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Obama: We asked Iran to give us our drone back
Obama: We asked Iran to give us our drone back
President Obama has a message for Iran: He would like America's downed spy drone back.
Obama revealed the request for the return of the drone--which fell to earth in Iran recently, and had been captured in video footage circulated by the Iranian government--during a Monday White House news conference. The president shared the podium with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as both leaders discussed the future of American-Iraqi relations after the withdrawal of remaining U.S. forces from Iraq this month.
But Obama's comments on the seized drone will likely upstage the designated subject of the conference--and are all but certain to become instant fodder for late-night comedy and GOP primary campaign barbs.
"We've asked for it back," President Obama said of the spy plane, according to an Agence-France Press report. "We'll see how the Iranians respond."
"With respect to the drone inside of Iran, I'm not going to comment on intelligence matters that are classified," he added.
Iran claimed to have brought down the RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone mostly intact eight days ago, after operators lost control of it on a classified CIA-Pentagon surveillance mission over the country. The very existence of the stealth reconnaissance plane-- dubbed the "Beast of Kandahar," and manufactured by Lockheed Martin--received no official acknowledgment from U.S. government circles until 2009. But American officials more recently reportedly confirmed the RQ-170 was used for extended surveillance of Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after the successful U.S. raid that killed the al-Qaida leader last May.
Iran--which has since lodged a formal diplomatic protest over the drone's apparent violation of Iranian air space--has given scant indication that it will leap to the Obama administration's request for the craft's return.
Already, partisan critics of the Obama White House could hardly contain their glee at news of the request. This was but one more request from a Western power, they've noted, that Tehran seems likely to flout.
"If you were Iran, and Pres O asked you to return our drone, what would you say??" Ari Fleischer, GOP public relations strategist and former spokesman for the George W. Bush White House, asked on Twitter.
"'O: I asked Iran 2 return drone & we'll see how they r[e]spond," Fleischer wrote in another Twitter post mocking the request. Ronald Reagan "didn't ask Iran 2 r[e]turn hostages. Iran feared him, so they were freed."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton--who herself has occasionally revealed private talking points publicly--tried to blunt any suggestion of naivete in the U.S. request.
"We submitted a formal request for return" of the drone, but "don't expect them to comply," Clinton said Monday, CBS News' Cami McCormick reported.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/obama-asked-iran-us-drone-back-193035747.html
President Obama has a message for Iran: He would like America's downed spy drone back.
Obama revealed the request for the return of the drone--which fell to earth in Iran recently, and had been captured in video footage circulated by the Iranian government--during a Monday White House news conference. The president shared the podium with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as both leaders discussed the future of American-Iraqi relations after the withdrawal of remaining U.S. forces from Iraq this month.
But Obama's comments on the seized drone will likely upstage the designated subject of the conference--and are all but certain to become instant fodder for late-night comedy and GOP primary campaign barbs.
"We've asked for it back," President Obama said of the spy plane, according to an Agence-France Press report. "We'll see how the Iranians respond."
"With respect to the drone inside of Iran, I'm not going to comment on intelligence matters that are classified," he added.
Iran claimed to have brought down the RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone mostly intact eight days ago, after operators lost control of it on a classified CIA-Pentagon surveillance mission over the country. The very existence of the stealth reconnaissance plane-- dubbed the "Beast of Kandahar," and manufactured by Lockheed Martin--received no official acknowledgment from U.S. government circles until 2009. But American officials more recently reportedly confirmed the RQ-170 was used for extended surveillance of Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after the successful U.S. raid that killed the al-Qaida leader last May.
Iran--which has since lodged a formal diplomatic protest over the drone's apparent violation of Iranian air space--has given scant indication that it will leap to the Obama administration's request for the craft's return.
Already, partisan critics of the Obama White House could hardly contain their glee at news of the request. This was but one more request from a Western power, they've noted, that Tehran seems likely to flout.
"If you were Iran, and Pres O asked you to return our drone, what would you say??" Ari Fleischer, GOP public relations strategist and former spokesman for the George W. Bush White House, asked on Twitter.
"'O: I asked Iran 2 return drone & we'll see how they r[e]spond," Fleischer wrote in another Twitter post mocking the request. Ronald Reagan "didn't ask Iran 2 r[e]turn hostages. Iran feared him, so they were freed."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton--who herself has occasionally revealed private talking points publicly--tried to blunt any suggestion of naivete in the U.S. request.
"We submitted a formal request for return" of the drone, but "don't expect them to comply," Clinton said Monday, CBS News' Cami McCormick reported.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/obama-asked-iran-us-drone-back-193035747.html
Thinking like that will get conspiracy theories going, dontcha know.
Interesting concept, my hubby says the same thing. We will never know I guess.
Maybe the US intentionally downed that drone and that it does not embody our real state of the art technology - a misinformation tactic that will cost the enemies enormous time and energy deciphering the wrong technology.
Wouldn't that be a shrewd maneuver?
After all, I've seen movies with this kind of stuff going on.
Wouldn't that be a shrewd maneuver?
After all, I've seen movies with this kind of stuff going on.
Yeah, me too. I think surely they have something that protects the info. I mean really? If we can build something that intricate, surely we have a safety harness on the dumb thing. Surely we do..
Apparently they DO NOT have auto-destruct capabilities.
I read that the RQ-170 Sentinel (unmanned drone that fell out of the sky and into Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's back yard), when it malfunctions or is disabled or shot down, will automatically erase all it's root programming, hard-drive, etc.
The Air Force can't confirm whether or not that actually happened, as the drone is supposed to send a final "farewell signal" of some type, just before it does the erasing, but that signal was never received.
As for the hardware itself (the ACTUAL drone)... it fell to the earth, fully intact, and ready to be reverse engineered.
I read that the RQ-170 Sentinel (unmanned drone that fell out of the sky and into Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's back yard), when it malfunctions or is disabled or shot down, will automatically erase all it's root programming, hard-drive, etc.
The Air Force can't confirm whether or not that actually happened, as the drone is supposed to send a final "farewell signal" of some type, just before it does the erasing, but that signal was never received.
As for the hardware itself (the ACTUAL drone)... it fell to the earth, fully intact, and ready to be reverse engineered.
"Why don't those drone things have "Auto Destruct" capabilities?"
I was shocked when I found this out. Hopefully, it malfunctioned and we are not that stupid.
I was shocked when I found this out. Hopefully, it malfunctioned and we are not that stupid.
I can wipe my iPad remotely and render it completely useless to whoever finds it...
Maybe we should have Apple lend the gov't a hand!
Maybe we should have Apple lend the gov't a hand!
The day after... as I said, we look like idiots.
Hopefully, the world doesn't see the whole country as idiots, and just B.O.
We were SPYING on them ILLEGALLY.
Question: Why don't those drone things have "Auto Destruct" capabilities?
Hopefully, the world doesn't see the whole country as idiots, and just B.O.
We were SPYING on them ILLEGALLY.
Question: Why don't those drone things have "Auto Destruct" capabilities?
If an Iranian drone fell out of the sky into our backyard, and THEY asked for it back, do you think WE would comply with their request?
I'm not even sure why we asked for it back, when we knew that there was no way in hell they were going to give it up.
Honestly, it's not even a shrewd political move. It doesn't do a thing to how the rest of the world views us and our foreign policy, except that everyone will laugh at us when our request goes unanswered.
I guarantee they won't even acknowledge the request...
I'm not even sure why we asked for it back, when we knew that there was no way in hell they were going to give it up.
Honestly, it's not even a shrewd political move. It doesn't do a thing to how the rest of the world views us and our foreign policy, except that everyone will laugh at us when our request goes unanswered.
I guarantee they won't even acknowledge the request...
I don't think it is a wise idea to start a war over the thing, but I cannot put the thought of a war being on the horizon with Iran. This just might be a piece of the puzzle.
I heard Cheney thnks we otta strike em and take it back. Do you think if we offered em Cheney, they would give it back? Someone needs to tape his mouth with duct tape and stick em in a dark closet. lol
How about you offer to let them keep the drone, just return the thingy that contains all the info it collected...seems fair to me...ha.
It is humerous really. But also kinda scary.
It is humerous really. But also kinda scary.
I read something this morning, I believe in the Huntington Post, that said the good, wonderful folks in leadership positions in the Iranian military and those in foreign affairs are saying that we need to offer them an apology instead of asking for the drone back.....
An apology? An apology??? Okay, Armedinejihad.... we are sorry. We won't crash another spy drone into your country, anymore. So... can we get that thing back?
An apology? An apology??? Okay, Armedinejihad.... we are sorry. We won't crash another spy drone into your country, anymore. So... can we get that thing back?
LOL I know!!! It is funny in that way!!!! I wonder if other countries have thought about the comic books they could create at our expense! LOL
The humor I find in it is.
Obama-We sent a Spy Plan over your airspace and it malfunctioned.Can we have it back?
Iran- Bwahahahahahahahaha
Obama-We sent a Spy Plan over your airspace and it malfunctioned.Can we have it back?
Iran- Bwahahahahahahahaha
We are losing quite a bit of technology lately, and it seems as if we cannot go ahead and lose it in an allies hands. It's always somewhere/somebody we don't like and or trust. We lost the Blackhawk on the Bin Laden raid, now this.
There isn't a thing we can do. I don't know... you'd think that sensitive technology like this would have a 'self destruct mechanism" or something.
There isn't a thing we can do. I don't know... you'd think that sensitive technology like this would have a 'self destruct mechanism" or something.
Very true. And if it's not Russia it's going to be China. At least according to the "experts" I saw. (experts in quotation because I have no idea if they really were, that was just their claim).
Honestly, what's he going to do besides nothing? Iran sells the thing to Russia.... what do we do then, bomb Iran? Lot of good that'll do when Russia is reverse engineering the thing.....
Well, I think it's pretty safe to say they won't be giving it up. But I still come back to how Obama handles issues like this with hostile nations. He is smart!! He is publically proving how reasonable he is about dealing with these countries. I still think military action with Iran is inavoidable, and his methods will save the US money and resources as I think he will find a far more receptive International community in terms of working with the US. The man is far from perfect, but he does handle these types of situations in a highly diplomatic way which sure makes you all look good!
Teko, I wondered the same thing. This could prove to be a catalyst I suppose, but personally I think Obama is going to bide his time on this. Any military action will spark something major, and the timing may not be right. Hard to say though...I guess it depends on how important it is for that not to fall in others hands. I did hear that Iran does not have the technology to replicate it, so will probably be looking to Russia or China. Kinda makes the situation a little more serious I would think, and Obama needs to be careful here I think.
Teko, I wondered the same thing. This could prove to be a catalyst I suppose, but personally I think Obama is going to bide his time on this. Any military action will spark something major, and the timing may not be right. Hard to say though...I guess it depends on how important it is for that not to fall in others hands. I did hear that Iran does not have the technology to replicate it, so will probably be looking to Russia or China. Kinda makes the situation a little more serious I would think, and Obama needs to be careful here I think.
Its really not a laughing matter I suppose since someone could get information and possibly replicate the thing. I found this from NBC website.
Iranian lawmaker Parviz Sorouri, a member of the parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, said Monday the extracted information will be used to file a lawsuit against the U.S. for what he called the "invasion" by the unmanned aircraft.
Sorouri also claimed that Iran has the capability to reproduce the drone through reverse engineering, but he did not elaborate.
State TV broadcast images Thursday of Iranian military officials inspecting what it identified as the drone. Iranian state media have said the unmanned spy aircraft was detected and brought down over the country's east, near the border with Afghanistan.
Officers in the Revolutionary Guard, Iran's most powerful military force, have claimed the country's armed forces brought down the surveillance aircraft with an electronic ambush, causing minimum damage to the drone.
American officials have said that U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that Iran neither shot the drone down, nor used electronic or cybertechnology to force it from the sky. They contend the drone malfunctioned. The officials spoke anonymously in order to discuss the classified program.
So do you think we will go in and confiscate it or give em a pass?
Iranian lawmaker Parviz Sorouri, a member of the parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, said Monday the extracted information will be used to file a lawsuit against the U.S. for what he called the "invasion" by the unmanned aircraft.
Sorouri also claimed that Iran has the capability to reproduce the drone through reverse engineering, but he did not elaborate.
State TV broadcast images Thursday of Iranian military officials inspecting what it identified as the drone. Iranian state media have said the unmanned spy aircraft was detected and brought down over the country's east, near the border with Afghanistan.
Officers in the Revolutionary Guard, Iran's most powerful military force, have claimed the country's armed forces brought down the surveillance aircraft with an electronic ambush, causing minimum damage to the drone.
American officials have said that U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that Iran neither shot the drone down, nor used electronic or cybertechnology to force it from the sky. They contend the drone malfunctioned. The officials spoke anonymously in order to discuss the classified program.
So do you think we will go in and confiscate it or give em a pass?
LOL! Yeah! Sure they gonna give it up right away! lol NOT!
awwwww he wanted us to have it back so sweet ...so thoughtful did he really think they were going to.....I hear that some troops leaving Iraq are amassing at the Syrian/Jordan border.instead of coming back to the US.......maybe he needed the drone for another War ...check out the Western center for journalism.com
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