US Helicopter "probably shot down" in Afghanistan

Awful timing for Bush, troubling news from Afghanistan. While Fearless Leader was trying to convince an increasingly skeptical public of the importance of invading Iraq, it looks like the job we should have been doing all along in Afghanistan isn't going very well, either.

While there have been stories about the Taliban and various warlords regaining control of parts of Iraq, and their newly-flourishing drug trade (heroin, specifically), we haven't heard many stories of violence against our soldiers. This is bad, bad news.

A US helicopter which crashed in Afghanistan with 17 service members on board was probably shot down, the military said, in what is believed to be the first such incident since the fall of the Taliban.

Rescuers were struggling to reach the Chinook, which came down during an anti-Al-Qaeda mission in the mountainous eastern province of Kunar Tuesday, but the fate of those travelling in the chopper was not known, officials said Wednesday.

The fundamentalist Taliban militia, ousted by a US-led invasion in late 2001 for harbouring Osama bin Laden, claimed responsibility for downing the giant troop-transporting helicopter west of the city of Asadabad.

"Initial reports indicate the crash may have been caused by hostile fire. The status of the service members is unknown at this time," a US military statement said Wednesday.