I guess the CIA knows all about disinformation, and how to use it. They recruited plenty of paid local Pakistani and Afghani agents to spread the word around that U.S. Predator drones can find Talliban leaders anywhere, anytime. It’s called the “Whispering Campaign” and the operation has Taliban leaders sweating. A formal CIA official who now consults on intelligence issues said, "We have them thinking that we can track them anywhere, that we've got devices in their cars, their houses, everywhere. They're so afraid to stay in their houses at night they're digging foxholes to sleep in."
As a member of the Association For Intelligence Officers (AFIO), I was privy to a seminar at Nellis AFB in Nevada, home of the drone unmanned aerial vehicle. During a declassified briefing, we learned of the potent effects of drone attacks and their advanced surveillance capabilities. They are so accurate that smaller missiles are used to minimize civilian deaths. Many of the drones in Pakistan and Afghanistan are flown 7,000 miles away…at Nellis AFB! There’s a 4-second satellite delay, so the last 4 seconds before landing, the Nellis pilots turn control of the drone back over to the clandestine airfield controllers in the Middle East. The AFIO sent us all great photos of the entire operation, but requested we not show them.The CIA's “Whispering Campaign” is actually spreading the truth, not rumors. The frequency of drone attacks in Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan has increased significantly during Obama’s term. Due to new technologies, the CIA can instantaneously react to intercepted cell-phone calls. They collect such numbers and save them in computerized data bases for instant networking via satellite. Whenever a Taliban leader dials the phone and it’s in the CIA data base, it can be traced and located instantly. Shortly, a Predator drone, or the newer Reaper, will be searching him out, armed with Hellfire missiles.
Citing unnamed current and former officials in the US and Pakistan, The Washington Post newspaper said the new technology had resulted in more accurate strikes that have provoked relatively little public outrage. The Washington Post added that, "One such missile was used by the CIA last month in Miram Shah, a Pakistani town in the tribal province of South 
Waziristan. The projectile, which was no bigger than a violin case and weighed about 35 pounds (16kg), hit a house there and killed a top al-Qaeda official and about nine other suspected terrorists. The mud-brick house collapsed and the roof of a neighboring house was damaged, but no one else in the town was hurt."
Waziristan. The projectile, which was no bigger than a violin case and weighed about 35 pounds (16kg), hit a house there and killed a top al-Qaeda official and about nine other suspected terrorists. The mud-brick house collapsed and the roof of a neighboring house was damaged, but no one else in the town was hurt."Last year, roughly 70 drone attacks inside Pakistan killed 400 identified terrorists and insurgents. Little wonder al Qaeda’s top inner circle ceases using cell phones in favor of messages delivered by courier. It was because of the drones. Of course, courier-usage didn't help bin Laden.
Under the Obama administration, the CIA has been granted the go ahead to boost drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal regions in a move to step up military operations against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters. Federal lawyers declared this move legal on the grounds of self-defense to counter threats the Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters pose to U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and Americans as a whole. Although President Obama stated, “The drone strikes are necessary to take out high-level terrorist targets”, the U.S. later stated that they will be used to target low-level combatants as well, even if their identities are unknown. As we all know, Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen was a high-profile al-Qaeda leader recently killed by drone strikes. President Obama has ordered dramatic increases in the use of Predator and Reaper drones in Yemen, Somalia, and in NW Pakistan. Drone killings of radical Islamists will be on-going at an increasing rate.
Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. is a member of the Association For Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and writes about the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). A portion of Ad revenues generated on this site is donated to the AFIO. His ideas are his own and do not represent those of any organization he's a member of. We will publish your ideas and comments at no charge...for the good of the order! Contact us on the secure Bpath Mail Form.
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