CIA Escapes Charges in Peru Plane Downing

[seafan]

WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors have decided not to seek criminal charges against CIA (news - web sites) officers who were part of an antidrug operation that was involved in the downing of a missionary plane in Peru and the deaths of two Americans in 2001.



Justice Department (news - web sites) officials have until now not even acknowledged that they were investigating potential misconduct by the intelligence officers, including whether they lied to lawmakers who were looking into the incident and the interdiction program. But on Saturday, Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra said, "We declined a criminal prosecution earlier this week."


Among other things, prosecutors examined what CIA officials told the Senate intelligence committee in 2001, Sierra said.


A Pennsylvania-based missionary group's Cessna float plane was shot down by a Peruvian jet in April 2001 after a CIA-operated surveillance plane misidentified it as a possible drug-smuggling flight. At the last moment, the contractors tried in vain to prevent the Peruvian pilots from opening fire.


Veronica Bowers, 35, of Muskegon, Mich., and her 7-month-old daughter, Charity, were killed.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050205/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/missionary_plane_investigation&e=2

[Gman]

1. Gonzales' first act as AG

probably sorry they didn't torture the missionaries.

[Supersedeas]

5. so his record as AG begins here...failure to prosecute #1

[VegasWolf]

2. Exactly, they could have easily gotten away with torture if they had

known Gonzalez was in charge.

[High Plains]

3. The whole policy was/is criminal

This is a drug war nightmare: The US working with South American militaries to blow unarmed planes out of the sky. The Peruvians shot down dozens of planes over the years; no one screamed about it until it was the perfect victim: an American, and a freaking missionary, no less!

Yeah, those CIA guys should have been prosecuted, but so should everyone who approved this program. I believe it started with Clinton (could have been Bush I); these drug war atrocities are a bipartisan affair.

Gee, maybe the Dems would have won the last election if they hadn't gone along with turning a good chunk of their potential voter base in prisoners and ex-cons who can't vote.

[struggle4progress]

4. kick