Inhofe learns first-hand why Iraq isn't "a miracle"

We are not making progress when four years after the war begins you can't even take off from the Baghdad airport without this happening:

The four lawmakers -- Republican Sens. Mel Martinez (Fla.), Richard C. Shelby (Ala.) and James M. Inhofe (Okla.), along with Democratic Rep. Robert E. "Bud" Cramer (Ala.) -- came under fire Thursday after their C-130  cargo plane lifted off from Baghdad International Airport on its way to Amman, Jordan.

"I remember kind of saying to myself, 'I think we're high enough now to be safe,'" Martinez told the Associated Press. "All of a sudden [there was] a very bright light."

Martinez told the news service that three rocket-propelled grenadeswere fired at the lawmakers' aircraft. After the first rocket, thepilots discharged hot bright flares intended to guide heat-seekingmissiles away from the plane. Two more rockets then were fired at theaircraft, he said. The pilots banked sharply to evade the rockets.

"I actually had just taken off my body armor, and it quickly came backon," he told the AP. "Other than a brief, scary, anxious few moments,everything turned out to be okay."

James Inhofe, one of the four on-board, was the same Senator who in 2006 called the situation in Iraq "nothing short of a miracle."  Actually, it was a miracle their plane made it to Amman, Jordan safely.

Comments

[Mr. B.]

I think this report of an attack is in-correct. Rocket propelled grenade has limited range (1000 yards). The Bagdad airport has buffer zone around it.
I think this was a Stinger type anti aircraft rocket. This is sloppy reporting or maybe some type of coverup.

wkipedia info on rocket propelled gernade (RPG):

An RPG is an inexpensive way to deliver an explosive payload a distance of 100 yards (100 m) with moderate accuracy. Substantially more expensive, wire-guided rockets are used when accuracy is important. These rockets trail a thin wire behind them during firing and can be steered by the operator while in flight. In 1982, British troops were sent to the Falklands War armed with a number of wire-guided MILAN anti-tank missiles even though there were no Argentine tanks in the Falklands Islands. The British used these expensive weapons to destroy Argentine bunkers at longer ranges. The British also used cheap 66 mm LAW unguided rockets, and recoilless 84mm, against Argentine bunkers. The popularity and usefulness of such weapons prompted the U.S. military to field the SMAW, the U.S. equivalent of the RPG.