QUESTION: Earlier this week, there were reports that @CIA official Mike D'Andrea, a key figure in US #counterterrorism "activities" #dronestrikes in the Middle East, was aboard a military plane that crashed in Afghanistan and may have been killed or captured. Is that true?
What we've heard is an official "no comment" and an unofficial "no way he would be on that plane". So we asked @trapwire's Mike Maness, who spent 17 years as a CIA case officer, and former Chief of Station... Is it likely D'andrea, or someone like him would be on that plane?
He said, "I cannot think of any real operational reason for Mike (or any other case officer) to be riding in that type of aircraft. The E11A provides “over the horizon” comms connectivity for military and intel teams dispersed throughout Afghanistan..."
"Mike would not have had to be sitting in the aircraft to make use its technical capabilities. All that said, It does happen on occasion that someone needs a lift from point A to point B and the military offers a seat..."
"But these types of aircraft usually stay airborne for quite a while running communication systems, so it certainly would not have a been a very direct flight."
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