Pubdate: Fri, 27 Apr 2001
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2001 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.sjmercury.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Carolyn Skorneck, Associated Press

TAPE REVEALS DOUBTS BEFORE PERU SHOOT-DOWN

`I Think We're Making A Mistake,' Says Pilot After Spotting Plane
Flying Missionaries

WASHINGTON - Before a Peruvian air force jet shot down a U.S.
missionary plane, a member of the CIA crew that first spotted the
missionaries said, ``We don't know who this guy is, but he could be
legit,'' U.S. officials said Thursday.

American missionary Veronica ``Roni'' Bowers and her infant daughter
were killed in the attack April 20. The incident prompted the United
States and Peru to suspend the airborne anti-drug surveillance program
while they attempt to determine what went wrong.

The missionaries' plane was first spotted by a U.S. aircraft carrying
three CIA-hired Americans and a bilingual Peruvian air force officer
who serves as the liaison to his service.

Once the American surveillance team finds a plane, however, it is up
to the Peruvians to check it out -- search for a flight plan, send up
a jet for a closer look and, ultimately, decide whether to shoot it
down if it fails to respond to radio contacts, signals to land and
warning shots.

Officials who have seen a transcript of audiotapes of what happened in
the minutes before the incident say the Americans repeatedly expressed
concerns that the plane did not appear to be involved in drug
trafficking: It was flying straight, level and well inside Peruvian
territory, not low, evasive and hugging the border for a quick getaway.

``Are you sure it's a bandido?'' one American said to the Peruvian on
board as he sought superiors' approval to fire. ``Are you sure this is
a bad guy?'' an American said at another point, with the American
pilot telling his co-pilot at one point: ``I think we're making a mistake.''

The CIA has now debriefed the U.S. crew and concluded they handled
their role properly, Senate intelligence committee chair Richard
Shelby said Thursday after his second briefing in three days on the
matter by CIA Director George Tenet.

``He saw basically nothing that our people had done was questionable
or wrong,'' said Shelby, R-Ala. ``But they continue to scrub this, and
we are conducting our own oversight of this program -- what went
wrong, why did it go wrong. We need to know because this was a tragic
incident, something that shouldn't have happened.''
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