They fail to mention it was Saudis who orchestrated 9/11, yet he elected to go after Iraq and Afghanistan. I would say that on the three-minute call is when Gun 2 started looking at the LZ, giving an LZ brief op. Copyright 2023 The Washington Times, LLC. Family members are hoping Freedom Watch, a watchdog legal group led by Larry Klayman, can force new disclosures using the power of the FOIA process. "It's something that a lot of people who have never been in combat have a hard time understanding," he said. Your life is in danger. The alleged hit on SEAL Team 6 is a reference to the downing of a Chinook transport helicopter by insurgents a few months after the bin Laden raid. The co-pilot, Bryan Nichols, was one of Lee's closest friends in the Chinook company. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Lee, now a captain, was placed in command of a Chinook helicopter unit at Forward Operating Base Shank. Strange also blamed top military brass for sending the troops into a situation they were allegedly ill-equipped and unprepared to handle. Just after entering the Tangi, as Extortion 17 continued to descend and decelerate toward its landing zone, the helicopter passed through the narrowest portion of the valley. Call Sign Extortion 17: The Shoot-Down of SEAL Team Six is a 2015 non-fiction expose, written by best-selling author and former U.S. Navy JAG Officer Don Brown, about the 2011 Chinook shootdown in Afghanistan of a United States Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter. Landing in deserts or mountainsides, the helicopter rotors kick up clouds of sand and dust, causing brownouts that can blind a pilot. AP sources: Crash kills members of SEAL Team 6. He was too busy. Trump, who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, announced a slate of futuristic new policies in a campaign video Friday. ", "The hearts and minds of our enemy are more valuable to our government than my son's blood," she said. Up to 30 Dead in Afghanistan Following Failed Prison Heist, Total Iraq and Afghanistan Pricetag: Over $4 Trillion. They dont even produce under their own self-imposed deadline, Mr. Klayman told The Washington Times. It alleges thatthe 2011 raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, which took place when Biden was vice president, did not actually kill the al-Qaeda leader, but rather a body double, and that Iran had been part of the conspiracy as well. What went so terribly wrong? The Benghazi attack in 2012 plays a part in some other versions of the tale. The second shot hit the rear tail rotor assembly. More than 20 Navy Seals died in the helicopter crash that killed 31 in Afghanistan yesterday. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Each shouldered a rocket propelled grenade launcher, aimed at the dim silhouette of the approaching helicopter then fired. Finally Sells Japan Tomahawk Missiles. While the press conference was long on speculation and short on concrete evidence, the family members and their supporters didn't pull any punches. Hes also sent more than his fair share of curious retweets, often of the accounts of conspiracy theorists and those associated with QAnon and other outlandish conspiracy frameworks. You also want to come in from a different direction for the element of surprise.. Nearby, there were two enemy fighters with rocket-propelled grenade launchers. The attack on August 6 was the most devastating day in SEAL Team Six history, as well as the single largest loss of life for U.S. forces since the war in Afghanistan began in October. It had been loaded well within its limits. It wasnt preventable. We were told at that time we were the first unit to make it through a rotation without having anyone killed.. The military's public c Read allOn a moonless night, an Army helicopter carrying 17 members of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, is shot down in Afghanistan. However, a shoot down does not necessarily mean insurgents have changed their tactics or hardware. Military officials told her operating outside of these rules "damages our efforts to win the hearts and minds of our enemies. Everyone on board died within a fraction of a second30 Americans, eight Afghans and one American military working dog. (AP). But this might just take the cake. The helicopter was shot down by insurgents in August 2011; many of those killed were part of the same Navy SEAL Team 6 unit that carried out the raid on Usama bin Laden's compound three months . JSOC ground forces and those who flew them knew and trusted each other. The terrorist leader was not only a major player within al-Qaeda but also a figurehead that attracted supporters and recruits from around the world. The crash sent shock waves throughout U.S. special operations. It launched in the belly of the aircraft which made a hard landing and only two soldiers were injured in that attack but this time all on board were killed. The had Seal team 6 killed is a likely reference to whats known as the Extortion 17 incident, the August 2011 tragedy in which a Chinookmilitary helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan, killing 38 people, 25 of them Navy Seals, in the deadliest day for the U.S. in the entire Afghanistan war. It was the worst day for fatalities in the history of naval special warfare. The conspiracy theories didnt bother Lee at first. And the shooters had no reason to know that Extortion 17 or any other helicopter would be flying through their quiet extremity of the valley. In addition to the 30 Americans, the official said there were seven Afghan army soldiers and an interpreter on the helicopter. But why? No one saw two Taliban armed with grenade launchers standing on a mud-brick turret well within range of the descending chopper. The reality is, every time a helicopter lifts off the ground in a war zone, it might get shot down, Darack said. Forces to the threat of spying. SEAL TEAM SIX - EXTORTION 17 COVER UP theunitedwest 15.8K subscribers Subscribe 683 53K views Streamed 7 years ago WOW, watch author Don Brown blow the lid off of the official government report. The insurgents had no way of knowing the helicopter would be coming in, at the speed it was coming and at the altitude, Darack said. "We've allowed politics to become more important than the lives and safety of those men and women," he says. Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalersthe Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion, Navy SEAL's Savior Claims 'Lone Survivor' Got It Wrong. Still, SEAL Team Sixs bold raid to take down bin Laden was an extraordinary operation that most experts regard as a resounding success. I was terrified. During a press conference on Washington Thursday, family and advocates for the fallen troops called into question the rules of engagement that they say prohibited their sons from being able to return fire, and the White House's decision to announce shortly after the killing of Osama bin Laden that SEAL Team 6 was responsible for the raid. It just wasnt.. While the goggles are better than nothing, they turn everything green, distort depth perception and limit peripheral vision. It means being informed. One of the things I vowed, I will never forget. The quick reaction force included SEAL Team 6 and other special operations personnel. The Chinook had no Apache escort, as did the Ranger team that enjoyed the element of surprise when it touched down hours earlier. And needless to say, it was the real Bin Laden who was killed, not an incredible facsimile. The event was organized by Freedom Watch, a conservative advocacy group, at the National Press Club. Aug. 6, 2011 -- A helicopter was shot down today by Afghan insurgents as it was rushing to aid troops in a firefight, killing 30 Americans, including 22 Navy SEALs, most of whom belonged to Team 6, the unit whose members were involved in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials said. Just last week the Afghans arrested an Army officer for aiding Taliban suicide bombers through checkpoints, and doing so under employ by Pakistan. But what if it was a more advanced missile? Youve got [Apaches] flying around, so theres a lot of noise going on and, basically, this entire valley knows that theres something happening in this area. This is all, needless to say, completely unsubstantiated if not outright false. Lee had just flown the night before on a similar mission with one of the pilots, David Carter. The navigator on the AC-130 gunship said there was simply too much gun and engine noise to think that the Chinook could make an undetected entrance. No family members were allowed to testify. Additional forces were then sent to secure the crash site. They believe SEAL Team 6 had a target on its back and that persons inside the Afghan National Security Forces may have tipped off the Taliban that night in Tangi Valley. A catastrophic crash seemed unavoidable. Saturday's deaths bring the total number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan to 334 this year, according to the Associated Press. File: A US Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter in flight. And thats fine; thats what you signed up for, Lee said. Planners had created an absolutely sound mission. To minimize the danger as much as possible, pilots will land Chinooks out of range of any weapons they know they enemy to have, and an Apache or a UAV will fly overhead to check for threats before the Chinooks drop off any soldiers. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. He grew up in Tyler, went to Texas A&M, joined the Corps of Cadets and stared in shock at the news thattwo planes slammed into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. The ensuing crash killed all 16 on board, eight Army special operations aviators, and eight Navy SEALs. Virginia-based Navy SEALs in a training exercise. But Chinooks are at their most vulnerable while hovering in place during raids like the one this team is thought to have been conducting. Hes also sent more than his fair share of curious retweets, often of the accounts of conspiracy theorists and those associated with QAnon and other outlandish conspiracy frameworks. A silhouette of a. As they started their descent, Lee heard a loud popping noise. I would say that was the first time that we really had eyes on the LZ.. At 2:38 a.m. on August 6, 2011, a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter, call sign Extortion 17, entered the western opening of Afghanistan's restive Tangi Valley, flying alone. In all, 17 members of the SEAL Team 6 counterterrorist force were on board the CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter, along with its Army National Guard aircrew, several support personnel and seven Afghan commandos. He finished his contract with the Army shortly afterward, and that September enrolled in Southern Methodist Universitys Dedman School of Law. Telling stories about ordinary people involved in extraordinary events is his passion. These helicopters have been well protected from long-range missile attacks for years, but still have few defenses against a simple RPG fired at short range while the Chinook hovers in place. On his first deployment, he felt fortunate to be surrounded by veteran pilots he could learn from. Special Forces are expected to keep the pressure on the Taliban, working closely with Afghan forces to maintain control as U.S and Coalition troops depart. The families of some of the 17 SEAL Team 6 commandos who were killed in an ambush in Afghanistan during a helicopter flight to help Army Rangers pinned down by Taliban gunmen accused the. Around 2007, U.S. intelligence officials discovered the name of one of bin Ladens closest couriers, whom they speculated may have been involved in supporting or harboring the terrorist. MARTHA RADDATZ, LUIS MARTINEZ and MIKE BOETTCHER, helicopter was shot down today by Afghan insurgents, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. On a moonless night, an Army helicopter carrying 17 members of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, is shot down in Afghanistan. The Chinook helicopter was carrying a quick-reaction force to provide back-up to the troops on the ground in the eastern Afghan province of Wardak, a U.S. official said. Located in a remote and dangerous province in eastern Afghanistan, the base was the target of near-constant rocket attacks from Taliban insurgents. Osama bin Ladens personal journal was also recovered. Soon after US Navy Cryptologist Michael Strange and the elite SEAL Team 6 capture and kill Bin Laden, they are deployed to Afghanistan, where their Chinook is shot down. Oops, this content can't be loadedbecause you're having connectivity problems, Stay always informed and up to date with our breaking news alerts, - The Washington Times - Wednesday, August 5, 2015. The extreme G-forces killed everyone on board within a fraction of a second, Darack said. ", Tags: Navy SEALs, Navy, Afghanistan, Allen West, Michele Bachmann. The last worst one-day U.S. casuality record in Afghanistan was on June 28, 2005 when 16 U.S. soldiers were killed in Kunar province after a helicopter was shot down by Taliban insurgents. But at least you should care about them and appreciate what were asking of them.. Throughout, he said, Justice lawyers have refused to take his phone calls. In fact, Chinooks are better protected from newer, more sophisticated threats than from older, more crude ones. Were handing rifles to 20-year-olds and asking them to shoot people. Lees wife, Christy, hoped the news would bring a sudden end to the war. The Justice Department said at least 50 documents in the Pentagon have been identified as relevant, but only one has been turned over. The worst of the wounded was one of Lees crew members, who suffered what was later diagnosed as a severe traumatic brain injury. In the rear of the aircraft, the Chinook's passengers stood and prepared to storm out into moonless night once the wheels touched the ground. Sign up to receive the latest updates from U.S News & World Report and our trusted partners and sponsors. The Associated Press contributed to this report. They have to slow down to land or allow troops to rappel to the ground. The entire operation, which lasted only 40 minutes from start to finish, was the culmination of years of calculated planning and training. Fallen Angel: Call Sign - Extortion 17: Directed by Karl Horstmann, Stephen Spivey. It's a scary thought. Lee heard the call, and he knew what it meant. A man reads the front page of a newspaper featuring the news that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was shot dead deep inside Pakistan in a night-time helicopter raid by US covert forces, ending a decade-long manhunt for the mastermind of the September 11 attacks. Somebody was leaking to the Taliban, said Mr. On board were 22 members of the elite Seal Team Six, two U.S. Air Force Para-rescue men, three Army reserve personnel, a U.S. Air Force Combat Controller, the pilot and co-pilot, a U.S . It requires the highest level of skills from the pilots because they are some of the most dangerous operations.. Enterprise writer at The Dallas Morning News. It's unclear how far away the helicopter was from the initial firefight when it went down and unclear how the troops in the firefight got to the crash location, the official said. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. By The Newsroom 6th Aug 2011, 6:30pm Originally published August 6, 2011 at 10:50 am Updated August 6, 2011 at 3:16 pm. I find it very irritating that we will not question the Afghans about their knowledge of what took place that night.. The Taliban, of course, has taken credit, saying it shot down the helo during a special forces raid on a home. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. A Justice Department spokeswoman said there would be no comment beyond its court filings. "No amount of training, skill, or technology will ever defeat chance on the battlefield. The Pentagons witness stuck to a theme that no mistakes were made that night, though the investigative file contained testimony from a number of witnesses saying the mission was riddled with missteps. A Marine speaks into a radio and troops unload a CH-47D Chinook in Afghanistan's Kunar Province. RETWEET!, The president went on to follow that last command, although the Oscar the Midnight Rider account has since been suspended by Twitter. Stephen M. Mills, 35, of Fort Worth, Tex., was reportedly the leader of the Navy SEAL team killed in the Chinook helicopter attack on Aug. 6. All rights reserved. The Taliban silenced him. So the whole team went in one Chinook helicopter -- Extortion 17. Karen Vaughn says she wants to know why her son Aaron and his team were not using special operations aircraft which have defenses in place to help allow helicopters to go deep behind enemy lines. they won't view it as wrong, just a "necessary" sacrifice for your country. A collection of moments during and after Barack Obama's presidency. The helicopter was shot down by insurgents. That same day he obtained a medical waiver he needed to pursue an Army commission -- to serve an eight-year hitch before going to law school. U.S. officials tell The Associated Press that they believe that . I didnt want to die., He remembered the words of his old flight instructor: Never stop flying the aircraft.. They stayed fixed on enemy squirters, or runners, until just a few minutes before landing. .css-v1xtj3{display:block;font-family:FreightSansW01,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:100;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-v1xtj3:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.1387rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-v1xtj3{line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.18581rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-top:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.23488rem;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}Russian Cargo Plane Explodes During Pressure Test, Air Force's IRON Wireless Network Protects Nukes, Watch Opposition Group Land Drone on Russian Jet, Pentagon's Mysterious Aircraft Won't Need a Runway, The Secret War to Take out Iran's F-14 Fighters, Meet the E-7 Wedgetail, the Air Forces New Plane, Report: Pilot Error Ruined a $112 Million F-35 Jet, Air Force Grounds Jets: Their Tails May Fall Off, The Messy Battle to Build the F-35's Next Engine, Russia Dredges Up Ancient BTR-50 Vehicles. When they arrived at the compound, however, the strike force couldn't locate Tahir, and some of his fighters dispersed. Were very concerned that the administration had disclosed that the Navy SEALs had carried out a successful attack on bin Ladens compound resulting in his death. Apparently, someone tipped them off that the SEALs were coming; the helicopter was attacked from three sides in a coordinated ambush. President Trump has been known, over the years, to tweet some bizarre things. Two investigations of the incident proved inconclusive. Are such missiles appearing in Afghanistan? However, the AP has reported, the Afghan forces never staffed the outpost after American forces left, and the Taliban moved back in. Doug Hamburger, whose son Patrick was killed, called the incident an ambush that could have been prevented. Market data provided by Factset. At the pilots request, the AC-130 flashed an infrared spotlight, which could be seen only through night vision goggles, to light up the landing zone. the seal team 6 crash is just tying up loose ends for their crimes. The families of some of the 17 SEAL Team 6 commandos who were killed in an ambush in Afghanistan during a helicopter flight to help Army Rangers pinned down by Taliban gunmen accused the Obama administration of deliberately endangering their loved ones for political ends. "We have an ideology problem with this war, and we need to address it. And it even led Robert ONeill, the Trump-supporting Navy Seal who claims to have fired the shot that killed Bin Laden, to tweet that the conspiracy theories both about the Bin Laden double and about the Seals from the raid having been killed arent true. And Justice unilaterally set a new deadline for the release and then ignored it, Mr. Klayman said. The Obama administration is violating a judges order to turn over documents in the Aug. 6, 2011, shootdown of a U.S. helicopter call sign Extortion 17 that killed members of SEAL Team 6 in Afghanistan, a watchdog group is charging. During the last several years it is evident that our government has spent a lot of time and resources covering up the truth on many things from both our allies and the American public, Mr. Military officers interviewed by investigators said they could not recall an IRF ever being sent for such a mission. The Graveyard of Empires: Directed by David Boreanaz. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver. Due to the sheer magnitude of loss of life, combined with recent news of SEAL Team Six's successful raid on Osama bin Laden's compound, global media outlets lionized the tragedy. All rights reserved. Conspiracy theories over the years have alleged that President Barack Obama and presumably then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and now Joe Biden had somehow been responsible for the attack, supposedly in order to silence the Seals for something having to do with the Bin Laden raid three months earlier. I thought I hit a tree,he said. The second probe, led by Army Brigadier General Jeffrey Colt, explained in excruciating detail what all those familiar with military operations and helicopter aviation in Afghanistan already knew: chance and chance alone, took down Extortion 17. He knew the pilots and crew members aboard Extortion 17. The Chinook smashed into the ground, the force ripping off his goggles. Somebody tipped them off. The night her son Aaron died, he was in a helicopter that was built in the 1960s and last retrofitted in 1985. For Lee, there was no time to reflect on how close he had come to dying. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. He would not have hesitated to fly with any of them. Planners selected a landing zone that had never been used before. Led by firebrand Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Congress is to launch an official investigation into the mysterious helicopter crash that killed several members of the Navy SEAL team 6 in Afghanistan in 2011. Retired Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin, who served as deputy undersecretary of defense for Intelligence and was a commander in the Army's super-secret "Delta Force," denounced politicized rules of engagement as a "deliberate plot" within the American armed forces that he says puts political correctness above the safety of the troops. After the crash, the forces that were involved in the firefight "broke contact" with the enemy so they could go provide perimeter security for the crash site, the official said. An initial investigation indicates the helicopter was shot down by insurgents in the volatile Tangi valley of Wardak province, several hours south of Kabul. May 1 (EDT)1:25 p.m. President Obama, along with other top officials, formally approve the execution of Operation Neptune Spear.1:51 p.m. Stealth Black Hawk helicopters take off from Afghanistan, carrying a group of 25 Navy SEALs.3:30 p.m. The choppers land on the compound in Abbottabad. Flying low, the pilots have to maneuver a machine weighing up to 50,000 pounds over mountains, under cover of darkness, in swirling wind and dust, wearing night vision goggles. One source says the team was thought to include 22 SEALs, three Air Force air controllers, seven Afghan Army troops, a dog and handler, and a civilian interpreter, plus the helicopter crew. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? "So much of the war is fought in areas where these helicopters have to fly at high altitudes," where the thin air can strain the performance of the engines and rotor blades, said Ed Darack, author of the recently published book, The Final Mission of Extortion 17: Special Ops, Helicopter Support, SEAL Team Six and the Deadliest Day of the U.S. War in Afghanistan. 4:05 p.m. - The first helicopter exits the compound. During the event organized by a group called Freedom Watch, family members and former military personnel claimed President Obama turned the SEALs group into a Taliban target after the administration revealed they had conducted the bin Laden raid. That means more raids, more targets and more reliance on Afghan competenceall of which add up to more special forces casualties. ", While not commenting directly on the allegations, he called those who were lost "warriors" who represented "the diversity and talent of America and its military.". The helicopter was in great operational shape. Many military experts at the time, including some of Obamas top military advisers, had questioned the White Houses public praise of SEAL Team 6 and said it put members in danger. But the Team Six connection makes it a major symbolic victory for them.