At this point, it’s hard to call of this a coincidence. What we know is that the Chinook did crash as a result of hostile fire and everyone aboard was killed in its crash. The service members aboard were overwhelmingly highly elite Navy SEALS. In fact, 20 of the 38 killed were members of SEAL Team 6. The same SEAL Team 6, that scrambled Osama bin Laden’s brain.
For the Taliban this was a treasure trove. Downing this copter was an awesome way to deliver revenge killings for the highly publicized raid and killing of bin Laden’s compound. So were they simply in the right place at the right time? I find that hard to believe considering sympathizers due, in fact, exists in the Afghan and Pakistan government. Most notably is Pakistan’s ISI and its history of cooperating and outright assisting the Taliban.
The few statements the Taliban has released offers no indication they were tipped off. The explanation they gave was the copter was involved in a night time raid of an insurgent house and the copter was targeted and downed during the night time fight.
The downing was a stinging blow to the lauded, tight-knit SEAL Team 6, months after its crowning achievement. It was also a heavy setback for the U.S.-led coalition as it begins to draw down thousands of combat troops fighting what has become an increasingly costly and unpopular war.
None of the 22 SEAL personnel killed in the crash were part of the team that killed bin Laden in a May raid in Pakistan, but they belonged to the same unit. Their deployment in the raid in which the helicopter crashed would suggest that the target was a high-ranking insurgent figure.
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