“On Saturday, a United States surveillance plane aided a Russian made Peruvian fighter jet in shooting down a Cessna 185 near Iquitos, Peru, The plane turned out to belong to the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism. Apparently mistaking the missionaries for drug smugglers the Peruvian jet opened fire on the plane, killing passengers Roni Bowers and her infant daughter Charity and seriously wounding pilot Kevin Donaldson. Two other passengers on the plane were not injured and the plane was able to make an emergency landing”
“The Harrisburg, PA based ABWE has been conducting missionary work in Peru since 1939. According to their website the plane was well marked and had been following all regulations such as maintaining contact with flight towers. Beginning in 1991 the US started aggressively supporting the now notorious President Alberto Fujimori and the Peruvian government’s war on drugs. The US has spent billions supplying Peru — along with Colombia — with money, equipment and manpower.”
“This is the second time in a decade that the Peruvian Air Force has shot down a US plane. Last time, in 1992, they shot down a US Air Force plane. Compare and contrast: The Chinese damaged one of our planes in an accident; the Peruvians shot two of our planes out of the sky. And the William Kristol crowd blathers and hammers about national honor, and getting tough, and treating the Chinese like the Soviets. We don’t care about the act; we care about the actor. (Their human rights record is appalling, too, by the way.)”
