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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| More on the CIA strike on al-Yemeni |
| 2005-05-14 |
| A senior al Qaeda operative was killed by a missile fired from a CIA Predator aircraft on the Pakistani side of the remote area near the Afghan border earlier this week, U.S. intelligence officials told ABC News. The CIA refused to confirm or deny any operational matter. Haitham al-Yemeni, a native of Yemen known for his bomb-making skills, had been tracked for some time in the hope that he would help lead the United States to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, intelligence officials said. But with the recent capture in northwest Pakistan of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, thought to be al Qaeda's No. 3 man, officials worried al-Yemeni would soon go into hiding, and decided to take action. Al-Yemeni was in line to replace al-Libbi, intelligence analysts said. "It's an important step that has been taken in that it has eliminated another level of experienced leadership from the directorate of al Qaeda itself," said Vince Cannistraro, former head of counterterrorism for the CIA and now an ABC News consultant. "It will help weaken the organization and make it much less effective." The CIA has the authority to fire at will against senior al Qaeda figures anywhere in the world, though it is unclear whether the Pakistanis approved of the action in advance. A spokesman for the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C., said he was unaware of any such actions this week. "There is a determination by the president that any member of al Qaeda that can be identified can be attacked," said Cannistraro. This would be only the fourth known time the CIA Predator has opened fire on al Qaeda targets. Most recently, six suspected terrorists, including Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, a close associate of bin Laden, were killed in Yemen in November 2002 in an attack the Yemen government said it approved in advance. Officials said that on two occasions the Predator has been used to attack individuals mistakenly thought to be bin Laden. |
| Posted by:Ebbiper Speresing3684 |
| #7 Shipman said: "At some point you have to stop tracking, gathering information, analyzing the data and stringing together the variable and just shoot the bastards." Amen. Like they say in baseball: If they're gonna give you an out - take it. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2005-05-14 15:51 |
| #6 He made the bombs that tried to take out the Paki-Waki head Cheese . The permission to wax him came from the highest levels of the Paki-Waki guberment. They can't trust their own Paki-Waki military and inteligence to do that. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom 2005-05-14 15:18 |
| #5 I wonder when they're going to start reporting that American-supplied rifle cartridges are greased with a combination of pig fat and beef tallow. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-05-14 12:01 |
| #4 Shipman...I want a tee-shirt that says that! LOL |
| Posted by: Darth VAda 2005-05-14 11:59 |
| #3 Fox just had a spot on the same story. Sounds like we got him and the Pakis don't wanna admit the Merkins did the op on their soil |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-05-14 11:59 |
| #2 "American intelligence officials" have to be the dumbest people in the world to (1) talk to ABC News, or (2) state that the missile was fired from the Pakistan side of the border. The first is axiomatic; the second only sets the Pakistani military against us. Could it be that this is the ABC equivalent of the Newsweek story that claimed the desecration of the Kuran at Gitmo? |
| Posted by: Tancred 2005-05-14 10:38 |
| #1 At some point you have to stop tracking, gathering information, analyzing the data and stringing together the variable and just shoot the bastards. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-05-14 08:42 |