Three helicopters have been lost in Iraq in the past two weeks, including one that went down on Sunday during fighting near Najaf, killing the two crew members, and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed in Diyala province, killing 12 soldiers aboard. Both were believed to have been shot down, but the military has not confirmed the cause of the crash.
Our losses of helicopters in the war have been rare. Another article I read said 50 so far (and half were accidents and not shoot downs). So when we lose three in two weeks (and add in a private security firm's loss recently) I want to know why. If it is just bad luck, the cluster will be just a statistical anomoly.
My gut feeling is that Iran has decided to supply anti-aircraft weapons to our enemies in Iraq or that Iranians with anti-aircraft weapons have entered Iraq to escalate their campaign against us.
This is important to know and to know quickly. If the President's words about preventing Iran from waging war on us are to mean anything, we have to respond to this if Iran is responsible.
