NATO force in Afghanistan drops ammo into wrong hands: statement (private helicopter company)

[maddezmom]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080417/wl_sthasia_afp/afghanistanunrestnato_080417103717

KABUL (AFP) - NATO admitted on Thursday that a helicopter mistakenly dropped military supplies in the wrong place in southern Afghanistan and that they had subsequently disappeared.

Afghan media said the ammunition including rocket-propelled grenades as well as food and water was seized by Taliban militants, but NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) did not say who took the supplies.

"On March 25, a private helicopter company was contracted, on behalf of an ISAF unit, to resupply an Afghan National Police (ANP) outpost located in a remote mountain area" of Zabul provine, an ISAF statement said.

"Unfortunately, due to a human error in transcribing the latitude and longitude of the location, the load was dropped in another remote area," it added.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080417/wl_sthasia_afp/afghanistanunrestnato_080417103717

[acmavm]

1. "...a private helicopter company was contracted..."

Fucking administration is bat shit crazy. Wonder how much the 'private helicopter company' will charge us for this? Or maybe we'll get this one for free since it was their screw-up?

[maddezmom]

2. probably another Blackwater helicopter

AFGHANISTAN: Blackwater Broke Rules, Report Says

by Griff Witte, The Washington Post
October 5th, 2005




A private contracting firm flying in Afghanistan for the U.S. military was in violation of numerous government regulations and contract requirements when one of its planes crashed into a mountainside in November 2004, killing all six on board, according to an Army report made public yesterday.

The families of the three soldiers killed -- Lt. Col. Michael McMahon, Chief Warrant Officer Travis Grogan and Spec. Harley Miller -- have filed a wrongful death suit in U.S. District Court in Florida against the contractor, alleging negligence.

The four contracting firms named as defendants -- Aviation Worldwide Services LLC, Presidential Airways Inc., STI Aviation Inc. and Air Quest Inc. -- are all Florida-based subsidiaries of the Prince Group. Prince's military contracting arm operates as Blackwater USA, a firm that has gained prominence for its role providing armed security forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and, more recently, the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina .



more:http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12693

[acmavm]

3. The world would be a much better place if Eric had been on that

helicopter that crashed rather than the three soldiers.

If anyone thinks that's cruel, bitter, (or whaever), just save it, I don't care. There are some people who this world would be better off without. Eric Prince is one of them.

[hack89]

6. Not an American issue

European armies are so poorly equipped that they can't fight an actual war anymore.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0308/033108g1.htm

http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,157097,00.html

[tabasco]

9. Not an American issue? How 's that?

It was a successful attack on US soil that led to the Afghanistan invasion. I'd say it's very much an American issue.

America is bogged down in Iraq. That's why we failed the mission in Afghanistan. We're fortunate our NATO allies are helping us out.

The corporate profiteers needed to get on top of that Iraqi oil. So we failed the justified mission in Afghanistan by not sending sufficient forces. The tragic highlight was allowing the Pakistanis to "guard the border" during Tora Bora. LMAO.

European countries don't bother with taking over the world anymore. They have learned the lessons of history. The USA still thinks it can be an empire. I look forward to the day the USA no longer considers itself a superpower. We spend more than the Earth on "defense," which is 90% profiteering.

[hack89]

10. The US has plenty of helicopters - NATO does not

that's my only point.

Nice rant by the way.

[tabasco]

11. We have plenty of helicopters but we still give contracts to Blackwater

for helicopter support.

[saigon68]

4. Yes he is a Mercenary provider and Party to War Criminality

[fed-up]

5. I bet this isn't the first time supplies were dropped "mistakenly" nt

[Crowman1979]

7. Guess Blackwater made a mistaken (covertly intentional) air drop...

...to keep business in Afghanistan going. No war means no business for them. Can't wait for that FBI raid on their training compound in NC to happen a few years from now.

[damntexdem]

8. Wouldn't it be cheaper to just outsource to the Taliban?

I mean, I bet they would deliver the ammo to themselves much cheaper than what's paid to that private firm to do it.

Well, at least it shows that it's not only the American government that is privatizing its wars.

;-)