CIA lied about shoot-down of missionary plane, report says
An investigation by the agency's inspector general finds that officials covered up details of the 2001 incident over Peru that killed two Americans and wounded three other people.
Reporting from Washington — An internal investigation by the CIA found that agency officials engaged in a cover-up to hide agency negligence in the downing of a private airplane over Peru in 2001 as part of a mistaken attack on an aircraft suspected of carrying illegal narcotics.
Excerpts of an internal CIA report released Thursday accuse agency officials of lying to members of Congress and withholding crucial information from criminal investigators and senior Bush administration officials.
The disclosure could lead to the reopening of a probe into whether agency officials committed crimes in the attack on the aircraft, which was transporting American missionaries, and then covering it up.
The attack killed Veronica Bowers and her infant daughter and injured three others, including Bowers' husband and young son. It was carried out by a Peruvian warplane working with CIA surveillance craft.
Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, described the revelations as "a dark stain" on the CIA and called for information to be shared with the Justice Department to determine whether reopening the investigation is warranted.
"To say these deaths did not have to happen is more than an understatement," said Hoekstra, who added that the agency's inspector general had uncovered "continuous efforts to cover the matter up and potentially block criminal investigation."
The missionary family came from Hoekstra's district. The congressman's office released portions of the report and sent a letter to CIA Inspector General John L. Helgerson requesting that other portions also be declassified.
CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said that CIA Director Michael V. Hayden "recognized the seriousness of the matter" after the report was submitted in August, and that the document had been turned over to the Justice Department. In 2005, the department closed its investigation into the matter without any prosecutions.
The agency's internal review "is still open" and Hayden has not made any decisions about internal disciplinary measures, Gimigliano said, adding that Hayden "has sought input from a cleared outside expert, one who would know the complex issues involved in an air interdiction program."
The report concludes that agency officials repeatedly violated rules of engagement that were designed to prevent potentially fatal mishaps in the drug interdiction program, which was launched in 1994 by the Clinton administration.
- No Criminal Charges for CIA Over Downed Plane Feb 06, 2005
- Senate Panel Faults CIA in Shooting of Plane Nov 01, 2001
- U.S. to Resume Its Effort to Help Colombia Intercept Drug Flights Oct 03, 2002
