The pilot of a U.S. Navy F/A-18C Hornet strike fighter that crashed into the Persian Gulf shortly after takeoff from the USS Abraham Lincoln on Friday has been declared dead, the U.S. Navy said today. As you know, the U.S. and Great Britain have been patrolling the "no fly" zone for years now (with little help from other "allies" like the French) and we regularly bomb Iraqi radar installations. This has gone on now for a decade with so little press attention that one would think the Gulf War had actually ended in 1991. The Gulf War ended with a cease-fire agreement, which has since been violated (many times), so technically, hostilities have resumed. This is not a "rumor of war," it's real and lives are being lost. Is anyone paying attention?


U.S. Navy jet crashes in Persian Gulf; pilot missing