Destroying our country, our military and our very existence

Demanding the truth about Extortion 17

Destroying our country, our military and our very existence

By Paula Helton (Bio and Archives)  Friday, May 10, 2013  Comments | Print friendly | Subscribe | Email Us

How many Americans have heard of Extortion 17? Extortion 17 was the call sign for the Chinook helicopter shot down in Afghanistan on the night of August 6, 2011. Killed in that crash were 25 special ops forces, including 15 members of Seal Team 6, 5 national Guard troops and 8 Afghans.

Today, the families of the military killed in that crash held a press conference to lay out the coverup by Obama and the military that has gone on since that crash. The video of the press conference can be found here http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2758191547572283184#editor/target=post;postID=3903835854733264972blogID=2758191547572283184#editor/target=post;postID=3903835854733264972

I watched the live stream of the press conference, admittedly crying throughout. Then the point came that the tears turned into white hot anger. Every American citizen must watch this video. The major Obama regime coverups did not occur only in Fast and Furious, the New Black Panther voter intimidation case and Benghazi. The man sitting in OUR White house is methodically destroying our country, our military and our very existence.

Islamist Imam praying over our soldiers at Bagram Air Base

At the beginning of the video is footage of the Islamist Imam praying over our soldiers at Bagram Air Base. Of course he prays in Arabic, but in the English translation he sent our heroes into eternal hell as infidels while praising the Islamist relationship with our country. You read that right, and our Government and our military let that happen.

This operation reads like a set up from the beginning. All the Special Ops forces were packed into one National Guard Chinook. There was no escort for the Seals that night, no pathfinder, and conveniently the “eye in the sky” (drone) didn’t work. The seven members of the Afghan military that were to accompany our service members were switched out just prior to take off. The names of the seven Afghans appearing on the flightmanifesto were not the seven that boarded that helicopter on the night of August 6, 2011.

Apparently the call to switch out these seven Afghans was made by an “out of theater” commander. To this day, no one has come forward identifying that commander. America needs to demand an answer to that question. Remember, prior to this crash, Barack Obama and Joe Biden had identified Seal Team 6 as the forces that killed Osama Bin Laden. One has to ask, “were they a trade off for Bin Laden?”

In October 2011, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that an investigation carried out following the shoot down concluded “that all operational decisions, linked to the incident, were deemed tactically sound” and the helicopter crashed after a RPG round impacted the aft rotor assembly.

While the Obama administration was busy spinning the coverup, other reports were surfacing that the Taliban had laid an elaborate trap for U.S. special operations forces, luring them in with false information. A senior Afghan government official, speaking anonymously, said that Taliban commander Qari Tahir had fed U.S. forces false information about a meeting of insurgent leaders and fighters waited for the helicopter from both sides of a steep valley: “The Taliban knew which route the helicopter would take. That’s the only route, so they took position on 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.”

It was heart wrenching listening to Karen Vaughn, a mother who lost her only son. He was a proud member of Seal Team 6. She is angry that current rules of engagement put her son’s life, and that of every son and daughter serving in the military today in grave danger. She demanded to know if reaching the hearts and minds of Muslim extremists is more important than her son’s life. She also expressed anger at the form letters the President keeps sending out when our children are killed.

Her husband, Billy Vaughn, recounted the visit they received from Admiral William McRaven, who was apparently sent to put a lid on their inquiries. The Admiral was the head of the Joint Strategic Objectives Plan (JSOP), as well as runner up for Time’s Man of the Year in 2011.

As the Vaughns are residents of Florida, they also approached Sen. Marco Rubio to enlist his assistance in their quest for answers. Sen. Rubio told him he would talk to his new BFF, John McCain, and see what they could do. Mr. Vaughn’s response was “No, thank you, I’ll do it myself, I don’t trust John McCain or the GOP establishment to pursue this.

Doug Hamburger, another grieving father has questioned why no interviews were done with Afghan Command or military in compiling the 1,250 page official report.

Charles and MaryAnn Strange lost their 25-year-old son, who had been a Navy Seal for 6 years. Mr. Strange made inquiries as to the whereabouts of the black box. He was told it washed away in a flood. His response was, “in Afghanistan?” After repeated questions, Mr. Strange was told everything was in “the book”. After requesting a copy of said book, he was presented with a book with no ink in it. When he questioned this and requested a true copy, he was told the original had been burned. They were then given a disk. Unfortunately for Mr. and Mrs. Strange, the disk was full of white outs.

Also present at the press conference was retired Admiral James Lyons. Admiral Lyons has a distinguished 36-year Naval career, mot recently as Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet. Admiral Lyons has also called for an answer to the question, “who made the decision to put them all on one helicopter”? He stated emphatically that this mission was compromised as the Taliban knew we were coming. The Admiral stated emphatically this was a dereliction of duty just like Benghazi; not to come to the aid of our people is unconscionable.

Joining the press conference were Army Major General Paul Vallely, General Tom MacInerney, Lt. Colonel Allen West, former Seals, Benjamin Smith and Larry Bailey and Act for America’s Brigitte Gabriel. From all of them came an admonition and dire warning that the American people must wake up and realize who the true enemy is: Islamist Jihadists. They are all unanimous in the belief we are being destroyed from within. Former Seal Benjamin Smith went so far as to say he believes Barack Obama is guilty of treason. I share that belief.

A recurring theme during this press conference was that we, the American people, must stand together and demand a Congressional hearing into Extortion 17. To date, only three of our House Representatives, Michelle Bachman, Louis Gohmert and Trent Franks have been actively working to assist the family members. Unfortunately, the same Congress that held a hearing to address drug usage in the NFL, has no interest in holding hearings to get to the bottom of what actually happened on the night of August 6, 2011 and the ensuing cover up.

It’s up to “We the People” to demand a hearing and help the families of our fallen heroes get the answers they rightfully deserve. Please not only watch this video, but make sure it goes viral. Then pick up the phone and call your Representative in Congress and demand a Congressional hearing. Keep calling until that hearing is scheduled. We’ve kept up the pressure on Benghazi. These families deserve no less from us.