Why do our SEALS and special forces do what they do?

[Roadhog]

31 is the number I heard. With 7 of them being nationals. But, I sure hope there's some brass standing in line for a serious flogging for this one. The raid on Bin Laden involved less men, and they had 3 choppers. Here, they had 22 Seals in one machine. 6 choppers would have been much smarter. Smaller craft are better able to evade ground fire, The difference would be like trying to shoot down 6 Cessna 170s or the Goodyear Blimp. Which would make an easier target? One "easy to hit" chopper proved to be an extremely poor choice.

Nothing like putting all your eggs into one basket, then having the handle break and the basket falls to the ground. This does not take away from their performance or abilities. Even going up against some of the worst odds, the families should have been able to feel reasonably confident with the record. Over the last 50 years, the first Seal buried because of combat was only a couple of years ago. Even today, with 23 men killed in combat, their record still shines. But, the brass in charge of transportation laid a big, fat, rotten egg on this one.

My heart goes out to the families.

The Chinook can operate at much higher altitudes, than the Blackhawk, Apache, etc. Much of this fight is in high altitude locations beyond the operational capibilities of some of the smaller helicopters. Average altitude of Afghanistan is 4000 ft. The Hindu Kush mt. range is up around 20,000 ft.
It's a nasty fight in some very unaccessible locations, with extreme conditions.

My heart goes out to the families.

[Sharlie]

My heart goes out to the families.

My heart goes out too, but is it really honoring to them to let the enemy know our losses? I can't see how reporting the team of seals that killed Bin Laden as the ones that were killed helps our forces. I want to give them respect for their service, however it seems irresponsible to share that information?

[Roadhog]

My heart goes out too, but is it really honoring to them to let the enemy know our losses? I can't see how reporting the team of seals that killed Bin Laden as the ones that were killed helps our forces. I want to give them respect for their service, however it seems irresponsible to share that information?

That bothers me too, and the speculation, not knowing the details using reckless reporting to offer any credit to the enemy, when in fact the helo could have lost air under the rotors at that altitude and heat.
The tragic loss should be regarded with..... oh hell... it shouldn't need to be explained.

[Orangetxguy]

The Chinook can operate at much higher altitudes, than the Blackhawk, Apache, etc. Much of this fight is in high altitude locations beyond the operational capibilities of some of the smaller helicopters. Average altitude of Afghanistan is 4000 ft. The Hindu Kush mt. range is up around 20,000 ft.
It's a nasty fight in some very unaccessible locations, with extreme conditions.

My heart goes out to the families.

There ya go, stealing my thunder......again!!


Sharlie said;

My heart goes out too, but is it really honoring to them to let the enemy know our losses? I can't see how reporting the team of seals that killed Bin Laden as the ones that were killed helps our forces. I want to give them respect for their service, however it seems irresponsible to share that information?

I can see one extremely big benefit in "reporting" such a loss at the hands of the enemy. Perhaps this "reporting" was more about one thing....and less about another??

Catch my drift??

Roadhog said;

That bothers me too, and the speculation, not knowing the details using reckless reporting to offer any credit to the enemy, when in fact the helo could have lost air under the rotors at that altitude and heat.
The tragic loss should be regarded with..... oh hell... it shouldn't need to be explained.

See above.............use imagination. Maybe there is reason behind madness.

[CleeIB]

Here's a nice account of the SEAL team raid on Bin Laden's compound:

The Mission to Get Osama Bin Laden : The New Yorker

[Sharlie]

There ya go, stealing my thunder......again!!

Catch my drift??

Roadhog said;

See above.............use imagination. Maybe there is reason behind madness.

Maybe

If you are asking me if I trust the gubberment or the media, in that they had some 'good' reason to do what they did. Trust of either one of those entities was LOST a long time ago. If you were just trying to get me to be open minded to the possiblity that they considered the consequences and that this was an intentional release of info, then Yes I get your drift.

Maybe there is madness because they lack reason??? I'm sure they had some reasoning behind what they did, I'm just not convinced they had sound reasoning nevertheless. I guess its a good thing they don't have to run every decision by me.

[Mr. Ford95]

US helicopter crashed in Taliban trap: Afghan official - Yahoo!

A senior Afghan government official told AFP on condition of anonymity that Taliban commander Qari Tahir lured US forces to the scene by tipping them off that a Taliban meeting was taking place.

He also said four Pakistanis helped Tahir carry out the strike.

"Now it's confirmed that the helicopter was shot down and it was a trap that was set by a Taliban commander," said the official, citing intelligence gathered from the area.

"The Taliban knew which route the helicopter would take," he continued.

"That's the only route, so they took position on the either side of the valley on mountains and as the helicopter approached, they attacked it with rockets and other modern weapons. It was brought down by multiple shots."

"The operation began as a security search for a Taliban leader responsible for insurgent operations in the nearby Tangi Valley," it said.

The first wave of ISAF ground troops then exchanged fire with insurgents, killing several of them.

"As the insurgents continued to fire, the combined force on the ground requested additional forces to assist the operation," the statement added.

"Those additional personnel were inbound to the scene when the CH-47 (Chinook) carrying them crashed, killing all on board."

[geeshock]

My heart goes out too, but is it really honoring to them to let the enemy know our losses? I can't see how reporting the team of seals that killed Bin Laden as the ones that were killed helps our forces. I want to give them respect for their service, however it seems irresponsible to share that information?

I agree with you, and since they pride themselves on silence, it might sound cold and hard, that's the best way to honor them. Keep them in our heart but don't anounce to the world how they struck a huge blow to the spec ops community.

[cdswans]

Here's a nice account of the SEAL team raid on Bin Laden's compound:

The Mission to Get Osama Bin Laden : The New Yorker

Here's a better one . . came out a little earlier than yours (be sure to note the date): The Death of bin Ladenism - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

That and several more links which paint a much truer picture of what actually happened at the "Bin Laden Raid" can be found here: Osama bin Laden: A dead nemesis perpetuated by the US government | WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

Seal Team 6 was set up. They were waking up to that fact and now they've been taken down. RIP to all.