Afghan Chopper Shootdown; 17 GIs KIA/MIA

17 SpecOps troops presumed killed amid fighting in eastern Afghanistan:

U.S. military officials said Wednesday they feared all 17 troops aboard a special operations helicopter were dead after hostile fire downed the craft and it slid or rolled into a rugged mountain ravine in eastern
Afghanistan...

Stormy weather hampered rescue efforts after the MH-47 helicopter crashed Tuesday while ferrying in reinforcements for troops already on the ground pursuing al-Qaida militants near the border with Pakistan.

Only eight months ago, Afghan and U.S. officials were hailing a relatively peaceful presidential election here as a sign that the Taliban rebellion was finished. That bravado has been yet another casualty in a war some feel could escalate into a conflict on the scale of
Iraq's...

U.S. military spokesman Col. James Yonts said the helicopter was fired on as it was approaching a landing zone while rushing reinforcements to a battle in an area known to harbor "terrorist organizations." It flew on, but crashed about a little over a mile away at dusk, he said...

"The aircraft was taking indirect fire and direct fire from elements on the ground," he said...

The downed chopper, a special operations variant of the CH-47 Chinook, was carrying Navy SEALs, one U.S. official said. Another said it was carrying special operations forces but was unsure if they were SEALs or from another unit. The officials spoke from Washington on the condition of anonymity because rescue operations were still under way...

U.S. Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace said the "tragedy ... appears to be a shootdown of one of our special operations helicopters."