US plane monitored Tivoli operation

[malaise]

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20111207/lead/lead5.html
<snip>
A United States (US) report is contradicting claims made last year by the Jamaican Government that it did not receive any foreign assistance during the Tivoli Gardens, West Kingston, operation to nab Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.

An investigative piece to be published in the American magazine, the New Yorker, has revealed that a US spy plane took surveillance imagery of Tivoli Gardens on May 24, 2010 during the incursion into that community.

According to the article which is to appear in the magazine on December 12, a Lockheed P-3 Orion, belonging to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was flying above Kingston on May 24 "in support of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Jamaican Government".

The revelation contradicts past statements by the Jamaican government which denied that there was a US spy plane despite evidence at the time.

During a press conference held on May 25 last year at Jamaica House, then Minister with responsibility for Information Daryl Vaz, responding to questions from journalists, denied that Jamaica received any outside help.

Brigadier Rocky Meade (then a colonel), who was in charge of the operation in Tivoli Gardens, followed Vaz's stance when quizzed on whether there had been any foreign aircraft involved.

"I have no information that there were any drones here," Meade had said during the press conference.
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This was all connected to the Dudus Coke extradition.
Word is that the former PM (Golding) is in serious trouble with the US government for attempting to lobby the WH over a criminal. The sudden resignation is part of this ongoing saga.
We're also hearing that Coke is singing like a choir as sentencing is coming up in January.

[malaise]

1. Another link

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/12/jamaica-massacre/
<snip>
Somewhere in the bureaucratic bowels of the Department of Homeland Security is a videotape shot above the Tivoli Gardens neighborhood of Kingston, Jamaica on May 24, 2010. It could reveal whether the Jamaican security forces, acting on behalf of U.S. prosecutors, killed 73 members of a notorious crime syndicate or innocent civilians caught in house-to-house fighting. That is, if anyone in a position of power actually wants that question answered.

Over 500 Jamaican soldiers rushed into the teeming Tivoli Gardens neighborhood that day for what became known as Operation Garden Parish, a mission to capture the local mafia don, Christopher “Dudus” Coke. The mission was the result of heavy U.S. pressure: Coke had been indicted in U.S. federal court for running an international marijuana and cocaine ring. It would become one of the bloodiest days in recent Jamaican history.

What happened on May 24, 2010 garnered international headlines. But what no one knew until now was that circling overhead was a P-3 Orion spy plane, operated by the Department of Homeland Security. A lengthy investigation by journalist Mattathias Schwartz (a Danger Room friend) reveals that the Orion took footage of the hours-long battle. It has never been publicly revealed.
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We all knew - there were photos of the aircraft.

[malaise]

2. A Massacre in Jamaica

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/12/12/111212fa_fact_schwartz

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. One of the problems is that the P-3 is not a spy plane

It may well not have had the cameras people are assuming to record events

[hack89]

4. Things have changed since 911

P-3s spend more time over land then they do tracking sub - they have some pretty good IO/IR cameras onboard.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. Still does not make the case that their is a smoking gun video exists

What was the bureau number and what equipment does it have would be a good place to start

[hack89]

9. I agree about the smoking gun - but if there was a P-3 it had the capability

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/ms2/pdf/P-3_AIP_operational_brochure.pdf

[malaise]

11. Truth will out

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20111209/lead/lead1.html
<snip>
PRIME MINISTER and Minister of Defence, Andrew Holness, has revealed that the United States Government provided surveillance assistance to the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) through the presence of an aircraft over Tivoli Gardens during the May 24, 2010 operations in the West Kingston community to serve a warrant on convicted drug lord Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.

Minister of National Security Dwight Nelson during a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday dismissed claims made by The New Yorker, an American magazine, which detailed the role of a P-3 Orion aircraft which assisted the Jamaican Government during the Tivoli operations.

Yesterday, Holness sought to set the record straight, pointing out that the US was not involved on the ground but only assisted the local military with surveillance imagery and equipment.

Chief of Defence Staff Major General Antony Anderson said the equipment provided by the US "was part of normal agreements we have with the United States and other governments who supply equipment to the Jamaica Defence Force".

"At that time, what we wanted was an enhanced picture if it was available. The more information we had would lead to better planning. The planning that took place was between ourselves and the Jamaica Constabulary Force, no one else," Anderson said.

[malaise]

5. Here's a You TUbe clip from May 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN4URiC_6QI

[ProgressiveProfessor]

6. Which shows a P-3 loitering meaning...

[malaise]

8. Read this

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/video_recordings_drone/dhs-tivoli-newyorker.pdf

Of course the government here is denying it
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20111208/lead/lead5.html

[malaise]

10. The author of the Newyorker article will be on Beyond the Headlines

at 5.30pm.
This is a huge story here because the government is denying any links.
http://rjr94fm.com/live.php