Armed Drones And The Hunt For Bin Laden

Armed Drones And The Hunt For Bin Laden
FILE - This April 1998 file photo shows exiled al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. The defense lawyer for Osama bin Laden's family said Friday, April 13, 2012 that Pakistan will deport the slain al-Qaida chief's three widows and their children to Saudi Arabia next week. Mohammed Amir Khalil says the family will be deported on April 18, a day after they finish their 45-day prison sentence for illegally entering and living in the country.(AP Photo, File)
FILE - This April 1998 file photo shows exiled al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. The defense lawyer for Osama bin Laden's family said Friday, April 13, 2012 that Pakistan will deport the slain al-Qaida chief's three widows and their children to Saudi Arabia next week. Mohammed Amir Khalil says the family will be deported on April 18, a day after they finish their 45-day prison sentence for illegally entering and living in the country.(AP Photo, File)

Today is the fourteenth anniversary of the best chance the United States had to kill Osama bin Laden before he led al-Qaeda to plan and carry out the terrorist attacks of 9/11. In addition to failing to elimate bin Laden, or any senior al-Qaeda leaders, the botched cruise missile attack of August 20, 1998, played a prominent role in accelerating efforts to arm unmanned drones. What began as highly specialized, covert tool to locate and kill one individual has developed into today’s default counterterrorism tactic.

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