"Failed" SEAL Mission Produces Devasting Results

[westwall]

Which is why they should have hit it with a JDAM from a B-1 that should have been orbiting overhead.

LOL. It certainly would have been less risky to our guys, but 1) there'd be no confirmation he was dead and 2), more importantly, the intell gathered allowed the continual prosecution of the al-Qaeda network.

I saw on CNN after the SOTU where a Senator (yes, with a "D" behind his name) say something like "No amount of intelligence gathering is worth an American life". That's bullshit. While the loss of any American life is a tragedy, if risking that life can save a hundred or thousand more American lives, it is worth it.

During WWII up through the Gulf War, American pilots flew reconnaissance missions over hostile areas to gather intelligence. Sometimes those airmen were lost due to enemy fire. Should we have stopped those missions? Of course not. The intelligence gathered often saved the loss of even more American lives to the enemy.

You're missing my point. The B-1 is orbiting expressly for the situation that occurred. If there is an aircraft lost, the B-1 dispatches a JDAM to obliterate it. That is called "prior, proper, planning" Which "prevents piss poor performance".

Thanks for the clarification. While you are correct a JDAM would have destroyed all or most of the helo, I'm guessing there was a concern about collateral damage to Pakistani allies. While that alliance has been precarious because of radicals within the Paki government, there are also pro-Western leaders in the government who would find it harder to be pro-West if we blew away a dozen or two innocent Paki civilians.

Which is why if the operation had been run correctly immediately after the helo went down they would have got on the horn to the locals and told them to stay away for half an hour.

And the Pakistani army would have moved in to protect their homeland. Not a good move.

Yeah, good luck with that. Figure at least an hour to spool up. By that time the raiding force is well over the border and the helo is a hole in the ground.

 

[Divine Wind]

44 hops '67-'68, dick-sticker....ever been in the shit? seriously in the shit? An egg in the cockpit and one in the engine well did we needed done....a burned out shell. And pardon me for not considering you pilots "heroes"...we got abandoned more than once by chickenshit dick-stickers and rank pulled on us for wanting to beat their asses back at Evans. You weren't on the bin-Laden caper so STFU about it.

Have more of those "hops", buddy. The fact you are so defensive about burning a helo is interesting.

 

[Divine Wind]

Yeah, good luck with that. Figure at least an hour to spool up. By that time the raiding force is well over the border and the helo is a hole in the ground.

Yet you believe there was time to warn the civilians and get them out of the way of 1 or 2 Mk 84s.

 

[Tom Horn]

44 hops '67-'68, dick-sticker....ever been in the shit? seriously in the shit? An egg in the cockpit and one in the engine well did we needed done....a burned out shell. And pardon me for not considering you pilots "heroes"...we got abandoned more than once by chickenshit dick-stickers and rank pulled on us for wanting to beat their asses back at Evans. You weren't on the bin-Laden caper so STFU about it.

Have more of those "hops", buddy. The fact you are so defensive about burning a helo is interesting.

You're a fucking joke....next time keep your "translations" to yourself, pogue.

 

[Divine Wind]

You're a fucking joke....next time keep your "translations" to yourself, pogue.

Your respect for fellow vets is just as underwhelming as your knowledge of the differences between destroying a 5,200# helicopter and a 13,000# helicopter....not that I think two WP grenades can fully destroy a Huey.