"Missed it by that much."
Posted on 07/19/2011 7:12:38 PM PDT by Pan_Yan
The U.S. nearly took out Anwar Al-Awlaki, a top Al Qaeda target in Yemen, in an assassination attempt days after the killing of Usama bin Laden, senior U.S. defense and intelligence sources tell Fox News.
On May 5, Marine Harrier jets were sent on a mission to follow Awlaki using intelligence provided by Yemenis hoping to keep President Ali Abdullah Saleh in power.
The aircraft were able to locate Awlaki traveling in a truck. But fuel storage and technical problems with the jets’ Griffin missiles – a new and improved version of a Hellfire missile -- caused the operation to fail and allowed him to escape.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
"Missed it by that much."
Tell that to Khaled Meshaal
The Israelis have screwed up plenty of times.
The Meshaal operation was one of the biggest screw ups in history, and is largely responsible for the existence and strength of Hamas in its current form.
They’ve missed guys a bunch of times.
I’d have taken at least one of ‘ole reliable - but then I was a Boy Scout.
What? Are there no guns on a Harrier?
My sentiments exactly. I had to replay the “breaking news” to see if I’d missed something.
Almost only counts in horse shoes, hand grenades and atomic bombs — excuses excuses excuses...
Raytheon's Griffin missile makes quiet gains with US military
08/09/10
The US Air Force plans to launch production of a new Raytheon missile to equip its weaponised unmanned air vehicles with a precision-guided projectile featuring a smaller but still potent blast radius.
Although less than one-third the size of Lockheed Martin's AGM-114 Hellfire, the Griffin is among of a new class of miniature, precision-guided weapons rising in demand during an era when aerial strikes on insurgents carries the risk of killing innocent civilians.
Can I sell “Obama nearly killed Al-Awlaki” shirts?
Waiting for Obama to assassinate the plotter of the 9-11 attacks who is IN our custody.
Oops. Damn. Low bidder, again.
No! But you can sell “Obama nearly knows what he is doing!” He doesn’t have a clue, he is the smartest, Dumb Ass! ever elected.
There's your problem. Our enemies employ tactics to kill as many as they can, hopefully innocent bystanders. We however employ the touchy feely kinder gentler approach. God forbid if we kill his driver, we just want to take out the one guy sitting in the rear passenger side seat.
Don’t we have guns in those Harriers?
At least no civilians were killed. >s
And I nearly won the lottery except I had the wrong numbers! You just can’t buy a decent Lottery ticket these days.
If everyone's asking the question it's probably not a stupid one.
All our pants-pressing Generals have been trying to get rid of guns since Vietnam.
Wiki says 25mm Gatling gun, although that may be out of date.
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.