Yeah, I know - once upon a time we weren't supposed to be able to get the Iraqi army set up...now, I guess, the left will say that this nascent air force will die stillborn...

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi Air Force landed a milestone mark towards independence Wednesday by flying an Iraqi government official to a combat outpost in east Baghdad. A UH-1 Huey, flown by members of the Iraqi Air Force Military Transition Team flew Iraqi Minister of Defense Ali Allawi to Combat Outpost “Old Mod,” marking the first time an Iraqi aircraft has landed there.

The UH-1 Huey consisted of one Iraqi pilot, one American pilot and one American gunner, said U.S. Army Sgt. Class Eric D. Radecki, the operations noncommissioned officer-in-charge for the 1st Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division’s MiTT, which is comprised of members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

“Prior to this you’d see a lot of higher ranking Iraqis flying on American birds,” Radecki said. “Now that they’re flying on Iraqi aircraft, it’s one more step to doing things on their own, without our support.”

Step by step - and the only thing which can cause our defeat is our domestic critics.

Posted by Mark Noonan at June 18, 2007 07:44 AM

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Comments

Wow! They got to sit in a Nam-vintage Huey with an American pilot -- I'm figuring victory is just around the corner.
Lol!

Posted by: Salvelinus at June 18, 2007 11:49 AM

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And your point is?

There is no winning. Our soldiers are NOT coming home. So...

BFD.

Posted by: raker13 at June 18, 2007 11:57 AM

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"Wow! They got to sit in a Nam-vintage Huey with an American pilot -- I'm figuring victory is just around the corner.
Lol!"

Real funny.

Posted by: jbiccum at June 18, 2007 12:04 PM

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Didn' the Iraqi's have a somewhat modern airforce prior to Gulf War I. At least modern for middle eastern standards. I remember Iraqi pilots flying their mirages to Iran so they wouldn't be blown up by coalition forces. Wouldn't some of those pilots still be around? Oh no they fled to syria, jordan and sweden just like the rest of the professional classes in Iraq. Good to see we are getting goat herders up in 40 year old choppers.

Posted by: babyeatingliberal at June 18, 2007 05:38 PM

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