UAV attacks have crippled al Qaeda

NPR:

CIA-directed airstrikes against al-Qaida leaders and facilities in Pakistan over the past six to nine months have been so successful, according to senior U.S. officials, that it is now possible to foresee a "complete al-Qaida defeat" in the mountainous region along the border with Afghanistan.

The officials say the terrorist network's leadership cadre has been "decimated," with up to a dozen senior and midlevel operatives killed as a result of the strikes and the remaining leaders reeling from the repeated attacks.

"The enemy is really, really struggling," says one senior U.S. counterterrorism official. "These attacks have produced the broadest, deepest and most rapid reduction in al-Qaida senior leadership that we've seen in several years."

Another senior U.S. official described "a significant, significant degradation of al-Qaida command and control in recent months."

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The CIA has been using drone aircraft to carry out attacks on suspected al-Qaida and Taliban targets in Pakistan for several years, but such attacks were significantly expanded last summer under orders from President George W. Bush. They also became more lethal, with the CIA for the first time using Reaper drones, an enhanced version of the Predator model used previously. The Reaper is capable of carrying two Hellfire missiles, as well as precision-guided bombs.

The officials interviewed by NPR asked not to be identified because of sensitivities surrounding the CIA campaign. They also insist it is too early to declare victory in the struggle against al-Qaida in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, and they caution that a number of the factors that explain the recent successes could yet be reversed.

The threat of another al-Qaida terrorist attack against the United States has not gone away, they warn, noting that about 100 fighters have already "graduated" from the al-Qaida training camps and are prepared for possible terrorist operations in the West.

"Where those people are and what they're doing, we don't know," says one senior official.

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The Reaper can carry up to six Hellfire missiles, not just two as asserted by NPR. When you read about an attack where three or more missiles hit a compound it is very likely that a Reaper was doing the job.

One of the reasons the Taliban and al Qaeda have been so desperate to cut off our supply lines into Afghanistan is there hope that it will force the US to stop these attacks on al Qaeda leadership targets. The fact of the matter is we should be having the UAVs flying cover for the convoys so they can destroy the Taliban ambushes.

I think al Qaeda and the Taliban have suffered a severe blow from these attacks. It has also forced the survivors to limit their mobility and keep their heads down. This disrupts the enemy's command and control ability.