U.S. Helicopter shot down in Iraq, 9 Killed

Associated Press

FALLUJAH, Iraq - A U.S. Black Hawk helicopter crashed Thursday near this stronghold of the anti-American insurgency, killing all nine soldiers aboard, the U.S. military said. A witness said the helicopter was hit in the tail by a rocket. There were no survivors among the nine American soldiers aboard the helicopter that crashed about 2:20 p.m. while making an "emergency landing" near Fallujah, said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt in Baghdad.

Mohammed Ahmed al-Jamali, a farmer who lives close to the crash site, said he heard the whoosh of a rocket, saw it hit the helicopter in the tail and watched the chopper crash in flames. Al-Jamali, 27, said he rushed to the scene but found all aboard dead. "I was in the farm, I heard the sound, looked up and I saw the rocket hit. It hit it in the tail," al-Jamali said. He said there were two helicopters in the air, both with the distinctive red crosses of medical evacuation craft, and that the second one was hit.

The helicopter was a medical evacuation aircraft but it was unclear if it was carrying patients, a military official said on condition of anonymity.

Student Waleed Kurdi, 23, said he heard "a loud explosion and I saw the fire in the air." He said the aircraft exploded in two before it hit the ground. American troops arrived about an hour later, while a helicopter patrolled above, al-Jamali said.

The military also said a U.S. soldier died Wednesday of injuries suffered in a mortar attack that wounded 33 other troops and a civilian west of Baghdad. Wednesday's mortar attack occurred at Logistical Base Seitz about 12 miles west of Baghdad. The mortars hit "a living area where they have their sleeping quarters," a military spokesman said. Seven of the wounded were treated and returned to duty and the others were hospitalized at the base, the military said.

God bless The Iraqi Resistance.They only want freedom,democracy and self -determination but the evil empire of the United States wants to kill all who want even a hint of freedom.

A military spokesperson had written off The Resistance just a short time before the incident occurred.It is time for all those who support freedom to establish an out reach to the freedom fighters and aid them in every way possible.

That's right, cheer for the Baathist rapists and murders. Cheer for Islamic killers. Cheer for those who don't give a damn if children are ripped to shreds in a bombing, as long as they get 1 American. Cheer for more torture and mass graves. Cheer for the public execution of men, women and children. Cheer for the use of chemical weapons on civilians. Cheer for more beatings and disappearances. Cheer for naked depravity and rule by violence.

That's the problem with "Peace Lover" and the Angry Left in general: All moral sense is turned on its head. You utterly lack ANY moral sense.

The Iraqi people never had a chance in hell of freedom or democracy under Saddam Hussein. If you are incapable of recognizing this then you are incapable of anything remotely resembling clear thought.

There are public executions going on in Iraq right now.These are in the form of United States military personnel attempting to set an example for all Iraqis by indescriminately killing civillians.The worst part about this is that they kill people who aren't affiliated with The Resistance.

The people of Iraq got what they wanted(maybe) when the former government was defeated.It was only when the United States began to unfairly impose their will upon the population did the resistance movement spring up and become more sophisticated.

The freedom fighters operate in secret,therefore,they depend on the silence of the majority of Iraqis who could turn them in at any time.You seem to ignore the fact the the freedom fighters are not ideologically dependent on any philosophies dictates from any other nation or organization.These people want democracy and freedom and the United States are hell bent on forcing them to accept their interpretations of each.

It would be best if the United States would get the hell out of Iraq and allow its citizens to develope their own way of doing things but since that isn't going to happen,then nobody should be upset when Americans are killed at random.