This is an explanation? To find where a particular address was some guesswork was involved? I can't really believe that the so-called extrapolation, that turns out to be 4 blocks off could even possibly be the method used to find out where the supply depot was. At the very most all these clowns could say is: There is a over a 50 per cent probability this is the supply depot, so go get it- and even that gives them the benefit of the doubt. And I still ask how a bldg housing ammunition and weapons would be a target in a densely populated area. What sort of collateral damage might this cause? It will be interesting to see if NATO does indeed target this bldg. now it knows where it is. With all the spy satellites in orbit able to see a flea on Arkan's dog how could they not find out where the supply depot was? There is a mind-numbing double goofiness. Not only were they not aware that the CHinese Embassy had moved over 3 year ago, a big enough gnat to swallow in itself. THere is the second even bigger gnat that the actual supply depot is several blocks away but somehow an extrapolation miraculously or by fantastic bad luck picked out the Chinese Embassy as the depot. COmpared to this I think whatever the Schiller Institute comes up with is probably more plausible. Cheers, Ken Hanly : > CIA Explains What Went Wrong > > By JOHN DIAMOND Associated Press Writer > > WASHINGTON (AP) -- In an extraordinary > admission of error, the CIA said Monday that > outdated maps, a lack of communication within > the > U.S. government and educated guesses that went > terribly wrong led to the NATO air attack on the > > Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. > > Grim-faced intelligence officials briefed > lawmakers > behind closed doors, then met with reporters to > explain how a B-2 stealth bomber came to drop a > load of satellite-guided bombs on a plainly > marked > embassy compound well-known in Belgrade to > diplomats and civilians alike. > > The B-2s were all too accurate in hitting > targets. > The problem was that CIA operatives > misidentified > the target, and pre-strike checks by the > Pentagon > and other allied military commands failed to > catch > the error. In addition, neither the State > Department > nor other NATO allies had alerted target > planners > that the Chinese Embassy had moved in Belgrade > in > 1996. > > Defense Secretary William Cohen called the > bombing a ``tragic mistake'' and said, ``If > there's > culpability to be found, we will consider > appropriate > action.'' > > The incident came less than a year after the CIA > > recommended an attack on a target in Sudan that > turned out to be a pharmaceutical plant and that > > may or may not have been involved in chemical > weapons production. The Chinese Embassy > bombing has made the CIA a laughing stock. > Regulars on Don Imus' talk radio program were > joking that the CIA could have simply called a > taxi > cab company to locate its target. > > In fact, target planning is far more complex > than > that. > > Several weeks ago, CIA officials ``nominated'' > the > Yugoslav Federal Directorate for Supply and > Procurement for destruction by NATO bombers, > pointing to the directorate's role in supplying > weapons to the Yugoslav Army and exporting > munitions. > > The planning began with a street address -- a > correct > one, it turns out -- on Cherry Blossom Boulevard > in > Belgrade. The problem was finding that address > on > National Imagery and Mapping Agency maps. > > Some guesswork was involved. The CIA had fixed > the locations of some buildings on the street, > but not > the directorate. Using a variety of undisclosed > sources, the CIA tried to extrapolate the > location of > the directorate based on known addresses nearby. > > Those sources did not include an agent on the > ground in Belgrade actually looking at the > prospective target because no agent was > available. > > From now on, an intelligence official said, it > will be > an ironclad requirement to have sources on the > ground checking targets visually when they lie > in > urban areas. > > This was the initial and critical error. The > CIA's > extrapolation was off by a few blocks. The > actual > directorate is down the street, which changes > names > to the Boulevard of the Arts. NATO has not ruled > > out striking the directorate -- now that it > knows > where it is. > > Outdated maps turned this mistake into a > diplomatic > and political disaster. The CIA and Pentagon > have > developed what they call a ``no strike'' list -- > > churches, hospitals, schools and embassies that > NATO seeks to avoid. > > But the U.S. intelligence ``City Plan of > Belgrade'' > used in planning the strike dated to 1992. It > was > reviewed twice after that for accuracy, once in > 1997 > and again last year. On this map, the Chinese > Embassy, depicted as a red rectangle with a > symbolic flag, lies in its former location > across the > Danube River in Belgrade's old quarter. > > The State Department, which maintained a mission > > in Belgrade until the strikes began in March, > never > notified Pentagon strike planners that the > Chinese > Embassy had moved, the intelligence officials > said, > speaking on condition of anonymity. > > A senior State Department official said > officials at > the mission knew the Chinese Embassy's new > location but did not consider it their > responsibility to > pass the information on to the Pentagon. > > Cohen announced ``steps to prevent such a > mistake > from happening again,'' including a requirement > that > the State Department report embassy moves or > constructions overseas. The Pentagon and CIA > will > also be ordered to update maps and set up > procedures to make last-minute changes to ``no > strike'' lists as new information comes in. > > Cohen said that in 4,036 combat sorties over > Yugoslavia, NATO knows of only a dozen instances > > involving civilian casualties, and this is the > first in > which erroneous target-selection was the cause. > > ``In combat, accidents will happen despite our > best > efforts to prevent them,'' Cohen said. > > Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Bob Kerrey, > D-Neb., the chairman and vice chairman, > respectively, of the Senate Intelligence > Committee, > said decades of intelligence budget cuts may > have > played a role. > > ``While this was a horrible mistake, we cannot > avoid > the fact that we have overtasked and underfunded > > our intelligence agencies for too long,'' Kerrey > said. > > The intelligence officials said, however, that > they > were making no excuses based on finances. > > AP-NY-05-10-99 1948EDT > > Copyright © Associated Press. All rights > reserved. This material > may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or > redistributed.
