Posted by Rick Wells on Jul 29, 2013 in // http://joeforamerica.com/2013/07/extortion-17-set-up-and-cover-up/

If you haven’t heard of Extortion 17 it’s understandable. For some reason the obama regime has been working real hard to suppress any information regarding this incident and to keep it from getting into the Mainstream Reality TV media. Thankfully, their efforts to cover their involvement in both the incident and the cover up have blown up in their faces. The usual spin, stonewalling, deception and manipulation of events that is a hallmark of the obama regime has fallen short. Congressional hearings are on the way.

A fabricated outrage of synthetic racism can generate only a finite amount of distraction before people begin to tire of the baseless rants and violence. In contrast, this is a real story about real American heroes who paid the ultimate price as a result of the misdeeds committed against them. This is also a story of betrayal. A betrayal by a government of its most dedicated, loyal and faithful public servants. It is a story of systematic treachery against the fallen and against our nation.

Extortion 17 was the call sign for a Chinook helicopter which crashed while conducting a special operations mission in Tangi Joi Zareen, which is in the district of Sayd Abad in Wardak Province, Afghanistan. The crash took place on August 6th, 2011 , reportedly as a result of an RPG strike. It was the largest loss of American lives in a single day in the entire Afghanistan conflict. The circumstances surrounding the crash are suspicious to say the least.

Thirty Eight persons perished in the crash, thirty of those were American service personnel. Fifteen of the fatalities were members of Navy SEAL Team 6, recklessly identified three months earlier by our vice president as the unit which killed Osama Bin Laden. Also among the casualties were two other SEALS, five Navy Special Ops Support Personnel, five Army National Guardsmen and three Air Force Special Ops personnel. Seven Afghan soldiers and one Afghan civilian interpreter were killed as well.

The obama regime and the military establishment would have you believe that this slow-moving, sitting duck Chinook was brought down by the skill or luck of a Taliban fighter under normal battlefield conditions. This is not the case.

There are many abnormalities and deviations from protocol which are suspicious and indicate possible dereliction or criminality on the part of senior leadership involved, both military and civilian.

Some questions regarding these irregularities include:

• Why was there no suppression of the known enemy positions from which the fatal attack was launched? Extortion 17 attempted a landing 3 ½ hours into an intense firefight.
• Why transport 25 Seals and special ops troops together in a combat situation in a Chinook helicopter, a slow-moving transport helicopter which was totally inappropriate for this type of engagement?
• Why was no cover provided through support aircraft at any time, during the mission into a live fire hot zone, in violation of standard protocol?
• Why did the U.S. Military invite a Muslim imam to pray over (desecrate) the bodies, pronouncing that the “infidels” are lesser than the Muslims, that the Muslims are the winners and that the “infidels” are damned to Hell for eternity?
• Why is the obama regime silent on the desecration of bodies of American service men but outraged at Koran burnings or service men urinating on dead Taliban?
• Why were all of the bodies cremated and the explanation given that the bodies were burned beyond recognition when there is photographic evidence that at least some of the victim’s bodies were easily identifiable?
• Why were the seven Afghani troops originally on the flight changed at the last minute with seven others with no changes made to the flight manifest? Were they part of a plot that brought down the Chinook?
• Who ordered the Afghani troop change and for what reason?
• Why were the two flight data recorders supposedly not recovered from the crash site? A claim that a flash flood washed them away was given to the families. If these boxes can be recovered from an ocean bottom, how much of an obstacle can a desert flash flood, if it actually occurred, really be?
• Intelligence had indicated on May 11th, ten days after the killing of Osama Bin Laden, that over 100 additional Taliban fighters were in the area of the crash seeking specifically to exact revenge for the Bin Laden killing. Yet the military still sent these troops in unprotected into a live firefight. Who made this decision?
• Why do the rules of engagement place a greater value on the “winning of hearts and minds of the enemy” than on the life of the service man/woman?
• Why do protocols require the admittedly Taliban infiltrated Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police and Afghan Security Ministry to be involved in all planning of all special operations including flight routes and landing zones? This is the same as giving our operational plans directly to the enemy.
• What was the urgency that necessitated this last minute operation? Supposedly this was an urgent mission but no explanation or evidence has been provided to indicate why.
• Why were no members of Afghan military questioned during the investigation or in the writing of the investigative report of the crash? If they are so valuable that they must be included in every planning, one would think they might be valuable in the investigation as well. Perhaps some light could have been shed on the seven mystery Afghan soldiers and the story around the switch.
•  How did Taliban know on May 11th, ten days after the killing of Bin Laden that seal team six or coalition force as they described it, would be an available target in Tangi Valley? Was it information provided by the Afghan military?
•  No pathfinders were available in advance of the crash and the drone eye in the sky quit working at the time of the crash. The U.S. military also claims it did not know the identity of the helicopter that crashed for ten minutes. What caused the multi-layered surveillance and communications black out?
•  After the crash, over one hundred U.S. military troops descended on the area, including pathfinders. Why were they not available before?

These are not my questions. These are the questions of the family members and concerned retired generals, admirals, active congressmen and women, and other high profile Americans who are working tirelessly to bring attention to this injustice.

The obama regime has casually ignored the many scandals that have plagued it in recent weeks and months, dismissing them as phony. They are not phony. The phony is the liar hiding behind a press secretary and hoping this will all just go away.

The administration has belittled, mocked and abused our fighting men and women for five years. They have installed rules of engagement that have undoubtedly resulted in the deaths and disfigurement of many of our troops for the sake of political posturing. Enough is enough. This issue will not go away. It’s time for this illegitimate anti-American regime to be held accountable for their despicable actions. It’s time for these families to be heard.

Rick Wells is an author and a small business owner. He contributes to Joe The Plumber among other conservative media outlets, and he is the co-founder of the charity organization ‘Give a Kid a Smile’ which you can follow and support on Facebook.