did you guys see this story in the chronicle over the weekend?? i have also heard that the US military is flatly denying it. as for the drudgereport -- ultimately drudge generally links to other sites. in this case, he was reporting on another media source developing a story...that story was developed and it ended up in the chronicle on sunday. ultimately you can choose to weigh the reliability of any of the sources he links to...he simply points out what others are reporting. but in this instance, the story was confirmed in major newspapers around the country. whether or not its details are true or not is an entirely different matter.
I had read somewhere that (I think it was Rumsfield, not sure) had talked about an intelligence gathering operation not yielding much information of value. I wonder if there is any truth to the report. Ahh, who knows. But I would think after something like that, we'd at least hear from the Taliban via bragging.
You guys have got to keep in mind that it is nearly impossible for the US military to lie about casualties. This is not like some countries where you are conscripted and no one ever hears from you again; these people all have families who are either expecting their sons/husbands/fathers to come home again, or the military to tell them that he is not. There may have been some minor casualties, but the military could not hide any deaths. Even minor casualties are reported as a rule. Incidentally, the Taliban is now reporting that over 70 US soldiers have been killed. And that helo we destroyed... well, the Taliban actually destroyed it. You can even see the AAA gun that shot it down not twenty feet from the wreckage in their official footage... (the idiots should have realized that they should have placed the gun a little further away, but many people are stupid enough to believe it) This report is probably based on a Taliban source, and they are not to be trusted.