It marked the greatest single incident loss of American life in the war in Afghanistan, the deadliest moment in the history of SEAL Team Six and the entirety of the Navy SEALs, and the deadliest single incident in the history of U.S. Special Operations Command. One by one, fathers and mothers of the victims of the crash spoke about what they see as gaping holes or inconsistencies in the review of what U.S. Special Operations considers its most deadly incident. I find it very irritating that we will not question the Afghans about their knowledge of what took place that night.. Aerial view of Osama bin Laden's compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, made by the CIA. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. In all 38 troops died after the helicopter was shot down by what a review determined to be a Taliban RPG over Wardak Province, Afghanistan, on Aug. 6, 2011. And needless to say, it was the real Bin Laden who was killed, not an incredible facsimile. The Chinook had no Apache escort, as did the Ranger team that enjoyed the element of surprise when it touched down hours earlier. A chief warrant officer 5, a member of the Colorado National Guard, Carter had over 4,500 flying hours, including more than 1,000 hours during combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. The conspiracy has a number of moving parts, all of which have surfaced before, but none of which have any truth to them. Are such missiles appearing in Afghanistan? MARTHA RADDATZ, LUIS MARTINEZ and MIKE BOETTCHER, helicopter was shot down today by Afghan insurgents, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. On May 2, 2011, U.S. Special Forces raided an al-Qaeda compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and killed the worlds most wanted terrorist: Osama bin Laden. But why? Not all U.S. presidents are missed once they leave the White House. But we are still sending people to another country to fight, and we need to understand why were doing that, he said. For the last two years, hes been an attorney with the law firm Jackson Walker. The "had Seal team 6 killed" is a likely reference to what's known as the "Extortion 17" incident, the August 2011 tragedy in which a Chinook military helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan,. Strange also blamed top military brass for sending the troops into a situation they were allegedly ill-equipped and unprepared to handle. For Lee, there was no time to reflect on how close he had come to dying. All but two of the SEALs were from SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden, although military officials said none of the crash victims was on that mission in Pakistan against the al . Ultimately, bin Laden was found and killed within nine minutes, and SEAL Team Six was credited with carrying out a nearly flawless mission. The police chief of Wardak said the attack occurred around 1 a.m. Saturday after an assault on a Taliban compound in the village of Jaw-e-Mekh Zareen in the Tangi Valley. Lees wife, Christy, hoped the news would bring a sudden end to the war. By the time the third sped away from its launcher, however, no target remained. The first of the unguided projectiles missed, as the vast majority of rocket propelled grenades shot at helicopters did over the course of the war in Afghanistan. However, a shoot down does not necessarily mean insurgents have changed their tactics or hardware. 4:08 p.m. - The team destroys the chopper that crashed. A silhouette of a flight engineer manning an M240 machine gun on the ramp of a CH-47D Chinook in eastern Afghanistan. The mission itself has proven controversial to some family members. Neither did the risk he and his pilots faced every night. They fail to mention it was Saudis who orchestrated 9/11, yet he elected to go after Iraq and Afghanistan. Soon after US Navy Cryptologist Michael Strange and the elite SEAL Team 6 capture and kill Bin Laden, they are deployed to Afghanistan, where their Chinook is shot down. Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft that supported the raid, including a Predator drone, and a variety of highly specialized spy planes, had kept continuous watch over the region during the operation. The aircraft jerked. The night her son Aaron died, he was in a helicopter that was built in the 1960s and last retrofitted in 1985. Despite the risk, operations like these were taking place with such frequency in Afghanistan they only made news when they produced a spectacular success, like the bin Laden mission. The families of some of the 17 SEAL Team 6 commandos who were killed in an ambush in Afghanistan during a helicopter flight to help Army Rangers pinned down by Taliban gunmen accused the Obama administration of deliberately endangering their loved ones for political ends. Karen Vaughn says she wants to know why her son Aaron and his team were not using special operations aircraft which have defenses in place to help allow helicopters to go deep behind enemy lines. In the rear of the aircraft, the Chinook's passengers stood and prepared to storm out into moonless night once the wheels touched the ground. U.S. Central Commands official investigation concluded that a rocket-launched grenade from a Taliban fighter standing near the landing zone clipped a rotary wing, sending the Ch-47 Chinook into a violent downward spin. On his right wrist, he wears a bracelet with the names of the five crew members of Extortion 17. After the crash, the forces that were involved in the firefight "broke contact" with the enemy so they could go provide perimeter security for the crash site, the official said. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Led by firebrand Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Congress is to launch an official investigation into the mysterious helicopter crash that killed several members of the Navy SEAL team 6 in Afghanistan in 2011. Just as ridiculous as saying [President George W.] Bush was responsible for 9/11, Lee said. During a press conference on Washington Thursday, family and advocates for the fallen troops called into question the rules of engagement that they say prohibited their sons from being able to return fire, and the White House's decision to announce shortly after the killing of Osama bin Laden that SEAL Team 6 was responsible for the raid. There were guys in a tower. The resulting crash killed all 38 people on board including 17 US Navy SEALs, two United States Air Force Pararescue, one United States Air Force Combat Control Team member, one pilot and two crewmen of the United States Army Reserve, one pilot and one crewman of the United States Army National Guard, seven members of the Afghan National Security On board were 22 members of the elite Seal Team Six, two U.S. Air Force Para-rescue men, three Army reserve personnel, a U.S. Air Force Combat Controller, the pilot and co-pilot, a U.S . Obama stonewalls SEAL Team 6 Extortion 17 helicopter crash probe But why? Patrick Hamburger, served among the helicopter's crew. Over time, certain memories will fade, certain details will fade. Navy SEALs. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! But the CH-47D has neither a flight nor voice recorder, only an engine performance data recorder for maintenance. WASHINGTON The families of Navy SEAL Team 6 members killed in a disastrous August 2011 helicopter crash in Afghanistan blamed the government for the tragedy, during an emotional press conference in Washington Thursday. Still, the one the president retweeted earlier this week may have been the weirdest yet. The missions commanders decided to insert another team to go after Tahir while the Rangers held the compound. The reality is, every time a helicopter lifts off the ground in a war zone, it might get shot down, Darack said. Finally Sells Japan Tomahawk Missiles. And thats fine; thats what you signed up for, Lee said. Some Arab countries and leaders condemned the actions of the United States. The force included seven Afghan soldiers and an Afghan interpreter. And you know, never before in the history of our county (had) a sitting president released that type of information to the public, especially when he was talking about special forces. As reported on by The Daily Beast, Trump retweeted a message posted by an account called Oscar the Midnight Rider 1111, which alleges that Hiden Biden and Obama may have had Seal team 6 killed! The military's public contradictions raise more questions than answers. He grew up in Tyler, went to Texas A&M, joined the Corps of Cadets and stared in shock at the news thattwo planes slammed into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. Back in May, the families of the SEALs went public with concerns that the Obama administration was at least partially responsible for the deaths [] But why? Its like taking a paper towel roll, cutting it in half and strapping it to your eye, Lee said. Family members are hoping Freedom Watch, a watchdog legal group led by Larry Klayman, can force new disclosures using the power of the FOIA process. Asked for comment, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. James Gregory said: "We share in the grief of all of the families who lost their loved ones. The landing zone was small, and the commanders didnt want to split up the strike force. One of the other things that we did talk about kind of what youre hitting on, sir, is about the fact that, you know, for three hours we had been burning holes in the sky, the officer told investigators. KABUL, Afghanistan -- A helicopter crash in Afghanistan's eastern Wardak province has killed 30 U.S. special operation troops and seven Afghan soldiers, the country's president said on. With Sean Hannity, Raj Kala, Justin Torrence, Vee Bhakta. The SEAL Team 6 community was devastated. While the press conference was long on speculation and short on concrete evidence, the family members and their supporters didn't pull any punches. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon in February signed an order requiring the Obama administration to release documents on a continual basis through the spring and summer. The Chinook headed to a different landing zone than the first assault team -- one in the narrowest part of the Tangi Valley. 30 Americans Killed Including 22 SEALs When Afghan - ABC News I thought I hit a tree,he said. A silhouette of a. August 6, 2011 / 6:08 PM / CBS Boston KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A military helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan, killing 31 U.S. special operation troops, most of them from the. SEAL TEAM SIX - EXTORTION 17 COVER UP theunitedwest 15.8K subscribers Subscribe 683 53K views Streamed 7 years ago WOW, watch author Don Brown blow the lid off of the official government report. Trump, who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, announced a slate of futuristic new policies in a campaign video Friday. Per factcheck.org, while Obama and his advisers were deliberating over which mission to authorize for attacking Bin Ladens compound, Biden advised the president to wait for further confirmation that bin Laden was actually in the compound in Pakistan before acting. Biden was not, as implied, altogether opposed to killing Bin Laden. The Pentagons witness stuck to a theme that no mistakes were made that night, though the investigative file contained testimony from a number of witnesses saying the mission was riddled with missteps. Could an enemy have specifically targeted the U.S. special forces team that took down bin Laden? The RPG that struck Extortion 17 threw the helicopter into an uncontrollable spin. "Their deaths are a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the men and women of our military and their families, including all who have served in Afghanistan," Obama said in a statement. Justin Buddy Lee will never forget that night six years ago. They start the movie showing George W Bush saying that after 9/11 we will hunt down those responsible. Conspiracy theories started almost immediately. Nobody tipped off the fightersnor could anyone have alerted them. The World is a public radio program that crosses borders and time zones to bring home the stories that matter. Saturday's deaths bring the total number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan to 334 this year, according to the Associated Press. All rights reserved. Lee had just flown the night before on a similar mission with one of the pilots, David Carter. It had been loaded well within its limits. No one saw two Taliban armed with grenade launchers standing on a mud-brick turret well within range of the descending chopper. Almost 10 years after 9/11, here's what led to the death of Osama bin Laden. And the shooters had no reason to know that Extortion 17 or any other helicopter would be flying through their quiet extremity of the valley. Located in a remote and dangerous province in eastern Afghanistan, the base was the target of near-constant rocket attacks from Taliban insurgents. By late 2010, analysts were able to link the courier to a large, highly-secured compound in Abbottabad, a town about 35 miles north of Islamabad. But why? Nobody involved had overlooked even the most minute detail. The worst of the wounded was one of Lees crew members, who suffered what was later diagnosed as a severe traumatic brain injury. SEAL TEAM SIX - Extortion 17 EXPOSED - YouTube The Joint Combat Assessment Team report identified, through detailed metallurgical analysis, the type of projectile that blew Extortion 17 out of the sky: an antipersonnel unguided ballistic rocket propelled grenade. Were asking people to do incredible things. As for himself, he speaks out about Extortion 17 because he wants to remember the men on that mission. Navy's SEAL Team 6 Recovered 2 Bodies From Afghanistan Crash The crash killed 38 people, including 15 Navy SEALs. And we really feel that this put our guys in an unnecessary risk, Hamburger said. Three months after bin Ladens death, members of the SEAL Team 6 force -- though apparently not the same ones who carried out the bin Laden raid -- were on board the CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter, along with its Army National Guard aircrew, several support personnel and seven Afghan commandos. You never want to use the same landing zone twice, Darack said. The helicopter was shot down by insurgents in August 2011; many of those killed were part of the same Navy SEAL Team 6 unit that carried out the raid on Usama bin Laden's compound three months . President Trump has been known, over the years, to tweet some bizarre things. He finished his contract with the Army shortly afterward, and that September enrolled in Southern Methodist Universitys Dedman School of Law. One of the things I vowed, I will never forget. Furthermore, according to the lore, due to the alleged Iran angle, the Iran nuclear agreement in 2015 was in fact a payoff to Iran for whatever role they played in the earlier conspiracy. List of operations conducted by SEAL Team Six - Wikipedia During the event organized by a group called Freedom Watch, family members and former military personnel claimed President Obama turned the SEALs group into a Taliban target after the administration revealed they had conducted the bin Laden raid. The second probe, led by Army Brigadier General Jeffrey Colt, explained in excruciating detail what all those familiar with military operations and helicopter aviation in Afghanistan already knew: chance and chance alone, took down Extortion 17. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. The attack on August 6 was the most devastating day in SEAL Team Six history, as well as the single largest loss of life for U.S. forces since the war in Afghanistan began in October. At the pilots request, the AC-130 flashed an infrared spotlight, which could be seen only through night vision goggles, to light up the landing zone. NATO Crash: Communities Mourn Loss of Troops Killed in Afghanistan The Associated Press contributed to this report. During the last several years it is evident that our government has spent a lot of time and resources covering up the truth on many things from both our allies and the American public, Mr. A Marine speaks into a radio and troops unload a CH-47D Chinook in Afghanistan's Kunar Province. One source says the team was thought to include 22 SEALs, three Air Force air controllers, seven Afghan Army troops, a dog and handler, and a civilian interpreter, plus the helicopter crew. The helicopter crashed into a creek bed and a flash flood shortly afterward washed away some parts of the wreckage. An Afghan official, speaking anonymously a few days after the attack, speculated that the Taliban had laid a trap, that they had purposely put out false information about a meeting involving the Taliban commander. Every mission is potentially life-threatening. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. But why? They were part of his command. The helicopter plunged tail first. And Justice unilaterally set a new deadline for the release and then ignored it, Mr. Klayman said. The Chinook smashed into the ground, the force ripping off his goggles. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver. That means more raids, more targets and more reliance on Afghan competenceall of which add up to more special forces casualties. .css-v1xtj3{display:block;font-family:FreightSansW01,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:100;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-v1xtj3:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.1387rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-v1xtj3{line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.18581rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-top:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.23488rem;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}Russian Cargo Plane Explodes During Pressure Test, Air Force's IRON Wireless Network Protects Nukes, Watch Opposition Group Land Drone on Russian Jet, Pentagon's Mysterious Aircraft Won't Need a Runway, The Secret War to Take out Iran's F-14 Fighters, Meet the E-7 Wedgetail, the Air Forces New Plane, Report: Pilot Error Ruined a $112 Million F-35 Jet, Air Force Grounds Jets: Their Tails May Fall Off, The Messy Battle to Build the F-35's Next Engine, Russia Dredges Up Ancient BTR-50 Vehicles. As he did, he felt the craft leveling off. But it's just as plausible that the Taliban got lucky. The immediate reaction force (IRF) was assembled hastily for insertion into Tangi Valley to help Army Rangers capture fleeing Taliban. Afghan President Karzai's office released a statement on the incident. They knew. Rowan Scarborough can be reached at rscarborough@washingtontimes.com. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. After Vice President Joe Biden revealed that SEAL Team 6 carried out the operation that killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011, Strange said the members of his son's team gave startling indications to their families they were about to meet their demise. A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, confirmed that insurgents had been gathering at the compound, adding that eight of them had been killed in the fighting. "Fallen Angel" - What really happened to Extortion 17? New film probes So, to do an infil on the X or Y, you know, having that element of surprise in the beginning of an operation is good, but by the time weve been there for three hours, and the partys up, bringing in another aircraft like that, you know, may not be the most tactically sound decision..