Smile you're on Candid Drone Camera...

**voivod** · 09.13.06, 03:14 PM

Pentagon: Release of Taliban Funeral Photo Unauthorized
Wednesday, September 13, 2006

KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. military said Wednesday it is looking into the unauthorized release of a photo purportedly taken by an American drone aircraft showing scores of Taliban militants at a funeral in Afghanistan.

NBC-TV claimed U.S. Army officers wanted to attack the ceremony with missiles carried by the Predator drone, but were prevented under rules of battlefield engagement that bar attacks on cemeteries.

Lt. Tamara Lawrence, a spokeswoman with the U.S. military in Kabul, said the photograph was released to the network by someone who did not have the clearance to hand it out.

"It is an operational security issue and the photo was released at an inappropriate level," Lawrence told The Associated Press. "Inquiries are being made into how it was released."

Lawrence declined to provide further details. It was not clear when the photo was taken nor where the gathering took place.

The grainy black and white photo shows what NBC says are some 190 Taliban militants standing in several rows near a vehicle in an open area of land. The black outline of a box — apparently the sight of the drone — is positioned over the group.

NBC quoted one Army officer who was involved with the spy mission as saying "we were so excited" that the group had been spotted and was in the sights of a U.S. drone. But the network quoted the officer, who was not identified, as saying that frustration soon set in after the officers realized they couldn't bomb the funeral under the military's rules of engagement.

Taliban militants this year have been waging their bloodiest campaign of violence since their 2001 ouster from power in the U.S.-led invasion launched after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The U.S. military has previously used Predator drones with deadly effect, firing one missile into a Pakistani tribal area near the Afghan border in January in a failed bid to kill Al Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahri. The strike killed at least 13 civilians.

**AJHV** · 09.13.06, 03:25 PM

Great we could have got them and we did nothing. Rrrrr….

**cityofweasels** · 09.13.06, 03:35 PM

Oh, they're just BEGGING for a cluster bomb...

We seem to violate rules six ways til sunday on a whim, but this one time somebody's got to be legalistic about it.

**HuBBs5150** · 09.13.06, 04:12 PM

Boo fucking hoo about no bombing taliban funerals. They wouldn't give a shit if they had the oppurtunity.

**willy4pres** · 09.13.06, 05:05 PM

Gent's, this is a great example of a war gone VERY bad. Im sure this is not the first time we have handcuffed our military because of stupid rules of engagement but it's new to us.

**WinterlessIceness** · 09.13.06, 05:26 PM

Originally Posted by HuBBs5150

Boo fucking hoo about no bombing taliban funerals. They wouldn't give a shit if they had the oppurtunity.

Exactly. That's the difference between the middle ages and the 1st world country. Don't you think.

**sisca** · 09.13.06, 06:06 PM

there has got to be a loophole in the geneva convention rules of war. just because theyre at a funeral doesnt make them any less of an enemy. i say we shoulda cooked em.

**billy007** · 09.13.06, 07:01 PM

Couldn't we have kept an eye on 'em and taken 'em out after they left the funeral?

**seenbad** · 09.13.06, 07:36 PM

Originally Posted by billy007

Couldn't we have kept an eye on 'em and taken 'em out after they left the funeral?

That's a more paletable option I'd think.

You guys need to remember that the geneva convention was not set out there as a guidebook. It's a rule book. If we broke the rules, as the "leader of the free word", it would pretty much void the whole thing. Then you would see a lot more nastiness. Do you think the syrians would have given two shits about defending our embassy yesterday if they didn't have a rule to follow? Fuck no. al Qaida would own it today and every American in there (40 or so) would be being tortured right now and dragged through the streets. Far be it for fucking Syria to be the example of patience and resolute adherence to the rules.

We'll get em the right way, turkey shoot or not.

**LLFHS** · 09.13.06, 08:09 PM

Originally Posted by seenbad

That's a more paletable option I'd think.

You guys need to remember that the geneva convention was not set out there as a guidebook. It's a rule book. If we broke the rules, as the "leader of the free word", it would pretty much void the whole thing. Then you would see a lot more nastiness. Do you think the syrians would have given two shits about defending our embassy yesterday if they didn't have a rule to follow? Fuck no. al Qaida would own it today and every American in there (40 or so) would be being tortured right now and dragged through the streets. Far be it for fucking Syria to be the example of patience and resolute adherence to the rules.

We'll get em the right way, turkey shoot or not.

Well said......and this shows that the fuckers ain't as invisible as they think.

**fast98dodge** · 09.13.06, 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by billy007

Couldn't we have kept an eye on 'em and taken 'em out after they left the funeral?

Gosh, that would make way too much sense...

**sisca** · 09.13.06, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by billy007

Couldn't we have kept an eye on 'em and taken 'em out after they left the funeral?

fuuuck no....we coulda killed em dug their grave and buried em all at once!!!!
shit its a cemetery...everyone there is dead anyway!!!!

**Axxman300** · 09.13.06, 10:17 PM

See, after the funeral, these guys all went their seperate ways and we watched them. We saw where they went, if they had vehicles we noted that and my guess is that within a week or so many of these guys got a visit from the US Air Force or NATO special ops teams.

This is a bonanza for intel guys and while it would feel great if an AC-130 rolled in and hosed them down, the fact is that these guys have friends who couldn't attend and it's more important to follow these guys home to see who's there waiting for them. We're still looking for Mullah Omar too, one of these guys might lead us to him. That can't happen if you kill everyone.