Posted on 06/01/2005 1:30:45 AM PDT by STARWISE
In tucked-away corner, war on terror takes off
By Scott Shane, Stephen Grey and Margot Williams The New York Times
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 2005
SMITHFIELD, North Carolina The airplanes of Aero Contractors Ltd. take off from Johnston County Airport here, then disappear over the scrub pines and fields of tobacco and sweet potatoes.
Nothing about the sleepy Southern setting hints of foreign intrigue. Nothing gives away the fact that Aero's pilots are the discreet bus drivers of the battle against terrorism, routinely sent on secret missions to Baghdad, Cairo, Tashkent and Kabul.
When the CIA 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.
(snip)
Aero Contractors' planes dropped CIA paramilitary officers into Afghanistan in 2001; carried an American team to Karachi, Pakistan, right after the U.S. Consulate there was bombed in 2002; and flew from Libya to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the day before an American-held prisoner said he was questioned by Libyan intelligence agents last year, according to flight data and other records.
(snip)
The company was founded in 1979 by a legendary CIA officer and chief pilot for Air America, the agency's Vietnam-era company, and it appears to be controlled by the agency, according to former employees. Aero's much-larger ancestor, Air America, was closed down in 1976.
Behind a surprisingly thin cover of rural hideaways, front companies and shell corporations that share officers who appear to exist only on paper, the CIA has rapidly expanded its air operations since 2001 as it has pursued and questioned terrorism suspects around the world.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
P I N G!
Especially these folks who are endangered by the NYT blowing their cover. Sometimes a secret should be a secret, even if you're the NYT and even if the secret is one of national security.
Its great that we have those assets. But, why is it in the paper? Lets publish exactly what company we use for our GWOI. WTF
God Bless those who fight for right, to protect US!
Indeed. It is good to acknowledge other factors in the war on terror. My brother in the air force got "deployed" in Florida instead of Qatar as originally scheduled. He informed me that he was one of those monitoring air traffic over the US and that he would be one of those who would be part of the response if there was another 911 type attack. Even seemingly insignificant roles in the war are very important.
Ping!
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