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And in fact the Taliban HAVE been reporting here and there about shooting down our planes, to which the Defence Dept. has been denying all allegations.
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I do recall reports of "airplanes" too. I don't recall any reports of "helicopters". The Defense Dept. hasn't denied everything though, they have admitted that drones (which are used often for recon) have been downed.
I don't think it would be "all over the media" because there aren't too many cameras in the country, as you can tell by what shows up on the news.
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I can assure you the Taliban have plenty of cameras. Our media isn't allowed in the country like they were in Iraq that's why the perception there isn't any cameras present. If the Taliban wanted to make pictures available of wreckage, they would.
I'm not saying your sisters friend is lying, but there just seems to be a couple of unanswered questions. If it's a cover-up, it's a poorly executed one. All your sisters friend needs to do is contact the media and inform them.
Also, I don't believe they make a phone call to inform the family that a serviceman has been killed. They dispatch someone from that branch of service and they are sometimes accompanied by local law enforcement. There would be written record in her hands that he is dead and the cause of death... which seems to state that he was killed in action.
Again, poor cover-up if this is the case. It's more likely the media screwed up perhaps... who knows.