CIA flew 'hundreds' of secret flights

THE German government has listed of at least 437 flights operated by the US Central Intelligence Agency in German airspace, the news magazine Der Spiegel claimed in its edition to be published on Monday. The number includes both movements by planes of the CIA spy agency in German airspace and landings at German airports, it says.

"Such planes could be used to transfer presumed terrorists and place them in secret locations," Der Spiegel writes. The report comes on the eve of a visit to Germany by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The list was handed over by the national air navigation security agency at the request of the Left Party. Der Spiegel says that in 2002 and 2003 two CIA aircraft alone accounted for 137 and 146 uses of German airspace or landings, chiefly at Frankfurt in the west, Berlin or the US base at Ramstein in western Germany.

Germany has the largest number of US bases in Europe.
In an interview published yesterday in the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper the secretary general of the German branch of the human rights organisation Amnesty International claimed the German government knew of the CIA flights. The United States have been accused since the beginning of last month of having operated since September 11, 2001 CIA flights using European airspace or airports carrying terrorism suspects to countries practising torture.

Berlin has also been asked to inform the 46-member Council of Europe by February 21 what action it has undertaken in specific cases of "kidnappings" after being told about them, the magazine says. Since June 2004 the foreign ministry has had a document from a German citizen of Lebanese origin, Khaled al-Masri, reporting ill-treatment aboard a CIA flight. According to Der Spiegel the US authorities informally confirmed the "kidnapping" in early 2005.

more
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17456066%255E1702,00.html

could have known

In a Feb. 7, 2002 memo, a partial reconstruction of the case by the Swedish security police noted that "the American side" had offered to help in the deportation "by lending a plane for the transport."

In addition, lawyers from the Swedish Justice Ministry wrote in a separate memo on April 12, 2002 that "the transport from Sweden to Egypt was carried out with the help of American authorities." Both documents were heavily redacted before their release.


A flight plan filed with Swedish aviation authorities shows that the Gulfstream jet was registered to a Massachusetts company, Premier Executive Transport Services. U.S. aviation records show that the firm has only two registered aircraft and that they have permits to land at U.S. military bases around the world.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11976-2004Jul24_3.html

they use the same plane with a new registration number and a new cover company.

They maybe think we're too dumb to realize that.




http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=N4476S&distinct_entry=true

appear to be shifting military air bases to countries such as Rumania (http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/12/02/romania.usbases.reut/index.html)
will there be an active, independent press to report such information as Der Spiegel plans to release?

Are these flights being used to take Americans out of the USA? i remember when rendition was something you did in a kareoke bar

We have not seen the likes of this since the Death Squads of El Savador, the assassinations of teachers and mayors in Nicaragua, the assassination of Allende, the overthrow of Iranian democracy, and other vile activities of the US government.

But I would like to know more about who identified the CIA as the agency involved. There's something of a war going on between the CIA and the Bushites, and it was the Bushites--Rumsfeld and Cheney--who instigated torture in violation of the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

We really need to distinguish now between US agencies and US-agencies-purged-and-controlled by the Bush Cartel.

Premier Executive Airlines and Aero Contractors are both reputedly successors to Air America, a CIA-owned airline in the days of the Vietnam War.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,15935,1567897,00.html

There has been a fair amount of reporting regarding Premier in stories about extraordinary rendition ever since that topic first started hitting the internet--maybe Feb. or March of this year. At least, that is when I first started seeing it.

Actually, I don't think that there is an issue regarding the neocon version of secret ops and the traditional one as to the involvement of the CIA in rendition flights. What we don't know is who is masterminding all of this and from where--i.e., WH or elsewhere in govt.

......But I would like to know more about who identified the CIA as the agency involved. There's something of a war going on between the CIA and the Bushites, and it was the Bushites--Rumsfeld and Cheney--who instigated torture in violation of the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

We really need to distinguish now between US agencies and US-agencies-purged-and-controlled by the Bush Cartel.

Seems were getting "distracted" with the evils of the CIA these days? Not that there aren't legit reasons for concern, but the timing IS curious.

on democratic principles!

on that. People can call the holidays whatever they want--by sacred or secular terms. But holiday vocabulary choices are kind of like the plastic turnkey, they are not going to do anything about the war crimes the current leadership is engaged in.

Graphic: Suspected CIA terror flights in Europe

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,grossbild-547799-387185,00.html

CIA FLIGHTS IN EUROPE
November 28, 2005
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,387185,00.html

Condi's coming to tell them to BACK OFF.

The Polish people are not at all happy with their deal with the Devil Bu$h! Oh, they hate the motherfucker! Dr. D. spent her time there well! She reveals the hate. Hate for Bu$h. Love for Americans.

Mac

many activist have been spotting these planes for years, only now MS papers and politicians are kicking a bit of stink up, is there any worldwide grouping plotting the movements of these planes daigrammatically from airport to airport across the world.

For instance in Ireland politicians have to forced to admit that the CIA planes have stopped in Shannon but then say that there is no proof any renditioned prisons were on them, To me it doesn't matter, whether it be CIA personal involved in black ops or kidnapped prisoners on the planes at any one time its the same crime.

So is there any grouping tracking the planes in visual way to connect the date from so many countries which is now solidfying?

Would be highly disturbed by an underground prison network that
tortures persons of a particular religious denomination, wise lessons
learned after having germany totally destroyed for consciencing
similar activities in the past.

BTW, it`s also against our constitution to provide infrastructure, Bases
and airspace for leading an agressive war in other countries.

:party:

It's a great pleasure to be here!

Welcome to DU!

Where are some real members of the CIA that can tell us what is going on?
These b*sh fascists sure think they can play hide the coin by shifting between many planes and locales. I can't wait until these war criminals are frogmarched off and we refuse to study war.
Come'on World, we need a little help here!
:freak:

Anatomy of a CIA 'rendition' gone wrong
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10316560/
The CIA inspector general is investigating a growing number of what it calls "erroneous renditions," according to several former and current intelligence officials.

To carry out its mission, the CTC relies on its Rendition Group, made up of case officers, paramilitaries, analysts and psychologists. Their job is to figure out how to snatch someone off a city street, or a remote hillside, or a secluded corner of an airport where local authorities wait.

Members of the Rendition Group follow a simple but standard procedure: Dressed head to toe in black, including masks, they blindfold and cut the clothes off their new captives, then administer an enema and sleeping drugs.

Thanks for the link and Welcome to DU!
:hi:

thanks for the welcome