Late last week, a US military helicopter, an AH-64D Longbow, went down in Iraq. News reports triggered by that crash have provided inconvient facts that belie the cultists' chants of media bias. To rub salt in the wound, a new insurgent group released a video of the burning chopper crash, thus further revealing the depth of the Big Muddy we're in.
The AP has a
comprehensive reviewof the chain of events. The helicopter went down Saturday:
The AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter was downed near Youssifiyah about 12 miles southwest of Baghdad on Saturday, killing the two pilots.
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U.S. officials first reported Saturday that an American helicopter had crashed that day about 5:30 p.m. during a combat patrol southwest of the capital and that the status of the crew was unknown. Ordinarily, U.S. officials refrain from reporting helicopter crashes until the status of the crew is clear to avoid tipping off the insurgents that wounded survivors may be in the area.
Late the next day, the U.S. command confirmed that helicopter was an Apache and that the two crew members were ``presumed dead,'' suggesting the remains had not been found. Later the same day, U.S. authorities said the bodies had been recovered.
On Wednesday, the military identified the pilots killed as Capt. Timothy J. Moshier, 25, of Albany, N.Y., and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael L. Hartwick, of Orrick, Mo.
The military admits that this helicopter was "probably shot down". Shot down only twelve miles from Baghdad. Why do events continue to conspire against the machinations of Republicans? This war is beyond a political issue for me; I see only the basest of conservatives as those willing to use it's tragedies for a political club. All last week they beat up the media for reporting only the bad news and now we get another harsh dose of reality to counteract their twisted message.
In a move that would make Don Rumsfeld proud, insurgent propogandists quickly released a video of the downed chopper and a partial body in camofluage rags. This part of the story makes me slightly nauseous, as I once had to help retrieve the body of a colleague of mine who had been crushed beneath an armored personnel carrier. Reading about this video brings that moment back to me. Makes me angry too, that our government is making us bear the collective guilt of this despicable war, its horrible consequences for both us and the Iraqis. From the SITE Institute:
The Mujahideen Shura Council issued a 4:27 minute video yesterday, April 4, 2006, which depicts the aftermath of a helicopter shot down over southwest Baghdad this past Saturday. A message in the video states: "With the Help of Allah the mujahideen were able to destroy a piece of American military equipment, causing them great losses, and turn the ground under their feet to hell. They hurt the Muslims with their planes' bombing...and our heroes were waiting for them day and night to defend the Muslims."
The video opens with a series of past bombings targeting vehicles and soldiers, then follows with footage of a helicopter and still shot of wreckage. Mujahideen are then shown carrying weapons and walking into a forested area, and a prayer session. The wreckage of a helicopter is then focused upon, as a grotesque scene in which a burning body is dragged from the crash site. Additional footage of the crashed and burning helicopter are shown.
The Mujahideen Shura Council is composed of eight insurgency groups in Iraq: al-Qaeda in Iraq, Victorious Army Group, the Army of al-Sunnah Wal Jama'a, Jama'a al-Murabiteen, Ansar al-Tawhid Brigades, Islamic Jihad Brigades, the Strangers Brigades, and the Horrors Brigades, collaborating to meet the "unbelievers gathering with different sides" and defend Islam.
WTF is the Horrors Brigades anyway? This is a horror. The Mujahideen Shura Council is an expression of Sunni solidarity in Iraq:
However, in January 2006, a group of six Sunni insurgent groups announced that they were joining forces to form the Mujahideen Shura Council. The stated purpose of the Council was "Managing the struggle in the battle of confrontation to ward off the invading infidels and their apostate stooges...Uniting the word of the mujahideen and closing their ranks...(and) Determining a clear position toward developments and incidents so that people can see things clearly and the truth will not be confused with falsehood."
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The formation of the Council is clearly an attempt to unify insurgent efforts against Iraqi and US forces. Some analysts believe it also to be a reaction to, or a reflection of, a rift between the numerous Sunni insurgent groups. At the time of its formation, the groups represented in the Council were all unified by an extremist Salafi ideology, separating themselves from other less extreme Islamist and nationalist organizations.
However, scarcely a week after the Council's formation, a seventh group, Army of al-Sunnah Wal Jama'a, publicly asked to join the Council. In their request, the group urged all other insurgent organizations, including several more nationalist oriented groups such as the Twentieth Revolution Brigades, to join the Council with them. The Council quickly accepted Army of al-Sunnah Wal Jama'a's request stating that "the door is open to anyone who wants to join." This response could imply that the Council is more concerned with unity rather than the dominance of its Salafi ideology amongst the insurgents.
This is the deepening of the big muddy. The Sunni's have had sufficient time and influence to reign in Al-Queda and consolidate with other nationalists groups in the interests of fighting the occupying Americans. Frankly, this scares the crap out of me. I just wish we would get the fuck out of Iraq before this thing amps up another order of magnitude . Organizational unity like that shown by the formation of this group indicates the amping up is coming soon if its not already there. Junior will not let the deaths of our soldiers cow him into declaring victory; for him its personal now. He's already said withdrawal is up to future presnits. The only thing that can change the course of events is Democrats taking back the Legislature in November and defunding the war (this should be our legislative priority, then impeachment). If they don't, this propoganda video, terrible as it is, will pale by comparison.
A US military spokesman provides the most irony laden statement of the year (other than anything spoken by Tom DeLay):
``We are outraged that anyone would create and publish such a despicable video for public exposure,'' Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, a U.S. spokesman, said. ``The terrorists continue to demonstrate their immoral disregard for human dignity and life.''