CNN International reports that some of 20 plus Navy Seals who were killed in the shootdown of their Chinook in Afghanistan were part of the unit which killed Osama bin Laden, “though they were not the same men.”
Mark Thompson at Time ascribes the shootdown as bad luck; the effect of the occasional “golden BB” that sometimes finds a target in the sky. He describes how, as the president’s Afghan drawdown occurs, greater reliance must be placed on helicopters and special forces units to fight the rearguard action.
The Taliban supporters are ecstatic at their triumph.
But until a full investigation is carried out the alternative to the “golden BB” theory is the Payback Thesis. The Crystal Bullet between the eyes. The administration itself recognized the danger. A Christian Science Monitor article dated May 13, 2011, described fears that the SEALs involved in the raid would be identified:
Members of the Navy SEAL team whose daring mission ended the life of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden are concerned for the safety of their families. As details of the raid continue to leak out, the US military is exploring ways to “pump up the security” for SEAL Team Six, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday. …
When Gates met with SEAL Team Six last week, he said, team members expressed concern for their continued anonymity and their safety, “particularly with respect to their families.”
This concern to preserve secrecy was so great that one article claimed not even President Obama will ever know the name of the SEAL who actually killed Osama bin Laden. But they would not be able to keep secret the general identity of the unit, nor completely conceal its area of operation and general disposition. The SEALs in Chinook were in the company of seven Afghan special operators, who died along with them. Up and down the chain there was the danger that someone, something slipped up.
There is no shortage of suspects who would have liked to know where the men — or at least the unit — who killed OBL were. And no shortage of motive to provide them with a somewhat better surface to air weapon than a rocket propelled grenade. All speculation must wait on emerging details. But in the deadly triad of means, opportunity and motive, the motive must be taken as given.
“Consciousness itself is an infinite regress. This explains coincidences.” — Robert Anton Wilson
“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.” — Ian Fleming
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