Posted on 06/21/2002 7:24:44 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
21 Jun 2002 10:07 ET DJ Officials Say US Practiced Predator Attacks In Early 2001
Copyright © 2002, Dow Jones Newswires
WASHINGTON (AP)--U.S. officials in early 2001 practiced at a mock-up in the American desert how they might attack Osama bin Laden inside Afghanistan using an armed Predator unmanned aircraft, a top counterterrorism official said.
Richard Clarke, who is President George W. Bush's adviser for cyberspace security and was former President Bill Clinton's counterterrorism coordinator, said a mud complex was built "in the deserts of the United States" to simulate bin Laden's headquarters, and then struck by a Hellfire missile fired by a Predator.
"Because of that development (of the Predator), which was telescoped and done very quickly in six months instead of three years, we were able to launch our Predator into Afghanistan last September," Clarke told a congressional forum Thursday examining technology that can be used to combat terrorism.
In mid-November, a CIA-operated Predator fired missiles at a building near Kabul after the structure was bombed by a U.S. military aircraft, killing al-Qaida military commander Mohammed Atef, one of bin Laden's top two deputies, officials have said.
Clarke said the development of the armed Predator allowed U.S. officials to find Atef "among the millions of people of Afghanistan, to find him, to find the house he was in, and to destroy it and kill him."
Clarke would provide no further details about the attack or the 2001 training exercises. Officials previously have said unarmed Predators flew reconnaissance missions over Afghanistan before 2001.
On Oct. 7, the first night of U.S. bombing in Afghanistan, a CIA Predator tracked a convoy that was believed to contain Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, officials have said, but military officials denied permission to fire its missiles.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires 21-06-02
Clinton passed up numerous opportunities to eliminate bin laden. And when he did take any action, he fouled it up by asking Pakistan for permission!
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