Official: CIA Killed Al Qaeda Suspects in Yemen

Reuters ^ | 11-4-02 | Anon

[Pharmboy]

Official: CIA Killed Al Qaeda Suspects in Yemen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A missile fired by an unmanned CIA (news - web sites) drone hit a car believed to be carrying suspected al Qaeda members in Yemen Sunday and killed several occupants, a U.S. official said Monday.

Mon Nov 4, 5:18 PM ET A Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is seen with a Hellfire-C laser guided missile under one wing in this file photo from a February 21, 2001 test flight at Nellis Airforce Base in Nevada. A missile fired by an unmanned CIA (news - web sites) drone hit a car believed to be carrying suspected al Qaeda members in Yemen November 4, 2002 and killed several occupants a U.S. official said November 5. Six alleged al Qaeda members were believed killed including a key suspect in the bombing of the USS Cole (news - web sites). While the CIA is known to operate armed Predator aircraft, it could not be confirmed if the Predator was used in this attack. (USAFMC/Reuters)

The official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters the American military was not involved in the attack, which reports from Sanaa said killed six alleged al Qaeda members, including a key suspect in a bombing attack on the U.S. warship Cole in Aden two years ago.

"As I understand it, it was an agency drone" that conducted the weekend strike, said the U.S. official, who did not provide any details.

The Defense Department and CIA refused to comment on the incident, but Yemen's news agency reported in Sanaa that a car explosion had killed six alleged members of al Qaeda. The radical Muslin group led by fugitive Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) is blamed by Washington for the devastating attacks on America in September of last year.

[Pharmboy]

Kewl.

[montag813]

HUGE WAS ON TERROR SALUTE!!!!!! BUSH SHOULD MENTION IT ON THE STUMP TONIGHT IN TEXAS!

PERHAPS RON KIRK WILL COMPAIN THAT IT WAS A "WHITE AIRCRAFT" WHICH DID THE ATTACK.

[Abcdefg]

Wow, six threads on the same thing.

[Deb]

Talk about your direct HIT!!! Just a black smudge in the desert, you sailor-killing goobers.

[hchutch]

Nice to see CIA is back in the garbage disposal business... ;)

[xm177e2]

BUSH SHOULD MENTION IT ON THE STUMP TONIGHT IN TEXAS!

You think the CIA waited until JUST before an election to execut a terrorist? That would certainly be politicizing the war on terror, and it would be unfortunate.

[xm177e2]

Oops, to clarify, I wasn't accusing you of thinking the timing was political, I was asking if anyone thought it might be.

In any case, good riddance.

[ConservativeDude]

Man, stories like this really make my day

[Poohbah]

"PERHAPS RON KIRK WILL COMPAIN THAT IT WAS A "WHITE AIRCRAFT" WHICH DID THE ATTACK."

That's because he's tired of "black helicopters" being blamed (although he personally prefers the term "rotary-wing aircraft of color" :o)

[Pharmboy]

Please link to the six threads that mentioned the CIA and drone used in this excellent operatrion. I did a search and found not one. Thank yew.

[jpthomas]

Here's an excerpt from the press release regarding the 21 Feb 01 test at which the photo in your post was taken:

RQ-1 PREDATOR® HELLFIRE MISSILE TESTS “TOTALLY SUCCESSFUL”

Aerospace history was made Feb. 21 with the successful launch of a live missile from an unmanned aerial vehicle. The Air Force’s Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) program is evolving from a non-lethal, reconnaissance asset, to an armed, highly accurate tank-killer, according to senior program officials from Air Combat Command (ACC) at Langley Air Force Base, Va., and Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) here.

“Capping a three-part series of demonstration flight tests on Feb. 21, Predator successfully aimed and launched a ‘live’ Hellfire-C, laser-guided missile that struck an unmanned, stationary Army tank on the ground at Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Airfield near Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.,” said Major Ray Pry, Predator program manager, Big Safari Program Office at ASC’s Reconnaissance Aircraft System Program Office (SPO).

“Flown by two ACC crew-members, a pilot and sensor-operator from the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group at Nellis, who were located in a nearby Ground Control Station (GCS), Predator launched the missile using Line-of-Sight (LOS) communication, inflicting heavy damage to the tank,” Major Pry said. The final flight, part of a Phase I feasibility demonstration that began in August 2000, was preceded by two similar, completely successful Hellfire launches on Feb. 16 and earlier on Feb. 21, according to the major.

“This first recorded missile launch from a UAV took place on Feb. 16 at approximately 11:05 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT),” he said. “Equipped with a single, inert Hellfire-C missile, the Predator, using its LOS communication band and infrared ‘Kosovo’ laser-ball, aimed and struck the tank-turret about six inches to the right of dead-center, spinning the turret around about 30 degrees. It made a big, gray dent in the turret— just beautiful.”

[Lent]

seen with a Hellfire-C laser guided missile under one wing

Hellfire I and II. The last one being experienced by the Jihadists as we speak.

[habs4ever]

No, they waited until these 6 dirtbags were all in a car together and off on a picnic.This does not fall into the "Lunar Landings Staged" file of FR tin foil conspiracies.

[Pharmboy]

Practice makes perfect.

Thanks for the follow up.

[montag813]

Oops, to clarify, I wasn't accusing you of thinking the timing was political, I was asking if anyone thought it might be.

No I certainly don't think it was politically timed. These opportunities are fleeting at best, and it is harder still to get the JAG to approve it like they goofed with Omar).

I just meant that it reflected very well on the Bush team and they should mention it.

In a single strike, Bush achieved more against terrorist than Clinton did in 8 full years. Sickening.

[Alberta's Child]

LOL. MSNBC has a photo of a Yemeni guy looking through the remains of the car and its occupants. On another thread I noted that the wreckage looked no bigger than a pile of charcoal briquets that someone dumped after a tailgate party at a football game.

[Pharmboy]

"Achmed, we must be very careful if we see any silly looking model airplanes following us."

[Rad_J]

Sounds like an intentional leak.

Yeah, we did it. We cried two tears in a bucket...
Plus, we did it with an unmanned craft.

I think we just sent a message to a few axis of evil nations.

Now for ten more of these little "hits" just to drive the point home.

[steveegg]

Outstanding. Now where can I get my hands on one of those Predators; they'd make the morning commute that much easier?

[Pharmboy]

I am now willing to reconsider the worth of all those video games that started in the eighties.

[EverOnward]

"You think the CIA waited until JUST before an election to execute a terrorist? That would certainly be politicizing the war on terror, and it would be unfortunate."

Answer: NO. The mentality you speak of is that of a Democrat. Republicans don't think that way.

[Straight Vermonter]

When you care enough to send the very best:

[billhilly]

"You think the CIA waited until JUST before an election to execut a terrorist?"

Oh sure. And they got the victims to pile in the car and race across the desert at just the right time so they could do a missle test.

[henbane]

John O'Neill--The Man Who Knew--a guy who was "too agressive" in his Yemen search for the Cole killers and who was "not allowed" back into Yemen by the lib clymer Ambassador , Barbara Bodine, is tossing back a heavenly triple-shot of whiskey today.

O'Neill became Head of Security at the World Trade Center after being nudged out of the FBI for ruffling too many Yemini feathers in his "sharp elbows" Cole investigation in-country.

His body was found in a wrecked stairwell of the Soth Tower on 9/11.

This surgical strike in Yemen has "In Memoriam" written all over it.

[r9etb]

Sounds like an intentional leak.

Agreed. I tend to apply a "what would Saddam think" filter to stuff like this. It certainly ups the pressure on him, knowing that these basically invisible little guys could be tracking him at all times.

[Grampa Dave]

Apparently there were secondary explosions which meant the vehicle was carrying explosives.

Also, the remains of one those high powered world wide phones was found.

This scumbag probably got intercepted by NSA while making his final plans to attack another one of our ships. The CIA was contacted, and they launced the drone off one of our ships outside of Yemen. They found the target while he was still yakking on his $5,000 phone.

Then, he, his car, his explosives, his fellow Islamofascists and maybe the Islamakazis mules for the next strike and most of his phone got a pre emptive cancelled order from the Agency!

What a great investment of our tax $'s instead of funding some radical homosexual group or baby killing Planned Parenthood center that the Rats like Da$$hole want to fund with our tax $'s!

[xm177e2]

It's not really tinfoil-hattery when you consider Clinton did the exact same thing (except he blew up an aspirin factory before impeachment, Bush actually accomplished something). I hope Bush wasn't playing with the timing on this. There's really no way for us to know whether this was politically timed or not, but I would tend to give Bush the benefit of the doubt.

[WOSG]

I am with you on this ... message to saddam: we can take your army tanks out with robot planes and there aint nothing you can do to stop us ...

[Pharmboy]

Pingaroonie

[xm177e2]

That would make sense. The coincidence in timing would not be Bush's fault, but the terrorists. They wanted to blow something up right before our election, and they were stopped in the nick of time.

[xrp]

BULLSEYE

[nutmeg]

What a great investment of our tax $'s instead of funding some radical homosexual group or baby killing Planned Parenthood center that the Rats like Da$$hole want to fund with our tax $'s!

You said it, Grampa! :-)

[WOSG]

It is tin-foil thinking because you fail to account for the vastly different character of Bush vs. Clinton.
Besides, you cant just call up the terror network and *ask them* to become targets at a particular time.
it happens when the opportunity presents itself; and (b), can you name a particular week when we were *not* doing something on the war on terror or when it was *not* in the news, in the last year?

[jwalsh07]

Delta/Cia Kudos.

[SouthernFreebird]

[glocker23]

Hell yeah! This is how you deal with terrorists... Hellfire missles not tribunals!

[Grampa Dave]

Exactly, al Qaeda thugs are trying to do something to our forces all over the world now and on election day to punish Americans for GW's stand against them.

There was probably a full crit alert to be on the look out for any final stage calls by al Qaeda leaders. If the intel showed a planned strike, then it was up to the agency to use a pre emptive strike to kill the thugs first.

This al Qaeda POS got caught making the final preps on his phone while delivering the explosives. Ka Boom!

[AmericanInTokyo]

Analysis

This stunning and rather positive War on Terror/AlQaida development today, IMHO, is worth a couple of thousand extra Pro-GOP, Pro-President Bush War on Terrorism votes tomorrow per EACH Senate race across the nation.

Watch for the Administration to really hype this up good.

And as they should, for it is damned good tactics and politics, and we are playing hard ball now on election eve. This game is for keeps.

Such American patriotic victories, even if minor and isolated, vividly appeal to the deep cowboy-like, desire-for-veagance & justice American National Psyche from coast-to-coast. Make no mistake about it: This kind of news story reverberates nationwide and the result are thousands of additional anti-Democrat 'last minute still undecided' votes falling like ripe plums from the trees.

Plus, having whacked a couple of bearded bastard AQ boys on the side w/ hitech is, in and of itself, as the MTV Gen Xers and Ys that will tend to stay away from the polls tomorrow might say, well, pretty 'kewwwlll......."

[Grampa Dave]

Hey if it takes a 10 to 20% increase in my taxes to make this world safer for my children and grand children do it.

Just stop all the payments to the perverts of the dark side or at least cut them down.

This is why we need to make Da$$hole a true minority Rat tomorrow.

[Ben Hecks]

This could hurt LoJack sales in the mideast.

[Maynerd]

SWEET !

[NewYorker]

Great news - celebrated with the Prez at DancingBush.com.

[Grampa Dave]

Here is a link to an earlier thread on this good pre emptive good news or how to incinerate al Qaeda thugs with a single missile fired from an un manned Predator: (CIA kills al Senior Qaeda goat humping thug and 5 minor goat humping thugs)

[LaGrone]

Too much!! LOL

[r9etb]

Also, the remains of one those high powered world wide phones was found.

This scumbag probably got intercepted by NSA while making his final plans to attack another one of our ships.

LOL! By that I suspect you mean Iridium or Globalstar, both of which are being heavily subsidized (i.e., used) by DOD. Yes, they're encrypted. But you know that DOD has the keys.

[Radical Poet]

I just don't know about all these conspiracy theories! Now the poor CIA is being blamed for an unmanned drone missle attack.

For all we know, it was a simple case of 6 terrorists on their way to a camel convention, and someone OD'ed on viagra along the way!

...You've got to get those dosages printed in pictorials!

[TonyRo76]

GREAT SHOT!
Ain't technology cool?

[b4its2late]

Just a black smudge in the desert

Excellent.

[rmvh]

Re your # 6...You think the CIA waited until JUST before an election to execut a terrorist? That would certainly be politicizing the war on terror, and it would be unfortunate.

Nice try poop. nti

[WilliamWallace1999]

That's the way uh-huh, uh-huh; I like it uh-huh, uh-huh!