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| Axis of Evil |
| Iraqis shoot down Predator... |
| 2002-12-23 |
| Iraqi aircraft shot down a U.S. unmanned surveillance drone over southern Iraq Monday, American military officials said. The Predator drone was conducting a reconnaissance mission, a senior official with U.S. Central Command said. Iraqi fighter aircraft penetrated the southern no-fly zone over the country and fired on the Predator, and its controllers then lost contact with the plane, the official said. ``This action is the latest chapter in a lengthy list of hostile acts by the Iraqi regime,'' said Jim Wilkinson, a Central Command spokesman. Central Command is the U.S. military command that oversees operations in Iraq and the surrounding countries. That's interesting. Usually they can't coax the Iraqi Air Force off the ground. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #6 I would think AWACS would be aware as soon as it happens of anything they try to put up over there. Either this was a setup to check something out (my bet), or one of the AWACS controllers was really asleep at the switch. But I'd rather lose a model plane then a real one with a pilot. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2002-12-23 12:03:00 |
| #5 Word from Kuwait last week is they ahve started to re-arm the predators with stinger missles, so that they can defend themsevles. the 'iraqi airforce' might be in for a real shock next time they go up against a predator. Imagine the shame of being shot down by an unmanned drone. |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2002-12-23 11:46:58 |
| #4 I agree with Steve. This could only happen with our assistance. Luring out the Iraqi air force is a decent move. We now know more than we did. So, does the lucky pilot get to paint a drone on the side of his plane? |
| Posted by: Chuck 2002-12-23 11:13:00 |
| #3 Predators are cheap and expendable. They fly low and slow to get good photos. I'm sure it was like shooting skeet, at the same time I'm sure they got a lucky shot. Nice of them to tell us in an unambigious way which regions they don't want us looking at. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2002-12-23 10:46:11 |
| #2 Somebody's going to loose a airbase, real soon. |
| Posted by: Steve 2002-12-23 10:40:55 |
| #1 Wow they actually hit something. |
| Posted by: Hefty 2002-12-23 10:34:11 |