In the latest uproar surrounding American troops in Afghanistan, video
has been released of an American pilot singing an impromptu rendition
of Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’ at the exact moment a rocket strikes
Afghans on the ground.
The video appeared on Liveleak.com and is already generating
controversy for a US government that has had to deal with multiple
scandals involving deplorable conduct of American troops in
Afghanistan.
The video, taken from the cockpit of an AH64 Apache helicopter in the
101st airborne division, shows an air raid on an Afghan roadway. As
the pilots close in on the target, they release a hellfire missile.
The targets can be seen as little white spots in the middle of the
road. They turn to run, and the moment before they are engulfed in
flame, one of the pilots comes over the com with his rendition of the
most famous line of the American classic.
"While on patrol in the Wardack province our Apache Pilots aka
"Mexican" encountered innocent farmers planting poppy seeds in the
middle of the road. Working in concert with ground forces they
eliminated the threat with ONE Kilo Hellfire," the caption by
Liveleak.com on the video reads.
"At the 01:39 mark you can hear the pilot singing "Bye Bye Ms.
American Pie" right before impact then BOOM… .the rest is history.
Enjoy and have a Happy Fourth of July."
Whether or not the targets in question were in fact farmers planting
poppy seeds cannot be independently confirmed.
As the survivors of the strike run for cover in the surrounding
structures, the pilots continue their attack with lighter fire, to
which one of the pilots coolly remarks "you missed". As one of the
targets hides in the neighboring building one of the pilots, possibly
the same Don McLean fan, asks “I have eyes on the building. You want
me to shoot the building?” to which he receives a negative response.
This is only the latest in a series of revelations which has forced
the US armed services to launch damage control investigations into the
conduct of its soldiers.
An official investigation is already underway of footage posted by the
same website in January that apparently depicted American soldiers
urinating on the dead bodies of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. The
soldiers can be heard making quips such as "Have a great day, buddy"
and "Golden like a shower" while carrying out the disturbing act.
