Posted on 08/13/2013 5:56:30 AM PDT by EBH
The 26-page document in Arabic, recovered by The Associated Press in a building that had been occupied by al-Qaeda 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.
It confirms that the al-Qaeda 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 late Libya dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
"The existence of what apparently constitutes a 'Dummies Guide to MANPADS' is strong circumstantial evidence of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb having the missiles," said Atlantic Council analyst Peter Pham, a former adviser to the United States' military command in Africa and an instructor to US Special Forces.
"Why else bother to write the guide if you don't have the weapons? ... If AQIM not only has the MANPADS, but also fighters who know how to use them effectively," he added, "then the impact is significant, not only on the current conflict, but on security throughout North and West Africa, and possibly beyond."
This is not the first al-Qaeda-linked group thought to have MANPADS - they were circulating in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a terror cell in Somalia recently claimed to have the SA-7 in a video.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
hmmmm....
I knew there was a connection between Mali and Libya. In fact I still wonder if some of the hostages that turned up in Mali might not have been taken in Benghazi the night of the original attack.
I posted this on another thread:
Countless MANPADS have been smuggled in to the US across the southern border and have been stashed around the country. I can only presume this because a year or so AFTER the 9/11/twin towers attack Homeland Security was going to police related conventions in Texas and they were instructing the police how to identify the various parts of MANPADS. The group doing the instruction was mostly military types who were traveling around the country attending similar law enforcement shows. I saw the presentation they made in Texas by accident personally.
So, this is not a new issue. But is was and is a reason to shut down the borders. Using the National Guard if necessary. It may be too late but these new MANPADS which are likely the most modern change the game if they enter the US.
These types of surface to air missiles have a kill zone of 20-40 miles around any airport. According to Homeland Security it takes very little training to use one. They can be pulled out of a car or truck, pointed at the commercial jets heat signature, the device emits a tone and the trigger is pulled. By the time the airliner is hit the shooter is long gone without a trace.
Because of what I heard years ago for a long time I have expected to wake up one morning and see dozens of airliners being shot out of the sky. If that happens the American economy will tank.
The moslems are a very patient group. While it may seem that we have been able to stop terrorist acts with the stupidity of checking little old ladies and babies in airports or the NSA monitoring a bunch of phone calls we have neglected the real threat. Men on the ground with MANPADS.
The only way to stop the use of this kind of stuff is let the bad guys know that if something like this happens Mecca and Medina are no more.
Chris Stephens and the rest of the Americans were buying MANPADS and trying to get them out of the country. The bad guys simply let them purchase them and once they had a stockpile they raided the complex and took the MANPADS. They were very valuable and that is why they killed Stephens and others. One, they get the MANPADS and two they stop Stephens and Co. from buying up more. Hillary Clinton and Obama are up to their eyeballs in this deal just like they were in Fast and Furious.
I have not flown commercial in years and won’t fly commercial. I believe that hell will rain down on us one morning.
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There will be a commercial aircraft hit.
Or perhaps a hit on a military jet used by a notable apostate who is always flying off for elaborate vacations...
So, who makes countermeasures that could be fitted into commercial airliners?
hillary clinton owns this terror... THIS IS WHY IT MATTERS YOU BEAST!
If it is the same apostate I am thinking of, they would need volleys of those to perhaps even get to the plane.
The US Congress KNEW the MANPADs were being delivered
to the Enemy of the American people (al Qaeda)
AND they also therefore the borders were left open,
as the American people have been disarmed and
genitally inspected and photographed at airports
using equipment making the US Congress rich.
If there were countless number of MANPADs, we would have found at least some of them.
Yup. Heads in the sand as usual. We ain’t seen nothin’ yet. The clowns don’t know the meaning of the word panic yet. Once one of the folks from the religion of peace down a couple of commercial planes in LA or NYC, then they’ll see panic. Lucky for us, Benghazi was a long time ago so what difference does it make now anyway. Dolts.
Good definition of “treason”, if you ask me.
also note: the plane doesn’t have to be in the air. Just on the tarmac. I’ll go one step further: They don’t even have to hit the plane; just a pilot reporting seeing one is good enough to shut the airlines down, until countermeasures are built on every commercial aircraft.
I’m on a short flight this Friday. This is the 2nd time in 3 days I’ve seen related information like this. I think this flight may be my last for awhile.
If there had been a strange group of Arabs taking lessons on how to fly airplanes for no reason we would have found them too? Yea, sure...
These devices are about as long as your average weed blower. Broken down in to parts they are even smaller and that was the purpose of Homeland Security teaching LEO's what the parts looked like, especially training what was called "Border Patrol" back then.
We can't stop illegals from entering the US and we can't find millions of illegals or Jimmy Hoffa so your assertion that "we would have found some" is something I do not agree with.
Not trying to be a smart aleck or a conspiracy nut but do you think if they'd been found we'd hear about it on the news?
“If there had been a strange group of Arabs taking lessons on how to fly airplanes for no reason we would have found them too? Yea, sure... “
We weren’t looking for them.
Remember, we are reading all their chatter.
Of interest.
I got no doubt the approved travel thing is already coming. TSA on the interstates? WTF? They get more powers all the time and more than likely without congressional approval. Like barry says, “Constitution? We don’t need no steenkin” constitution.”
Chris Stephens and the rest of the Americans were buying MANPADS and trying to get them out of the country. The bad guys simply let them purchase them and once they had a stockpile they raided the complex and took the MANPADS. They were very valuable and that is why they killed Stephens and others. One, they get the MANPADS and two they stop Stephens and Co. from buying up more. Hillary Clinton and Obama are up to their eyeballs in this deal just like they were in Fast and Furious.
+++++++++++++++++++
This has been a pretty hot story the last few days. And for me at least it sounds way more plausible than the Obama - Morsi swap of Stevens for The Blind Sheik theory.
OTOH, there is some evidence of Morsi involvement in the attack. But there is, perhaps, even better testimony for al Qaeda as the culprit.
Questions for you. What solid evidence is there for the MANPAD theory?
And - is there an Egyptian and/or Morsi role in the MANPAD scenario?
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