CIA flew stealth drones into Pakistan to monitor bin Laden house

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

The CIA employed sophisticated new stealth drone aircraft to fly dozens of secret missions deep into Pakistani airspace and monitor the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed, current and former U.S. officials said.

Using unmanned planes designed to evade radar detection and operate at high altitudes, the agency conducted clandestine flights over the compound for months before the May 2 assault in an effort to capture high-resolution video that satellites could not provide.

The aircraft allowed the CIA to glide undetected beyond the boundaries that Pakistan has long imposed on other U.S. drones, including the Predators and Reapers that routinely carry out strikes against militants near the border with Afghanistan.

The agency turned to the new stealth aircraft “because they needed to see more about what was going on” than other surveillance platforms allowed, said a former U.S. official familiar with the details of the operation. “It’s not like you can just park a Predator overhead — the Pakistanis would know,” added the former official, who, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the program.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-flew-stealth-drones-into-pakistan-to-monitor-bin-laden-house/2011/05/13/AF5dW55G_singlePage.html

[kestrel91316]

1. Now THERE'S a use of reconnaissance drones my dad would be proud of!

He was career USAF and spent many years working on various aspects of aerial recon drone development and utilization in the 60's and 70's.

[boppers]

2. So, stealth copter disclosed, stealth drone disclosed...

Their OpSec sucks. No wonder Manning had such an easy time of it.

[KeepItReal]

3. Bushies giving up the info...

The sources quoted are "former officials" who declined to be named.

[boppers]

6. *grumble*... you keep secrets for *life*. Not until the contract ends, or you get another job.

Probably morons who want to think they're special.

[leveymg]

4. Read this in conjunction with yesterday's report: "US didn't have constant surveillance" -

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/16/bin.laden.visitors/index.html Unnamed intel officials claimed that U.S. intel didn't have eyes on UBL the entire time he was in the Abbottabad compound because they didn't want to risk tipping him off.

The CIA did not need to put agents with binoculars in the bushes nearby. This also discounts the use of inside informers and double-agents, and al Qaeda has long been riddled with them.

Indeed, elint and overhead surveillance would not tip anyone off inside that compound, unless the Pakistani military caught on that stealth drones were hovering overhead. They don't fly them like that, anyway, in an environment where there is any chance of detection. Also, they're not reliant upon photography. Surveillance craft and satellites use side-scanning radar from miles away. Even the optics on normal and infrared photography are so good that the drone or sat doesn't have to be directly overhead or nearby.

This is from yesterday's CNN report. Notice the concerns about "information sharing across (agencies of the US) gov't"! What does that tell you? Who would worry about that? Someone must be asking some inconvenient questions, and not getting satisfactory answers, so they've had to modify the handout yet again.

The U.S. did not have constant surveillance of the compound, in part because the U.S. did not want to tip off bin Laden or the other occupants that they were being watched.

The official also expressed concern about the amount of information being leaked about the contents of the materials obtained from the compound. The "degree of sensitive information that has walked out the door is troubling," said the official, adding, "The floodgates have opened on very sensitive information. People need to take a deep breath and use some discipline."

It is "appropriate" to have robust intelligence sharing on terrorism, but the amount released could have "the unintended consequence" on greater information sharing across the government, the official said.

[Nihil]

5. Classic case of "left hand and right hand" ...

In this case, the "left hand" is respecting security and the
"right hand" is busy leaking like a sieve (for political points).

It's pretty obvious that they would have had surveillance active
before going in but it's also obvious that they shouldn't be
blabbing about it.

:shrug: