- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S.
officials in Iraq vehemently denied reports that an American Chinook helicopter
shot down by guerrillas last weekend lacked routine anti-missile equipment
that could have thwarted the attack.
-
- Col. William Darley, a spokesman for U.S. military operations
in Iraq, said the CH-47 Chinook was fully equipped and was not overloaded
at the time of the incident, as some reports had suggested.
-
- "The reports that you have heard or read are entirely
false," Darley told a news conference in Baghdad.
-
- "The helicopter was equipped with anti-missile defenses
and had the capacity to respond, but was not able to due to the immediacy
of the attacks," he said.
-
- On Wednesday, a U.S. Democratic senator complained that
troops were not being adequately protected in Iraq and said he had been
told by "reliable military sources" that many helicopters lacked
routine anti-missile equipment.
-
- "It's been a struggle for them to get the most basic
equipment they need to protect themselves," Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois
told ABC television's "Good Morning America" program.
-
- Durbin said he had heard that helicopter crews even had
to scavenge items from other helicopters.
-
- "What we've learned from communications is that
for months they've been flying without the protective equipment, and the
crews and pilots have tried to secure the equipment from every source imaginable.
That's unacceptable to me, to put them in harm's way without the very best
protective equipment," he said.
-
- The Chinook, whose pilot came from Durbin's state, was
downed by a shoulder-guided missile Sunday, killing 15 U.S. soldiers and
injuring 25, two of whom were aboard another helicopter that landed nearby
in a rescue effort.
-
- It was the bloodiest single attack on U.S.-led troops
since they invaded Iraq in March.
-
- Darley said the downed Chinook had not been overloaded,
saying such helicopters are capable of carrying up to 55 people and there
were not more than 60 soldiers being transported in two Chinooks at the
time of the attack.
-
- "I can also tell you that this helicopter was not
older than others in service," Darley told reporters. "The downed
Chinook had been in operation for 13 years, whereas the average age of
those helicopters in operation is 14.6 years."
-
- Darley said investigations were continuing into the incident
and forensic experts had been called in to inspect the crash site since
only a charred wreckage remained.
-
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