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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Cat And Mouse Game Over Iran |
| 2005-01-29 |
| Another interesting article from UPI's Intelligence correspondent. Edited for key information. The U.S. Air Force is playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Iran's ayatollahs, flying American combat aircraft into Iranian airspace in an attempt to lure Tehran into turning on air defense radars, thus allowing U.S. pilots to grid the system for use in future targeting data, administration officials said. The flights, which have been going on for weeks, are being launched from sites in Afghanistan and Iraq, and are part of Bush administration attempts to collect badly needed intelligence on Iran's possible nuclear weapons development sites, these sources said, speaking on condition of strict anonymity. However, a Pentagon spokesman told UPI he was unaware of any such actions. The air reconnaissance is taking place in conjunction with other intelligence collection efforts, U.S. government officials said. To collect badly needed intelligence on the ground about Iran's alleged nuclear program, the United States is depending heavily on Israeli-trained teams of Kurds in northern Iraq and on U.S.-trained teams of former Iranian exiles in the south to gather the intelligence needed for possible strikes against Iran's 13 or more suspected nuclear sites, according to serving and retired U.S. intelligence officials. Both groups are doing cross border incursions into Iran, some in conjunction with U.S. Special Forces, these sources said. Both covert groups are tasked by the Bush administration with planting sensors or "sniffers" close to suspected Iran nuclear weapons development sites that will enable the Bush administration to monitor the progress on the program and develop targeting data, these sources said. The United States is also attempting to erect a covert infrastructure in Iran able to support U.S. efforts, this source said. It consists of Israelis and other U.S. assets, using third country passports, who have created a network of front companies that they own and staff. "It's a covert infrastructure for material support," a U.S. administration official said. The network would be able to move money, weapons and personnel around inside Iran, he said. The covert infrastructure could also provide safe houses and the like, he said. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #7 And I just checked... Pravda is boring this week. Sorry. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-01-29 5:53:00 PM |
| #6 Not to toot my own horn, but you might want to check the funny little item on Iranian UFO's I posted in last week's Nuggets from Pravda. If my headache lets up today, I might do another one... |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-01-29 5:45:04 PM |
| #5 radar-detectable chafe clouds distributed at periodic levels and times from undetected drones would REALLY F*&K with them heh heh |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-01-29 5:32:19 PM |
| #4 According to the article, the Iranians would have to know about this, since the whole point is to get them to switch on their air-defense systems, so that we can plot, map and understand them. Flying drones/aircraft that can't be detected defeats that purpose. Of course, we could be doing both :-) |
| Posted by: Steve White 2005-01-29 5:26:49 PM |
| #3 I'm sure there are reconnaissance flights taking place over Iran. It would be foolish of the United States if there weren't. I'd bet, too, that most of those flights are unmanned drones flying at altitudes either too high or too low for the Iranians to do anything about. There's a good possibility that the Iranians aren't even able to detect and track most of the flights. I'm sure the problems between the United States and the Russians about selling the Syrians SA-18s was because we're doing the same thing in Syria. As for "boots on the ground", only those actually engaged in such operations and their immediate controllers really know what's going on. The "expert" in Washington can say what he wishes, but it's all conjecture. We HAVE the capability - it's existed since Korea. We used it extensively in Vietnam and elsewhere. Whether we're exercising that capability in this respect is knowledge well above my (former) pay grade. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2005-01-29 5:11:01 PM |
| #2 ...This isn't all that unusual - it's an old and honored method of figuring out exactly what the bad guys are capable of. It doesn't necessarily mean we're going in after them - at least not at that time. But let's face it, it doesn't hurt to know. Also, the Mullahs might very well want to scream bloody murder about it, much like Khrushchev did with the early U2 flights, but not dare to lest their powerlessness be made clear. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2005-01-29 11:13:37 AM |
| #1 I'm not so sure of that, the mullahs would be screaming at the top of their lungs to anyone who would listen about systematic airspace intrusion by the great satan. SEAL teams running around in the dark with radiation detectors seems likely though. |
| Posted by: JerseyMike 2005-01-29 10:25:34 AM |