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.
Please excuse me.
I'm starting to feel real teary.
Said three of 'em got plugged by Uncle Sam.
We can always hope they are right on this one.
Another Congressional Intellegence Committee member with diahrrea of the mouth.
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.
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.
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 ...
I thought you knew: along with the missle, we drop a number of Miranda rights cards (You have the right to remain silent....)
Getting high in the Pentagon I see.
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.
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