You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Afghanistan/South Asia
Spy plane crashes into French school in Kabul
2004-12-02
How do you say "Oops" in Pashto?
An unmanned spy plane believed to be operated by a US security firm crashed into a school in the Afghan capital Kabul without causing any casualties, an eyewitness and sources told AFP Thursday. The unmanned 1.5 metre (yard) long drone smashed into a window at the French-funded Istiqlal high school close to President Hamid Karzai's palace, according to a senior official at the school. DynCorp, a private US security company that guards [Karzai], uses drones to survey the grounds around the palace, a source close to Karzai told AFP. "It crashed shortly after 1:00pm (0830 GMT) on a window of the centre which was broken and nobody was injured," said the director of the school's cultural centre Daniel Massat-Bourrat. Two heavily-armed Americans wearing capes in plain clothes jumped the wall of the palace into the school grounds and removed the wreckage, offering to pay for repairs, Massat-Bourrat said. "They presented themselves with a codename: planet," Massat-Bourrat said.
"L'eclair c'est bleu!"
"Ahah! Planet!"
"Cheeze!"
"Frommage!"
"What's all that mean?"
"Nothin'. But it entertains the kiddies."
The drone did not belong to the US military, spokesman Major Mark McCann said. Three US military unmanned craft have crashed in Afghanistan this year, with the last coming down on November 24. DynCorp maintains a heavy presence in Kabul and trains Afghanistan's fledgling police force. In August, a bomb outside the company's office in the capital killed nine people including four of its employees. The Istiqlal school, which has 5,600 pupils, is jointly financed by the Afghan ministry of education and France. Its alumni include Ahmad Shah Masood, the resistance hero killed by suspected Taliban in September 2001.
Posted by:Seafarious

#16  Lol! :-) You're right about raptors - I dunno if they'd choose to give up tearing via beak 'n claw, though. When I was a kid, my brother and I rescued 2 baby red-tails who'd fallen out of their nest in a storm. "Mom" raised such a ruckus zooming around squawking that we were able to find them. She almost took my head off on one pass, heh. They were doomed, so we took 'em and raised 'em for about a month. Chopped chicken hearts mixed with Alpo. When they could "perch" and started growing perm feathers, we gave them to the Forest Park Zoo in Ft Worth, TX. They were cool, but shredded your fingers during feeding time - which had to be by hand - swallowing up to the 2nd knuckle - their instincts allowed no other way, heh. I've always loved birds of prey.
Posted by: .com   2004-12-02 11:08:31 PM  

#15  Gorgeous picture, .com! Y'know, with the great strides being made in DNA research these days, it may not be long until such a bird actually flies through school windows.... d'you suppose they'll get to have teeny, tiny missiles, too? Imagine how much a raptor would enjoy seeing things go boom ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife   2004-12-02 10:54:53 PM  

#14  A little glue, some feathers, and voila!
Posted by: .com   2004-12-02 10:21:36 PM  

#13  Massoud held the Taliban at bay?!?! He was cornered in the Panjshir mountains and couldn't move until the day the AQ whacked him. Only after the U.S. flooded the place with funds and soldiers did they move out of their redoubt.
Posted by: gromky   2004-12-02 10:05:12 PM  

#12  Picture looks a lot like an old Luftwaffe insignia. What you guys been up to?
Posted by: Weird Al   2004-12-02 5:10:15 PM  

#11  Actually, he said his name was Captain Planet, but that got lost in translation.
Posted by: Carl in N.H.   2004-12-02 3:25:51 PM  

#10  My last boss in the Air Force runs the Air Force drone program from Kuwait. He has lots of amusing stories, most of which can't be repeated for security reasons. We had a great gab-fest when he was out at Carson for a demonstration. Predators forever!
Posted by: Old Patriot   2004-12-02 1:19:01 PM  

#9  DynCorp, codename PLANET. Sounds SciFi. Now if only we could contract out a few malnourished ethiopians and paint them grey.
Posted by: Whutch Hupegum7189   2004-12-02 1:18:07 PM  

#8  Dang! Intel says that Koran teacher's classroom had the window OPEN!

Those kids will think it was just a metallic bird... Allah Akhbar, Baby!

Posted by: BigEd   2004-12-02 12:55:51 PM  

#7  Sorry, JFM, just having a little fun there. Massoud was one of the good guys, and any institution should be proud to have his like as an alumni.
Posted by: Mike   2004-12-02 12:53:59 PM  

#6  Now that's trivia!
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2004-12-02 12:50:35 PM  

#5  Mike told

Yhe French-funded Istiqlal high school Home of the Fighting Weasels?

In fact it was there where Commander Massoud went to high school. Commander Massoud was the ablest of the Afghan resoistance leaders againt the Soviets and the one who ever opposed to the Taliban and held them at bay until his assasination two days befotre 9/11.
Posted by: JFM   2004-12-02 12:48:51 PM  

#4  AI on board? Briefly self aware, perhaps?
Posted by: Bulldog   2004-12-02 12:44:27 PM  

#3  Getting some close-ups of the enemy, eh?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2004-12-02 12:17:02 PM  

#2  the French-funded Istiqlal high school

Home of the Fighting Weasels?
Posted by: Mike   2004-12-02 12:14:12 PM  

#1  Mon Dieu! Unmanned drones--why do zey 'ate us?
Posted by: Dar   2004-12-02 12:08:08 PM  

00:00