Special thanks to Andrew Breitbart, Ben Swenson (Strictly Right Co-Host), Pat Dollard, Timothy and Avery Krause, and Rachael Jiminez.
Pat Dollard’s “Night Watch” will be covering this in depth on Sunday September 11, 2011. The latest print update is now live prefacing this issue. You can find that here.
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Abandoned SCUD-Left Plugged in to launch control unit ready to fire
On March 26 of this year we reported on Al Qaeda stealing surface to air missiles (SAM’s) from munitions depots in Libya. Moammar Gaddafi in an act of desperation opened up munitions depots. His intention was to let his supporters arm themselves. Instead Al-Qaeda Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) ended up acquiring everything from shoulder-fire man portable units to old Soviet SCUDS. From our March 26th report (“When did Officials know? Al Qaeda Steals Libyan Missiles”):
“Someone is not being totally honest. On March 25, 2011 AFP (via Breitbart.com) reported a story of Justice Secretary Ken Clarke warning of another Lockerbie style attack. This was a very specific warning considering the broad scope of possible threats to civilians. Thats because Clarke and other officials had already received the report of Al-Qaeda stealing nearly 100 Surface to Air Missiles from Libyan munition dumps.”
The day after we began to investigate the claims leaders in Niger and Chad had tried to alert the press of the theft; also included in our report in the above links. They were ignored. For the past 5 months the media largely ignored all claims of SAM thefts. But now that the turmoil has settled down the confirmation of the missing missiles is now coming to light.
Also in our March report the main concern was the current No-Fly zone imposed by NATO. This tactic would push commercial airliners away from central north Africa. In doing so the north shores would have a much more crowded airspace with more planes. All of which would become easy targets for any radical with a shiny new SAM. The revamping of Sudanese Air Traffic Control addressed these concerns; something we referenced in our initial report. In the reports below we finally see the news agencies addressing this issue as a plausible threat and serious concern; 5 months later. The main stream media has seen the tarnishing and fine patine of the Arab Spring materialize. Now the news is about the dangerous results produced. The hope of freedom and democracy is barely visible under the quickly corroding surface of the Arab Spring.
Breaking News!! (Not Really) The press starts to investigate claims
Today: Sept. 7 CNN-Exclusive: Libyan Missiles Looted
CNN finally dispatched reporters to cover this lead just 5 months after the original story broke (as referenced above). In the report CNN innacurately cites the number of Libyan SAM’s to be at least 20,000 units. While this is fairly close the real number of working units is more in the range of 12-14 thousand units. CNN also adds that figure in for a little bit of sensationalism. The entire stockpile has not fallen into the hands of Al Qaeda (AQIM). The current figure from on the ground intel operatives is approximately 19 units. Click Image for Video and full report
Click for Video and Report
No Evidence of Missing Missiles-But Black Market “Prices Dropping“. Uhhh What?
Strictly Right Radio Co-Host Ben Swenson brought this to my attention. Swenson was the first one that I called in March after meeting with my internal investigative team. On Aug. 25 The Associated Press reported the State Department position that chemical and nuclear material in Libya were secure. Fine. Nukes were not the issue here. After all, Al Qaeda doesnt own haz-mat radiation rated suits so they cant handle the material anyways. The main question at hand was; have Islamic Fundementalists obtained any sophisticated weapons? From the AP report regarding missiles and rockets:
The fate of thousands of rockets is less clear, and other U.S. intelligence officials and counterterrorism experts criticized slow work by State Department to locate and buy back dangerous munitions like the estimated 15,000 to 25,000 shoulder-fired missiles in Gadhafi’s weapons stores.
Two U.S. officials said the prices of such missiles in the region have fallen, suggesting that some of Gadhafi’s weapons may already be reaching the market, though there is no sign that al-Qaida-linked terrorists have managed to buy any.
That was August 25 2011. Do you see how fast things change in the Intelligence community? Compare this report to the CNN one from today. The AP report from August was leaning towards the reality that as long as the nuke material was ok most of the other weapons probably fell under the same status. The State Department echoed this sentiment days later in the daily press briefing. This will be addressed in the next post. I cant give all the good stuff away now 🙂 This barely scratches the surface
Coming up-Behind the Scenes in N. Africa and US Intel Community
In the next installment we will go over:
1) The route that the stolen man portable air defense systems (MANPADS)
2) Where some units are now residing in Sub-Saharan Africa
3) What the State Dept. knew vs. what they told journalists
4) The details of the Intel briefings in the U.K. and the U.S. from March 2011. A true secret intelligence tell-all
5) Destination Gaza: The closest vantage point for radicals to strike Israel
6) Iran attempts to take a leadership role amongst those holding the SAM’s
7) Dismantling SCUD warheads and salvaging parts vs. MANPADs kept in working order
Ameristroika 