Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s blurt during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing last week forced the U.S. intelligence and military community to acknowledge on Thursday that the U.S. is targeting Al Qaeda and Taliban operatives using unmanned drones based in Pakistan.
The senator’s slip sent reporters into overdrive and led to the discovery of a 2006 picture provided by Google Earth that appears to show Predator drones at Shamsi air base 200 miles southwest of Quetta. . .
Feinstein’s remarks, which were characterized as “foolish” by U.S. officials, were unusual for the experienced chairwoman of the intelligence panel.
According to intelligence sources, Feinstein’s statement, at a hearing on the threat assessment with new Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, appears to be the first time a member of the U.S. government has publicly acknowledged that Predator vehicles are operating from a base inside Pakistan. . .
The Predator campaign, considered the single greatest factor in degrading Al Qaeda’s capabilities, is credited with the killing of eight members of the terrorist group’s leadership since last summer.
We could very well lose the base because of this. As if we didn’t have enough problems.
Internet Scofflaw 