Deal lets U.S. drones strike bin Laden

Rowan Scarborough
Washington Times
Wednesday, July 2, 2008

The United States has a standing agreement with Pakistan that CIA-operated Predator drones may strike Osama bin Laden’s hide-out without prior permission from Islamabad, according to people familiar with the arrangement.

One source said the free hand - an exception in a country politically sensitive to U.S. counterterrorism operations - was granted by President Pervez Musharraf early in the war if the U.S. locates bin Laden in Pakistan’s rugged tribal areas, where he is thought to be hiding.

A knowledgeable official disclosed the arrangement to The Washington Times at a time of growing frustration in the Pentagon and in the CIA that bin Laden remains at large seven years into the war and as President Bush’s term approaches an end.

That fact has put renewed focus on the Pakistani government’s restraints on the U.S. effort to find bin Laden. Pakistan prohibits American military ground forces on its soil, limiting the U.S. presence to scores of CIA officers and paramilitary operators.

Nadeem Kiani, spokesman at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, declined to comment on the purported bin Laden deal but said Pakistan stands ready to move against bin Laden if he is inside the country.

Pakistan allowed the CIA to secretly launch missile-equipped Predators from its soil into Afghanistan during the war to oust the Taliban. It has continued to let the agency fly the unmanned surveillance planes over Pakistan.

But earlier this year, Mr. Musharraf rejected a Bush administration request to allow more CIA personnel into his country. Washington must coordinate planned strikes on militants in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) where bin Laden is thought to be hiding. Bin Laden as a target is an exception to that rule.

Full article here.

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2 Responses to “Deal lets U.S. drones strike bin Laden”

1. Chris Says:
   July 3rd, 2008 at 1:04 am

   Permission or not, if they know he is there and confirm its Bin Laden, they will take him out! Clear and simple, buts its going to be hard to take out a corpse thats been rotting since 2001. Bin Laden is a Progaganda tool now!

2. ItsMike Says:
   July 4th, 2008 at 2:38 am

   I disagree. I think Bin-Laden has been hiding out on a beach in Tahiti since before 2001. Considering he’s been working for the CIA for the past 28 years I think he’s probably entitled to their retirement package. He’s probably sipping a drink with one of those little umbrellas right now.