Al Qaeda is so spooked by CIA drone attacks that Osama’s crew is staging spectacular bombings in Pakistan, in an attempt to get America to call off its unmanned attack fleet, former U.S. officials and counterterrror advisers say. And the CIA is apparently so spooked about the possibility of a withdrawal that they’re spilling details about their supposedly-secret drone strikes to the New York Times. Full Story »
Posted by Derek Hawkins
a good report on the reporting, and questioning of why the CIA and USAF are sharing prevously secret strike films. There is a lot more here than it appears.
The US has been using drones since 1960, this is just the latest wrinkle. The CIA and USAF are ignoring the largest vulnerabilty of this type of weapon system, the reason no US missle or bombs carry a self detruct code. If we do something using radio control, no matter the level of encryption, then someone will find a way to block or override that radio signal.
This is a quality blog, written in engaging sarcasm (typical of WIRED). Something's fishy about these unmanned drones, and Noah Shachtman correctly points out that the media haven't quite gotten the story right either. The one change I'd recommend is minor (and not usually the author's fault). The headline says "CIA: Our Drones are Killing Terrorists. Promise" but the story contain information about not only CIA drones, but U.S. military and potentially Pakistani military drones as well.
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