The US military says one of its helicopters has come down north-east of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killing all 13 people on-board. Of course we can only speculate as to what caused this helicopter to come down. With the number of aircraft working in Iraq under high pressure we certainly can't rule out a simple human error crash or a mechanical failure. Neither though can we rule out enemy fire. US forces were quick to seal-off the scene but all passengers and crew war dead. There have been several other high-profile aircraft downings in recent months: 4 were killed in Anbar Province in December and a UH-60 Blackhawk transport aircraft went down in August with the loss of two servicemen. The insurgency in Iraq has certainly got the capability (video footage has shown sufficient armory and if the Coalition is to be believed arms will be finding there way in from Iran). But in the past the Coalition have often been slow to accept enemy action as a cause of casualties, fearing a loss of face and a propaganda coup for the insurgents. Either way, 13 lives is a lot for any western state to lose in terms of political damage, and the already unpopular war just got less popular. The political implications of this one incident are unlikely to be severe, but it will stoke the fires of unease that are already burning in Washington and across the US.   del.icio.us tags: helicopter, iraq, blackhawk, baghdad, 13, dead, down, casualties, service, personnel