February 07 2020
In another part of the effort to make its sound like Iran has done a lot to avenge the assassination of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleymani, some in the Islamic Republic are claiming to have downed a US military jet over Afghanistan, killing 100 Americans including the CIA agency executive they say masterminded Soleymani’s killing.
There are a few problems with the story, although the basic part about a US military plane crashing in Afghanistan is true.
But the plane cannot hold anywhere near 100 people and the US Force said it only had two crewmen in it when it went down. Iranian state broadcasting attributed its report of 100 dead to The Associated Press. The Associated Press said it never carried any such story.
The Taliban, however, apparently believed Iranian state broadcasting as residents of the area near the crash reported Taliban troops were going door-to-door looking for living US airmen.
The plane was a Canadian-built Bombardier E-11 used to enhance communications among US troops scattered across mountainous Afghanistan where communications are often difficult. The plane circles for hours in the sky to relay messages.
Iranian state TV also told its viewers that among those killed on the plane was Michael D’Andrea, a CIA top executive in Afghanistan that state TV said orchestrated the killing of Soleymani.
But Soleymani’s assassination was authorized by President Trump and carried out by US military assets west of Iran, not by CIA assets east of Iran. Furthermore, D’Andrea would not be flying for hours in a plane that just relays messages over mountains.
State TV then broadcast a photo it identified as being that of Michael D’Andrea. Actually, it was a picture of Hollywood actor Fredric Lehne, playing a role said to be based on D’Andrea in the movie “Zero Dark Thirty.”
The Taliban at first claimed they shot down the US Air Force plane. The US military says its evidence to date is that the aircraft crash was an accident. The Taliban later rescinded their claim.
