And Justice unilaterally set a new deadline for the release and then ignored it, Mr. Klayman said. 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. The military's public contradictions raise more questions than answers. All rights reserved. The Justice Department said at least 50 documents in the Pentagon have been identified as relevant, but only one has been turned over. He would eventually do two tours and become commander of a Chinook unit during his second deployment in 2011. Per factcheck.org, while Obama and his advisers were deliberating over which mission to authorize for attacking Bin Ladens compound, Biden advised the president to wait for further confirmation that bin Laden was actually in the compound in Pakistan before acting. Biden was not, as implied, altogether opposed to killing Bin Laden. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? For now, let's assume the Chinook was shot down, and by a rocket. But Tahir and a group of his fighters escaped. 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. I was terrified. At that time, this marked deadliest moment in the war in Afghanistan. While the goggles are better than nothing, they turn everything green, distort depth perception and limit peripheral vision. If this [operation] was survivable, that was the right crew to have. Photo: AP, Thousands of passengers are stranded after Colombias Viva Air grounds flights, The last of Mexicos artisanal salt-makers preserve a 2,000-year-old tradition, I cannot give up: Cambodian rapper says he will sing about injustice despite threats from govt, Ukrainian rock star reflects on a year of war in his country, Ukrainian refugees in Poland will now be charged to stay in state-funded housing, This Colombian town is dimming its lights to attract more tourists to view the night sky, Kneel and apologize!: 76 years after island-wide massacre, Taiwan continues to commemorate and debate the tragedy. 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. Aerial view of Osama bin Laden's compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, made by the CIA. The Associated Press contributed to this report. President Obama offered his thoughts and prayers to those killed in the crash. So, to do an infil on the X or Y, you know, having that element of surprise in the beginning of an operation is good, but by the time weve been there for three hours, and the partys up, bringing in another aircraft like that, you know, may not be the most tactically sound decision.. The RPG that struck Extortion 17 threw the helicopter into an uncontrollable spin. Family members question SEAL Team 6's most deadly incident. Its lawyers have told the judge that the process of locating relevant documents and removing classified information takes time. They loaded onto Extortion 17, and then Carter and Nichols lifted the Chinook into the night sky. What went so terribly wrong? I would say that on the three-minute call is when Gun 2 started looking at the LZ, giving an LZ brief op. Hamburger said. Related: Marcus Luttrell's savior claim's 'Lone Survivor' got it wrong. I would say that was the first time that we really had eyes on the LZ.. Trump, who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, announced a slate of futuristic new policies in a campaign video Friday. Some congressional lawmakers demonstrated their support for the group, including former Florida Republican Rep. Allan West -- an Iraq war vet -- and Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. "Chance will always play a role in war," stated Justin "Buddy" Lee, the commander of Extortion Company, who had flown with Dave Carter the night before Extortion 17's demise on a similar raid, and who had co-piloted a number of missions with Bryan Nichols. "The downing of Extortion 17 was a catastrophic and unprecedented tragedy for our nation," Reid testified. On this night, Aug. 6, 2011, something went terribly wrong. And you know, never before in the history of our county (had) a sitting president released that type of information to the public, especially when he was talking about special forces. The mission continues, uninterrupted.3:39 p.m. Osama bin Laden is located on the third floor of the compound and is shot in the head, above the left eye.Sometime during the operation, three other men (including one of bin Ladens sons) and a woman in the compound are also killed.3:53 p.m. President Obama receives preliminary word that bin Laden is identified and dead.3:55 p.m. SEAL team members move bin Ladens body to the first floor of the compound and place it in a body bag.3:39 p.m.-4:10 p.m. The team locates and retrieves multiple items from the compound for intelligence investigation.4:05 p.m. The first helicopter exits the compound.4:08 p.m. The team destroys the chopper that crashed.4:10 p.m. A backup helicopter scoops up remaining team members and leaves the area.5:53 p.m. The choppers with SEAL team members return to Afghanistan.7:01 p.m. President Obama receives further intelligence information that the body killed in the raid is likely that of bin Laden.11:35 p.m. President Obama addresses the nation about the raid.12:59 a.m. Osama bin Ladens body is buried at sea within 24 hours to comply with Islamic law. Additional forces were then sent to secure the crash site. "We will draw inspiration from their lives, and continue the work of securing our country and standing up for the values that they embodied.". They fail to mention it was Saudis who orchestrated 9/11, yet he elected to go after Iraq and Afghanistan. Misinformation regarding the skills of the pilots and crew, and nonsensical conspiracy theoriesoften politically motivatedfollowed, much of which unfortunately continues to this day. Coincidence or not, any Chinook shoot-down is a coup for the Taliban. I had to learn how to land while browned-out, wearing NVGs, on the side of a mountain or an uneven field, Lee said. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Originally published August 6, 2011 at 10:50 am Updated August 6, 2011 at 3:16 pm. See GlobalPost: Navy SEALs had "kill" order on Osama bin Laden, report claims. The compounds unusual and extensive security features, along with further intelligence information, prompted suspicion that the residence was Osama bin Ladens hideout. AP sources: Crash kills members of SEAL Team 6. A CH-47D Chinook helicopter lands at a small landing zone at Firebase Blessing, in eastern Afghanistans restive Kunar Province at the start of a combat operation. or redistributed. The fighting lasted at least two hours, he said, the New York Times reported. Darack, a writer and photographer, is the author of four previous books, including Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalersthe Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan, Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. While the vast majority of attempts to down helicopters failed, the lucky shot that took down Extortion 17 had a precedent. Around 2:40 a.m., an Apache pilot flying in support came on the radio and shouted: Fallen Angel. The loss of a Chinook helicopter carrying members of Navy SEAL Team Six made yesterday the deadliest single day in the entire Afghan War for the U.S., 3 Questions About the SEAL Team Six Crash, Russian Cargo Plane Explodes During Pressure Test, better protected from newer, more sophisticated threats, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. 4:05 p.m. - The first helicopter exits the compound. They dont even produce under their own self-imposed deadline, Mr. Klayman told The Washington Times. Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. They were sitting there, waiting. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. The Joint Combat Assessment Team report identified, through detailed metallurgical analysis, the type of projectile that blew Extortion 17 out of the sky: an antipersonnel unguided ballistic rocket propelled grenade. 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. Strange. I didnt want to die., He remembered the words of his old flight instructor: Never stop flying the aircraft.. But what if it was a more advanced missile? JSOC ground forces and those who flew them knew and trusted each other. Special forces routinely use helicopters in raids on homes in Afghanistan. Helicopter raids are dangerous and unpredictable. The route had been carefully planned, and gunships maintained continuous watch over the intended landing zone during Extortion 17's approach. But Chinooks are at their most vulnerable while hovering in place during raids like the one this team is thought to have been conducting. It is not uncommon for commandos to fly some of their missions aboard such aircraft in the war zone, however. Chinooks are American forces' preferred helicopters in Afghanistan because they are powerful enough fly over mountains while carrying a full complement of troops. On such missions, the Chinook pilots nearly always fly at night, wearing night vision goggles, or NVGs. "Their deaths are a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the men and women of our military and their families, including all who have served in Afghanistan,'' President Obama said Saturday. It was a good crew, it really was. It marked the greatest single incident loss of American life in the war in Afghanistan, the deadliest moment in the history of SEAL Team Six and the entirety of the Navy SEALs, and the deadliest single incident in the history of U.S. Special Operations Command. Every mission is potentially life-threatening. 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. But some say the official report, which contained no direct criticism of decision-makers that day, did not delve deeply enough. Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft that supported the raid, including a Predator drone, and a variety of highly specialized spy planes, had kept continuous watch over the region during the operation. With David Boreanaz, Max Thieriot, Jessica Par, Neil Brown Jr.. Market data provided by Factset. Lee heard the call, and he knew what it meant. He would not have hesitated to fly with any of them. The front rotor shattered, and the back pylon sheared off. On April 29, 2011, President Barack Obama authorized a small special operations team, known as SEAL Team Six, to carry out a raid on the compound. In fact, the conflict was heating up. 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. Information about the incident is still trickling in, but these are a few of the most important questions in the immediate aftermath. The conspiracy theories didnt bother Lee at first. Click here for reprint permission. Navy SEALs. The subject of the tweet, per The Beast, is Alan Howell Parrot, a falconer-turned-CIA whistleblower who was once the star of a documentary called Feathered Cocaine.. All Rights Reserved. Their names and their missions had never been revealed before. The World is a public radio program that crosses borders and time zones to bring home the stories that matter. RETWEET!, The president went on to follow that last command, although the Oscar the Midnight Rider account has since been suspended by Twitter. I find it quite disturbing that the government is not willing to give us the answers we deserve. As more responsibilities fall on the shoulders of special forces, the risk of more losses like this one will continue to increase. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver. SEAL TEAM SIX - Extortion 17 EXPOSED theunitedwest 15.8K subscribers Subscribe 4.7K 394K views Streamed 9 years ago AUGUST 6, 2015 - Today, on the fourth anniversary of the shoot down of. September-11-pentagon-attack-survivors-evacuation. During an attempted reinforcement effort during Operation Red Wings on June 28, 2005, high on the slopes of a mountain called Sawtalo Sar in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar Province, a lucky shot took down an Army Special Operations Chinook, call sign "Turbine 33." All rights reserved. They knew. However, a shoot down does not necessarily mean insurgents have changed their tactics or hardware. But the CH-47D has neither a flight nor voice recorder, only an engine performance data recorder for maintenance. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The police chief of Wardak said the attack occurred around 1 a.m. Saturday after an assault on a Taliban compound in the village of Jaw-e-Mekh Zareen in the Tangi Valley. But it's just as plausible that the Taliban got lucky. At any moment, they could come under rocket attack. Charles Strange, whose son Michael, 25, died in the attack said Obama personally promised him a thorough investigation of what happened but has failed to deliver. For Lee, there was no time to reflect on how close he had come to dying. The Chinook headed to a different landing zone than the first assault team -- one in the narrowest part of the Tangi Valley. The helicopter crashed into a creek bed and a flash flood shortly afterward washed away some parts of the wreckage. 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 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. The team was responding to an Army Ranger unit that was engaged in a firefight with the Taliban and needed backup. The US Navy's elite SEAL Team 6 reportedly recovered two bodies and a flight recorder from the site where a US Air Force E-11A aircraft crashed in Afghanistan on Monday. Image:U.S. PresidentDonaldTrumpholds a campaign rally at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S. October 13, 2020. 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 team boarded Extortion 17 with Dave Carter and Bryan Nichols at the controls. Legal Statement. 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. "We simply didn't know those guys with those RPGs were there," he said. WASHINGTON The families of Navy SEAL Team 6 members killed in a disastrous August 2011 helicopter crash in Afghanistan blamed the government for the tragedy, during an emotional press conference in Washington Thursday. David Tarrant. The landing zone was small, and the commanders didnt want to split up the strike force. The night before he left to go to Fort Hood, where he would board a plane to Afghanistan, the biggest event of the 10-year war occurred: Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan during a raid by Navy SEALs. The Chinook smashed into the ground, the force ripping off his goggles. Sign up to receive the latest updates from U.S News & World Report and our trusted partners and sponsors. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. But why? 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. By clicking submit, you are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions & Privacy Policy. Some of those Seals were members of Seal Team 6 that took part in the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, the AP reported today; although they were not actual participants in the Pakistan raid, according to the New York Times. Some Arab countries and leaders condemned the actions of the United States. Winds whipped through the fir trees. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. One by one, fathers and mothers of the victims of the crash spoke about what they see as gaping holes or inconsistencies in the review of what U.S. Special Operations considers its most deadly incident. One of the other things that we did talk about kind of what youre hitting on, sir, is about the fact that, you know, for three hours we had been burning holes in the sky, the officer told investigators. 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. Still, the one the president retweeted earlier this week may have been the weirdest yet. 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. As is routine on such missions, two Apache attack helicopters provided extra cover and security for Extortion 17, while circling above was an AC-130 aircraft, a gunship that also provides surveillance. A typical combat mission in Afghanistan leaves little margin for error, requiring Chinook pilots to land on tiny, makeshift sites on mountain slopes where any tree, bush or rock could be hiding an enemy fighter with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. The more likely explanation seems to be that the president, like a lot of us, tweets without thinking, especially if the subject matter is something that praises him or denigrates his political opponents. This is all, needless to say, completely unsubstantiated if not outright false. They are also pretty tough; the only comparable loss to this one was a Chinook shot down in 2005. The military's public contradictions raise more questions than answers. And thats fine; thats what you signed up for, Lee said. Military officers interviewed by investigators said they could not recall an IRF ever being sent for such a mission. Chance, however, a component of war intimately understood by war fighters, can never be completely mitigated. Rowan Scarborough can be reached at [email protected]. Things like Benghazi and the NSA. Its crazy how many times I can think of where me or the guys I was with had to do that.. File: A US Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter in flight. An Afghan official, speaking anonymously a few days after the attack, speculated that the Taliban had laid a trap, that they had purposely put out false information about a meeting involving the Taliban commander. The immediate reaction force (IRF) was assembled hastily for insertion into Tangi Valley to help Army Rangers capture fleeing Taliban. One helicopter crashes, but there are no injuries. Still, SEAL Team Sixs bold raid to take down bin Laden was an extraordinary operation that most experts regard as a resounding success. The loss of a Chinook helicopter carrying members of Navy SEAL Team Six made yesterday the deadliest single day in the entire Afghan War for the U.S., The New York Times reports. Enterprise writer at The Dallas Morning News. "President Karzai expressed his deep condolences because of this incident and expressed his sympathy to Barack Obama.". Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. They then repeated and emphasized a few related questions: How could this happen? But why? Its one reason Twitter has put in place safeguards encouraging users to read links before retweeting them. I am afraid that with this FOIA case that the government is purposely delaying turning over documents because they need the time to redact and to delete things they do not want the American public to become aware of.. She also said the team was hindered by rules of engagement that prohibited their firing on potential targets unless they could see a weapon. Justin Buddy Lee will never forget that night six years ago. . These materials provided much-needed intelligence about bin Ladens role within al-Qaeda and the organizations inner-workings. 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. When they arrived at the compound, however, the strike force couldn't locate Tahir, and some of his fighters dispersed. The military's public contradictions raise more questions than answers. On his first deployment, he felt fortunate to be surrounded by veteran pilots he could learn from. There was no conspiracy. Everyone on board died within a fraction of a second30 Americans, eight Afghans and one American military working dog. But no one died. He probably doesnt. They happened to be in the right place at the right time. 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. 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. EXPLOSIVE: CIA Whistleblower Exposes Bidens Alleged Role With the Deaths of Seal Team- Claims to have Documented Proof. 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. 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. 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