Posted on 09/13/2006 9:09:10 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
KABUL, Afghanistan - The U.S. military said Wednesday it is looking into the unauthorized release of a photo purportedly taken by an American drone aircraft showing scores of Taliban militants at a funeral in Afghanistan.
NBC-TV claimed that U.S. Army officers wanted to attack the ceremony with missiles carried by the Predator drone, but were prevented under rules of battlefield engagement that bar attacks on cemeteries.
Lt. Tamara Lawrence, a spokeswoman with the U.S. military in Kabul, said the photograph was released to the network by someone who did not have the clearance to hand it out.
"It is an operational security issue, and the photo was released at an inappropriate level," Lawrence told The Associated Press. "Inquiries are being made into how it was released."
Lawrence declined to provide further details. It was not clear when the photo was taken nor where the gathering took place.
The grainy black and white photo shows what NBC says are some 190 Taliban militants standing in several rows near a vehicle in an open area of land. The black outline of a box — apparently the sight of the drone — is positioned over the group.
NBC quoted one Army officer who was involved with the spy mission as saying "we were so excited" that the group had been spotted and was in the sights of a U.S. drone. But the network quoted the officer, who was not identified, as saying that frustration soon set in after the officers realized they couldn't bomb the funeral under the military's rules of engagement.
Taliban militants this year have been waging their bloodiest campaign of violence since their 2001 ouster from power in the U.S.-led invasion launched after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The U.S. military has previously used Predator drones with deadly effect, firing one missile into a Pakistani tribal area near the Afghan border in January in a failed bid to kill al-Qaida deputy Ayman al-Zawahri. The strike killed at least 13 civilians.
the CIA leak again, eeehhhhhhhh.........
I'm thinking we should change the rules of engagement. Terrorists don't play by these rules.
Jail time for anyone who leaks.
Sigh, someday...
THe last line of the story is another example of media bias......At least 13 civilians were killed//////////What about Zawahri's son-in-law and the head of their WMD efforts who was killed in that strike. Does the fact that they hide among civilians so we have to kill 'innocents' to get the bad guys matter to the media?
We seem to be acting like the British in the rev war - we seem to have to march only in a straight line with drums playing and being targets.
Bush says we are suppose to fight these guys but the lawyers won't let us fight.
When al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah etc. start playing by the rules of battlefield engagement, that's when we should. Until such time, we should put sidewinders into muzzie schools if intelligence tells us Taliban are in there.
Don't really see how this leak is wrong. It exposed the higher up's idiocy for nto attacking. No leak and nobody would have ever known.
Maybe it should be kudos to the leaker and jail time to the one that refused to bomb...
I'm not thrilled with leaks but I'm even less thrilled with the PC warfare crap.
Why didn't we just wait until they left the cemetery and hit them on the surrounding roads ?????????
Yeah, I'd like to see an investigation into why this target wasn't attacked? Because we couldn't, or because we wouldn't?
Exactly. This is the type of leak that those actually doing the fighting have to make in order to get anything done, or so it appears.
We keep fighting this war the PC way, and it will never end....
I think it's wouldn't... since that drone was hellfire equipped.
I wonder if the NYT will do an investigative story on who established a policy that would allow 190 Taliban to go out and terrorize and possible kill American soldiers.
I envison terrorists loading their arms caches, bombs and anyone they want to smuggle into coffins and having "funeral ceremonies" for however long it takes to transport their goodies safely to their destination. Hey Ahmed, we can even trasport that dirty bomb you made right into American turf- just don't forget to put the gladiolas on top.
For example: please suppose that a top US intelligence asset was at that funeral...
That's the kind of concerns that are involved in these decisions. The enemy does not need any insight into those concerns.
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