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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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February 5th,
2007 - Video Said to Show U.S. Copter Shot Down |
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Video Said to Show U.S.
Copter Shot Down By Robert H. Reid Associated Press February 5, 2007 The U.S. command has ordered
changes in flight operations after four helicopters were shot down in the last
two weeks, the chief military spokesman said Sunday, acknowledging for the
first time that the aircraft were lost to hostile fire. The crashes, which began
Jan. 20, follow insurgent claims that they have received new stocks of
anti-aircraft weapons - and a recent boast by Sunni militants that 'God has
granted new ways' to threaten U.S. aircraft. Al-Jazeera aired video late
Sunday showing one of the U.S. helicopters being hit in central Iraq and said
it came from an insurgent Web site. All four helicopters were
shot down during a recent increase in violence, which an Interior Ministry
official said has claimed nearly 1,000 lives in the past week alone. At least
103 people were killed or found dead Sunday, most of them in Baghdad, police
reported. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell
told reporters that the investigations into the crashes of three Army and one
private helicopters were incomplete but 'it does appear they were all the
result of some kind of anti-Iraqi ground fire that did bring those
helicopters down.' It was the first time a
senior figure in the U.S. Iraq command had said publicly that all four
helicopters were shot down. Despite the losses, Caldwell
said it was premature to conclude that the threat to U.S. aircraft posed by
Sunni insurgents and Shiite militiamen had increased dramatically. 'There's been an ongoing
effort since we've been here to target our helicopters,' Caldwell said.
'Based on what we have seen, we're already making adjustments in our tactics
and techniques and procedures as to how we employ our helicopters.' Caldwell did not elaborate,
presumably for security reasons. In the past, defensive measures have
included flying lower and faster, varying routes and using zigzag patterns
over dangerous areas. Three crashed in mostly Sunni
areas and the fourth was shot down during fighting with Shiite cultists near
Najaf. U.S. officials have accused Iran of providing sophisticated weapons to
Shiite militants. In December, a spokesman for
Saddam Hussein's ousted Baath party, Khudair al-Murshidi, told The Associated
Press in Damascus, Syria, that Sunni insurgents had received shoulder-fired
anti-aircraft missiles and 'we are going to surprise them,' meaning U.S.
forces. Al-Murshidi did not say when
or how the missiles were obtained. Insurgents have used SA-7s,
a shoulder-fired missile with an infrared homing device, against U.S. and
British aircraft since 2003. In an Internet statement,
the al-Qaida-affilated Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for the
latest crash - an Apache Longbow helicopter that went down Friday north of
Baghdad, killing two crew members. 'We tell the enemies of God
that the airspace of the Islamic State in Iraq is prohibited to your aircraft
just like its lands are,' the statement said. 'God has granted new ways for
the soldiers of the State of Iraq to confront your aircraft.' It was unclear whether the
'new ways' referred to new and advanced anti-aircraft weapons - such as SA-18
missiles - or was simply a boast. External link: http://www.losangeleschronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=20247 |