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True_Blue

(3,063 posts)
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 12:04 PM Jan 2020

CIA chief 'behind Soleimani's assassination' killed in downed plane in Afghanistan

Source: Middle East Monitor

Russian intelligence sources have claimed that Michael D’Andrea, head of CIA operations in Iran and who orchestrated the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a US spy plane downed yesterday in Ghazni, Afghanistan.

The plane with US Air Force markings reportedly served as the CIA’s mobile command for D’Andrea, who earnt several nicknames including: Ayatollah Mike, the Dark Prince, and the Undertaker. He is one of the most prominent CIA figures in the region, appointed head of the agency’s Iran Mission Centre in 2017. Under his leadership, the agency was perceived to take a more “aggressive stance toward Iran”.

The Taliban claimed to have shot down the plane but have yet to provide evidence, whilst the US has denied the claim but has acknowledged the loss of a Bombardier E-11A plane in central Afghanistan. Graphic images online have already circulated purportedly showing some of the charred remains of those on board.

Afghan authorities initially claimed the plane was a state-owned airline, but this was denied by the company, Ariana. Helicopters have been brought down before by the Taliban, but they are not believed to have the capabilities required to bring down a high-flying aircraft.


Read more: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200128-cia-chief-behind-soleimanis-assassination-killed-in-downed-plane-in-afghanistan/

53 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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CIA chief 'behind Soleimani's assassination' killed in downed plane in Afghanistan (Original Post) True_Blue Jan 2020 OP
Live by violence, die by violence DeminPennswoods Jan 2020 #1
I wonder if the Trumpster leaked information exboyfil Jan 2020 #2
It's sad that this is a possibility in the age of trump. fleur-de-lisa Jan 2020 #3
Hardly an unlikely possibility... hlthe2b Jan 2020 #14
Pretty much a near certainty when the idiot in charge christx30 Jan 2020 #38
Sources and methods leak when you plan in the restaurant bigbrother05 Jan 2020 #31
This is a big deal. Ilsa Jan 2020 #4
Why haven't we heard anything on this from trump admin - inquiring minds want to know. iluvtennis Jan 2020 #5
Interesting Nasruddin Jan 2020 #6
Footage of the crashed plane: dalton99a Jan 2020 #7
Interesting Hole in the Wellstone ruled Jan 2020 #17
Killing those who know things Sanity Claws Jan 2020 #8
Couldn't stop that idea 2naSalit Jan 2020 #41
Wow. Baitball Blogger Jan 2020 #9
Seems very interesting the day after the rockets hit the US Embassy in Baghdad Lulu KC Jan 2020 #10
Trump needs to get his story straight with Russia, gab13by13 Jan 2020 #16
spot on, this is much more surreal than any spy movie onetexan Jan 2020 #42
Soon to be a fantasy show on Fox. marble falls Jan 2020 #11
tRump probably couldn't get on the phone fast enough to his love putin to spill the beans. nt yaesu Jan 2020 #12
Well that's an interesting coincidence Sapient Donkey Jan 2020 #13
Nope. Silence of Western media means you're probably reading it right. ancianita Jan 2020 #35
Right on time Bayard Jan 2020 #15
British version of "earned." Jedi Guy Jan 2020 #22
I call bull shit hack89 Jan 2020 #18
Any other sources on this? Real or fake news? Nt lostnfound Jan 2020 #19
Yes but all foreign sources. The Guardian also has an article True_Blue Jan 2020 #25
a quick google search barbtries Jan 2020 #20
The sources listed on Google are from middle eastern sources. cyndensco Jan 2020 #24
tying up loose ends. nt Javaman Jan 2020 #21
Dead men tell no tales. nm Wednesdays Jan 2020 #23
This can be confirmed or denied if the mylightningtoo Jan 2020 #26
Wikipedia has him listed as dead... Duppers Jan 2020 #44
Did Russia get info from Trump or on their own and pass it on to the Taliban in order to target ... Botany Jan 2020 #27
#TrumpsWar SayItLoud Jan 2020 #28
That was my first thought. Not enough corroboration/details yet, but seems likely. nt crickets Jan 2020 #48
Bookmarked to follow. OAITW r.2.0 Jan 2020 #29
we are all in a Robert Ludlum book NRaleighLiberal Jan 2020 #30
Yes!!! padah513 Jan 2020 #34
With Trump, we are all in a Spy vs Spy cartoon. JustABozoOnThisBus Jan 2020 #43
"... D'Andrea, who earnt several nicknames .." pangaia Jan 2020 #32
As Malcolm Nance says, coincidences take a lot of planning. nt SunSeeker Jan 2020 #33
Every Iran expert said it would happen this way greenjar_01 Jan 2020 #36
Interesting. James48 Jan 2020 #37
How convenient...Was there anything this guy knew that needed to stay under wraps? Perseus Jan 2020 #39
Unfortunately we have no idea what really happened. 58Sunliner Jan 2020 #40
Hell, we have a President that could have leaked details himself Bradical79 Jan 2020 #45
Pic of Zero Dark Thirty actor used in theory that CIA official killed in plane crash in Afghanistan. greyl Jan 2020 #46
But is he alive tho? greenjar_01 Jan 2020 #49
Undetermined. nt greyl Jan 2020 #50
A curious silence greenjar_01 Jan 2020 #51
If you live by the sword, you shall indeed die by it. roamer65 Jan 2020 #47
Have you read Luke 22? discntnt_irny_srcsm Feb 2020 #53
US states NO CIA, only 2 US Air Force onboard, Per new Time magazine report: wishstar Feb 2020 #52

exboyfil

(17,857 posts)
2. I wonder if the Trumpster leaked information
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 12:07 PM
Jan 2020

that allowed this plane to be downed. It is not like he can't help bragging.

christx30

(6,241 posts)
38. Pretty much a near certainty when the idiot in charge
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 02:39 PM
Jan 2020

likes to shoot his mouth off e dry chance he gets. Loved to impress people with the crap he knows about.

bigbrother05

(5,995 posts)
31. Sources and methods leak when you plan in the restaurant
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 01:54 PM
Jan 2020

With all your "friends I've never met before" surrounding you with their phones set to record.

iluvtennis

(19,757 posts)
5. Why haven't we heard anything on this from trump admin - inquiring minds want to know.
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 12:12 PM
Jan 2020

trump has started a shit show. there was no reason for him to take out Soleimani.

2naSalit

(86,054 posts)
41. Couldn't stop that idea
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 03:16 PM
Jan 2020

from being the first to enter my mind. I was suspicious when I read about it last night.

Lulu KC

(2,547 posts)
10. Seems very interesting the day after the rockets hit the US Embassy in Baghdad
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 12:22 PM
Jan 2020

And none of this is in the headlines that I'm seeing.

gab13by13

(20,864 posts)
16. Trump needs to get his story straight with Russia,
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 12:34 PM
Jan 2020

maybe Russia shot it down? The guy knew too much.

Sapient Donkey

(1,568 posts)
13. Well that's an interesting coincidence
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 12:28 PM
Jan 2020

How often do CIA station chiefs die like this?

If it was shot down and he was targeted, then that must be pretty unnerving to people in certain job roles.


How well known was his involvement and how much of the assassination was seen as his thing? If he was the primary name attached to it, is it possible this all some sort of subterfuge to protect him? Too hollywood-thinking? Probably. Never mind.

ancianita

(35,812 posts)
35. Nope. Silence of Western media means you're probably reading it right.
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 02:19 PM
Jan 2020

Interesting coincidences keep piling up to the benefit of Putin's Eurasian Project. We need to slot them away for future reference.

Jedi Guy

(3,171 posts)
22. British version of "earned."
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 01:04 PM
Jan 2020

I've seen "learned" written as "learnt" in some documents written by people from the UK.

hack89

(39,171 posts)
18. I call bull shit
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 12:45 PM
Jan 2020

the plane is a communications relay plane - the system it carries is called Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN). They are a common sight in Afghanstan.

It would not be flying a CIA station head around. It is not a transport plane. Plus the CIA has a fleet of jets of their own.

BACN was deployed on a test platform Bombardier BD-700 and originally designated as the RC-700A under the reconnaissance classification. The aircraft was later re-designated as the E-11A under the special electronics installation category.[12] The BD-700 was selected due to its high service ceiling (up to 51,000 ft) and flight duration (up to 12 hours). These flight characteristics are critical in providing unified datalink and voice networks in the mountainous terrain encountered in the current theater of operations. Additional E-11As have been deployed to increase availability and flexibility. These have been used in operations in Afghanistan.[13]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_Airborne_Communications_Node

The Air Force has a total of four E-11As, including the one that has now crashed. These planes are based on the Bombardier BD-700 Global Express business jet, which are forward-deployed in Afghanistan assigned to the 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron at Kandahar Airfield.

These aircraft carry the Battlefield Airborne Control Node (BACN) payload, which allows them to act as highly specialized aerial communications nodes that can rapidly shift information to and from a wide variety of airborne platforms and forces on the ground. There are also three EQ-4B Global Hawk drones that carry the BACN package.


https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/31969/highly-specialized-air-force-e-11a-communications-aircraft-crashes-and-burns-in-afghanistan

cyndensco

(1,697 posts)
24. The sources listed on Google are from middle eastern sources.
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 01:17 PM
Jan 2020

Interesting though, it was first mentioned on Reddit 20 hours ago:

Unconfirmed reports that the CIA head of anti-Iran operations, Michael D'Andrea aka Ayatollah Mike, was on board the plane that crashed near Ghazni, Afghanistan this morning. D'Andrea also masterminded the murder of Imad Mughniyeh, former Hezbollah Chief of Staff, back in 2008. (twitter.com)
submitted 20 hours ago by samanwilson


https://www.reddit.com/r/iranian/comments/eutsw6/unconfirmed_reports_that_the_cia_head_of_antiiran/


So if true, our gov't must have known about it for a while. The rumor - if it is a false - could have been dispelled hours ago.

I agree. It is alarming.

 

mylightningtoo

(58 posts)
26. This can be confirmed or denied if the
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 01:27 PM
Jan 2020

mainstream media stays focused on it. At some point someone is going to wonder where Mr. D'Andrea is if he isn't showing up for his appointments.

Botany

(70,291 posts)
27. Did Russia get info from Trump or on their own and pass it on to the Taliban in order to target ...
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 01:42 PM
Jan 2020

Last edited Tue Jan 28, 2020, 02:38 PM - Edit history (1)

... D'Andrea? Or did Russia clue Iran in on D'Andrea's where about for some payback?

 

greenjar_01

(6,477 posts)
36. Every Iran expert said it would happen this way
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 02:23 PM
Jan 2020

Not a big strike in retribution for Soleimani, but years of little revenges.

All it takes is an Iranian operative to provide the right capability, information, and hardware.

This is a pretty big L for the US if true.

James48

(4,416 posts)
37. Interesting.
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 02:35 PM
Jan 2020

Never heard of D’Andrea before.

If he really was on the plane, it is interesting Russia had the info first.

Or it could have been that the guy IS a CIA station s Chief, killed elsewhere, and the CIA is using the plane dead has a cover story. Which would have the Russians in on it.

Fascinating.

 

Perseus

(4,341 posts)
39. How convenient...Was there anything this guy knew that needed to stay under wraps?
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 02:41 PM
Jan 2020

I wonder...All these years avoiding injury, but now, right after the "kill", he is suddenly downed...

58Sunliner

(4,339 posts)
40. Unfortunately we have no idea what really happened.
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 03:08 PM
Jan 2020

We are now living with a govt that we think is capable of such an assassination.

 

Bradical79

(4,490 posts)
45. Hell, we have a President that could have leaked details himself
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 06:30 PM
Jan 2020

Wouldn't be the first time he's compromised our own people just bragging about things to Russians and other evil buddies.

greyl

(22,990 posts)
46. Pic of Zero Dark Thirty actor used in theory that CIA official killed in plane crash in Afghanistan.
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 10:56 PM
Jan 2020
Original title: Iranian state TV used a photo of an actor from 'Zero Dark Thirty' to spread a wild theory that a senior CIA official was killed in a plane crash in Afghanistan


Iran's state TV broadcast a photo of an actor from"Zero Dark Thirty" to illustrate a claim that the CIA officer that inspired the character had been killed.

On Monday, the US military confirmed an E-11A surveillance plane crashed in Ghanzi, eastern Afghanistan. The Taliban, who control the region, say several top CIA operatives were killed, and have since denied access to the crash site.

One of those CIA operatives was Michael D'Andrea, state TV said, according to BBC Monitoring, which first reported the claims made on Iranian TV.

Iranian TV did not provide any evidence for its claim that D'Andrea was killed Monday.

More: https://www.businessinsider.com/iran-image-zero-dark-thirty-actor-claim-cia-agent-death-2020-1



discntnt_irny_srcsm

(18,470 posts)
53. Have you read Luke 22?
Sun Feb 2, 2020, 09:44 AM
Feb 2020
36 "But now," he said, "take a duffle bag if you have one and your money. And if you don’t have a sword, better sell your clothes and buy one!"
From the modern language Living Bible.

wishstar

(5,267 posts)
52. US states NO CIA, only 2 US Air Force onboard, Per new Time magazine report:
Sun Feb 2, 2020, 05:17 AM
Feb 2020
https://time.com/5775758/military-crash-cia-disinformation/

The wreckage of a U.S. military plane that crashed and burned in a snowy mountainous region in Afghanistan on Monday was still fresh when Iranian state TV ran a story claiming a top CIA officer was among the dead. Like all good propaganda, the story was mostly false, but with a scintilla of truth. Two American service members had been killed when the U.S. Air Force jet slammed into the snowy ground, but U.S. officials insist there was no CIA onboard.

The U.S. military says it could not have gotten the news out sooner. But the Iranian version of events that circulated in the information vacuum had people inside and outside the U.S. wondering who to believe. The Trump Administration’s now-familiar pattern of slow, incomplete and sometimes disingenuous responses to events has ground down public and internal trust of its messaging and created an opportunity for adversaries like Iran and Russia to spread disinformation and sow confusion among allies and U.S. officials. The wrong information can spread about an event whether it happened on a remote Afghan mountainside or a maximum-security American compound. “If false reports are not authoritatively or convincingly disproven, they can take on a life of their own,” James Cunningham, former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan told TIME. “Once that happens, it’s very hard to undo that.”

Critics and some U.S. officials say the growing dearth of trust in America’s word is symptomatic of an Administration led by a President who calls journalists “the enemy of the people”, frequently labels factual or unflattering news coverage as “fake news”, and has himself made more than 12,000 false or misleading statements during his tenure, according to a count by The Washington Post. A trust gap has formed between journalists and Administration spokespeople who often see challenging questions as political attacks, and treat offending outlets with disdain.

Overall, there are fewer on-record press briefings in the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House and other agencies in this Administration, says a former senior Trump Administration official. He says that’s due in part to the top-down nature of the Administration and in part to subordinates’ efforts to protect the President. There is an internal battle afoot with some senior Administration officials arguing for more public briefings, and while the White House Press Secretary hasn’t briefed from the podium since March 2019, the Pentagon and State Department have resumed holding more frequent press conferences to win back that global public trust. But it’s an uphill battle against the megaphone of the Twitter presidency —and the active disinformation campaigns being waged overseas against the U.S. “No one believes us anymore,” one frustrated senior U.S. official said.



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