Posted on 07/18/2007 1:02:37 PM PDT by rightalien
The U.S. military's newest weapon, the Predator aerial drone, has been all over the news this week, with descriptions of its speed, payload and altitude capabilities, along with information about just who will be operating them, and where. That, according to a Korean War veteran, explains why the enemy is laughing at the U.S.
"Effective war strategy includes surprise, bewildering and befuddling the enemy with a secret weapon. Not in letting him know exactly what your military plans are and how you will carry them out. You hit them and exit. Chances are they will not be so quick to re-attack knowing this could happen again," Chaplain Austin Miles told WND.
"I was totally astonished to see the full details of the new Robot Air Squadron including an exact blueprint as to what it is, as published in the East County Times, California, and all over the world by the Associated Press. This is absolutely the dumbest thing I've ever heard of!" he said.
(Story continues below)
Reporters hardly can be blamed for telling a story when it's announced by the government and carried in such publications as the Air Force Times and to a lesser extent in the Army Times.
But Miles questions what are the decision-makers thinking when they announce to the world, including any enemies awaiting their opportunities, the military's exact capabilities.
"The story details how it works, when it will be flown to Afghanistan for first deployment, then when it will be flown to Iraq where the fleet will be housed (including where and the number of feet it occupies), and even where the control centers will be located in Iraq that launch and guide them as well as the speed they can fly and at what altitudes they can reach along with the dimensions of the aircraft," he noted. "What's more, the published blueprint shows exactly where each function of the drone is located on the aircraft. The enemy does not even have to take the time to try and figure it out. They can immediately plan their offensive against it. This, of course, helps protect the enemy from harm."
Miles, who is paying the price in health problems now for his exposure to mustard gas during the Korean War, said the United States has lost the concept that in war, the goal is to remove the threat.
"We should go in, without mercy take out that enemy, and say, 'Don't do that again,'" he told WND.
The published reports told anyone willing to read that the Reaper can fly twice as fast and twice as high as the Predator, which already is in use. And the reports confirm the Reaper can carry 14 air-to-ground weapons, or four Hellfires and two 500-pound bombs.
"It's not a recon squadron," Col. Joe Guasella, operations chief for the Central Command's air component, announced. "It's an attack squadron, with a lot more kinetic ability."
"How did such stupidity become such a part of our national psyche?" Miles asked. "No wonder the enemy is laughing at us. I personally would laugh at such dumb-witted actions of an enemy.
"This is one furious veteran who paid a life-altering price for serving our country," he said. "We should have painted a bull's-eye on it."
Miles said his work now is as a chaplain for crisis situations, emergencies, weddings, funerals and counseling in California's Bay Area.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you'd like to sound off on this issue, please take part in the WorldNetDaily poll.
China unveils plans for a new aerial drone, similar to the US Predator, Minister of Espionage claims.
How did such stupidity become such a part of our national psyche?” Miles asked. “No wonder the enemy is laughing at us.”
it’s called political correctness in a time of war as well as letting lawyers decide the rules of engagement.
This reminds me of a news conference during DESERT STORM. One of the female reporters wanted to know why we couldn’t let the Iraqis know where we were going to bomb so Sadaam could have time to get the civilians out of the area.
Have you ever watched the Military Channel? They show all kinds of new weapon and tell exactly what they’ll do. If anyone in the military gave information like that they would be court martialed and rightly so. The military needs to keep all this stuff secret. But that would piss off the liberals.
Absolutely!! ...the technology is gonna be stolen but why help the bastards!
Idiots.
The Chinese scientific experts had physically deconstructed and reverse engineered the reporter and are nonplussed by the results which so far have only reproduced a series incompetent assholes each with a huge ego and a strong tendency towards treason.
The Chinese have made gestures towards repatriating the journo, but so far all they have received is a request to behead him on camera so that they (the networks) can make the all important “sweeps”.
ping
ROFLMAO!!!
It probably doesn’t matter if this information is published as they will soon know about it anyway. I susperct some of the capabilities are not public knowledge, the A capabilities, if you will.
Great name for a weapon...The Reaper.
Hmmm...?
Why not add the stealth capabilities are so good that we lost the prototype for two weeks. It was found at last after someone tripped over it on the taxiway.
Regards,
GtG
The "Predator" is around 10 years old, ancient in the military world.
Effective war strategy includes ... Chaplain Austin Miles told WND.
WND is quoting a *Chaplain* regarding military strategy and weapons technology? LOL
Earth to the chaplain... Anyone who can benefit from such details as altitudes, speeds, weights (namely, someone who is designing a weapon to take it out, or a military planner deciding which high-tech weapons to use against it) already knows this kind of information. Someone trained in the art can tell that kind of thing from a picture, if not from a spy who's known details about the UAV for longer than the dear Chaplain has.
A terrorist in Iraq will shoot his AK-47 at anything that moves with the stars and stripes on it. If he can hit it, great. If he can't, it doesn't matter if he knows how fast the thing going, he still won't be able to hit it.
The secret parts of this thing aren't known. The frequencies it talks on, the command codes it uses, the cryptographic keys it uses, *those* are worthwhile secrets, and we keep them that way.
Sheesh. WND has demonstrated their idiocy again.
Heard the Chinese plans carry an autographed. “Good luck! WJ Clinton”
I think too, that publishing generalities might serve to further demoralize existing adversary's and inhibit potential threats.
At the same time it also provides a bit of taxpayer visibility as to where some of those tax dollars, useless social engineering schemes aside, are being spent.
I'm far more appalled at real NYT Intellgiance and Strategy leaks...
Thanks, shocking to me.
Ping.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.