Pubdate: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 Source: Grand Rapids Press (MI) http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2008/11/post_24.html Copyright: 2008 Grand Rapids Press Contact: http://www.mlive.com/grpress/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/171 Author: Ted Roelofs Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?172 (Peruvian Aircraft Shooting) HOEKSTRA SAYS CIA LIED ABOUT PERU PLANE DOWNING THAT KILLED MISSIONARY VERONICA BOWERS, DAUGHTER A new federal probe of the 2001 downing of a plane carrying West Michigan missionaries in Peru concluded the CIA operated outside the law and then lied to Congress and federal officials, according to U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra. "We cannot have a community that operates outside the law and covers up what it does and lies to Congress," Hoekstra said today. Hoekstra said he will press for criminal investigation following release of the report by the Office of Inspector General. Veronica "Roni" Bowers, 35, of Muskegon, was holding her 7-month-old daughter, Charity, when their plane was misidentified by as a potential drug-smuggling aircraft and fired upon by a Peruvian air force jet. A bullet struck Bowers in the back, killing her and the baby. Bowers' husband, Jim, then 37, son, Cory, 8, and the pilot survived the crash that followed the shooting. "This is a shootdown that should not have occurred if we had an agency that was working appropriately," said Hoekstra, a member of the House Intelligence Committee. The report concluded CIA operatives failed to follow rules of engagement in the 2001 incident as well as several others, Hoekstra said. It also found there was an active coverup by the CIA of the facts surrounding the case, Hoekstra said.