On August 6, 2011—three months after members of Navy SEAL Team Six killed Osama Bin Laden—Taliban forces took down a United States helicopter, call sign “Extortion 17.” The attack killed the Air National guard crew, seven unidentified members of the Afghan military, and seventeen members of Navy SEAL Team Six—warrior brothers from the same Team had killed Osama Bin Laden just ninety days prior. Don Brown, a former U.S. Navy JAG officer stationed at the Pentagon and a former Special Assistant United States Attorney, re-creates the wartime action, tells the life stories of the elite warriors our nation lost on that day, and tears apart the official military explanation of the incident contained in the infamous Colt Report, which reveals either gross incompetence or a massive cover-up. Call Sign Extortion 17 focuses on a series of key factors pointing to a conspiracy, including the inexplicable disappearance of the black box, autopsy evidence arbitrarily destroyed, the failure to acknowledge reports of Taliban infiltration into the Afghan military, and the Taliban’s vengeful campaign of targeting SEAL Team Six after U.S. government officials revealed that the elite fighting unit was responsible for killing Bin Laden. Were the seven Afghani soldiers aboard that helicopter really undercover Taliban who either maneuvered the chopper within easy range of being shot down or blew it up from within? Through a serious examination of the evidence, and the lack thereof, Brown tackles the issues of the case as only an experienced military prosecutor can.
