Pentagon in '94 opposed Peru shoot-down policy

By CNN Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In 1994, the Pentagon opposed providing "real-time" aerial tracking data to assist Peru in its policy of shooting down civilian aircraft suspected of drug smuggling because it could lead "to the death of innocent persons and would likely be a serious diplomatic embarrassment," declassified documents show.

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The documents, obtained by the National Security Archive under the Freedom of Information Act, are posted on the Internet at http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/

Two Americans died Friday when a Peruvian fighter -- with guidance from a U.S. surveillance aircraft that was looking for drug smugglers -- shot down the missionaries' plane.

A State Department memo dated May 1, 1994, outlined the vigorous internal debate over the policy, and warned that the Pentagon had ceased providing "real-time tracking data because of its belief that using weapons against civilian aircraft is "inconsistent with international law."

At one point, the memo warned that "mistakes are likely to occur under any policy that contemplates the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight, even as a last resort," and that by providing real-time tracking information to Peru and Colombia, the United States is "closely involved in the operation and arguable bears some responsibility."

The Pentagon pointed out that the United States argued vigorously after the Soviet Union shot down a civilian Korean jetliner "such actions violate article 3(d) of the 1944 Convention on Internal Civil Aviation and customary international law."

The State Department was divided on the policy, some arguing that aiding the Peruvians actually saved lives, because it lessened the chances of mistakes. "In a perverse way the DoD (Department of Defense) position increases the risk of loss of innocent life in the Andes," the May 10th memo stated. "DoD provides excellent real-time tracking data. By terminating it they do not necessarily force the Colombian and Peruvian governments to cease their policies."

The issue was settled the next year when President Clinton decided to allow the sharing of tracking assistance "if the President has determined that such actions are necessary because of the threat posed by drugtrafficking [sic] to the national security of that country and that the country has appropriate procedures in place to protect innocent aircraft."

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