Highly Covert U.S.-Thai Operation Nabbed Hambali

Yahoo ^

[Sub-Driver]

Highly Covert U.S.-Thai Operation Nabbed Hambali 2 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!

By Tabassum Zakaria

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The operation by the CIA (news - web sites) and Thai counter-terrorism authorities that captured top al Qaeda operative Hambali was so secret that few inside the U.S. government knew of it beforehand, officials said on Friday.

"It was highly compartmented. Hardly anybody knew about it. It was exceedingly carefully planned and carried out, and even within the U.S. government hardly anyone knew about it," a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.

Hambali, born Riduan Isamuddin, was hunted throughout Southeast Asia as a suspect in last year's bombings at a Bali nightclub strip and last week's hotel bombing in Jakarta before his capture earlier this week in Thailand.

The CIA initially brought his presence to the attention of Thai authorities, and the Southeast Asian government put that together with tips from local sources about strangers in Ayutthaya, about 50 miles north of Bangkok.

"We received tipoffs from local people that there were strange-looking people staying around there so we checked their background and passports and realized that they were the people we were looking for," Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters in Sri Lanka.

Thai authorities carried out the "kick-down-the-door" raid on the apartment and grabbed the most wanted man in Southeast Asia, along with his wife and two lieutenants from the al Qaeda-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiah, U.S. sources said.

"They deserve great credit for their professionalism and the way in which they carried out the operation without the loss of life," the U.S. official said. "Nobody was killed."

The operation to catch Hambali was only known to a few CIA officials beforehand and his capture was kept from the public for several days.

AL QAEDA CHIEF OPERATIVE

It was revealed by the White House on board Air Force One on Thursday as President Bush (news - web sites) traveled to California to greet troops and make a campaign fund-raising swing. He used the occasion to trumpet the arrest and called Hambali "one of the world's most lethal terrorists."

Hambali was the operational chief of Jemaah Islamiah and al Qaeda's chief operative in Southeast Asia, U.S. officials say.

The Indonesian Muslim preacher was being pursued even prior to the Bali bombings as a member of the inner circle of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked-plane attacks that killed about 3,000 people in the United States.

Mohammed, who was captured in March in Pakistan and is in U.S. custody, told interrogators he had given Hambali money to carry out a major attack, U.S. officials said.

Hambali and his two lieutenants were flown out of Thailand in U.S. custody to an undisclosed location for interrogation.

Earlier, one Thai official said Hambali and his wife had been flown to Indonesia, but U.S. sources say he was taken to another destination outside the United States. They said his wife was not in U.S. custody but would not confirm her whereabouts.

Top al Qaeda leaders in U.S. custody are not held together at one location and are not taken to the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where hundreds of lower-level al Qaeda suspects are held.

There was some speculation Hambali may have been in Thailand to plot an attack on an APEC (news - web sites) summit in October, but there was no evidence to confirm that and he has not admitted to such a plot during interrogation, one source said.

An Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Thailand in October is expected to be attended by world leaders including President Bush.

[TLI]

HA! The lib's can't whine about not being informed so they can blab, and by the very context of the report, they were definantly left out of the loop.

This just oozes Bsh/Chny.

HA!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The Thais "kicked down the door..."
They must have brought stepladders.

[sarasota]

You mean we've finally hired people who can keep things covert? Progress!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The Bush Doctrine at work!!!!!

Bush Doctrine Unfolds :

To find all articles tagged or indexed using Bush Doctrine Unfold , click below:
	click here >>>	Bush Doctrine Unfold	<<< click here
(To view all FR Bump Lists, click here)

[Dog Gone]

I love it.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I feel safer!

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[GOP_1900AD]

Now, if only we could get Shinawatra to stop being such a pro PRC bootlicker and to stop ragging on us for Operation Iraqi Freedom. It's a good start, though....

[Dirk McQuickly]

Frank Shinawatra?

[Grampa Dave]

If the rats in congress had their way, we would never read about another success like this.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/963089/posts

Congress to restrict use of Special Ops (The full story not just a teaser on Drudge!)
Washington Times ^ | 8/13/2003 | Bill Gertz


Posted on 08/12/2003 10:31 PM PDT by Grampa Dave


Congress to restrict use of Special Ops


By Bill Gertz THE WASHINGTON TIMES


Congress is set to impose new restrictions on the use of Special Operations Forces that for the first time will require a presidential order before deploying commandos in routine but hidden activities.

The restrictions are contained in the classified Senate report accompanying the current version of the intelligence authorization bill for fiscal 2004.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

No congressional approval given here.


THAT'S WHY IT WORKED!!!!

[Cobra64]

""We received tipoffs from local people that there were strange-looking people..."

Aren't they all?

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thanks for the ping, Grampa Dave.

I think you can count out restrictions on Spc Ops:

 Pentagon Town Hall Meeting  - Thurs., Aug. 14, 2003

Q:...Part B was an article I saw in the -- I think the Times yesterday that talked about constraining the operations of our Special Operations Forces; that a presidential order would, perhaps, have to be in place.  Comments, please.

Rumsfeld:  I checked into that article that was in some newspaper, and at least thus far, I'm told that it's not accurate.  That is to say that the -- we do not believe there is a constraint that's operative at the present time.  It's complicated, because it involves two senatorial committees, and  -- I was not in any of the meetings, and there is nothing in the law that constrains us and -- beyond where we're currently constrained, and obviously, there are constraints, and we live within them, and that's fine.  But the implication in the article was that there was some new constraint that would inhibit the special operators from being capable of doing the kinds of things they've been doing in the past.  And I'm told in discussions with the Armed Services Committee that that's not the case; that there was some side language in a report in the Intel Committee that suggested that, but the Armed Services Committee seems not to think that's a problem, and I certainly hope that's the case.

     And if it's not the case, we would have to have more discussions and figure out how we sort it out, because the -- in the global war on terror and the kind of an environment we're in, the security environment we're in, there is no question but that the Special Operations people have been utilized to a much greater extent than previously and undoubtedly will be prospectively.

IOW - no way, Jose. (^:

[Grampa Dave]

RC, thanks for posting this Rummy straight Talk.

Well, either an assistant to Rummy is in real trouble or Gertz is starting to act like he is a writer for the Ny Slimes.

I think that Gertz wanted this covert operation by the rats to kill our covert Spec Ops out in the open. Any rat in Congress, associated with this, is yesterday's news in their next election.

[ASA Vet]

You don't think a Thai can kick?

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

I'm glad he brought it up, GD. Put the spotlight on the Senate where there are many working against the DoD and our war efforts. Perhaps people will start paying attention to the Senate Foreign Relations and Intel Committees.

Our Senators seem to think their constituents are all unhappy parents of miserable troops.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

No question.
But most Thais I've met are 4' 10"...

[ASA Vet]

My wife is 5'5" and 100% Thai

[ASA Vet]

Oh, I forgot to mention she can't kick....
I've offered to teach her, but she's not interested.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

You are blessed.

[ClancyJ]

Looks like Rummey is handling the situation. Would love to hear the closed door comments. I feel Gertz uncovered a real effort. This is how they are handling it. Rumsfeld is publicly saying it will not come to pass.

I would still like to know the names on the committees involved. They could probably use a little reinforcement that we will not tolerate restrictions hindering Special Ops. With that plan - there would be no Special Ops as they would be slaughtered by the leaks from committee members wanting to usurp the presidential powers.

I am afraid we do have enemies in our government that do more work to help our enemies than to protect us and to protect America. We need to make sure we see their activities for what they are and spread the word since the media will never let the American public know.

[PhilDragoo]

Okay, bumper sticker time:

WHEN YOU'VE GOT THEM BY THE HAMBALIS
THEIR HEARTS AND MINDS WILL FOLLOW!

[Grampa Dave]

My OJ Simpson King Size Bronco bumpers aren't big enough for that sticker.:)

[Grampa Dave]

If any of us finds out which Rat congressits/$inators tried this attempt to deball our SpecOps, we need to post it and ping the rest of us who are upset about this.

Time to bring them out of their closet, where they pretend to be pro America, and show America that they are traitors.