Last Saturday I published the diary 13 TROOPS KILLED IN IRAQ: THE REAL STORY BEHIND TODAY'S HELICOPTER CRASH (The DOD later changed the number killed from 13 to 12).
The diary gave the background on the American/Iraqi offensive that had been taking place in the villages of Diyala Province prior to the crash. Today, the DOD released the names of the 12 killed, and a new wrinkle was added. For they were all officers, some of high rank.
In fact, the crash killed 2 Colonels, 1 Lieutenant Colonel, 1 Major, 1 Captain, 2 Command Sargeants, 1 First Sargeant, 2 Staff Sargeants, 1 Sargeant First Class, and 1 Corporal.
Full details on all 12 have not yet been published, but amongst those killed are:
Command Sgt. Maj. Marilyn L. Gabbard: The highest ranking woman in the Iowa National Guard
Command Sgt. Maj. Roger W. Haller: The top-ranked enlisted man in the Maryland National Guard’s HQ 70th Regiment, a leadership training unit
Colonel Paul M. Kelly: The helicopter's pilot
Colonel Brian D. Allgood: The top American medical officer in Iraq
The army isn't saying what the purpose of the flight was, though some suggest it had something to do with an 'orientation'. But there's a further mystery behind the flight.
In one of the comments in Saturday's diary, the following was included:
Quds Press, in a dispatch posted Saturday evening, reported that Jaysh al-Mujahideen fighters opened fire with machine guns in the at-Tamayimah gardens area of Buhriz, scoring direct hits and bringing down the American helicopter. A Jaysh al-Mujahideen source told Quds Press that 15 Americans were aboard the helicopter, not 13 as the US admitted, and that one of those was a high-ranking American officer. (emphasis added)
And in fact, it turns out that the 'top medical officer in Iraq' was one of those killed, as announced 4 days later.
Yes, it could be a coincidence, just propaganda that turned out to be a 'lucky guess'.
But was it also a 'coincidence' that that particular helicopter was targetted? Consider the NY Times report of that day:
An Interior Ministry official and the police in Diyala Province said Saturday that the American helicopter was shot down about 4 p.m. by insurgents who had fired missiles or grenades from at least two locations. (emphasis added)
And so the story becomes that this particular helicopter was targetted at random from at least two locations, which happened to have missiles at hand, and coincidentally downed a helicopter containing high ranking officers.
Perhaps. Perhaps.
But why did the Quds source, who accurately reported that at least one high ranking officer was aboard, become insistent that there were 15 on board? It seems rather specific, and not enough of an increase to be propaganda-worthy.
Or is that how many were expected to be on board? And if expected, how did they know?
And the money-shot question: was the top ranking officer killed the one they had in mind?
Coincidence or conspiracy -- take your pick. In any case, it's likely that this diary is as close to an answer as we'll ever get.
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This diary by Spread the Word: Iraq-Nam, a daily blog on Iraq.