Whirly Bird

You'll never have a quiet world until you
knock the patriotism out of the human race

--George Bernard Shaw
_________

A little over a week ago, five Americans and two other soldiers died when their Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

"NATO's International Security Assistance Force said other troops rushing to the scene were ambushed and had to call in air support to drive off their attackers (U.S. Chopper Shot Down in Afghanistan.)"

Another secondary ambush. To borrow some Pete Seeger lyrics, when will they ever learn?

"Initial reports suggested the helicopter was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade."The downing with an RPG clearly shows the principle of war, economy of force. Imagine shooting a $40 million bird out of the sky with a primitive fire-and-forget rocket propelled grenade. It is so simple, it is embarrassing to discuss.

Why was a Chinook anywhere even remotely within range of an RPG? Hooks should only be used on secure LZ's, and or accompanied by gunships to suppress enemy fire.

Who is paying for this bird? It is not the dumb ass that sent it into a hot LZ. That's right, once again, courtesy the good old American taxpayer.

Maybe it is time to raise the minimum wage so that we can buy more Chinooks. Why not armor them up like Humvees? I'm sure this will help win the war. Nothing else seems to be working. If nothing else, these tricked out copters will certainly strike a very bad ass profile on new recruiting posters.

If this doesn't work, perhaps we could initiate a gun buyback program. This will take them off the board, thereby allowing the American government to issue more to everybody on both sides. The reasoning can be, we would then be operating from a position of parity, leveling the playing field, so to speak. The economy could use the stimulation.

Of course, the buyback would only be for the Afghan resistance fighters; U.S. soldiers would be ineligible since their rifles are required to spread democracy.