The Cost of a Near Miss: How a Flawed Attack Reshaped Global Security

Article

History 

This incident happened about twenty-six or twenty-seven years ago, during President Bill Clinton's second term in office. The United States received precise intelligence that a terrorist, who had been causing continuous problems for the US, was located in Afghanistan. The US immediately dispatched Tomahawk cruise missiles to the location. However, the terrorist, having moved away minutes earlier for some reason, narrowly escaped due to luck. This terrorist later inflicted major disasters upon the United States.

Some of the missiles sent by the US did not detonate and remained there—both exploded and unexploded ones. Another country collected these missiles. Using reverse engineering technology, they dismantled them, understood their technology, and built a new missile based on their findings. Subsequently, upon realizing this, the United States implemented significant vigilance and security measures to prevent their weapons and technology from falling into the hands of other countries.

Written by Ayyappan Manikantan Nair