I’ve written pretty extensively on Extortion 17, the worst loss of life in the Afghan War, which included 17 Navy SEALs and 13 other US military and National Guard personnel, along with 8 Afghans. Both Billy Vaughn, father of fallen SEAL Aaron Vaughn, and Don Brown have written on the shoot down of Extortion 17 from two different perspectives: one was from a father’s point of view, the other from a former JAG’s explanation of the evidence. Now, the Extortion 17 story, aptly titled “Fallen Angel,” is set to hit the big screen on the fifth anniversary of the downing of Chinook helicopter by Taliban forces, and producers are looking to force presidential candidates to deal with the rules of engagement that are jeopardizing the lives of America’s finest and are responsible for the downing of Extortion 17.
Fallen Angel is being produced by The United West.
I spoke with Tom Trento, who heads The United West, about the production in an exclusive interview.
In referencing Don Brown’s book Call Sign Extortion 17: The Shoot-Down of SEAL Team Six, Trento told Freedom Outpost, “It is essentially the script for the investigative documentary.”
The United West is not looking to just make a small production either. Trento said that they had a goal of putting this out in movie theaters and making the public aware of what took place and why and how the rules of engagement are endangering our servicemen overseas.
To accomplish this goal, the project needs funding.
“We have four funding levels, starting at half a million going to a million, 3 million and 5 million,” Trento said. “Each funding level increases three components: The comprehensive nature of the educational lobby campaign to get the rules of engagement changed at the Pentagon. The other component is the amount of whizzbang graphics and everything else that we’ll use in the movie, and the third element is the more money we get, the more initial theaters, between 500 and 100, that will be showing it.”
“We want to premier Fallen Angel: The Coverup of the Shoot Down of SEAL Team Six on August 6, 2016, the five year memorial anniversary of the actual shoot down,” he added.
Depending on the budget, there will also be reenactments of what is presented.
While telling the story of Extortion 17 is important and encouraging a thorough investigation rather than having a Congressional dog and pony show is important, Trento and Brown, who is co-producer on the project, want to force presidential candidates to address not only Extortion 17, but also how they would change the rules of engagement to protect America’s soldiers.
“The reason why we are getting it out next year in August, other than it being the memorial anniversary, is we’re going to force a national debate by the presidential candidates on the issue of the rules of engagement,” said Trento. “The SEALs were killed for large part because of bad rules. They’ve got to be changed.”
“What we’re finding is that the sole mindset at the DoD (Department of Defense) that restricts our warfighters from killing the bad guys is the same exact mindset in the DOJ (Department of Justice) that’s restricting our investigators from investigating bad guys in America,” he added, tying what’s going on the battlefield with what is going on here at home. “It’s a systemic problem and this movie is a catalyst to start the change with rules of engagement.”
In speaking of what takes place on the battlefield and the homefront, Trento said, “They go hand in glove, bad rules downrange, bad rules on the homefront.”
Billy and Karen Vaughn will also be participating in the film. Billy spoke with Freedom Outpost and said that this was a movie that needed to be done to get the word out to the people about not only what went on with Extortion 17, but what continues to jeopardize the lives of America’s servicemen.
“It’s not just my son, but thousands of families have lost their loved ones because this president doesn’t have a desire to win,” Vaughn said, pointing to Barack Obama’s recent statement about not looking to be a winner while failing to attack enemy oil trucks. “Yet, he asks our men and women to put their lives on the line everyday. For what?”
Co-producer of Fallen Angel, Don Brown, told Freedom Outpost, “I am convinced that we have been operating under what I call ‘Islamo-centric rules of engagement.'”
“Under those Islamo-centric rules of engagement, our forces have been forced to be fired upon before they can defend themselves,” Brown added. “These rules are suicidal and we want to expose them and that’s what I’m hoping this film will do.”
Indeed, the Commander-in-chief has proven to be exactly what Lt. Col. Ralph Peters called him. However, I’m convinced that Obama’s pussyfooting around with Islamic jihadists is not cowardice nor incompetence, but calculated. After all, his administration is filled with Muslims and Muslim sympathizers, including the head of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Those interested in helping to fund the project are encouraged to visit FallenAngelTheMovie.com and contribute as you are able. The initial goal for the movie is $500,000.
I’ll be tweeting this article out to several presidential candidates. Why don’t you do the same? I’m wondering if Donald Trump might write a check to The United West and fund the entire project. After all, this exposure seems to be right down the alley of what he is talking about.
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