C.I.A. Expanding Terror Battle Under Guise of Charter Flights

New York Times ^ | May 31, 2005 | Scott Shane, Stephen Grey and Margot Williams

[december12]

When the Central Intelligence Agency wants to grab a suspected member of Al Qaeda overseas and deliver him to interrogators in another country, an Aero Contractors plane often does the job. If agency experts need to fly overseas in a hurry after the capture of a prized prisoner, a plane will depart Johnston County and stop at Dulles Airport outside Washington to pick up the C.I.A. team on the way.

[december12]

The New York Times would rather embarassess the CIA, even if their story interferes with the war on terror.

[ExcursionGuy84]

This reporter is the 'son-of-Alger-Hiss's-own-body'.

Honestly, why don't these 'reporkers' extradite themselves to Iran & set up shop with Al-Jazeera???

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Civil Air Transport was another "proprietary."

[DakotaGator]

The CIA uses airplanes? I'm shocked! Next it'll be using telephones. Oh, the humanity!

Good thing the alert America-haters at the NYT broke this story. What would the world do without their nuanced insight?!

[hershey]

Thank you, NYSlimes.

[ASA Vet]

The CIA uses airplanes?

Yes, it's hard believe. Must be something new?

[68skylark]

I like this sentence:

He said one method used in setting up past C.I.A. proprietaries was to ask real people to volunteer to serve as officers or directors. "It was very, very easy to find patriotic Americans who were willing to help," he said.

That makes sense. And unfortunately, I think the opposite point also makes sense -- it's very, very easy to find unpatriotic Americans who are willing to blow CIA cover.

[metesky]

This is the old "rendition" story in a different iteration. Just like Jerry Lewis, the NYT needs to get some new material.

[OESY]

Good to know that the New York Times stands ready to blow whatever cover the CIA can put together for its anti-terrorist operations. -- High Hewitt



With this story, the New York Times proves the validity of the central thesis of Ann Coulter's book, "Treason."

[OESY]

* * *

NY Times snow job: the scene we'd like to see

[Itzlzha]

Maybe we can screw the times...

Let's let leak that Valerie Plame was undercover in these air movements!

Maybe then the media would become all worried about blowing any ongoing C.I.A. operations and exposing personnel!!!

After all, they all had FITS over poor Valerie "look at me, my pic's in VANITY-FREAKIN'-FAIR" Plame's alleged outing (even though her HUSBAND'S resume and website did it 2-3 YEARS before Novak)!

[wildbill]

The Times is exposing ordinary citizens to terrorist attack if they hit the public airport revealed in the article as the 'secret' CIA base. And airport personnel not connected to the CIA operation, but named in the article, could be targeted as well.

Write the times!
public@nytimes.com.

[rdcorso]

The NY Slimes attempts to make a big deal out of something as mundane as the way the CIA travels the world.Maybe the Times would rather see the CIA riding bicycles instead of airplanes.

[DakotaGator]

Yes. Their arrogance is matched by their ignorance and contempt for the intelligence of "We, The People".

[OESY]

The Times Versus The CIA, May 31, 2005


The Times causes jaws to drop with its front-pager about the CIA's secret airline. Winds of Change and The Word Unheard are outraged. From "Unheard":

Why publish the names of the contractors? Why publish a photograph of one of the planes complete with aviation ID markings? Why publish the home airport for the ‘flagship’ 737-based Boeing Business Jet(s)? Why attack the CIA’s use of these aircraft and the contractors that operate them?

When you read the NYT article full through, it becomes painfully obvious ‘why’:

Global War on Terror Bad, CIA Bad, America Bad.

This expose seems to have grown out of questions surrounding CIA "torture flights" - CBS has earlier reporting, and the Chicago Tribune also started down this road (the Chicago Tribune story is archived at Michael Moore's website - know your audience.)

Now, we are reasoning backwards, but... several of the companies cited by the Times already generate Google hits as probable CIA fronts (several, but not all!). For example, Premier Executive Transport Services Inc. was outed by the WaPo last December (and guess what - a Freeper led the way!).

Tepper Aviation, Inc. appears as an alleged CIA plane.

Well - one hopes the damage done by the Times in compiling all of this research into one executive summary does not represent a huge setback in our war on terror.

And that said, let's briefly revisit their handwringing over the leak of Valerie Plame's identity. Times editors and columnists wanted to string up Robert Novak and various Administration officials for callously endangering lives and jeopardizing our national security.

That was then.

MORE: Yes, I find it very suspicious that this story comes out immediately after the arrest of Oliver Stone. A warning shot?

Somewhat more seriously, how does this story fit the template that the CIA wants to embarrass Bush, and relies on a friendly press to do so? Not so well, although a CIA with factions can be invoked to explain anything. Almost anything.

Of course, maybe the Times simply thinks this story advances the national interest, or the public's "right to know". Or maybe later this week, Special Counsel Fitzgerald will drop the subpoenas in the Plame case, the Times having made its point that it can report the heck out of stuff when it needs to.

-- http://justoneminute.typepad.com/

[OESY]

High New York Times: Prisoner Transports Revealed, Bill Roggio, May 31, 2005

If you are al Qaeda, and you are interested in interdicting or attacking CIA air services that transport captured high value targets, how would you go about finding out how the CIA is moving these prisoners around? Would you:

a) Attempt to penetrate the CIA and dig into the inner workings of these operations.
b) Invest heavily in paying off workers at local airports and in charter airlines across the Middle East and Asia to provide intelligence on suspicious flight activities.
c) Read the New York Times.

If you answered "c", you are correct. Today's New York Times provides intimate detail on the charter flights used by the CIA to ferry prisoners across the globe. The names of the charter companies are disclosed. The types of aircraft flown are revealed. The points of departure and destinations of these flights are stated. There is even a picture of one of the charter craft, with the identification number of the aircraft in full display.

All of this is extremely valuable to al Qaeda members who may have an interest in rescuing, or if deemed appropriate, conducting a suicide attack against suspected extraction flights. A successful attack resulting from this story can endanger the lives of CIA, security and civilian personnel involved in these missions, as well as deprive the intelligence and military communities of valuable information that can be gained from interrogations.

At the very least, the CIA must now change the companies being used as charters, all at a great effort and cost to US taxpayers. But since al Qaeda now knows where to look and what to look for, they may not even discriminate against different charter companies if they are reasonably sure a high value target has been captured and will be deported.

What exactly is the purpose of the New York Times in reporting on sensitive issues such as these? Do they even care about the consequences of making such information pubic? It appears the editors of the New York Times feel that breaking a titillating story about sensitive CIA operations is much more important than national security and the lives of those fighting in the war. All to our detriment.

-- http://www.windsofchange.net/archives/006924.php