These satellite images
show a remote airstrip deep in the desert
of Saudi Arabia . It may
or may not be the secret U.S.
drone base revealed by reporters earlier this week. But the base’s hangars bear
a remarkable resemblance to similar structures found on other American drone
outposts. And its remote location — dozens of miles from the nearest highway,
and farther still to the nearest town – suggests that this may be more than the
average civilian airstrip
“I believe
it’s the facility that the U.S.
uses to fly drones into Yemen ,”
one officer says. “It’s out in eastern Saudi
Arabia , near Yemen and where the bad guys are
supposed to hang out. It has those clamshell hangars, which we’ve seen before
associated with U.S.
drones.”
The former officer was also impressed by the base’s
remote location.”It’s way, way out in the Rub al Khali ,
otherwise known as Hell, and must have been built, at least initially, with
stuff flown into Sharorah and then trucked more than 400 kilometers up
the existing highway and newly-built road,” the ex-officer adds in an e-mail.
“It’s a really major logistics feat. The way it fits inconspicuously into the
terrain is also admirable.”
Three airstrips are
visible in the pictures; two are big enough to land drones or conventional
light aircraft. A third runway, under construction, is substantially longer and
wider. In other words: The facility is growing, and it is expanding to fly much
larger planes.
The White House has since promised to give select
Congressmen the classified and detailed legal rationales behind the white
paper. But Sen. Ron Wyden told Brennan at his Senate confirmation hearing that
the Justice Department is not yet complying with President Obama’s promise to
disclose those legal memoranda. Feinstein said she was seeking eight such memos
in total.
In their hours of questioning Brennan, however, the
Senators didn’t once ask the CIA nominee about the secret Saudi drone base.
Perhaps that’s because they didn’t have a visual aid.
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