US helicopter crashes in Iraq

Source: Herald-Sun (Australia)

A US military helicopter crashed near Salman Pak, 25km south-east of Baghdad today, the American military announced, without giving details of any casualties.

"An investigation will be conducted to determine the cause of the incident," the military said.

"However, initial reports indicate the crash was not the result of enemy fire."

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22795788-5005961,00.html

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A brief note: when it is enemy fire, they just don't update the "initial reports indicate the crash was not the result of enemy fire" statement.

Watch for that.

even when it clearly was.

Claimed it would be blamed on Iran, thus providing the justification for an attack on Iran. Cenk's been right before, so I'm paying attention to every helicopter incident in Iraq...

They're so inconvenient, but as an act of nature there's nothing that can be done about them.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20713282.htm

BAGHDAD, Nov 20 (Reuters) - A coalition forces helicopter crashed in Iraq on Tuesday, killing two soldiers and injuring 12, the U.S. military said.

Major Brad Leighton, a U.S. military spokesman, said initial reports indicated the crash near the town of Salman Pak, 45 km (28 miles) southeast of Baghdad, was not the result of enemy fire.

He declined to say if the casualties were American or give details on the type of aircraft. The number of soldiers on board would indicate it was a Black Hawk helicopter, which is used to transport troops around Iraq.

another CRASH???? No enemy fire???? WTF

Came across this offer and thought it'd be a good thing to do to show our troops we support them.

***
http://560wind.townhall.com/Columnists/AmandaCarpenter/2007/11/20/thank_troops_with_a_free_text
If there was a free, easy way to send a message of support directly to troops for Thanksgiving would you do it?

Yes? Well, get out your cell phone.

The Department of Defense is offering an instant text messaging service to put Americans in touch with U.S. soldiers who are protecting them abroad during the holiday season.

Those who wish to participate can send a free text message to say thanks to 89279 and will immediately get a response from a soldier on their phone. (I did it and received five heartfelt responses within a few minutes.)

This free texting service is provided through AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile and will expire on November 22.

For more details about the program, called America Supports, click http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/americasupportsyou/index.aspx. The website features a widget that publishes some of the real-time messages being sent for those unsure of what to write.