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U.S. building secret drone bases in Africa,
Arabian Peninsula, officials say
20 September, 2011 | CBS News
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the installations is being established in Ethiopia, a U.S. ally in
the fight against al-Shabab, the Somali militant group that controls
much of the country. Another base is in the Seychelles, an
archipelago in the Indian Ocean, where a small fleet of "hunter killer"
drones resumed operations this month after an experimental mission
demonstrated that the unmanned aircraft could effectively patrol
Somali territory from there.
The U.S. military also has flown drones over Somalia and Yemen
from bases in Djibouti, a tiny African nation at the junction of the
Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In addition, the CIA is building a
secret airstrip in the Arabian Peninsula so it can deploy armed
drones over Yemen.
The rapid expansion of the undeclared drone wars is a reflection of
the growing alarm with which U.S. officials view the activities of al-
Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, even as al-Qaeda's core
leadership in Pakistan has been weakened by U.S. counterterrorism
operations.
The U.S. government is known to have used drones to carry out
lethal attacks in at least six countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya,
Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. The negotiations that preceded the
establishment of the base in the Republic of the Seychelles illustrate
the efforts the United States is making to broaden the range of its
drone weapons.
The island nation of 85,000 people has hosted a small fleet of MQ-
9 Reaper drones operated by the U.S. Navy and Air Force since
September 2009. U.S. and Seychellois officials have previously
acknowledged the drones' presence but have stated their primary
mission was to track pirates in regional waters. But classified U.S.
diplomatic cables show that the unmanned aircraft have also
conducted counterterrorism missions over Somalia, about 800 miles
to the northwest.
The cables, obtained by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, reveal
that U.S. officials asked leaders in the Seychelles to keep the
counterterrorism missions a secret. The Reapers are described by
the military as "hunter-killer" drones because they can be equipped
with Hellfire missiles and satellite-guided bombs.
To allay concerns among islanders, U.S. officials said they had no
plans to arm the Reapers when the mission was announced two
years ago. The cables show, however, that U.S. officials were
actively thinking about weaponizing the drones.
During a meeting with Seychelles President James Michel on Sept.
18, 2009, American diplomats said the U.S. government "would
seek discrete [sic], specific discussions . . . to gain approval" to arm
the Reapers "should the desire to do so ever arise," according to a
cable summarizing the meeting. Michel concurred, but asked U.S.
officials to approach him exclusively for permission "and not anyone
else" in his government, the cable reported.
Michel's chief deputy told a U.S. diplomat on a separate occasion
that the Seychelles president "was not philosophically against"
arming the drones, according to another cable. But the deputy urged
the Americans "to be extremely careful in raising the issue with
anyone in the Government outside of the President. Such a request
would be 'politically extremely sensitive' and would have to be
handled with 'the utmost discreet care.'"
A U.S. military spokesman declined to say whether the Reapers in
the Seychelles have ever been armed.
"Because of operational security concerns, I can't get into specifics,"
said Lt. Cmdr. James D. Stockman, a public affairs officer for the U.
S. Africa Command, which oversees the drone base in the
Seychelles. He noted, however, that the MQ-9 Reapers "can be
configured for both surveillance and strike."
A spokeswoman for Michel said the president was unavailable for
comment.
Jean-Paul Adam, who was Michel's chief deputy in 2009 and now
serves as minister of foreign affairs, said U.S. officials had not asked
for permission to equip the drones with missiles or bombs.
"The operation of the drones in Seychelles for the purposes of
counter-piracy surveillance and other related activities has always
been unarmed, and the U.S. government has never asked us for
them to be armed," Adam said in an e-mail. "This was agreed
between the two governments at the first deployment and the
situation has not changed."
The State Department cables show that U.S. officials were sensitive
to perceptions that the drones might be armed, noting that they "do
have equipment that could appear to the public as being weapons."
To dispel potential concerns, they held a "media day" for about 30
journalists and Seychellois officials at the small, one-runway airport
in Victoria, the capital, in November 2009. One of the Reapers was
parked on the tarmac.
"The Government of Seychelles invited us here to fight against piracy
and that is its mission," Craig White, a U.S. diplomat, said during the
event. "However, these aircraft have a great deal of capabilities and
could be used for other missions."
In fact, U.S. officials had already outlined other purposes for the
drones in a classified mission review with Michel and Adam. Saying
that the U.S. government "desires to be completely transparent," the
U.S. diplomats informed the Seychellois leaders that the Reapers
would also fly over Somalia "to support ongoing counter-terrorism
efforts," though not "direct attacks," according to a cable
summarizing the meeting.
U.S. officials "stressed the sensitive nature of this counter-terrorism
mission and that this not be released outside of the highest . . .
channels," the cable stated. "The President wholeheartedly
concurred with that request, noting that such issues could be
politically sensitive for him as well."
The Seychelles drone operation has a relatively small footprint.
Based in a hangar located about a quarter-mile from the main
passenger terminal at the airport, it includes between three and four
Reapers and about 100 U.S. military personnel and contractors,
according to the cables.
The military operated the flights on a continuous basis until April,
when it paused the operations. They resumed this month, said
Stockman, the Africa Command spokesman.
The U.S. aim of constructing a constellation of bases in the Horn of
Africa and Arabian Peninsula is to create overlapping circles of
surveillance in a region where al-Qaeda offshoots could emerge for
years to come, U.S. officials said.
The locations "are based on potential target sets," said a senior U.S.
military official. "If you look at it geographically it makes sense --
you get out a ruler and draw the distances [drones] can fly and
where they take off from."
One U.S. official said that there had been discussions about putting
a drone base in Ethiopia for as long as four years, but that plan was
delayed because "the Ethiopians were not all that jazzed." Other
officials said that Ethiopia has become a valued counterterrorism
partner because of threats posed by al-Shabab.
"We have a lot of interesting cooperation and arrangements with the
Ethiopians when it comes to intelligence collection and linguistic
capabilities," said a former senior U.S. military official familiar with
special operations missions in the region.
The former official said that the United States relies on Ethiopian
linguists to translate signals intercepts gathered by U.S. agencies
monitoring calls and e-mails of al-Shabab members. The CIA and
other agencies also employ Ethiopian informants who gather
information from across the border.
Overall, officials said the cluster of bases reflects an effort to have
wider geographic coverage, greater leverage with countries in the
region and backup facilities if individual airstrips are forced to close.
"It's a conscious recognition that those are the hot spots developing
right now," said the former senior U.S. military official.
Courtesy
Arabian Peninsula, officials say
20 September, 2011 | CBS News
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- The Obama administration
is assembling a constellation
of secret drone bases for
counter terrorism operations
in the Horn of Africa and
the Arabian Peninsula as
part of a newly aggressive
campaign to attack al-
Qaeda affiliates in Somalia
and Yemen, U.S. officials
said.
One of the installations is being established in Ethiopia, a U.S. ally in
the fight against al-Shabab, the Somali militant group that controls
much of the country. Another base is in the Seychelles, an
archipelago in the Indian Ocean, where a small fleet of "hunter killer"
drones resumed operations this month after an experimental mission
demonstrated that the unmanned aircraft could effectively patrol
Somali territory from there.
The U.S. military also has flown drones over Somalia and Yemen
from bases in Djibouti, a tiny African nation at the junction of the
Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In addition, the CIA is building a
secret airstrip in the Arabian Peninsula so it can deploy armed
drones over Yemen.
The rapid expansion of the undeclared drone wars is a reflection of
the growing alarm with which U.S. officials view the activities of al-
Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, even as al-Qaeda's core
leadership in Pakistan has been weakened by U.S. counterterrorism
operations.
The U.S. government is known to have used drones to carry out
lethal attacks in at least six countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya,
Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. The negotiations that preceded the
establishment of the base in the Republic of the Seychelles illustrate
the efforts the United States is making to broaden the range of its
drone weapons.
The island nation of 85,000 people has hosted a small fleet of MQ-
9 Reaper drones operated by the U.S. Navy and Air Force since
September 2009. U.S. and Seychellois officials have previously
acknowledged the drones' presence but have stated their primary
mission was to track pirates in regional waters. But classified U.S.
diplomatic cables show that the unmanned aircraft have also
conducted counterterrorism missions over Somalia, about 800 miles
to the northwest.
The cables, obtained by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, reveal
that U.S. officials asked leaders in the Seychelles to keep the
counterterrorism missions a secret. The Reapers are described by
the military as "hunter-killer" drones because they can be equipped
with Hellfire missiles and satellite-guided bombs.
To allay concerns among islanders, U.S. officials said they had no
plans to arm the Reapers when the mission was announced two
years ago. The cables show, however, that U.S. officials were
actively thinking about weaponizing the drones.
During a meeting with Seychelles President James Michel on Sept.
18, 2009, American diplomats said the U.S. government "would
seek discrete [sic], specific discussions . . . to gain approval" to arm
the Reapers "should the desire to do so ever arise," according to a
cable summarizing the meeting. Michel concurred, but asked U.S.
officials to approach him exclusively for permission "and not anyone
else" in his government, the cable reported.
Michel's chief deputy told a U.S. diplomat on a separate occasion
that the Seychelles president "was not philosophically against"
arming the drones, according to another cable. But the deputy urged
the Americans "to be extremely careful in raising the issue with
anyone in the Government outside of the President. Such a request
would be 'politically extremely sensitive' and would have to be
handled with 'the utmost discreet care.'"
A U.S. military spokesman declined to say whether the Reapers in
the Seychelles have ever been armed.
"Because of operational security concerns, I can't get into specifics,"
said Lt. Cmdr. James D. Stockman, a public affairs officer for the U.
S. Africa Command, which oversees the drone base in the
Seychelles. He noted, however, that the MQ-9 Reapers "can be
configured for both surveillance and strike."
A spokeswoman for Michel said the president was unavailable for
comment.
Jean-Paul Adam, who was Michel's chief deputy in 2009 and now
serves as minister of foreign affairs, said U.S. officials had not asked
for permission to equip the drones with missiles or bombs.
"The operation of the drones in Seychelles for the purposes of
counter-piracy surveillance and other related activities has always
been unarmed, and the U.S. government has never asked us for
them to be armed," Adam said in an e-mail. "This was agreed
between the two governments at the first deployment and the
situation has not changed."
The State Department cables show that U.S. officials were sensitive
to perceptions that the drones might be armed, noting that they "do
have equipment that could appear to the public as being weapons."
To dispel potential concerns, they held a "media day" for about 30
journalists and Seychellois officials at the small, one-runway airport
in Victoria, the capital, in November 2009. One of the Reapers was
parked on the tarmac.
"The Government of Seychelles invited us here to fight against piracy
and that is its mission," Craig White, a U.S. diplomat, said during the
event. "However, these aircraft have a great deal of capabilities and
could be used for other missions."
In fact, U.S. officials had already outlined other purposes for the
drones in a classified mission review with Michel and Adam. Saying
that the U.S. government "desires to be completely transparent," the
U.S. diplomats informed the Seychellois leaders that the Reapers
would also fly over Somalia "to support ongoing counter-terrorism
efforts," though not "direct attacks," according to a cable
summarizing the meeting.
U.S. officials "stressed the sensitive nature of this counter-terrorism
mission and that this not be released outside of the highest . . .
channels," the cable stated. "The President wholeheartedly
concurred with that request, noting that such issues could be
politically sensitive for him as well."
The Seychelles drone operation has a relatively small footprint.
Based in a hangar located about a quarter-mile from the main
passenger terminal at the airport, it includes between three and four
Reapers and about 100 U.S. military personnel and contractors,
according to the cables.
The military operated the flights on a continuous basis until April,
when it paused the operations. They resumed this month, said
Stockman, the Africa Command spokesman.
The U.S. aim of constructing a constellation of bases in the Horn of
Africa and Arabian Peninsula is to create overlapping circles of
surveillance in a region where al-Qaeda offshoots could emerge for
years to come, U.S. officials said.
The locations "are based on potential target sets," said a senior U.S.
military official. "If you look at it geographically it makes sense --
you get out a ruler and draw the distances [drones] can fly and
where they take off from."
One U.S. official said that there had been discussions about putting
a drone base in Ethiopia for as long as four years, but that plan was
delayed because "the Ethiopians were not all that jazzed." Other
officials said that Ethiopia has become a valued counterterrorism
partner because of threats posed by al-Shabab.
"We have a lot of interesting cooperation and arrangements with the
Ethiopians when it comes to intelligence collection and linguistic
capabilities," said a former senior U.S. military official familiar with
special operations missions in the region.
The former official said that the United States relies on Ethiopian
linguists to translate signals intercepts gathered by U.S. agencies
monitoring calls and e-mails of al-Shabab members. The CIA and
other agencies also employ Ethiopian informants who gather
information from across the border.
Overall, officials said the cluster of bases reflects an effort to have
wider geographic coverage, greater leverage with countries in the
region and backup facilities if individual airstrips are forced to close.
"It's a conscious recognition that those are the hot spots developing
right now," said the former senior U.S. military official.
Courtesy
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| Defence Department The MQ-9 Reaper drone |