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Washington: after a decade of LIES, no credibility whatsoever!
by stele Monday, Aug 8 2011, 10:18am
international / mass media / commentary

After a decade of American LYING, misinformation and disinformation the world has learned not to believe anything that issues from the US mass media propaganda apparatus or the White House/Washington; hardly surprising after so many exposed LIES and simplistic propaganda stories!

Contradictory reports are now emerging after initial reports from the US that members of Navy Seal Team 6, the unit supposedly involved in the Bin Laden assassination, were among the dead in a recent Chinook helicopter disaster in Afghanistan. A number of retractions and revisions/re-writes have occurred!

The Afghan Chinook story is beginning to emulate the numerous retractions and re-writes of the fairy tale Bin Laden assassination story – remember, not a SHRED of CREDIBLE EVIDENCE EXISTS that would verify the Bin Laden assassination story – only in America would a completely unproven story be believed!

American leaders and their ‘expert’ advisors/consultants are now regarded by the international community as incompetent, moronic clowns – the CORPORATE BOUGHT ‘debt ceiling’ Congress verifies the fact! Any confidence the international community had in American ‘leadership’ has since evaporated in a cloud of star-spangled buffoonery and simplistic deceptions/explanations.

The World is now faced with two contradictory stories regarding the recent helicopter disaster in Afghanistan. What to do, they both can’t be right?

The attitude the international community seems to have taken is to disregard everything American – including the greenback as the world’s reserve currency, it would seem!

Washington is learning that it can’t do what it likes without serious and costly repercussions. The world has had enough of the demented antics of America’s extremist politicians on both sides of the fence.

One sure thing has emerged from all the lunacy and imbecility of American leadership over the past decade – and that is the need to sever all ties to that murdering, plundering, lying, lunatic nation. The world can do WITHOUT a nation such as America – contrast the expertise of the British Empire, other European Empires and Asian Empires -- over hundreds of years -- against the shortest lived empire in history, the American absurdist, travesty Empire!

I leave you with the latest retractions/corrections/re-writes of the helicopter disaster in Afghanistan:

From AFP:

US helicopter crashed in Taliban trap: Afghan official
by Sabawoon Amarkhail

PULI ALAM, Afghanistan — The Taliban lured US forces into an elaborate trap to shoot down their helicopter, killing 30 American troops in the deadliest such incident of the war, an Afghan official said Monday.

A total of 38 people -- 25 US special forces members, five US crew members, seven Afghan commandos plus an interpreter -- were killed when their Chinook came down during an anti-Taliban operation late Friday.

The crash marked the biggest single loss of life for American and NATO forces since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan toppled the Taliban in late 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks.

The senior Afghan government official told AFP on condition of anonymity that Taliban commander Qari Tahir lured US forces to the scene by tipping them off that a Taliban meeting was taking place.

He also said four Pakistanis helped Tahir carry out the strike.

"Now it's confirmed that the helicopter was shot down and it was a trap that was set by a Taliban commander," said the official, citing intelligence gathered from the area.

"The Taliban knew which route the helicopter would take," he added.

"That's the only route, so they took position on the either side of the valley on mountains and as the helicopter approached, they attacked it with rockets and other modern weapons. It was brought down by multiple shots."

The official, who spoke anonymously as he was not authorised to discuss the issue, also said President Hamid Karzai's US-backed government "thinks" the attack was retaliation for the killing of Osama bin Laden.

The Taliban themselves did not make such an assertion on claiming responsibility for the attack, which took place in the Taliban-infested Sayd Abad district of Wardak province, just southwest of Kabul.

US media says the dead included members of the Navy's SEAL Team Six, the secretive unit behind the daring raid that killed bin Laden in Pakistan in May.

US administration sources interviewed by AFP said the casualties did not include anyone who took part in the bin Laden raid on May 2.

When questioned about whether the attack was linked to a trap laid by a Taliban commander, the militia's spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said: "We have used various tactics over the past 10 years. This could also be a tactic. The informant could have been one of our comrades."

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the cause of the crash was still being investigated but issued a statement giving details of the moments before the fatal crash.

"The operation began as a security search for a Taliban leader responsible for insurgent operations in the nearby Tangi Valley," it said.

The first wave of ISAF ground troops exchanged fire with several insurgents with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s, killing several, the statement added.

"As the insurgents continued to fire, the combined force on the ground requested additional forces to assist the operation.

"Those additional personnel were inbound to the scene when the CH-47 (Chinook) carrying them crashed, killing all on board," it said.

Afghan officials said an insurgent rocket downed the helicopter, which was said to have broken into several parts after being hit.

In eastern Afghanistan on Monday, another helicopter made a "hard landing" in Paktya province, although no one was injured and there were no reports of insurgent fire, ISAF said.

US President Barack Obama and his Afghan counterpart Karzai reaffirmed their commitment to the war "which is critical to the security of both our countries" on Sunday in a telephone call following Friday's crash, the White House said.

There are currently around 140,000 foreign soldiers in Afghanistan, including about 100,000 US troops.

All international combat troops are due to leave by the end of 2014, but intense violence in recent months, including a series of assassinations in the volatile south, has raised questions about the capability of Afghan forces.

Some foreign troop withdrawals have already begun as part of a transition that has seen local soldiers and police take control of a handful of safer areas this summer.

© 2011 AFP

Another version from the circus that is the mass media today:

Navy SEALS from unit that killed Bin Laden die in Afghan attack
by Michelle Nichols, REUTERS

A NATO helicopter crashed during a battle with the Taliban in Afghanistan, killing 30 U.S. soldiers, an interpreter and seven Afghans, the Afghan president said on Saturday, the deadliest single incident for foreign troops in 10 years of war.

The Taliban quickly claimed to have shot down the helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade, although the Islamist militant group often exaggerates incidents involving foreign troops or Afghan government targets. They also said eight insurgents were killed in fierce fighting.

In Washington, a U.S. official said the helicopter was thought to have been shot down. The Pentagon has said the cause of the crash is being investigated.

A U.S. official said some of the dead Americans were members of the Navy's special forces SEAL Team 6 -- the unit that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in May in Pakistan, but that none of the dead were part of the bin Laden raid.

Officials initially said 31 Americans were killed but the Pentagon revised the toll to 30 Americans, seven Afghans and an interpreter, whose nationality was not immediately known.

A brief statement from Afghanistan's presidential palace said the troop-carrying Chinook helicopter had crashed in Syedabad in central Maidan Wardak province just west of the capital, Kabul.

U.S. and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) officials in Kabul confirmed a helicopter had crashed on Friday night but gave no details.

"ISAF is still assessing the circumstances that resulted in these deaths and recovery operations are currently underway," the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said in a statement.

U.S. TO STAY THE COURSE

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a statement the United States would "stay the course" to complete the mission in Afghanistan, a sentiment echoed by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

"The incident is under investigation right now as this helicopter belongs to international forces," Afghanistan's Defense Ministry spokesman Zaher Azimy told Reuters television. "Obviously they will provide details of the crash and the reason."

He said the Afghans killed also were from a commando unit.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai "shared his deep sorrow and sadness" with his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, and the families of the victims, the palace statement said.

The deaths come two weeks after the start of a gradual security handover from foreign forces to Afghan troops and police, and at a time of growing unease about the increasingly unpopular and costly war.

The helicopter crash likely will raise more questions about the transition process and how much longer troops should stay. All foreign combat troops are due to leave by the end of 2014 but some U.S. lawmakers question whether that is fast enough.

The crash was the deadliest incident of the war for foreign troops. In April 2005, another CH-47 Chinook crashed, killing 15 U.S. servicemen and three civilian contractors. Another Chinook crash in June of the same year killed 17 U.S. troops.

U.S. and other NATO commanders have claimed success in reversing a growing insurgency in the Taliban's southern heartland, although insurgents have demonstrated an ability to adapt their tactics and mount attacks in other areas.

375 FOREIGN SOLDIERS KILLED THIS YEAR

Any gains against the Taliban have come at a high price, with 711 foreign troops killed in Afghanistan in 2010, the deadliest year of the war since the Taliban were toppled by U.S.-backed foreign troops in late 2001.

The crash in Maidan Wardak, where the majority of foreign troops are American, means at least 375 foreign troops have been killed so far in 2011. More than two-thirds were American, according to independent monitor www.icasualties.com and figures kept by Reuters.

Another three ISAF soldiers were killed in the south over the previous 24 hours, the coalition said.

Earlier on Saturday, Afghan police said a NATO air strike killed eight civilians in the Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province on Friday.

Nad Ali district police chief Shidi Khan said the air strike was called in after insurgents attacked ISAF troops in the area. Those killed in the strike were members of a family that had fled fighting in neighboring Uruzgan province, police said.

ISAF confirmed there had been an air strike in the district and said it was investigating whether civilians had been present at the time. It said it had received reports civilians were being held hostage by insurgents.

Civilian casualties caused by foreign troops hunting Taliban fighters and other insurgents have long been a major source of friction between Kabul and its Western backers.

CIVILIANS BEAR THE BRUNT

Despite the growing military toll, Afghan civilians have continued to bear the brunt of the war, with casualties hitting record levels in the first half of this year.

A U.N. report last month said 1,462 civilians were killed in conflict-related incidents in the first six months of 2011, up 15 percent on the first half of 2010. It blamed insurgents for 80 percent of those deaths.

Helmand province, where the Taliban still dominate several districts, has been the scene of some of the most vicious fighting of the war and far more foreign troops have died there than in any other province. Its capital Lashkar Gah was the most contentious of the first seven areas to be handed over.

In the past month, insurgents have carried out a string of assassinations of high-profile southern leaders, including Karzai's half brother, and several large attacks which have killed police and civilians.

© 2011 Thomson Reuters

And last but not least, this, from another ‘credible’ media outlet:

NATO says copter likely downed by Taliban
by Paul Tait and Michelle Nichols

A helicopter that crashed two days ago, killing 38 people in the worst single incident in 10 years of war in Afghanistan, was carrying elite troops sent to help comrades in a firefight when it was likely hit by a rocket fired by the Taliban, NATO forces said on Monday.

In the first official indication of a possible cause of the crash late on Friday, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the CH-47 Chinook helicopter was fired on “by an insurgent rocket-propelled grenade while transporting the U.S. service members and commandos to the scene of an ongoing engagement.”

The operation had begun when ISAF troops searching for a Taliban leader in the Tangi Valley, surrounded by rugged mountains in central Maidan Wardak province about 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Kabul, were fired on by insurgents.

Several of the insurgents were killed before assistance was requested, ISAF said in a statement.

“As the insurgents continued to fire, the combined force on the ground requested additional forces to assist the operation,” the ISAF statement said.

“Those additional personnel were in-bound to the scene when the CH-47 carrying them crashed, killing all on board.”

Thirty U.S. troops — some from the Navy’s special forces SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden in May — seven Afghan commandos and an Afghan interpreter were killed.

None of the SEAL team members who died in the crash took part in the raid that killed bin Laden.

The Taliban quickly claimed to have shot the helicopter down on Saturday, although Western officials had remained tight-lipped while the aircraft and the bodies of those on board were being recovered.

ISAF imposed a security crackdown on the area while that grim task was completed, although some residents have complained about some of the measures that have been taken.

“I can only advise them not to try to approach the site of the crash while the investigation is ongoing,” senior ISAF spokesman Brigadier General Carsten Jacobsen said .

Violence is at its worst in Afghanistan since U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001, with high levels of foreign troop deaths, and record civilian casualties during the first six months of 2011.

SECOND HELICOPTER CRASHES

At least another seven ISAF troops were killed in a ghastly weekend for the coalition. Four were killed in two separate attacks on Sunday, including two French legionnaires.

Earlier on Monday another NATO helicopter crashed in Paktia province, a volatile area in Afghanistan’s east, but there were no apparent casualties and it appeared there was no enemy activity in the area at the time, ISAF said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed in a text message sent to Reuters that the Islamist group had shot down the second helicopter, another Chinook, in the Zurmat district of Paktia, killing 33 American soldiers.

The Taliban often exaggerate claims in attacks against foreign troops and Afghan security forces and government targets, although they correctly identified the number killed in the weekend’s Chinook crash in Wardak.

The spike in casualties — at least 383 foreign troops have been killed so far this year, almost 50 of them in the first week of August — comes at a time of growing unease about the increasingly unpopular and costly war.

U.S. and NATO officials issued statements vowing to “stay the course” in Afghanistan after Friday’s helicopter crash but the devastating death toll will likely raise more questions about how much longer foreign troops should stay.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke with U.S. President Barack Obama by telephone overnight and shared condolences over the Wardak crash, Karzai’s palace said in a statement.

The deaths came barely two weeks after foreign troops began the first phase of a gradual process to hand security responsibility over to Afghan soldiers and police.

That process is due to end with the last foreign combat troops leaving at the end of 2014, but some U.S. lawmakers are already questioning whether that timetable is fast enough.

Karzai has already said “enemies of Afghanistan” — the Taliban and other insurgents — want to disrupt the process.

CIVILIAN DEATHS

A worrying surge of military deaths is being matched by record casualties among civilians, who continue to bear the brunt of a war that appears to have become bogged down despite claims of success from both sides.

On Monday, three hundred angry Afghans took to the streets in central Ghazni province carrying the bodies of two people they claimed had been killed during a raid by ISAF troops.

Civilian casualties caused by foreign troops hunting insurgents have long been a major source of friction between Kabul and its Western backers. U.N. figures show that insurgents are responsible for more than three-quarters of civilian deaths.

On Sunday, Karzai ordered an investigation into a NATO air strike that killed eight civilians in volatile southern Helmand province on Friday.

Jacobsen said a man had fired on an ISAF patrol from inside a house with his family around him.

“We are very much certain that ISAF could not be aware that the man was shooting from a house where his family was inside,” Jacobsen said, adding that an investigation was underway.

U.N. figures show that 1,462 Afghan civilians were killed in conflict-related incidents in the first six months of 2011, the deadliest period for civilians since the Taliban were toppled by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001.

© 2011 Canoe Inc., Canada