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What is wrong with the U.S. Military Helicopter program? Assuming something is wrong, why do so many of our choppers crash without being exposed to enemy fire? Are they worn out? Is it the maintenace? Is it the weather? Why so many chopper crashes?
Copter crash kills 12; Marines slain in separate attacks
BAGHDAD (AP) — A U.S. Black Hawk helicopter crashed in northern Iraq, killing all 12 Americans believed to be aboard, while five U.S. Marines were slain in separate weekend attacks, the military said Sunday.
Iraqi police secure the scene of a car bombing in western Baghdad.
By Karim Sahib, AFP/Getty Images
The deaths came as Iraqi police said a kidnapped French engineer was released by his captors.
The UH-60 Black Hawk crashed just before midnight Saturday about seven miles east of the insurgent stronghold of Tal Afar, a northern city near the Syrian border, the officials said. The military also did not say what caused the crash.
It was the deadliest helicopter crash in Iraq since a CH-53 Sea Stallion crashed in bad weather in western Iraq on Jan. 26, 2005, killing 31 U.S. service members.
In Saturday's crash, records indicated that eight passengers and four crewmembers were aboard — all Americans, the officials said, but they did not say how many were members of the U.S. military.
The Black Hawk was part of a two-helicopter team flying between bases when communications were lost, military authorities said. A search-and-rescue operation was launched and the helicopter was found about noon Sunday, they said.
Three Marines were killed Sunday by small arms attacks in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, the military said.
On Saturday, two Marines were killed by roadside bombs in separate incidents, the military said. One blast occurred about 50 miles west of Baghdad, while the other happened about 35 miles north of the capital.
With the latest Marine deaths, at least 2,199 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the war in 2003, according to an Associated Press count. That toll did not include those killed aboard the Black Hawk.
In other violence Sunday, five people were killed in separate attacks in Baghdad, including a policeman killed by a suicide car bomber that targeted an Interior Ministry patrol. Seven others were wounded.
The Association of Muslim Scholars, a major Sunni clerical group, said U.S. troops raided their headquarters at Baghdad's Umm al-Qura mosque before dawn Sunday. The association is thought by some to be close to some insurgent groups.
"The Americans bear the responsibility for this assault," said Sheik Younis al-Ekaidi. "This crime came as punishment for the association's position on the occupation and its position on the latest elections."
A U.S. military official said the raid was conducted because of a tip from an Iraqi citizen that there was "significant terrorist related activity in the building" and six people were detained.
"The time of day was chosen to minimize impact on the mosque, a time when there wouldn't be worshippers, and a minimum number of people in the surrounding area," said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson.
The French engineer, Bernard Planche, was pushed out of a car near a checkpoint in a Baghdad suburb, apparently freed by nervous captors who then fled, Iraqi police said Sunday.
Planche, 52, was kidnapped Dec. 5 on his way to work at a water plant. He was found Saturday night near the checkpoint in the Abu Ghraib neighborhood, said Maj. Falah al-Mohammadawi.
President Jacques Chirac "is delighted by the happy outcome," France's presidential Elysee Palace said. He personally gave the news to Planche's daughter, Isabelle, and his brother, Gilles.
Planche worked for a non-governmental organization called AACCESS. His captors had released a video of him sitting between two armed men. Arab news channel Al-Arabiya, which broadcast an excerpt of the video, said the militants denounced the "illegal French presence" in Iraq and demanded the withdrawal of French troops from the country. France has not sent forces to Iraq.
The name of a previously unknown militant group, called "Monitoring For Iraq," was shown in the corner of the video.
Insurgents have kidnapped more than 250 foreigners in the past two years, aiming to force U.S.-led troops to leave Iraq or prevent Arab nations from strengthening their ties with the Baghdad government.
In an effort to help draw Sunni Arabs into the political process as a way to dampen the violence, U.S. officials for months have been communicating directly or through channels with members of the disaffected minority connected to the insurgency.
A Western diplomat on Saturday reported a recent "uptick" in those contacts.
Those insurgents "sense that the political process does protect the Sunni community's interest," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
A similar uptick occurred after the parliamentary elections on Jan. 30, 2005, he said.
A U.S. official said the coalition does not talk to foreign terrorists or supporters of Saddam Hussein's ousted regime but said it was important to isolate extremists from the broader Sunni Arab community. He also spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.
The Iraqi government is talking directly to all militant groups who are willing to communicate, but no commitments have been made to any of them, said Wafiq al-Samarie, an adviser on security affairs to President Jalal Talabani.
"Yes, many groups are communicating with us. We are listening to them and providing them with advices with open arms and transparency," he said.
Al-Samarie, a Sunni Arab and a former intelligence chief under Saddam Hussein, spoke to reporters after a meeting between Talabani and Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the Sunni Arab Iraqi Accordance Front.
Iraq's fractious political groups, meanwhile, could form a coalition government within weeks, Talabani said Saturday.
Talabani, a Kurd, offered a timeframe on the formation of a government after meeting with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who said Iraqis remain optimistic despite a violent week that saw nearly 200 people killed in two days.
Meeting with Straw in Baghdad, Talabani said Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political groups had agreed in principle on a national unity government that could be formed within a few weeks. Western diplomats in Baghdad have speculated that a government could be in place by the second half of February.
Talabani said it should be easier to form a new government than it was after the January 2005, elections, when it took nearly three months.
Copter crash kills 12; Marines slain in separate attacks
BAGHDAD (AP) — A U.S. Black Hawk helicopter crashed in northern Iraq, killing all 12 Americans believed to be aboard, while five U.S. Marines were slain in separate weekend attacks, the military said Sunday.
Iraqi police secure the scene of a car bombing in western Baghdad.
By Karim Sahib, AFP/Getty Images
The deaths came as Iraqi police said a kidnapped French engineer was released by his captors.
The UH-60 Black Hawk crashed just before midnight Saturday about seven miles east of the insurgent stronghold of Tal Afar, a northern city near the Syrian border, the officials said. The military also did not say what caused the crash.
It was the deadliest helicopter crash in Iraq since a CH-53 Sea Stallion crashed in bad weather in western Iraq on Jan. 26, 2005, killing 31 U.S. service members.
In Saturday's crash, records indicated that eight passengers and four crewmembers were aboard — all Americans, the officials said, but they did not say how many were members of the U.S. military.
The Black Hawk was part of a two-helicopter team flying between bases when communications were lost, military authorities said. A search-and-rescue operation was launched and the helicopter was found about noon Sunday, they said.
Three Marines were killed Sunday by small arms attacks in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, the military said.
On Saturday, two Marines were killed by roadside bombs in separate incidents, the military said. One blast occurred about 50 miles west of Baghdad, while the other happened about 35 miles north of the capital.
With the latest Marine deaths, at least 2,199 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the war in 2003, according to an Associated Press count. That toll did not include those killed aboard the Black Hawk.
In other violence Sunday, five people were killed in separate attacks in Baghdad, including a policeman killed by a suicide car bomber that targeted an Interior Ministry patrol. Seven others were wounded.
The Association of Muslim Scholars, a major Sunni clerical group, said U.S. troops raided their headquarters at Baghdad's Umm al-Qura mosque before dawn Sunday. The association is thought by some to be close to some insurgent groups.
"The Americans bear the responsibility for this assault," said Sheik Younis al-Ekaidi. "This crime came as punishment for the association's position on the occupation and its position on the latest elections."
A U.S. military official said the raid was conducted because of a tip from an Iraqi citizen that there was "significant terrorist related activity in the building" and six people were detained.
"The time of day was chosen to minimize impact on the mosque, a time when there wouldn't be worshippers, and a minimum number of people in the surrounding area," said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson.
The French engineer, Bernard Planche, was pushed out of a car near a checkpoint in a Baghdad suburb, apparently freed by nervous captors who then fled, Iraqi police said Sunday.
Planche, 52, was kidnapped Dec. 5 on his way to work at a water plant. He was found Saturday night near the checkpoint in the Abu Ghraib neighborhood, said Maj. Falah al-Mohammadawi.
President Jacques Chirac "is delighted by the happy outcome," France's presidential Elysee Palace said. He personally gave the news to Planche's daughter, Isabelle, and his brother, Gilles.
Planche worked for a non-governmental organization called AACCESS. His captors had released a video of him sitting between two armed men. Arab news channel Al-Arabiya, which broadcast an excerpt of the video, said the militants denounced the "illegal French presence" in Iraq and demanded the withdrawal of French troops from the country. France has not sent forces to Iraq.
The name of a previously unknown militant group, called "Monitoring For Iraq," was shown in the corner of the video.
Insurgents have kidnapped more than 250 foreigners in the past two years, aiming to force U.S.-led troops to leave Iraq or prevent Arab nations from strengthening their ties with the Baghdad government.
In an effort to help draw Sunni Arabs into the political process as a way to dampen the violence, U.S. officials for months have been communicating directly or through channels with members of the disaffected minority connected to the insurgency.
A Western diplomat on Saturday reported a recent "uptick" in those contacts.
Those insurgents "sense that the political process does protect the Sunni community's interest," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
A similar uptick occurred after the parliamentary elections on Jan. 30, 2005, he said.
A U.S. official said the coalition does not talk to foreign terrorists or supporters of Saddam Hussein's ousted regime but said it was important to isolate extremists from the broader Sunni Arab community. He also spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.
The Iraqi government is talking directly to all militant groups who are willing to communicate, but no commitments have been made to any of them, said Wafiq al-Samarie, an adviser on security affairs to President Jalal Talabani.
"Yes, many groups are communicating with us. We are listening to them and providing them with advices with open arms and transparency," he said.
Al-Samarie, a Sunni Arab and a former intelligence chief under Saddam Hussein, spoke to reporters after a meeting between Talabani and Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the Sunni Arab Iraqi Accordance Front.
Iraq's fractious political groups, meanwhile, could form a coalition government within weeks, Talabani said Saturday.
Talabani, a Kurd, offered a timeframe on the formation of a government after meeting with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who said Iraqis remain optimistic despite a violent week that saw nearly 200 people killed in two days.
Meeting with Straw in Baghdad, Talabani said Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political groups had agreed in principle on a national unity government that could be formed within a few weeks. Western diplomats in Baghdad have speculated that a government could be in place by the second half of February.
Talabani said it should be easier to form a new government than it was after the January 2005, elections, when it took nearly three months.
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