CIA operating drone base in Saudi Arabia, US media reveal

www.bbc.co.uk...

The US Central Intelligence Agency has been operating a secret airbase for unmanned drones in Saudi Arabia for the past two years. The facility was established to hunt for members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen. A drone flown from there was used in September 2011 to kill Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born cleric who was alleged to be AQAP's external operations chief. US media have known of its existence since then, but have not reported it. Senior government officials had said they were concerned that disclosure would undermine operations against AQAP, as well as potentially damage counter-terrorism collaboration with Saudi Arabia.

Wonder how many more secret bases are around the world.

reply to post by winterkill


Probably not that many yet but give it time...

Im sure most Americans must be really proud that the government likes to establish military basis in theocratic dictatorships like Saudi, widely known for its persecution of women, lack of religious freedom, slavery and deplorable human rights atrocities. C'mon lets all give a hand to our esteemed allies in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia!!!

USA! USA!! USA!!!

Down with freedom!!!!

Slavery is peace!!!!

Originally posted by winterkill
www.bbc.co.uk...

The US Central Intelligence Agency has been operating a secret airbase for unmanned drones in Saudi Arabia for the past two years. The facility was established to hunt for members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen. A drone flown from there was used in September 2011 to kill Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born cleric who was alleged to be AQAP's external operations chief. US media have known of its existence since then, but have not reported it. Senior government officials had said they were concerned that disclosure would undermine operations against AQAP, as well as potentially damage counter-terrorism collaboration with Saudi Arabia.

Wonder how many more secret bases are around the world.

There are US military bases everywhere. If you google search US military bases worldwide you will be shocked. I have been doing research on drones in the last few months and can say that information is not really available. As the drones get smaller and just as lethal they can be operated from almost anywhere. That being said this article recently published in foreign policy is about the best current information that we have access to.
www.foreignpolicy.com...

If you are interested in Drones there are a few good resources out there.
www.thebureauinvestigates.com...

I have found this to be the best information about Drones on the net. There could be better places but I do not know of any. Pro Publica has good information on it as well.


PBS also just had a 1 hour documentary called Rise of the Drones that was on NOVA. Very informative actually.. The ARGUS technology will blow your mind. You can find the program steaming online at the PBS or NOVA site as well.

reply to post by winterkill


The bigger story is that the media knew of these bases for almost a year and sat on them.....

ETA:
WAPO

The Washington Post had refrained from disclosing the specific location at the request of the administration, which cited concern that exposing the facility would undermine operations against an al-Qaeda affiliate regarded as the network’s most potent threat to the United States, as well as potentially damage counterterrorism collaboration with Saudi Arabia.

The NYTs also held the story....

Yet in 2005, here is justification for reporting (and honestly, I believe they should have) a story about the Bush Administration:

CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons....

Why hold onto the story in 2011 and through 2012? Why not break this story of secret bases? I mean, we broke them when they were secret bases torturing but not when they are killing?

Originally posted by ownbestenemy
reply to post by winterkill

 

The bigger story is that the media knew of these bases for almost a year and sat on them.....

ETA:
WAPO

The Washington Post had refrained from disclosing the specific location at the request of the administration, which cited concern that exposing the facility would undermine operations against an al-Qaeda affiliate regarded as the network’s most potent threat to the United States, as well as potentially damage counterterrorism collaboration with Saudi Arabia.

The NYTs also held the story....

Yet in 2005, here is justification for reporting (and honestly, I believe they should have) a story about the Bush Administration:

CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons....

Why hold onto the story in 2011 and through 2012? Why not break this story of secret bases? I mean, we broke them when they were secret bases torturing but not when they are killing?

edit on 8-2-2013 by ownbestenemy because: (no reason given)

Good point.. My guess most of the bases are in Muslim countries and it was done to protect those countries vs a backlash during the arab spring...and most of the rendition sites were in Eastern bloc countries. I would also venture to guess that NYT and Washington Post were not exactly big fans of the Bush administration. Just my theory.

reply to post by GArnold


Quite correct and even more revealing that this information died out on ATS. I mean, news agencies withheld information at the behest of the Government. That is ripe for ATS banter. Oh well. It isn't controversial enough and isn't "gotcha!" enough I suppose.

All in all, these news agencies turned their back on the notion of a free-press and allowed the Government to dictate that press's operation.

Originally posted by ownbestenemy
reply to post by GArnold

 

Quite correct and even more revealing that this information died out on ATS. I mean, news agencies withheld information at the behest of the Government. That is ripe for ATS banter. Oh well. It isn't controversial enough and isn't "gotcha!" enough I suppose.

All in all, these news agencies turned their back on the notion of a free-press and allowed the Government to dictate that press's operation.

Yes.. as a matter of fact I did turn out to be right in my theory. There was a really good show on NPR fresh air about two days ago that covered these topics in detail.

Here is the link.. be sure to listen to the story if you are at all interested in Drones or how the Administration deals with it.
www.npr.org...

Good thread. I am unable to flag it though... odd.
Drones in the wrong hands (trigger happy police and military) are scary.
What is cool though is that the technology is available to all...
I want to see more civilians having fun with 'drones' like these guys...