Memos Detail 74 CIA Landings in Canada

[cal04]

CIA planes have landed in Canada 74 times since the 9/11 terror attacks, underscoring fears that the United States is ferrying suspected terrorists through its neighboring country en route to foreign prisons for torture, according to newly declassified government documents. The government memos were released this week under Canada's Access to Information Act. The Associated Press obtained them Thursday from The Canadian Press.

Internal government briefing notes revealed senior intelligence officials from six government agencies, including the Security Intelligence Service, met in late November to discuss the flights. One memo dated Nov. 28 instructed officials to tell the media that there was ``no credible information to suggest that these planes were used to ferry suspected terrorists to and from Canada, or that illegal activity took place.''

A spokesman for the CIA in Washington declined comment on Thursday. U.S. intelligence officials have said in the past that the planes are more likely to be carrying staff, supplies or Director Porter Goss on his way to a foreign visit. The U.S. has come under fire, especially in Europe, for the practice of ``extraordinary rendition'' - the transporting of terror suspects to countries where they face harsh interrogation methods and possibly torture.

Ottawa has been investigating the detention of Syrian-born Canadian engineer Maher Arar. He was detained at JFK International Airport in New York in September 2002 on suspicion of being a member of Osama bin-Laden's al-Qaida network. U.S. authorities deported Arar to Syria, where he was kept in a damp Damascus prison cell and allegedly tortured for 10 months before being released and flown back to Canada.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5643054,00.html

[Lisa]

1. if the plane turns out to be carrying Porter Goss and "supplies"

.... say, a bunch of jumper cables ... I think we should detain Goss, and keep the cables (convert them to benign winter driving uses).

[HuffleClaw]

2. sickening.

"Flight data obtained by The Canadian Press show that since mid-2005, at least seven different planes owned by reputed CIA shell corporations have landed at Canadian airports."

be interesting to know who knew about this.

[saigon68]

4. Don't worry

There are just a few "brown" men passengers on board.( and a number of white men with ski masks piloting)

The brown men are naked with sandbags on their heads.

They are going for a "tropical vacation"

[ConcernedCanuk]

3. I suspect that "74" is just a portion of CIA activity in our airspace

.
.
.

This 74 is just the ones that we KNOW about . .

My distrust for our southern neighbor's government grows daily

And most likely

Quite justified

(sigh)

[iverglas]

5. some earlier reports

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/12/19/cia-051219.html
"Suspected CIA flight landed at Gander: report" - 19 Dec 2005

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/12/05/ciaflights051205.html
"Canada will investigate allegations of secret CIA flights" - 5 Dec 2005

Meanwhile ...
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/02/23/defence060223.html
"Canada's military priorities: more troops, closer relations with U.S." - 23 Feb 2006

And of course:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Render&c=Article&cid=1140130214126&call_pageid=968332188492

U.S. ruling dismisses Arar lawsuit
Torture fear real but beyond my realm, Brooklyn judge says
Secrecy cited to protect the countries' diplomatic relations
Feb. 17, 2006. 01:00 AM
TIM HARPER
WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON—A U.S. federal court has dismissed a lawsuit against the Bush administration brought by Ottawa engineer Maher Arar, essentially giving Washington the green light to continue its practice of sending terrorist suspects to third countries where they could be tortured.

Brooklyn District Court Judge David Trager cited the need for national security and secrecy in making his decision, but also raised the possibility of Canadian complicity in the decision to send Arar, now 35, to Syria in 2002, where he was tortured for almost a year.

"The need for much secrecy can hardly be doubted," Trager wrote in an 88-page judgment. "One need not have much imagination to contemplate the negative effect on our relations with Canada if discovery were to proceed in this case and were it to turn out that certain high Canadian officials had, despite public denials, acquiesced in Arar's removal to Syria."

Phew. How does that go again? Executive branch, legislative branch ... judicial branch. Apparently this guy doesn't realize he's part of that third one.