Predator War: How We're Taking Out Al Qaeda -- A Commentary

Reaper MQ-9

From Washington Times:

In November 2002, a Hellfire missile launched from a CIA-operated Predator hit a vehicle on a road in Yemen's Marib province. The strike killed six al Qaeda terrorists, among them Qaed Senyan al-Harthi. Al-Harthi organized the October 2000 terror attack on the USS Cole (in the Yemeni port of Aden), which left 17 American sailors dead.

I wrote a column about the Predator attack shortly after it occurred, noting that the Predator-B's successes against al Qaeda (including the November 2001 attack against al Qaeda bigwig Mohammed Atef) demonstrated how "arming the persistent sensor" creates opportunities to ambush even the most elusive targets.

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