• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Podcasts
  • Full Measure
  • Censored
  • Donate
  • Bestseller "Slanted": Order here

Sharyl Attkisson

Untouchable Subjects. Fearless, Nonpartisan Reporting.

  • US
  • World
  • Business
  • Health
    • Vaccine, Medical links
  • Special Investigations
    • Attkisson v. DOJ
    • Benghazi
    • "Collusion v. Trump" TL
    • Election 2020
    • Fake News
    • Fast & Furious
    • Media Mistakes on Trump
    • Obama Surveillance TL
    • Obamacare
    • Other investigations

Thousands of Qaddafi Era Shoulder-Fired Missiles Missing in Action

Dated: July 18, 2014 by Sharyl Attkisson Leave a Comment

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

The surface-to-air missile attack on a Malaysian jetliner flying over eastern Ukraine is a good reason to revisit my report from 2013 about the thousands of missing shoulder-fired missiles known as MANPADS (Man-portable air-defense systems).

As I reported, one majorĀ goalĀ of U.S. in Libya prior to the September 11, 2012 terrorist attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi was to help try to locate and secure as many of the missing weapons as possible. Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi was thought to have purchased 15,000-20,000 Soviet MANPADS. Most of those went missing in the chaos surrounding his overthrow and death in 2011. The U.S. is worried about the possibility that terrorists could buy them on the black market and even use them to shoot down American civilian airliners.

A source indicated to me that the U.S. tracked hundreds of the missiles as having been transferred to Al Qaeda Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), an Algeria-based Sunni Muslim terrorist group fighting for control in Mali.

Unfortunately, according to my sources, the U.S. effort to recover a large number of the MANPADS in Libya was an abysmal failure. Only about 2,000 were accounted for prior to the September 11 attacks.

One source says that U.S. personnel told Libyans believed to have co-opted the MANPADS,

[quote]"If planes start dropping out of the sky, it will trace back to you and you'll have the international reputation for terrorism." [/quote]

Mexican crime syndicates have attempted to purchase the Libyan MANPADS, according to those familiar with the incident.

[ilink url="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/thousands-of-libyan-missiles-from-qaddafi-era-missing-in-action"]Read more about the MANPAD risk to civilian airliners[/ilink]


  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Sharyl Attkisson

About Sharyl Attkisson

Emmy-Award Winning Investigative Journalist, New York Times Best Selling Author, Host of Sinclair's Full Measure

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Coming Soon

Subscribe

Get the Latest Stories Straight to Your Inbox

Follow Sharyl Attkisson

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Comments

  • Stephen Triesch on WATCH: Disinformation: the new tool of war?
  • Susan on 50+ U.S. deaths reported after Covid-19 vaccine; no link proven
  • Peter G on VAXXED (CENSORED) documentary featuring CDC whistleblower on vaccine-autism link

Subscribe

Get the Latest Stories Straight to Your Inbox

Footer

Pages

  • Home
  • About
  • Podcast
  • Support
  • Contact

Sitemap

2ndary Pages

  • Full Measure Stations
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Subscribe to SharylAttkisson.com

SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS

  • Attkisson v. DOJ/FBI
  • Benghazi
  • Election 2020
  • Fake News
  • Fast & Furious
  • Obamacare

Ad

Ad