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CIA Missile Kills Suspected Al Qaeda Leader
Reuters ^ | Feb. 6 | Reuters

Posted on 02/06/2002 5:52:52 PM PST by mdittmar

A missile fired by remote control from a pilotless CIA drone aircraft has hit what was believed to be a group of senior al Qaeda members in southeastern Afghanistan, killing at least one of them, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

"It was a CIA 'Predator' missile that was fired upon what was thought to be a senior al Qaeda official," said the official, who asked not to be identified. He said the attack took place on Monday night.

"At least one was killed and possibly others. It's not clear who the individual was," the official said, adding that bad weather in the region had prevented a mission to identify bodies.

Citing a high Pentagon source, CBS News reported that several senior leaders of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network died when the missile hit the group near the Zawar Khili cave complex in the mountains of southeastern Afghanistan.

The network said it was believed that senior al-Qaeda members, including bin Laden, have been holed up at Zawar Khili since escaping from the Tora Bora cave complex, which was bombed two months ago.

Washington holds bin Laden and his al Qaeda network responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks that killed more than 3,000 people at the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington.

CIA Director George Tenet told the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday that he did not know whether bin Laden was dead or alive.

Asked when was the last time the U.S. had information indicating bin Laden was alive, Tenet declined to give a public response. "I'd be happy to talk about all of this in closed session," he told the panel.

The war in Afghanistan marks the first time the United States has deployed Predator drones armed with Hellfire anti-tank missiles that can be fired by a remote operator watching a live video feed from the drone.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; battleofafghanistan; cia; predator
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Bullseye!
1 posted on 02/06/2002 5:52:52 PM PST by mdittmar
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To: mdittmar
"At least one was killed and possibly others. It's not clear who the individual was," the official said.

Please excuse me.
I'm starting to feel real teary.

2 posted on 02/06/2002 5:57:53 PM PST by billorites
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To: mdittmar
Japanese wire services today saying "it may have included Osama bin Laden". Very tentative, though, almost as an interrogative. Would need a lot of hard confirmation in that case.

Said three of 'em got plugged by Uncle Sam.

3 posted on 02/06/2002 5:57:55 PM PST by AmericanInTokyo
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To: mdittmar
Preditor Missle?
The Preditor was upgraded to carry the Hellfire missle.
A remote controled plane with anti-tank missles. Makes the RC boat of my youth seem paltry. It was my dream as a kid, and I'm sure I wasn't the first one to want to arm and RC vehicle.
4 posted on 02/06/2002 5:58:26 PM PST by rmlew
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To: AmericanInTokyo
This is a typical Reuters,i.e.,a U.S. official said,said the official, who asked not to be identified,Citing a high Pentagon source

We can always hope they are right on this one.

5 posted on 02/06/2002 6:06:52 PM PST by mdittmar
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To: mdittmar
said the official, who asked not to be identified. He said the attack took place on Monday night

Another Congressional Intellegence Committee member with diahrrea of the mouth.

6 posted on 02/06/2002 6:07:03 PM PST by zarf
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To: rmlew
I'm sure I wasn't the first one to want to arm and RC vehicle.

I worked on the Aquila, (an early Remote Piloted Vehicle for the Army). It had a camera, and we all wanted to give it a 50 cal with a few shells. Boresight with the camera and give the operator a trigger. (Not enought payload capacity for a missile, but we were working on this in '84.

7 posted on 02/06/2002 6:15:50 PM PST by KC_for_Freedom
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Comment #8 Removed by Moderator

To: mdittmar
"He said the attack took place on Monday night.

Yes, I caught basically the same story on CBS nightly news and couldn't help but wonder, why if they (the Al Qaeda) can drive several SUV's to the site, we couldn't do likewise. The excuse, the weather wouldn't allow helicopters to fly in, is IMHO, rather lame. If I thought there was the slightest chance, that Bin Laden might be amongst the casualties, I would have gotten something in there pronto.

Unless they got them all, which seems very unlikely, with a one missile shot, the suvivors won't leave anything there to be identified, once the weather clears to allow copters in.

9 posted on 02/06/2002 6:26:43 PM PST by theirjustdue
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To: mdittmar
A missile fired by remote control from a pilotless CIA drone aircraft has hit what was believed to be a group of senior al Qaeda members in southeastern Afghanistan, killing at least one of them, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

Where is the local FR Islamic Terrorist Tag Team to protest against American and Israeli assasinations and targeted killings ?

Come out, come out, wherever you are ...

10 posted on 02/06/2002 6:28:03 PM PST by a_witness
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To: mdittmar
Tsk, Tsk, so, do the little ba$tard$ get their virgins cause they got kacked by a robot? Nice Shooting CIA! Here's hoping you can paint a few more terrorists on the nosecone!
11 posted on 02/06/2002 6:34:09 PM PST by Braak
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To: SpeaksTruthToPower
But what about the civil rights of the fired-upon parties?

I thought you knew: along with the missle, we drop a number of Miranda rights cards (You have the right to remain silent....)

12 posted on 02/06/2002 6:40:40 PM PST by Catspaw
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To: KC_for_Freedom
The drone is affectionately known as The Terminator.
13 posted on 02/06/2002 6:53:49 PM PST by BOBTHENAILER
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To: billorites; Miss Marple; JohnHuang2
I just hope none of the cars were trashed.
14 posted on 02/06/2002 7:12:16 PM PST by hchutch
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To: theirjustdue
probably no one close enough to get there within a reasonable time frame, another words no need to rush up there, if everyone that is alive will be long gone.
15 posted on 02/06/2002 7:17:08 PM PST by veryconernedamerican
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To: hchutch
Thanks for the ping, my friend.
16 posted on 02/06/2002 8:05:30 PM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: KC_for_Freedom
Aren't the AF and Navy working on a ground-up armed UAV?

I've also heard that the Israelis have a cruise missle that drops short ranged anti-radiation missles along a pre-set path.
17 posted on 02/06/2002 8:30:31 PM PST by rmlew
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To: mdittmar
>...Citing a high Pentagon source

Getting high in the Pentagon I see.

18 posted on 02/06/2002 8:31:19 PM PST by Dialup Llama
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To: mdittmar
I was wondering how the CIA got involved in firing a missile at these people. I thought the CIA was an intelligence gathering organization. Silly me. So I went to the CIA Web Site.

Here is a portion from their mission statement. "Conducting counterintelligence activities, special activities, and other functions related to foreign intelligence and national security, as directed by the President."

If you want the full thing, go here: http://www.cia.gov/cia/information/info.html

So the CIA can do anything the President directs. Interesting.

19 posted on 02/06/2002 9:39:41 PM PST by Don Myers
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To: Don Myers
You're aware of how the CIA got started, right?
20 posted on 02/06/2002 9:43:57 PM PST by Harp
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