Posted on 06/11/2013 8:21:34 AM PDT by don-o
TIMBUKTU, Mali (AP) -- The photocopies of the manual lay in heaps on the floor, in stacks that scaled one wall, like Xeroxed, stapled handouts for a class.
Except that the students in this case were al-Qaida fighters in Mali. And the manual was a detailed guide, with diagrams and photographs, on how to use a weapon that particularly concerns the United States: A surface-to-air missile capable of taking down a commercial airplane.
The 26-page document in Arabic, recovered by The Associated Press in a building that had been occupied by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in Timbuktu, strongly suggests the group now possesses the SA-7 surface-to-air missile, known to the Pentagon as the Grail, according to terrorism specialists. And it confirms that the al-Qaida cell is actively training its fighters to use these weapons, also called man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADS, which likely came from the arms depots of ex-Libyan strongman Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Gee... I wonder where they got those?
Thousands now, or millions later. Our only choice is coming soon.
I’ve been wondering why they have not been bringing down airliners since 911. I mean, it may be a suicide mission to shoot one off as a plane takes off from some airfield, but isn’t suicide killings their favorite weapon?
I’m amazed at how this stuff is not being used in places less secure than the US but popular for US travel.
Or is the NSA just that good? :-\
These MANPADs and the upcoming deaths are brought to
America courtesy of Huma, Hillary, Obama, and those
who watched Americans die, gang-raped, into the night.
They only possess one Grail??? Hard to believe. Between the numbers looted from Libya and the numbers transferred by Stevens through Turkey to the Syrian rebels, I’d be surprised if they don’t have two of three hundred. Were I them I’d... no they don’t need my ideas to help them.
Arab Spring sprung these weapons.
It’s just not that effective of a strategy. They tried it a few times in the 70s, but most of the time, they got caught before they had a chance to fire, or they couldn’t hit the target. In one case, Carlos the Jackal fired an RPG at an El Al jet, but ended up hitting a Yugoslavian plane instead, which surely pissed off his communist paymasters.
I wasn’t thinking RPG’s. I was thinking shoulder launched SAMs. I thought they had a maximum altitude of 10,000 feet and that shold be no problem for a plane taking off. And you can easily hang out at the end of a runway in an urban area in LA, Seattle, Burbank, Ohare, etc.
I thought they had those sorts of SAMs for a long time. If I’m full of baloney, never mind... ;-)
Oh goodie, that lyin’ DC snake cabal is sure keeping us safe. Arming the enemies is their specialty!
I wonder if they have a photocopy position open.
Gee... I wonder where they got those?
3Der
Can y’all insert ‘[MANPADS]’ into the headline so this gets more attention, please and thank you?
They tried SA-7s three times I believe, and only succeeded once. This was targeting stationary planes on the runway, too, not planes in flight. They would probably have less success nowadays, since they can’t get close enough to fire at a stationary target and would have to try to hit the plane in the air.
I thought they had those sorts of SAMs for a long time. If I’m full of baloney, never mind... ;-)”
Your not full of baloney. Some years back there was a curious incident with an American Airlines flight out of LAX. This was pre 2008. It looked to the pilot according to cockpit voice recording like a contrail went past the plane on the land side. The “authorities” ended up blaming a misguided amateur rocket that went astray. They were probably partially right in that a rocket went astray. They also removed a female passenger who had a camera and may have gotten a photo. It looked like some launched a unguided SAM from a power boat in the flight path out of LAX.
And flight 800...
some launched a unguided SAM from a power boat in the flight path out of LAX.
There have been several incidents like this near IAH in recent years. Always blamed on “amateur rockets” as the cause...
bttt
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