A Casa 235 about to take off from Ruzyne Airport in Prague on a flight to Afghanistan operated by the C.I.A.-connected Aero Contractors.
C.I.A. Expanding Terror Battle Under Guise of Charter Flights (click here)
...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.
Aero Contractors' planes dropped C.I.A. paramilitary officers into Afghanistan in 2001; carried an American team to Karachi, Pakistan, right after the United States 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.
While posing as a private charter outfit - "aircraft rental with pilot" is the listing in Dun and Bradstreet - Aero Contractors is in fact a major domestic hub of the Central Intelligence Agency's secret air service. The company was founded in 1979 by a legendary C.I.A. officer and chief pilot for Air America, the agency's Vietnam-era air company, and it appears to be controlled by the agency, according to former employees....
While Bush/Cheney were in the Executive Branch manipulating 'the propaganda' regarding torture and extraordinary rendition, the USA's European Allies were in a very precarious position.
To begin, The Brits have been our allies for decades in a way that no other ally has. We share much with Britian, including culture, but also a heritage. So, when the USA breaths 'fire' after being attacked by terrorists, the Brits are at our side through thick and thin. I remember the 'tone' of the words of Tony Blair when Bush was inaugurated in that he welcomed a fellow Christian to office.
There is a 'proprietary' relationship between world powers. Between allies. We are sovereign nations, but, we are also 'invested' in many venues to each other and in that 'state of affairs' lies clout and also responsibility. For as allies, if one goes down there is a darn good chance the rest will follow.
Bush liked to call it 'political capital' when in fact that is a frivilous term for POWER. Bush and Cheney were power brokers and they didn't care whom they implicated in their 'dirty dealings' they simply carried out their agenda and didn't care if that endangered the people of Great Britain.
So, in that 'crude' explanation lies the understanding that when it comes to 'tattling' on the USA in a meaningful way by Jack Straw, there were a lot of conflicting priorities.
During the years Bush/Cheney were 'playing God' with human lives in the name of national security; and carrying out illegal and immoral measures such as Extraordinary Rendition; the 'allies' were always 'dodging public relation bullets' if you will. I am confident at some point in contemplation both Blair and Straw would reflect on the ruthlessness and complete stupidity of the Bush Executive Branch and question as to whether 'if pushed to hard or to far' it would actually come to destroy the very allies that facilitated NATO.
That speculation aside as only Straw and Blair could answer same. And maybe they should, in a book someday. In a book of memoirs, perhaps. A set of books that actually tells the tale of the extent allies are bound and the detriment of same.
The works of Jack Straw below reflects the 'reality' of the USA's involvement of Extraordinary Renditionand the FACT it was sanctioned through the CIA. I do believe some of these aircraft flew out of North Carolina on a regular basis.
...The vice chairman (click title to entry - thank you) of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Christopher S. Bond , R-Mo., pressed Panetta on remarks he made on the first day of his confirmation hearing Thursday, with Bond saying “it’s news to me” that the Bush administration did so. He noted that the U.S. government “sought and received” assurances that any suspects transferred to other countries would not be tortured....
November 1, 2005
Jack Straw dodges questions on torture and extraordinary rendition (click here)
Foreign Affairs Committee
Foreign Policy Aspects of the War against Terrorism
UNCORRECTED TRANSCRIPT OF ORAL EVIDENCE from Monday 24 October 2005
...Mr Straw: People start inquiries for all sorts of reasons. I assume we are co-operating with it. I am not aware of any requests, but we always co-operate with such requests.
Q107 Mr Keetch: They are not flying under US military flags; these are Gulfstream aircraft used by the CIA. They have a 26-strong fleet of Gulfstream aircraft that are used for this purpose. These aircraft are not coming into British spaces; they are coming into airports. Some are into bases like Northolt, and some into bases like Prestwick. Whilst it is always good to have the head of your parliamentary staff respond to our Clerk, Mr Priestley, could you give us an assurance that you will investigate these specific flights; and, if it is the case that these flights are being used for the process of extraordinary rendition, which is contrary to international law and indeed contrary to the stated policy of Her Majesty's Government, would you attempt to see if they should stop?...
