CIA chief 'behind Soleimani's assassination' killed in downed plane in Afghanistan
Source: Middle East Monitor
Russian intelligence sources have claimed that Michael DAndrea, 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 CIAs mobile command for DAndrea, 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 agencys 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/
DeminPennswoods
(15,290 posts)(assuming this report is true)
exboyfil
(17,865 posts)that allowed this plane to be downed. It is not like he can't help bragging.
fleur-de-lisa
(14,628 posts)hlthe2b
(102,419 posts)christx30
(6,241 posts)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)With all your "friends I've never met before" surrounding you with their phones set to record.
Ilsa
(61,707 posts)More news on this coming, I'm sure.
Look what trump has got us into.
iluvtennis
(19,882 posts)trump has started a shit show. there was no reason for him to take out Soleimani.
Nasruddin
(754 posts)Ghazni is in the Persian language area of Afghanistan. One wonders ....
dalton99a
(81,637 posts)Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)Engine. Hmmmm.
Sanity Claws
(21,860 posts)Putin's tactics done on behalf of Putin's Trump team.
2naSalit
(86,843 posts)from being the first to enter my mind. I was suspicious when I read about it last night.
Baitball Blogger
(46,769 posts)Lulu KC
(2,574 posts)And none of this is in the headlines that I'm seeing.
gab13by13
(21,440 posts)maybe Russia shot it down? The guy knew too much.
onetexan
(13,071 posts)chilling at that
marble falls
(57,355 posts)yaesu
(8,020 posts)Sapient Donkey
(1,568 posts)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
(36,160 posts)Interesting coincidences keep piling up to the benefit of Putin's Eurasian Project. We need to slot them away for future reference.
Bayard
(22,181 posts)Knocking off witnesses and co-conspirators. They, "earnt" it (what the hell is that?)
Jedi Guy
(3,262 posts)I've seen "learned" written as "learnt" in some documents written by people from the UK.
hack89
(39,171 posts)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.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_Airborne_Communications_Node
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
lostnfound
(16,193 posts)True_Blue
(3,063 posts)barbtries
(28,815 posts)did not verify this.
if it's true, it is alarming.
cyndensco
(1,697 posts)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.
Javaman
(62,534 posts)Wednesdays
(17,450 posts)mylightningtoo
(58 posts)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.
Duppers
(28,127 posts)But no cause of death as of yet.
Botany
(70,614 posts)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?
SayItLoud
(1,702 posts)IMO Iran surrogates behind this. Just the beginning of Iranian payback. Buckle up.
crickets
(25,987 posts)OAITW r.2.0
(24,679 posts)Hoping we see more sourcing on this. Troubling if true.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,026 posts)padah513
(2,509 posts)JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,374 posts)pangaia
(24,324 posts)earnt ?
SunSeeker
(51,745 posts)greenjar_01
(6,477 posts)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
(4,443 posts)Never heard of DAndrea 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)I wonder...All these years avoiding injury, but now, right after the "kill", he is suddenly downed...
58Sunliner
(4,419 posts)We are now living with a govt that we think is capable of such an assassination.
Bradical79
(4,490 posts)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)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
Link to tweet
greenjar_01
(6,477 posts)The dude not the actor?
No word on that yet, I guess.
greyl
(22,990 posts)greenjar_01
(6,477 posts)roamer65
(36,747 posts)Jesus had that one right.
discntnt_irny_srcsm
(18,482 posts)wishstar
(5,272 posts)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 Administrations 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, its very hard to undo that.
Critics and some U.S. officials say the growing dearth of trust in Americas 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 thats 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 hasnt 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 its 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.