Extortion 17

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.

Two years ago, 31 brave Americans – including seventeen special operators of the Navy’s fabled SEAL Team Six, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden – were shot down as they came to the aid of embattled comrades in Afghanistan.

Several factors surely contributed to so disastrous an end to the mission code-named “Extortion 17.” It was hastily planned. It employed an aging helicopter not equipped for special forces operations. And no authorization was given for suppressing fire essential to safely approaching a “hot” landing zone.

Loved ones of the fallen suspect another factor, however. Was the mission compromised, thanks to leaks from so-called Afghan or Pakistani “allies”? The families of the lost heroes of Extortion 17 deserve an answer. So do the rest of us, on whose behalf they made the ultimate sacrifice.

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute. Learn more at SecureFreedom.org.