SEAL Team 6 should have been immortalized and honorably removed from service. Instead...
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Insurgents shot down a U.S. military helicopter during fighting in eastern Afghanistan, killing 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the same elite unit as the Navy SEALs who killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, as well as seven Afghan commandos, U.S. officials said Saturday. It what was the deadliest single loss for American forces in the decade-old war against the Taliban.
The downing was a stinging blow to the lauded, tight-knit SEAL Team 6, months after its crowning achievement. It was also a heavy setback for the U.S.-led coalition as it begins to draw down thousands of combat troops fighting what has become an increasingly costly and unpopular war.