It's going to be long time before U.S. lawmakers travel to Iraq. This past week, four of them nearly got shot down as they were departing Baghdad Airport in a C-130.
Write Joshua Partlow and Saad Sarhan in The Washington Post:
"Four U.S. lawmakers endured a harrowing flight out of Baghdad as their cargo plane came under fire from the ground, causing the pilots to discharge flares and bank sharply to avoid the explosives, U.S. military officials said Friday.
"The four lawmakers -- Republican Sens. Mel Martinez (Fla.), Richard C. Shelby (Ala.) and James M. Inhofe (Okla.), along with Democratic Rep. Robert E. "Bud" Cramer (Ala.) -- came under fire Thursday after their C-130 cargo plane lifted off from Baghdad International Airport on its way to Amman, Jordan."
Knowing how U.S. congressmen and administration officials usually stay in the Green Zone or else travel with tens of body guards and/or U.S. soldiers with guns ready, I will be most surprised to see any one of them make a return trip, now that planes departing Baghdad are vulnerable to RPGs and other small arms fire.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
LAWMAKERS PLANE SHOT AT ON LIFTOFF FROM BAGHDAD
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I think this report of an attack is in-correct. Rocket propelled grenade has limited range (1000 yards). The Bagdad airport has buffer zone around it.
ReplyDeleteI think this was a Stinger type anti aircraft rocket. This is sloppy reporting or maybe some type of coverup.
wkipedia info on rocket propelled gernade (RPG):
An RPG is an inexpensive way to deliver an explosive payload a distance of 100 yards (100 m) with moderate accuracy. Substantially more expensive, wire-guided rockets are used when accuracy is important. These rockets trail a thin wire behind them during firing and can be steered by the operator while in flight. In 1982, British troops were sent to the Falklands War armed with a number of wire-guided MILAN anti-tank missiles even though there were no Argentine tanks in the Falklands Islands. The British used these expensive weapons to destroy Argentine bunkers at longer ranges. The British also used cheap 66 mm LAW unguided rockets, and recoilless 84mm, against Argentine bunkers. The popularity and usefulness of such weapons prompted the U.S. military to field the SMAW, the U.S. equivalent of the RPG.