[QUOTE]A US Navy Seal who was advising Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq has been killed by Islamic State (IS) militants, US defence officials say.
The special warfare operator, who has not been named, died as a result of a gunshot wound, the Navy Times [URL="http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2016/05/03/seal-killed-in-iraq-officials/83866702/"]reported[/URL].
Peshmerga officials said the militants breached the frontline north of the IS-held city of Mosul on Tuesday morning.
A Peshmerga spokesman, Maj Gen Jaber Yawer, told the Associated Press that the American was shot dead by an IS sniper near the town of Tal Asqof, about 28km (17 miles) from Mosul.
IS militants overran the town at dawn on Tuesday in an assault that involved a number of truck bombs, but were driven out later in the day by Peshmerga fighters. The attack on Tal Asqof was part of a major offensive launched by IS militants in northern Iraq, which the group said involved "remotely-guided car bombs".
The American was the third to be killed in combat since the US-led coalition campaign against IS began in 2014. In March, US Marine Staff Sgt Louis Cardin was killed in a rocket attack by IS while providing force protection fire support at a coalition firebase near Makhmour, south-west of Mosul, that had only become operational a few days earlier. US Army Master Sgt Joshua Wheeler died in October during a special forces mission to rescue hostages held at an IS prison near Hawija, west of Kirkuk.
Although Iraqi pro-government forces have gradually pushed back IS since then with the help of US-led coalition air strikes and military advisers, the jihadist group still controls large parts of the country's north and west.
There are more than 5,500 US military personnel in Iraq. Some 3,870 are deployed to advise and assist local forces fighting IS militants. The remainder includes special operations personnel, logistics workers and troops on temporary rotations.
[/QUOTE]
[URL]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36193142[/URL]
[URL]http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2016/05/03/seal-killed-in-iraq-officials/83866702/[/URL]
I can only hope they recovered his body and brought him home. Its disgusting, the lack of respect they have for the dead.
Navy Seal
Near the front lines
"adviser"
Okay.
Unbelievable. After all the training and shit SEALs go through, they get hit by some fucking prick that does it all for his 72 virgins. I hope they're all men with AIDS.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;50252428]Navy Seal
Near the front lines
"adviser"
Okay.[/QUOTE]
"some 3,870 are deployed to advise and assist local forces fighting IS militants. The remainder includes special operations personnel, logistics workers and troops on temporary rotations."
[quote]"remotely-guided car bombs"[/quote]
Looks like ISIS is getting more cowardly.
[QUOTE=Zenreon117;50252486]Looks like ISIS is getting more cowardly.[/QUOTE]
No, just more creative in their cowardice. I don't believe it has ever known bounds.
[QUOTE=Zenreon117;50252486]Looks like ISIS is getting more cowardly.[/QUOTE]
Nah, they just know how to conserve resources.
Not at all advocating ISIS or anything they do, but would you also say that a Drone firing a hellfire missile is cowardly, considering it's the same exact concept?
[QUOTE=Cyke Lon bee;50252575]Nah, they just know how to conserve resources.
Not at all advocating ISIS or anything they do, but would you also say that a Drone firing a hellfire missile is cowardly, considering it's the same exact concept?[/QUOTE]
I am judging them by their own standards, and by that metric they are more cowardly now doing shit like that than they were before sending people in, confidently, to blow themselves up. Don't get me wrong, it's still cowardly by our standards, but then your question becomes a good one; Is it cowardly to use drones? Do we even have a proper standard for bravery anymore? It seems that there could be some bravery to be argued for in the sense that it takes bravery to be okay with yourself pushing a button and blowing someone up a million miles away, but that seems more like a moral sort of bravery. The sort of bravery we [I]usually[/I] talk about is one reminiscent of older times, perhaps even the same one ISIS evolved out of. Regardless, by those standards it would be cowardly to use a drone as compared to, say, calling an airstrike in on yourself after fighting to the last bullet and being surrounded. It seems closeness to death is an important feature. Given that, it seems difficult to make sense of the bravery that ISIS subscribes to. On the one hand blowing oneself up is as close to danger as it gets, on the other hand they consider it a ticket to paradise, so is it really 'bravery' in any sense? This is all uncertain, except for the fact that ISIS are dicks.
Damn, a fucking sniper killed him.
I was hoping the SEAL would have killed the ISIS bastards taking them with him, like that Russian special forces guy.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;50252428]Navy Seal
Near the front lines
"adviser"
Okay.[/QUOTE]
Advising is most needed at the front. Also the deployment of military "advisors" has been the cover for Special Operations Forces is one of the oldest tricks in the book. Those Russian Spetsnaz troops killed in Syria recently were also "advising" for the SAA. You also need people at the front to properly coordinate airstrikes.
There was a US Special Forces unit that was spotted by a French news crew in Syria alongside the Kurdish YPG recently
[video=youtube;YuEUhEHk5Wc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuEUhEHk5Wc[/video]
[QUOTE=Cyke Lon bee;50252575]Nah, they just know how to conserve resources.
Not at all advocating ISIS or anything they do, but would you also say that a Drone firing a hellfire missile is cowardly, considering it's the same exact concept?[/QUOTE]
I think it's more the fact they're being hypocrites.
[quote]"A nation of cowards that holds no bravery as you resort to sending your remote-controlled unmanned Reaper and Predator drones to attack us from the skies."[/quote]
[url]http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/is-hackers-publish-us-military-hitlist/article8544062.ece[/url]
[QUOTE=Zenreon117;50252486]Looks like ISIS is getting more cowardly.[/QUOTE]
[I]OR[/I] they're resorting to RC cars because they only have so many members and they keep blowing them all up one-by-one in dipshit suicide missions.
[QUOTE=agentfazexx;50252443]Unbelievable. After all the training and shit SEALs go through, they get hit by some fucking prick that does it all for his 72 virgins. I hope they're all men with AIDS.[/QUOTE]
That's basically blasphemy dude, what the fuck?
it's the vengeful ghost of Abu Hajaar
[QUOTE=Electrocuter;50255575]I think it's more the fact they're being hypocrites.
[url]http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/is-hackers-publish-us-military-hitlist/article8544062.ece[/url][/QUOTE]
Given the context, that quote is talking about how the US and most anyone else is refusing to send troops to do anything more than be advisers, while ISIS is fighting hand to hand in the streets of these cities and getting bombed against something they have no defense against.
We really need to do something about these ISIS vermin. I actually agree with Ted Cruz on this one. Let's see if sand will glow in the dark.
Some details about the engagement have come out
[QUOTE]
[t]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ChoBywZWsAEC4O7.jpg:large[/t]
THE PENTAGON – The Navy SEAL who was killed in a Tuesday firefight with Islamic State in Iraq and Syria militants was part of a quick reaction force sent in to assist a U.S. advise-and-assist team and Kurdish Peshmerga forces who were overwhelmed by a surprise ISIS offensive in Northern Iraq, an Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman told reporters on Wednesday.
Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Charles Keating IV, 31, was part of the quick reaction force (QRF) that responded to a request for help from a small group of U.S. forces near the town of Tel Askuf, about two miles away from the front lines between Peshmerga and ISIS forces, spokesman U.S. Army Col Steve Warren said Wednesday morning.
The U.S. advise-and-assist team – composed of fewer than a dozen U.S. troops — was in the town of Tel Askuf when the force of more than 120 ISIS fighters pushed into the area. The ISIS force was made up of a 20 so-called “technicals” – commercial vehicles converted into ad hoc troop carriers and crew-served weapons platforms — and at least one bulldozer, Warren said.
The ISIS breach of the Peshmerga line occurred about 7:30 AM local time on Tuesday, and 20 minutes later the advise-and-assist team reported they were in contact with ISIS forces.
“After the enemy forces [punched] through the forward lines there and made their move into Tel Askuf, our forces automatically became kind of embroiled in the ensuing battle,” Warren said. “They rapidly called for the quick reaction force and continued on the fight until such time one service member was shot and then medevaced out.”
The fighting continued for two more hours between U.S. and Peshmerga forces and ISIS fighters before Keating was hit about 9:32 AM Warren would not disclose how long it took the QRF force to enter the fight.
Keating “was struck by direct fire, and although he was medevaced within the all-important golden hour, his wound was not survivable,” Warren said.
“No other coalition or American forces were injured, though both medevac helicopters were damaged by small arms fire.”
It’s unclear how long the Americans were engaged with the ISIS forces before they left the firefight. However, the gunbattle between the Peshmerga and ISIS fighters continued well after the American QRF and advise-and-assist team were extracted and coalition air assets arrived.
“We were able to get a lot of aircraft on scene. There was F-15s, F-16s, there were drones, we had some B-52s and some A-10s that, towards the end, got into the fight,” Warren said.
"Air power destroyed 20 enemy vehicles, two truck bombs, three mortar systems, one bulldozer [and] 58 [ISIS] terrorists were killed. The Peshmerga have regained control of Tel Askuf"
In total, the fighting lasted for 14 hours ending at 9:30 PM local time.[/QUOTE]
[URL]https://news.usni.org/2016/05/04/u-s-officials-describe-fight-that-killed-navy-seal-charles-keating-iv#more-19465[/URL]
[editline]value[/editline]
[video=youtube;AH0rIZGBe6w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH0rIZGBe6w[/video]
[vid]https://cdn.theguardian.tv/mainwebsite/2016/05/04/160504iraqfull_desk.mp4[/vid]
Some video as well
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