To hunt Osama bin Laden, satellites watched over Abbottabad, Pakistan, and Navy SEALs

[alp227]

Source: Washington Post

The U.S. commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden was guided from space by a fleet of satellites, which aimed dozens of receivers over Pakistan to collect a torrent of electronic and signals intelligence as the mission unfolded, according to a top-secret U.S. intelligence document.

The National Security Agency also was able to penetrate guarded communications among al-Qaeda operatives by tracking calls from mobile phones identified by specific calling patterns, the document shows. Analysts from the CIA pinpointed the geographic location of one of the phones and linked it to the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where other evidence suggested bin Laden was hiding.

The disclosures about the hunt for the elusive founder of al-Qaeda are contained in classified documents that detail the fiscal 2013 “black budget” for U.S. intelligence agencies, including the NSA and the CIA. The documents, provided to The Washington Post by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, make only brief references to the bin Laden operation. But the mission is portrayed as a singular example of counterterrorism cooperation among the U.S. government’s numerous intelligence agencies.

Eight hours after the raid, according to the documents, a forensic intelligence laboratory run by the Defense Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan had analyzed DNA from bin Laden’s corpse and “provided a conclusive match” confirming his identity. The budget further reveals that satellites operated by the National Reconnaissance Office performed more than 387 “collects” of high-resolution and infrared images of the Abbottabad compound in the month before the raid — intelligence that was “critical to prepare for the mission and contributed to the decision to approve execution.”

Also playing a role in the search for bin Laden was an arm of the NSA known as the Tailored Access Operations group. Among other functions, the group specializes in surreptitiously installing spyware and tracking devices on targeted computers and mobile phone networks.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/to-hunt-osama-bin-laden-satellites-watched-over-abbottabad-pakistan-and-navy-seals/2013/08/29/8d32c1d6-10d5-11e3-b4cb-fd7ce041d814_story.html

[Schema Thing]

1. all that *and* navy SEALS???

[Snake Plissken]

2. this is why we need to listen to your phone calls and read your emails

This NSA marketing campaign is getting pretty tiring

[Iliyah]

3. Please proceed and tell

us and everyone else how NSA works ok. I see Plan AA, 33, XXXX have kicked in. 20 years from now there will be another whistle-blower . . . .

[Thinkingabout]

4. A lot of technology has been developed which allows pin point locations of intended targets. We

Will continue to develop more technology in this ever evolving world. The collection of phone call records are analyzed to assist in locating terrorist which might be wanting to harm the US and probably other nations also. If one should think they have time to listen to every phone call in the US are over rating their importance in trying to be a step ahead of the terrorists, in other words, they are after the big fish and to waste time listening to your call to Suzy or Johnny may allow the big ones to get away.

[Kolesar]

6. I can imagine Richard Cheney blackmailing a weapons inspector

...after prying into his communications. I can also foresee framing somebody with planted contraband once the gov't knows their whereabouts. I'm no Snowbot, but I know this stuff is complicated.

[Thinkingabout]

10. The reason behind the FISA act was to prevent basically the president from ordering surveillance in

which Nixon was doing in wiretapping his enemies. The Code of Ethics should have kept Snowden from talking about the operation of NSA and any information he may have come in contact with should have remained silent. Yes we have those like Snowden which violates these issues but let me remind you of all the people who have worked in any of the communication companies how many have you heard has divulged this type of information, very few. Why, because they also work under a code in which they honor. Those working at NSA who did not follow procedure are the same type who embezzle and other issues of misconduct. One of the things we will have to understand, cameras are everywhere, they are on cell phones, etc, when you enter and leave a place of business, go to the ATM machines, they are here to stay unless better technology is developed. Snowden is a scumbag, he stole and he violated the code under which he worked.

[MisterP]

5. "all watched over by machines of loving grace," eh?

[Earth_First]

7. Nice propaganda piece here...

"Well then, I'm all turned around on the subject." -'Murica

[life long demo]

8. I watched a video which came out b4 Zero Dark Thirty, and IMHO was

better than ZDT. Called - Seal Team Six: The raid on Osama bin Laden. It had more emphasis on the SEAL team. Excellent movie.

[joshcryer]

9. Military space budget is bigger than NASA's.

We send up a new spy satellite or military communications satellite every few months. It's mind boggling. We send up Hubbles on a regular basis but they point downward, rather than up.