosive round. Testing later concluded that it was most likely an OG-7V grenade which is an anti-personnel warhead. Video footage found that the helicopter had been fired upon by 2-3 RPGs almost simultaneously. Only one grenade from the single volley made contact.
The document goes further into detail along with the probable location of the shooters due west by southwest of the helicopter's location as it was coming in for landing. Also the location of the debris and images of the debris.
Footage of the attack and crash were recorded from an AC-130 Gunship and 2 AH-64 gunships which were in the vicinity for mission support.
The location is given as:
N 34° 01' 21.93" E 068° 47' 07.55
which is a populated valley. 2 months previously, another CH-47 had been attacked in this same area by 5-6 RPGs and smalls arms fire.
EX-17 was found to have been hit in the aft rotor blade which resulted in a severe mechanical and dynamic imbalance resulting in loss of control to the aircraft and finalizing in a devastating crash. Fire from the crash consumed more than 80% of the aircraft.
The propeller was believed to have been hit by an OG-7 rocket propelled grenade, which is a standard high explosive round. Testing later concluded that it was most likely an OG-7V grenade which is an anti-personnel warhead. Video footage found that the helicopter had been fired upon by 2-3 RPGs almost simultaneously. Only one grenade from the single volley made contact.
The document goes further into detail along with the probable location of the shooters due west by southwest of the helicopter's location as it was coming in for landing. Also the location of the debris and images of the debris.
Footage of the attack and crash were recorded from an AC-130 Gunship and 2 AH-64 gunships which were in the vicinity for mission support.
Deadly Day for US
Forces in Afghanistan
08 Aug 2011
I first received word of the helicopter crash in Afghanistan which killed 38 US and Afghan troops from journalist Michael Yon, who remarked, rather simply, ”This is serious“.
As the fog of war cleared, more details fell into place: Twenty-two US Navy SEALs, three Air Force special operators, seven Afghan commandos, one interpreter and a dog were aboard the aircraft, along with the crew of five.
The special operations forces–including nearly twenty members of the US Navy’s SEAL Team Six–were serving as an an ”immediate reaction force“, when they were called in to reinforce Army Rangers (Update: One source indicates that the SEALs were called in to deal with “squirters” who had escaped a raid conducted by US Army Rangers). According to eyewitnesses, the aircraft had landed on a rooftop when it was struck by a Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) shortly after it attempted to take off, according to eyewitnesses. (However, BBC’s Pashtu service indicated that a Taliban source claimed that the aircraft was struck by an “improvised” RPG. Perhaps an Improvised Rocket-Assisted Mortar?).
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the
incident, which occurred in Tangi Joy Zarin, in Wardak
Province in eastern Afghanistan
Both Afghan and Taliban sources claimed that eight
Taliban were killed in the operation. NATO conducts dozens of
special operations raids each night, which they claim have “broken
the back” of the Taliban. Sources from NATO claim that over 2,800
raids were conducted between April and July of this year.
According to ArmyAircrews.com, run by a
former US Army Huey crew chief, the Chinook was operated by
(Update:
ArmyAircrews.com is now showing that the aircraft, tail number 89-00175,
callsign “Extortion 17″, belonged to B Company, 2-135th Aviation out of Though some have claimed that the aircraft loss harkens back to the egregious aircraft losses during the latter portions of the Soviet-Afghan War, the analogy is grossly inaccurate. Over the course of ten years of combat,
Anti-Soviet forces during the Mujahadeen period were
also equipped with the infra-red guided FIM-92A Stinger missile, which
contributed to the success of the Mujahadeen forces. MANPADS
(Man-Portable Air Defense Systems) have been largely absent from the current
war in Afghanistan , despite
heavy use by insurgent forces in Iraq
Though Rocket-Propelled Grenades (RPGs) are not guided,
their simplicity poses a unique danger: with no guidance system,
there’s no way they can be jammed, spoofed, or tricked, like
MANPADS. Moreover, they’re difficult to see, and travel so quickly
that, even if they were detected, a pilot would be hard-pressed to evade
it. That’s especially true during takeoffs and landings, when
aircraft are most vulnerable. Worse yet, larger helicopters, such as
the Chinook, are particularly vulnerable to RPGs and small-arms fire due
to their size. That’s been evident since late
2003, when a Chinook from the Iowa National Guard was hit with an RPG near Incidents involving cargo helicopters, unfortunately, generally result in large numbers of casualties. The deadliest incidents for US forces in both
General James Mattis, commander of US Central Command,
spoke about the incident to the Los
Angeles Times:
We grieve for our lost comrades and
especially for their families, yet we also remember that the lads were doing
what they wanted to be doing and they knew what they were about. This loss will
only make the rest of us more determined, something that may be difficult for
those who aren’t in the military to understand.
Update: The US
Families of Fallen SEALs Allegedly Sent Form Letters With President’s Electronic Signature
Over at Gateway Pundit, Jim Hoft reports a story that I am quite sure will not be picked up by the New York Times or MSNBC: “Obama honored fallen SEALs by sending their parents a form letter signed by electric pen.” Jim writes:
On August 6, 2011, 30 US service members were killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter they were being transported in crashed in Wardak province, Afghanistan. It was the deadliest single loss for U.S. forces in the decade-long war in Afghanistan. 17 members of the elite Navy SEALs were killed in the crash.
Yesterday, Karen and Billy Vaughn, parents of Aaron Carson Vaughn, spoke at the Defending the Defenders forum sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots outside the RNC Convention in Tampa. Karen brought a copy of the form letter they were sent following their son’s death.
It’s a form letter.
It was signed by an electric pen.
That’s not all.
Karen Vaughn reached out to the parents of the other SEALs killed in that crash.
Their letters were all the same.
Form letters – signed by an electric pen.
Families of Fallen SEALs Allegedly Sent Form Letters With President’s Electronic Signature
Over at Gateway Pundit, Jim Hoft reports a story that I am quite sure will not be picked up by the New York Times or MSNBC: “Obama honored fallen SEALs by sending their parents a form letter signed by electric pen.” Jim writes:
On August 6, 2011, 30 US service members were killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter they were being transported in crashed in Wardak province, Afghanistan. It was the deadliest single loss for U.S. forces in the decade-long war in Afghanistan. 17 members of the elite Navy SEALs were killed in the crash.
Yesterday, Karen and Billy Vaughn, parents of Aaron Carson Vaughn, spoke at the Defending the Defenders forum sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots outside the RNC Convention in Tampa. Karen brought a copy of the form letter they were sent following their son’s death.
It’s a form letter.
It was signed by an electric pen.
That’s not all.
Karen Vaughn reached out to the parents of the other SEALs killed in that crash.
Their letters were all the same.
Form letters – signed by an electric pen.
Did an Imam Really Use Arabic Prayer to Covertly Damn Fallen Seal Team 6 Members to Hell During Their Funeral?
Parents of fallen service members spoke at a press conference on Thursday morning, an event during which they accused the U.S. government of complicity in the deaths of their sons. The families highlighted a number of grievances, including the notion that military brass invited a Muslim cleric to their children’s funeral in 2011 — an imam who they claim “disparaged in Arabic the memory of these servicemen.”
Three families of fallen Navy SEAL Team 6 special forces members and one family of an Army National Guardsman held the event at the National Press Club to make this startling allegation, among many others. Their children perished during the fatal Chinook helicopter crash that occurred in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011. The presser was an effort, as noted in a press release, to corroborate the notion that the U.S. government is “as much responsible for the deaths of their sons as is the Taliban.”
Photo Credit: AP File Photo
The prayer
As for the claim about the Muslim cleric, the families believe that the faith leader attempted to intentionally sully the memory of their sons by “damning them as infidels to Allah.” The group showed video of the prayer to prove their contentions, complete with translation.
Audio from the ceremony, which has been circling for at least a few months, includes a U.S. soldier speaking in English; he begins the ceremony by appealing to the “almighty and awesome God” and goes on to honor the fallen, speaking directly to God and invoking Christian scripture in doing so. After the presiding officer concludes, the imam’s purportedly controversial prayer begins; it is this latter portion that has sparked outrage among the families.
On Wednesday, TheBlaze spoke with attorney Larry Klayman who is representing the grieving parents to learn more about the Arabic comments in question. Noting that he has consulted with a certified translator, he paraphrased the meaning of the imam’s words as follows: “That the fallen seals should be damned and go to hell as infidels.”
If this translation is valid, the notion that it was spoken over U.S. service members bodies at a funeral is potentially problematic, although it should be noted that the prayer may have been intended only for the Afghan soldiers who perished. Let’s first explore what the Muslims leader said during his sermon. Here’s one translation that has been given of the cleric’s comments (this is the version that Klayman showed at the press conference along with video of the prayer):
“Amen I shelter in Allah from the devil who has been cast with stones. In the name of Allah the merciful giver. The companions of the fire are not equal with the companions of heaven. The companions of heaven are the winners. Had we sent this Koran to a mountain, you would have seen the mountain prostrated in fear of Allah. Such examples are what we present to the people; to the people, so that they would think. Blessings are to your God, the God of glory of what they describe. And peace be upon the messengers and thanks be to Allah the lord of both universes.”
And here’s the audio, with subtitles:
Another translation that was commissioned by Islam expert Stephen Coughlin is somewhat less pointed:
“I announce the evil by all-aha. By the name of the merciful all-aha. People of hell and people of heaven are not equal (even, not the same), people of heaven are the winners, if we [unintelligible word] the Koran on the mountain, you will see, you will see him in submission and humble of alla-aha’s fear. Those (who are in submission) are examples for the people (the public) may these people (the public) remember, praise alla-aha. Alla-aha God of glory, of the people behaviors (he is wondering or questioning the people’s behaviors). And peace to the Prophets, thanks to alla-aha, please (asking alla-aha) to forgive him, comfort him and accept him in paradise. [The prayer ends, however this subject was talking to some audience he was telling them I LOVE TO....then the audio ended].”
In his interview, Klayman described the prayer as “the straw that broke the camel’s back” in his mix of his clients’ claims against the Obama administration. In the attorney’s view, the purported slight on behalf of the faith leader was intention.
The interpretation
“My personal reaction was that this was a Muslim cleric who was laughing internally at the Christians and any Jews that might have been there — he pulled a fast one, because no one could understand what he was saying,” Klayman said, noting that the video was initially brought to his attention by one of the fallen service member’s family members. “That was my personal impression.”
Overall, the lawyer said that he found it odd that a Judeo-Christian funeral for American servicemen was mixed with a Muslim funeral for Afghanis, especially considering the questions that some have raised about just how loyal the Afghanis were to the mission in question. But it is entirely possible, of course, that the joint funeral was conducted as an exercise in bridging divides and bridging ideological differences.
“All these families have left is the memory of their sons and his memory now has been trashed and desecrated by the Muslim — and the very fact that this Muslim was even allowed to go to the funeral is another example of Obama’s so-called Muslim outreach,” he continued. “He’s more concerned about placating Muslims than he is our own people.”
But not everyone agrees
In contrast to Klayman’s strong views on the matter, Coughlin noted that he’s not entirely sure that the prayer was an overt attempt to offend American servicemen and their families. His explanation — one that is based on interactions with two Coptic Christians who know Arabic and who helped him translate the prayer — is a multifaceted one.
Coughlin claims that the funeral rite that was delivered over the dead soldiers is “a standard funeral rite among Muslims.” Naturally, non-Muslims may be surprised by this claim, but the Islam expert expounded in detail:
“Even a standard prayer is actually a little bit offensive because … it comes from a book of the Koran or a chapter of the Koran that’s basically about defeating the infidels. And [in exploring the issue] I basically showed that there were two verses quoted in the funeral rite.
If you back it up one verse, it gives you the greater context of the fact that the people who are not Muslim are condemned to hell, by those prayers and so I basically showed that. So my point isn’t that the imam was deliberately inflammatory — my point was that it’s inflammatory even when they’re not trying to, because it goes to the issue of the fundamental and irreconcilable difference between Islamic orientation and a non-Muslim orientation.”
Prior to his interview with TheBlaze, Coughlin provided an extensive explanation of the prayer, highlighting scripture from the Koran to show where the imam was pulling his commentary from. It seems verses in Surah 59:20 – 59:21 were employed in the cleric’s commentary, but the Islam expert argues that one must also consider Surah 59:19 to properly understand how to interpret the subsequent verses shared in the prayer.
Using the Yusuf Ali translation of the holy book (one of the most known and used English translations), Coughlin provided the verses to TheBlaze:
And be ye not like those who forgot Allah; and He made them forget their own souls! Such are the rebellious transgressors! (Koran 59:19)Not equal are the Companions of the Fire and the Companions of the Garden: it is the Companions of the Garden, that will achieve Felicity. (Koran 59:20).Had We sent down this Qur’an on a mountain, verily, thou wouldst have seen it humble itself and cleave asunder for fear of Allah. Such are the similitudes which We propound to men, that they may reflect. (Koran 59:21)
While the Muslim cleric’s words have, thus far, been described as a collective “prayer,” Coughlin notes that they extend beyond mere invocation, mostly because the faith leader’s comments also involved reading out of the Koran. In citing scripture from the holy book, the Islam expert noted that the verses had a specific meaning — one that focuses on the victory of Muslims over non-Muslims.
“We don’t know what he was thinking”
Rather than taking aim at the Islamic leader, Coughlin claims that the imam’s intentions, simply based on audio of his words, cannot be known. More dissection and discussion would certainly be warranted and considering that this may be a standard funeral rite, nothing may be amiss.
“We don’t know what he was thinking. He could have known … and it was a dig to get in,” he posited. “But it’s also possible that he was going through the [typical] motions that an imam would go through at this point.”
One of the individuals that Coughlin consulted with about the video, a native Egyptian, seemed to believe that the cleric’s words were likely inappropriate, but not intentionally so. The individual, someone well-versed in Islam and Islamic law, called the imam’s comments “standard fare at a funeral rite” and reiterated that a slight may not have been intentional.
Coughlin said that responsibility should fall on the generals who purportedly did not call for a translator beforehand. “That general should have known what that guy was saying [and what it meant],” he added.
How the video came to light
As stated by Klayman, family members first brought the video to the attorney’s attention. In an interview with TheBlaze’s Liz Klimas, Karen Vaughn, mother of fallen SEAL Aaron Vaughn, explained how her family obtained a copy.
While they initially expected footage from the event to arrive (it is apparently standard procedure for military families to get video of funeral proceedings before the body is sent back home), they purportedly never receive it. But in January, a source that the family declined to name finally sent it to them.
The Vaughn family held onto the footage for a few weeks before watching, understanding that it would be an emotional experience for them. While Karen enjoyed the prayer that was seemingly offered by a U.S. chaplain — the one that came before the imam’s — she said that her “jaw literally dropped” when she heard the cleric’s portion of the address.
“We knew instantly we needed to translate this,” she said, noting that she contacted a friend who has experience with Arabic translations.
The family sat on the video for months, as the grieving parents considered how to proceed. Now, it appears they have come forward not only about the cleric’s alleged verbal offense, but also about other issues that were highlighted earlier today at the press conference.
“Our sons were subjected to a final act of betrayal by their government,” Karen Vaughn told TheBlaze of the prayer being read.
Maj Gen Paul Vallely (ret) : "Another Benghazi Style Coverup" - Extortion 17
Maj Gen Paul Vallely (ret) : "Another Benghazi Style Coverup" - Extortion 17
Gen. Vallely: "Another Benghazi Style Coverup" - Extortion 17
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBRZSR3yD7UPublished on May 11, 2013
Maj Gen Paul Vallely (ret) states , "Before Benghazi there was Extortion 17.... a constant plethora, lies, deception and coverup from this government." The Extortion 17 mission in Afghanistan was the single largest loss of life of US Navy SEAL personnel.
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