THE SURVEILLANCE OF BIN LADEN'S COURIER

Above the Tearline: Surveillance of bin Laden's Courier | STRATFOR



Vice President of Intelligence Fred Burton examines the sophisticated surveillance operation that led to the raid on Osama bin Laden’s safe house in Pakistan.

In this week’s Above the Tearline, we thought we’d take a look at the highly sophisticated surveillance operation that took place many weeks before the SEAL Team Six takedown of the Osama bin Laden safe house.

In the aftermath of the bin Laden takedown, most of the mainstream media has been focused on the brilliant SEAL Team Six assault on the compound. What we would like to take a look at is the highly sophisticated CIA surveillance operation that took place on the courier, who was bin Laden’s lifeline to the free world. Trade craft wise, the surveillance of the courier is the brilliance in this operation in my assessment, meaning you had to set up a standalone safe house in country for a CIA team to operate it in without the knowledge of the Pakistani government. In essence you’re operating behind enemy lines.

One of the other concepts of operating a unilateral surveillance team in a foreign country is the notion of third-party intelligence services trying to figure out what you’re doing. Such as the Indian Intelligence Bureau, the Russian SVR, as well as the very aggressive intelligence capabilities of and organizations such as al Qaeda getting wind of what your team could be doing. The personnel operating in this surveillance team are on a very dangerous mission. In essence, if caught they are committing crimes against Pakistan and they are on their own. They’re operating - the term is black - in country so the U.S. would not acknowledge any activities on the part of our government if the surveillance team had been picked up before the bin Laden operation went down.

The courier was operationally very secure. For example he would remove his cell phone battery so the cell phone could not have been used to track his movements to the compound. And think about the surveillance team and the ability to follow that man without getting caught. At any point along this operation if the courier saw the surveillance team, the operation would’ve been blown. I know from first-hand experience in the Ramzi Yousef case, the mastermind of the first World Trade Center bombing, that elements within the Pakistani ISI cannot be trusted so this is why the CIA decided to put together a unilateral operation once they had the lead on the courier. And the logistics, and the care and feeding and the backstop of what took place to get this team into country to surveil all the courier from many, many weeks before the bin Laden operation is probably the most brilliant CIA surveillance operation in quite some time.



STRATFOR

Today's Bird HERE


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DEV GRU K9 DETACHMENT

These photographs were just released by U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) SEAL Team Six K9 Detachment operators that took part in the recent mission into Pakistan:

Got this from a friend who got it from a friend. Consider it a different way of looking at things. Maybe, just maybe, Leon Panetta has the right idea in telling everyone to be quiet about the raid into Pakistan, too many details are getting out.

Everyone is just praising the SEALs on a fantastically performed, highly precision mission . . . I mean all the professional civilians are all gaga about it.

This is from a friend in DELTA:

"Anytime you can put 22 highly trained, equipped and supported operators up against two armed adversaries, kill a total of three males and one female (OOOPS!) have a forty minute fire-fight in clearing a three story building, end up shooting the unarmed HVT* and fail to completely destroy an important piece of highly classified US technology and additionally fail to exfil with important people of interest that would have been able to provide important Intelligence . . . you KNOW you have a SEAL Operation!"

* HVT - High Value Target

HOO-AH Git Some SEALs ! ! !

Today's Bird HERE


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COORDINATED TERRORIST ATTACK: KARACHI

Flames and smoke erupt from a Pakistani military air base after an attack by militants on Sunday night.


This event is significant because - along with other recent events - it indicates the Taliban/al Qaeda enemy are steadily moving from the latent & incipient stage of a guerrilla insurrection to War of Movement - S.L.


Pakistani Navy base under siege

By Bill Roggio - The Long War Journal - May 22, 2011

Terrorists attacked a Pakistani naval airbase in the city of Karachi today, sparking an hours-long battle in which several people have been killed and at least two naval aircraft were destroyed. Fighting is still ongoing and hostages have been taken, according to reports.

A large terrorist assault team, thought to be between 15 to 20 men strong, stormed Pakistani Naval Station Mehran Sunday night in a coordinated, complex attack.

The heavily armed gunmen penetrated security at the base from three gates and fanned out, attacking aircraft hangars and military personnel. Two Pakistani naval aircraft are reported to have been destroyed. The military confirmed that one P-3 Orion maritime surveillance plane was destroyed. At least three other aircraft are said to have been damaged in the attack.

Four naval personnel and four terrorists have been reported killed during the fighting. The terrorists are said to have taken hostages and have seized control of one or more buildings on the base. At least 10 terrorists are said to be holding the hostages.

Pakistani naval commandos, Marines, and Rangers have been deployed and are fighting the gunmen.

Read more HERE

THE JOKES HAVE STARTED

A MAN WALKS INTO A BAR AND ORDERS A BIN LADEN . . .

Bartender asks, "what’s a Bin Laden?"

Man says, "2 shots with a splash of water."


- from Theo's worthy site Last of the Few

Q: How come they used Seal Team Six instead of Delta to conduct the OBL raid into Pakistan?

A: Simple. They wanted to make sure he wasn't captured alive.


(Credit for that one goes to Team STORMBRINGER charter member VA Shepherd)


Rumor is Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates, and Bill Daley were the driving forces for the raid; Obama was against. Reports are that Obama "had to sleep on it" before making the call. Sleep on what???

The leak of above less than 72 hours after the raid was executed points to a high level of frustration within the Obama Administration and the National Intelligence community. Was Obama's hand in fact forced?

Obama is getting kudos for ordering a raid vs. a bombing that would have obliterated everything. The intel haul was the real coup; did this even occur to the community-organizer-in-chief beforehand???

Announcement of the raid was made in the middle of Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" show . . . a mere coincidence I'm sure . . . no way Obama would use this for political gain! The best thing a Tea Party Merry Prankster team could pull off right now would be to unveil a MISSION ACCOMPLISHED banner at Obama's (already scheduled) Ground Zero appearance . . .

. . . not that there's anything wrong with that . . .


The following observations from SKULLHEAD - ex-Delta operator and Knight Chevalier of Team STORMBRINGER Sanctum Sanctorium:


This was a great op for the group (JSOC) and looks like it went of with out a hitch. Yes Seal Team 6 got the poster picture for it, however I do know that the ODD ( Operational Detachment - D a.k.a. Delta Force ) was present and most likely it split the count, enough to put the group on solid ground and timing.

I told you he was in Pakistan and living high on the hog. We also knew they were helping him; that is how they are and will always be. We should have severed ties and destroyed their nuke program a long time ago. I also believe the op was already moving and the President was told to sit and wait because it was going to happen whether he liked or not; that big a HVT (High Value Target) was not getting away.

A classic tactic for tracking an urban target: put them on the run and wait for them to hole up, let them get confortable and study their habits, then you get to remove them from the earth at a time & place of your choosing. Same thing happened to Pablo (Escobar); smells of ODD all over this - we know the true story will come out when the current regime is no longer going to be embarrassed, plus we don't exist therefore we were not there just Seal Team 6 and the CIA.

Funny how things have to be laid out for people in the news and we all know they are full of sh*t as well as the current occupiers of the Whitehouse - how long do you think it will be before this guy blows the ODD apart and screws that up? Credit should be given to the boys on the ground - they did the job. I remember a couple of over the rail disposals they did for us way back when, they should advertise free funerals at sea for terrorists, we will even pick up - no reservations needed. You get a free bath so you're fresh as a daisy for the virgins.

They will come at us again . . .

SKULLHEAD SENDS

CIA WAR OF THE DRONES

The CIA is escalating its drone attacks in Pakistan, borrowing Predator and Reaper drones from the Pentagon to wage the fight against militants which the U.S. says the Pakistani military is unable or unwilling to do.




Last month, drone attacks increased to five per week, on average, up from about two or three a week. "When it comes to drones, there's no mission more important right now than hitting targets in the tribal areas, and that's where additional equipment's gone," one U.S. official said. American forces say that to make progress in Afghanistan, it must destroy the terrorist sanctuaries across the border, but the sharp spike in attacks is also intended to foil a possible terror plot, led by Osama bin Laden, in Western Europe.


Wall Street Journal



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TERROR TEAMS READY TO STRIKE

Concern That Terror Teams Have Selected Targets, Ready to Strike

Strong concerns that terrorist teams in Europe have selected their targets, completed their surveillance, eluded capture and are now ready to strike at airports and tourist attractions have prompted the State Department to ready a highly unusual travel advisory for Europe, multiple law enforcement and intelligence sources tell ABC News.




Intelligence and law enforcement officials have information that the teams could at any time launch a "Mumbai style" terror attack that targets civilians for death or hostage taking. The 2008 Mumbai attack used small arms and explosives to kill 175 people and paralyze the Indian city for days.


From a security point of view, racial profiling is absolutely counter-productive.


The current concerns are for scenarios that include opening fire at airports in Europe as well as executing similar attacks at "soft" targets like tourist attractions or hotels.


Crowded European transportation facilities are obvious targets.

According to ABC News sources, the terror plotters have moved through the surveillance stage, checked back in with al Qaeda in Pakistan, and have received the go-ahead to strike.


Read the entire story HERE.


Prepare for delays and enhanced security measures as we go into the holiday travel season.


We hope & pray this thing pans out and nothing happens . . . S.L.



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TALIBAN RESPOND TO SECRET WIKILEAKS FILES

By Mushtaq Yusufzai


A high-ranking Taliban commander reacts to the release of classified
military documents, and denies any links with Pakistan's spy network.
Mushtaq Yusufzai reports.


Responding to WikiLeaks' release of tens of thousands of pages of
classified military documents about the war in Afghanistan, a
high-ranking Taliban commander rejected reports that the Taliban had any links
with Pakistan's spy agency.


"Look, we're at war and would like to get aid from anyone to fight
against the U.S. and its allies who invaded our homeland," Sirajuddin
Haqqani, a senior leader of the Haqqani network, told The Daily Beast on
Monday . . .


Read more HERE


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PAT CONDELL

Some disturbing information has come my way in the past twelve hours regarding Pat Condell, the British comedian I featured for Saturday morning's post:
PAT CONDELL ON GROUND ZERO MOSQUE

I'm not always right and I depend on YOU the STORMBRINGER Underground Auxiliary Force and my extensive personal intelligence network to keep me informed and up-to-date on what's going on around us everywhere, 24-7.

In this case it was David of Galut, Israel who brought to my attention the whole story on Pat Condell. That's his "license plate" to the right there in the coveted BLOG OF THE NANOSECOND box.

Bottom line: Pat Condell is a study in intolerance; the man not only speaks out against radical Islam, he also spouts twisted views on Judaism and Christianity, claiming they are an "insult to humanity", stereotypes all religious Jews, claims scripture and prophesy reflect "insanity", promotes the destruction of Jerusalem, and promotes the idea that Jews should "let go" of Jerusalem.

Basically, Pat Condell is anti-Christian, anti-Israel, and anti-Jewish. This is not the STORMBRINGER way.


Check It Out:


If you're against Israel you're not only against . . .



. . . a cool beach country infested with topless chicks . . .




. . . a land with a mighty warrior ethos, our only friend in a VERY rough neighborhood;





You're also against the land that just so happens to be the cradle of our civilization . . .



. . . the birthplace of two of the world's greatest faiths that together contributed significantly to the establishment of the United States of America:





For all you anti-Israel trolls out there; remember this truism - "If the Arabs ever decide to lay down their arms, there will be peace in the Middle East. If the Israelis lay down their arms, there will be no more Israel."

Earlier today, it was suggested to me that the reason Christians promote Pat Condell despite knowing his anti-Christian views, is that they hate Islam more than they love Christianity. I responded that as a Christian I don't hate I forgive; I saw the true meaning of the word 'hate' in the former Yugoslavia and I am not capable of that kind of emotion.

I have said it before - most recently here - I am tolerant, and I do not believe we should exclude the good Muslims from our side in the struggle against hate and intolerance. When they called it the "Global War on Terror" it was a misnomer, in that Terror is not the enemy; it is a tactic, nothing more. The enemy are radical Fundamentalist Islamist thugs; and they have killed a thousand times more Muslims than they have Christians.

For if we do allow this to become a religious war, then we are no better than the worst of them, we would have succumbed to their own perverted mindset, this thing will then evolve into a true two-way religious war, and they will win, for that is what they want.

This is a basic tenet of the Philosophy of STORMBRINGER.

Having said that, the entire concept of a 13-story Super Mosque at Ground Zero is about as wrong as two dogs f*cking on the White House lawn, and the best thing we can do about it is pull up a semi-trailer loaded with live hogs up to the front doors of the place and let the swine run hog-wild through there.

More to follow on the outrageous insult to freedom that is known as the Cordoba Mosque at Ground Zero.

PAT CONDELL ON GROUND ZERO MOSQUE

FLASHBACK: On May 25, Manhattan’s Community Board One voted 29-1 in favor of the mosque, called the Cordoba Initiative, to be built 600-feet from the North Tower’s foot print at Ground Zero.


". . . apparently it's not enough that nearly 3000 innocent people had to lose their lives in a hideous act of relgious mass murder, but now their memory has to be insulted as well"





The campaign against the construction of a six-story SuperMosque in the vicinity of Ground Zero is big, it is going on right now in New York City in the summer of 2010, and it is being completely ignored by the Left-Leaning Mainstream Media.

The struggle against this insult to our culture, our civilization, and to the lives of the nearly 2,976 victims is a major theme of Blog STORMBRINGER.





We forget so soon?








How can we ever forget?

AZIMUTH CHECK

Members of TEAM STORMBRINGER send me inspirational stuff, and most of the time I post it. Lately I received some political, anti-Muslim material from a friend who is also a Brother. I won't re-print the entire thing here - elements of it were truthful but I feel the overall message was in the wrong direction - it included this passage:


"Mr. Obama, where were Muslims on Sept 11th, 2001? If they weren't flying planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon or a field in Pennsylvania killing nearly 3,000 people on our own soil, they were rejoicing in the Middle East . . .






Palestinian Arabs dancing in the streets upon hearing the news of the 9/11 attacks.



. . . No one can dispute the pictures shown from all parts of the Muslim world celebrating on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and other cable news networks that day. Strangely, the very "moderate" Muslims who's asses you bent over backwards to kiss in Cairo , Egypt on June 4th were stone cold silent post 9-11. To many Americans, their silence has meant approval for the acts of that day."



Now, I don't like all the "Kumbaya-We-Are-the-World" tripe Obama spins, his "America-is-Bad-We-Have-So-Much-to-Apologize-For" World Tour, and all his bowing and scraping to foreign potentates, any more than the next conservative . . .


Current Occupier of the Oval Office is seen here bowing low to the king of Saudi Arabia.


BUT - we must try as hard as we can not to fall into the trap of letting this thing we're involved in become a religious war.

Because IF this war becomes a war against Islam, then we have just LOST. We will have lost because our embracing some kind of modern Crusade against Muslims will mean the other side will have just attained their goal: to turn all the Muslims against us.

Before the current occupiers of the Whitehouse began playing word games, this conflict was known as the Global War on Terrorism, or G-WOT. This was a misnomer; Terrorism is a tactic; we are not at war against "Terrorism" any more than we were at war against Blitzkrieg during World War II. What we are at war against is Islamic Fundamentalism. And while this is a war against Muslim Extremism, this does not equal a war against Islam itself.


THINK ABOUT IT:

We don't want to have to face down all the Muslims; there are simply too many of them. What we WANT to do is to turn all the GOOD Muslims against the BAD Muslims - as long as we achieve this, we are winning. And believe it or not - despite what the left-leaning Mainstream Media would have you believe - we ARE winning.



We are kicking ass against the Muslim terrorists in the Philippines . . .



. . . we are kicking ass against those who harbor the terrorist enemy in Afghanistan . . .



. . . Pakistan . . .



. . . and a thousand places elsewhere and in between!"



Hell! We're so awesome even our WOMEN are kicking ass in this thing!



These are my feelings as a strategist, regarding the religious aspect of this war. My personal spiritual belief is that the ultimate phase of this thing is when we start seeing all the good Muslims becoming Christians - and I believe this phenomenon is taking place - the numbers are difficult to track, but the conversions are happening in numbers large enough to be significant, none the less.

But for the same strategic reasoning that I feel we must resist the temptation to fall into a religious war, I am also against racial profiling.

I'm sure my detractors over at FrumForum will be amazed to learn this; I am constantly being accused of racism, of spreading racist, hate-filled themes here on Blog STORMBRINGER - although to date not a soul has been able to substantiate this; and despite articles I've posted at FF such as keeping the faith with our Muslim allies.

Racial profiling is a flawed tactic. Consider: when the enemy becomes aware we are selective in who we look at, who we search; then they will begin sending blond-haired, blue-eyed terrorists our way: Chechins, Bosnians, anybody? The day we stop searching little old ladies in tennis shoes, they will start send little old lady terrorists our way.

How do they recruit a little old lady to become a suicide bomber? Easy: they go to her house, put a gun to the head of her four-year-old granddaughter, and say, "We're going to kill your granddaughter, but before we do we're going to rape her in every hole - UNLESS you take THIS onto the plane . . ."



BOTTOM LINE:


Racial Profiling = BAD

Religious War = BAD

Maintaining the American Principles of Liberty, Justice and Freedom for All = GOOD



No matter how inconvenient . . .




The grave of U.S. Army Green Beret Ayman Taha, KIA Iraq.




HAVING SAID ALL THAT . . .

. . . I also believe that if someone were to back a semi-trailer loaded with live hogs up to the front doors of that new multi-story super mosque they're building downtown Manhattan right next to Ground Zero . . .


An architect's rendering of the proposed 13-story mosque going up on Park Place just two short blocks from Ground Zero.



. . . then release the swine and let them run hog-wild through the place; this would be a good step in the right direction and just about the most patriotic gesture I could think of.



Just a thought . . .



SEAN LINNANE SENDS



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U.S. USING PRIVATE SPY RING

Military brass in Afghanistan and Pakistan are relying on a ring of private spies despite legal concerns among authorities. News broke earlier this year that the CIA had enlisted retired intelligence officers as contract spies. At the time, the program was portrayed as unofficial and said to be brought to a close. Now, The New York Times reports, it's clear that the work of those private agents continues in places like Pakistan. The spies send reports to top commanders. Their presence in Pakistan is particularly shocking as the American military is prevented from operating there and the Army is not supposed to hire contract spies under Pentagon rules.

Read the entire shocking revelation at The New York Times


Has it ever occurred to anyone at the New York Times that our intelligence operations are not constrained by such artificialities as the Law of Land Warfare? In the time-honored history of American espionage, the ONLY rules or references in our laws that define ANY kind of legal requirements, when it comes to intelligence-gathering, is Executive Order 12333, which provides for the effective conduct of United States intelligence activities and the protection of constitutional rights of U.S. citizens.

This same Executive Order 12333 ALLOWS for private contracting, by the way:



Executive Order 12333, United States Intelligence Activities

Part 2 - 2.7 Contracting.

"Agencies within the Intelligence Community are authorized to enter into contracts or arrangements for the provision of goods or services with private companies or institutions in the United States and need not reveal the sponsorship of such contracts or arrangements for authorized intelligence purposes. Contracts or arrangements with academic institutions may be undertaken only with the contract of appropriate officials of the institution."



Historically, the United States has used military men, diplomats, private businessmen, mercenaries and adventurers, foreigners - even members of other countries governments - in espionage and reconnaissance. Somebody tell me: WHEN DID THAT CHANGE?

Personally, I don't have a problem with doing anything and everything it takes to WIN THE GLOBAL WAR AGAINST TERRORISM.

What we gotta ask ourselves is . . . DO WE WANT TO WIN THIS THING OR WHAT ? ? ?

I guess the answer to that question is another question: does the New York Times want to win this thing, or what?

- Sean Linnane


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MULLAH OMAR REPORTED CAPTURED

This story is over 8 hours old now. The source is no stranger to controversy (but he has 'street creds') and this kind of rumor has proven to be premature before, but if this is legit, then this is BIG:


MULLAH OMAR REPORTED CAPTURED


About source: Brad Thor


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OOPS

Looks like Uncle Stormy jumped the gun on this one:



"Ha! Ha! Ya ain't got me yet, SUCKAS ! ! !"


Maybe not - but now you've just double-extra pissed off a bunch of ALREADY PISSED-OFF Commando-Men who are STILL OUT THERE GUNNING TO GET YOU:

GOTCHA

American-born al-Qaeda arrested.


Adam Gadahn, spokesperson for al Qaeda, was captured by Pakistani officials today in Karachi.


Gadahn has been wanted by the FBI since 2004. There is a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. A U.S. court charged Gadahn with treason in 2006, making him the first American to face such a charge in more than 50 years. He could face the death penalty if convicted. He was also charged with two counts of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.



Image obtained on March 7, 2010 from the SITE Intelligence Group shows Al-Qaeda spokesman and American citizen Adam Gadahn, also known as Azzam the American, in a 25-minute video-recording posted on the Internet by Al-Qaeda's media arm As-Sahab. Gadahn praised the suspect in a November 5 shooting at the US base in Fort Hood, Texas, and called on Muslims in the West to carry out more attacks like the deadly shooting.

Gadahn, 31, grew up on a goat farm in Riverside County, Calif., and converted to Islam at a mosque in nearby Orange County.



I don't know what's more beautiful here - that a notorious traitor has been scooped up, or the fact that he's being held by the Pakistanis.

Either way . . .

IT SURE SUCKS TO BE YOU NOW, SUCKA ! ! !