Ignoring history we forget that the Muhajideen did the same thing to the soviets (at our behest) in Afghanistan.
B US at a loss as Iraq helicopter toll mounts Smoke billows from a US helicopter crash site, north-east of Baghdad. Smoke billows from a US helicopter crash site, north-east of Baghdad. Photo: AP David Wood, Washington February 9, 2007 The AGE FIRST, US helicopter pilots in Iraq tried flying low and fast, hoping to elude heat-seeking missiles fired by insurgents. The insurgents responded with machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades, which proved deadly, and the loss rate of helicopters soared. So the pilots went high - and the insurgents responded with lethal surface-to-air missiles. Now this grim exchange may have claimed more victims, with a US Marine Corps CH-46 helicopter lost on Wednesday about 30 kilometres north-east of Baghdad. It was the fifth helicopter that has gone down in Iraq in three weeks. Five marines and two navy hospital corpsmen on board were killed amid confusion about whether the twin-rotor troop carrier was shot down or crashed because of mechanical problems. The loss coincided with the US military's chief spokesman in Iraq saying that US and Iraqi forces had begun a joint effort to secure Baghdad and troubled al-Anbar province. "The plan is being fully implemented as we speak," Major-General William Caldwell told reporters after being asked when the plan would start. "Not all aspects are in place at this point. The key difference is, this time, it's an Iraqi-led plan," he said. "Not only are they planning it, they are leading." Iraq is becoming increasingly dangerous for the several hundred US military helicopters flying missions there. With 4000 to 5000 increasingly sophisticated surface-to-air missiles in the hands of insurgents, analysts say, US helicopter pilots are caught in a narrowing envelope in which they can fly with relative safety. It takes years for the Pentagon to develop and field new defensive technology such as infra-red jammers. Each loss of a helicopter and crew brings an official statement saying the military is studying new tactics. But this style of warfare requires that helicopters operate over mostly hostile territory, and pilots say there are precious few tactics that haven't been tried before. "In many cases we are using tactics that were developed in Vietnam," said Major-General Kenneth Glueck, an attack helicopter pilot who commands the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing in North Carolina. Helicopters have been shot down with increasing frequency since January 20, including two AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and a commercial MD530F helicopter operated by private security company Blackwater USA. Twenty-seven crew and passengers were killed. Slow, cumbersome and unstable, helicopters are often at their most vulnerable flying the missions on which US troops in Iraq rely: delivering ammunition to remote units, airlifting assault troops for a surprise raid, evacuating casualties and gunning down fleeing insurgents. The US Army has announced that it will withhold $US19.6 million ($A25 million) from the Halliburton company after finding the contractor had hired Blackwater USA to provide armed security guards in Iraq, a potential breach of its government contract. The announcement came in a hearing of the House Government Oversight Committee that included testimony about the killing of four Blackwater employees in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. BALTIMORE SUN, WASHINGTON POST, NEW YORK TIMES [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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