Here is another incident of deception and insincerity from our "ally" on the war to combat Islamic militancy. From the BBC, with thanks to Mathew:
The Pakistani army recently announced it had destroyed an al-Qaeda base in the remote north-western tribal region bordering Afghanistan, where it is thought Osama Bin Laden might be hiding.The army took journalists to North Waziristan to show them the results of its military offensive - but, our correspondent says, the media offensive was not a complete success.
It was a display designed to impress.
On the manicured lawn at the army camp in Peshawar, our first stop, piles of weaponry were neatly lined up on a long white-clothed table.
Anti-aircraft guns, rocket launchers, Kalashnikovs.
Just some of the huge amount of weapons, the army said, it had seized during its offensive in North Waziristan.
There were mortars, ammunition - and a bright yellow model plane.
Had some child left his toy here by mistake? Apparently not.
This, said the commander, was a Chinese-made, remote-controlled spy plane which had been used by militants to spy on army positions.
It is bright yellow I said. Their reply, that does not matter if it is used at night.
Several journalists asked how such a flimsy looking thing could carry a camera?
Not just a camera was the response from one general.
This plane could be used to drop up to one kilogram of explosives.
The plane itself looked like it weighed less than that.
Stink bombs I could believe, but not explosives.
There is more. Read it all.
No way Jose! The general must think that the attending media are pretty dumb when it comes to simple aircraft technology. Yes there are micro aircraft being developed today that have incredible capabilities, but I doubt that this is one of them.
Ask one of the formost developers of micro aircraft, Dr.Paul MaCready about the noted model on display at the camp in Peshawar and I think he may giggle at the least. Dr. MaCready is the man who developed the first manpowered aircraft to fly the English channel, thus winning both the first and second Kramer prizes. He has also helped in the devlopment of solar powered aircraft as well.
It does beg the Question as to how credible are these weapons displays from the so-called actions against al-Qaeda by the Pakistanis'.
What? A three ounce swallow carrying a two pound coconut?
Wow, Pakistan is quickly adopting some of the best Soviet traditions, namely the art of pokazukha — creating fake displays of success, designed to convince the western world of how well the country is progressing.
This only serves to emphasize the necessity of reviewing the list of our allies as soon as possible. Courting the half-hearted Islamist dictatorships will not bring us a step closer to defeating Islamofascism.
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dolphin, CAGE co-founder.
http://www.acage.org
Let me apologize in advance for going off topic.
Before you dismiss the possibility of using RC aircraft for recon or delivering a payload, ie explosives, you may want to reseach what we RC modelers are flying.
Aircraft of 40% scale, weighing in the neighborhood of 40-50 pounds, 150cc twin cylinder engines of 16hp developing over 80 lbs of thrust, are COMMON and can be had for ~$6000.
A basic RTF (Ready To Fly) plane, weighing about 5-6 lbs with 48-60" wingspan, including radio and engine, costs about $350.
How about a scale model of an F-16? Miniature jet turbine, 220+ mph? If you have $12,000 to spend, you too can have one.
Helicopters? I think you would be impressed.
Cameras and telemetry systems with real time downlinks are available for under $1000. Flight profiles using GPS is on the horizon. Bomb drops using simulated flour bombs have been fun fly events for many years.
My point is that this technology is easily available to anyone interested. I won't comment on this particular "childs toy" as I don't have any information from which to draw a conclusion, however the concept of jihadis using RC "toys" is sound and plausible.
A wealth of informaion can be found here: http://www.rcuniverse.com/
Be sure to check out the members videos.
Excellent. The white cloth can be used to wrap it all up and take it to the next stop on the "Mission Accomplished (tm)" travelling road-show of fictitious "military offensives" throughout Waziristan.
No need to get the Pakistani troops' boots dirty walking around in the mountains. Just unfold the cloth, declare "vicory", and move on to the next town.
Sorry, that's "victory", not "vicory".
What? A three ounce swallow carrying a two pound coconut?
It could be carried by an African swallow!
SOLDIER #1: Oh, yeah, an African swallow maybe, but not a European swallow.
That's my point.
I would be worried by that yellow thingy - I understand it's powered by one hell of an elastic band.
jedthro:
Have you seen the video that had been circulating around the net - it's a model B-52 with the jet turbines you referred to. That plane must have a wing span of at least 12 feet. Amazing video of it taking off and flying by for the camera and then making a lovely landing including taxiing back on the runway.
Someone needs to tell Bush, Condi, Karen, Muller, Chrtof and the list goes on... the 'ally' Bush selected against terror, is terorr itself.