New White House Photo of Air Force One landing in Wahsington, D.C.

Previously unreleased White House photo
This photo op was priceless

You Can't Read This Post - It's Classified Information

The following information is from the blogs Don Surber, A Blog For All and Ace of Spades HQ (language warning for ACE). You'll enjoy the news and the sarcasm.
Rees

from A Blog For All
Posted by lawhawk
Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Scare Force One Photos Wont Be Made Public

After claiming last week that the flyby of the VC-25 aircraft that is designated Air Force One when the President is on board was meant to upgrade the file photos of the airplane over national landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, the US Air Force now says that they won't make the photos public.

Are you kidding me? After spending $328,835 [ed: corrected the figure] to make the effort and causing quite the scare and stir in the NY metro area because of the low flying aircraft that no one except a chosen few in the FAA and a few people that the FAA informed, the Air Force and White House owe it to the taxpayers and the New York metro area residents to see what they got for the trouble.

The $328,835 snapshots of an Air Force One backup plane buzzing lower Manhattan last week will not be shown to the public, the White House said yesterday.

"We have no plans to release them," an aide to President Obama told The Post, refusing to comment further.

The sole purpose of the secret photo-op, which sent thousands of New Yorkers running for cover, was to take new publicity shots of the presidential jet over the city.

"The photos . . . are classified -- that's ridiculous," Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., said.

New Yorkers said they could not understand how a president who shares intimate snapshots from the White House could justify classifying these.

"So we're not gonna see the fruits of this cruel joke?" said Frank Antonelli, 39, one of the Wall Street traders spooked by last week's flyover.
Also, after claiming he was angry that the photo op caused such a stir, the President must make the photos available.

This only adds an unnecessary diversion to the White House (which could be precisely why they're going this route?).

UPDATE:Don Surber links. Thanks! Don also notes that the White House is hell-bent on releasing hundreds of photos showing alleged abuse of detainees. So, it's real easy to find reason to criticize the US (and particularly the prior administration), but if you find reason to criticize the current occupant of the White House, those photos remain classified (although not for long as Michelle Malkin has filed FOIA requests to release the photos and other information stemming from the overflights).

UPDATE:This is top quality snark, courtesy of Ace of Spades reader C.Jordan:
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Click to read the article and the comments

The best New York flyover video

Arlen Specter Catches Democratic Swine Flu

from How The World Works

Stupidity + Arrogance = Gibbs

A MUST WATCH - Obama Insensitive about 911...

FAA memo: Feds knew Scare Force One would cause panic

image by Rees

from Hot Air.com
by Allahpundit
April 28, 2009

Via JWF, I’m almost comforted by the revelation. The possibility that they’d be so stupid as not to know that buzzing lower Manhattan with a jumbo jet might freak people out is too terrible to contemplate.

Now all we have to do is figure out why a “photo op” would be such a terrifically big secret that not even the mayor of New York was in on it. Does that make any sense at all? “We need a new stock shot of Air Force One near the Statue of Liberty. Don’t tell a soul.”

Federal officials knew that sending two fighter jets and Air Force One to buzz ground zero and Lady Liberty might set off nightmarish fears of a 9/11 replay, but they still ordered the photo-op kept secret from the public.

In a memo obtained by CBS 2 HD, the Federal Aviation Administration’s James Johnston said the agency was aware of “the possibility of public concern regarding DOD (Department of Defense) aircraft flying at low altitudes” in an around New York City. But they demanded total secrecy from the NYPD, the Secret Service, the FBI and even the mayor’s office and threatened federal sanctions if the secret got out…

The NYPD was so upset about the demand for secrecy that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly vowed never to follow such a directive again and he accused the feds of inciting fears of a 9/11 replay.

The cost of this debacle, by the way? Just shy of $329,000. Think of it as a stimulus: The amount of booze, smokes, and anti-anxiety meds alone that New Yorkers must have consumed in the aftermath of this mass panic attack was probably worth $10-20 mil to the city.

I just got this info sent to me about the photo op / flyover yesterday with Air Force One ….the one that sent people running in NYC…yes, scared them to death! They now say it was a training mission…hhm….they needed training? and the cost? see (by the way, how much flu vaccination can you get for $325,000+? )

Follow the link for a breakdown of the cost. Question for Air Force vets: Is “training mission” military jargon for “photo op”? What were they “training” to do here precisely, besides killing people on the ground from fright?
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AIR HEADS IN WHITE HOUSE TERRORIZE NEW YORK CITY

Scare Force One - The Doh!meister is at it again!
IDIOTIC FLIGHT SPURS '9/11' EVAC

By MURRAY WEISS, DAVID SEIFMAN and JEREMY OLSHAN
from The New York Post
April 28, 2009

"Air Farce One" played out over lower Manhattan yesterday -- in a terrifyingly bizarre military photo op that sent office workers fleeing from their buildings fearing a new 9/11-type attack.

But it turned out that the backup Air Force One jet and the fighter that appeared to be pursuing it only 1,000 feet above Ground Zero were staging the spectacle to get publicity shots of the presidential plane with a New York backdrop.

"We all ran to the window, and I thought, that's it, we're all dead," said Chris Biancamano, 36, who works at a brokerage in Jersey City. "It brought back all the memories of 9/11. I said, 'I have to get out of here now!' "

The planes flew over the Verrazano Bridge, buzzed Lady Liberty's left ear, continued up the Hudson past Jersey City and then circled back toward Staten Island, federal officials said. The jets then completed two more loops as photographers aboard the F-16 took the world's most expensive snapshots.

Although the Air Force had permission for the 10 a.m. flyover, no one bothered to warn the people on the ground, and as the two jets hurtled toward lower Manhattan, many mistook Obama's plane for Osama's.

President Obama himself was not in the plane at the time, but the 747 flew so low that New Yorkers had no trouble reading the aircraft's insignia.

Dominick Caglioti, who works at the Mercantile Exchange in lower Manhattan, thought the planes were headed straight for his window. After learning it was all a photo op, he fumed.

"It's so stupid because they tell you about every fire drill, but they didn't tell us about this," he said.

Jillian Pizzarello, who also works at the Mercantile Exchange, said, "You don't do this to people down here after all we have been through."

Thousands of people were evacuated from buildings on both sides of the Hudson during the half-hour episode.

Federal aviation officials had notified Mayor Bloomberg's office -- but not the mayor himself -- and the NYPD last week. But officials were given clear instructions not to share the classified mission with the public, sources said.

NYPD brass told 911 operators in advance to explain to callers that the planes -- which came within 500 feet of the Statue of Liberty's torch -- were conducting an "authorized" military operation.

The only relatively high-ranking person in the Bloomberg administration told of the plan was Marc Mugnos, the director of operations in the Office of Citywide Event Coordination -- a man normally charged with approving street fairs, sources said.

Bloomberg said he never received word of the plans, and he was "furious."

"Why the Defense Department wanted to do a photo op right around the site of the World Trade Center catastrophe de fies imagination," he said. "Poor judgment would be a nice way to phrase it. Had I known about it I would have called them right away and asked them not to." Mugnos was reprimanded for failing to notify the mayor, a source said.

It's unclear how much the stunt cost taxpayers, but officials said earlier this year that flying Air Force One comes with a $40,000-per-hour price tag.

At first, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs dismissed complaints and said he had no knowledge of the flyover.

"I was working on other things. You might be surprised to know I don't know every movement of Air Force One or what happens to it," he said.

But Louis Caldera, director of the White House Military Office, later said he approved the mission.

"I take responsibility for that decision. While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it's clear that the mission created confusion and disruption," he said. "I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused."

Obama did not know of the elaborate plans for the photos.

"When he found out, he was absolutely furious," a White House aide told The Post.

The new photo of the plane with the Statue of Liberty was to replace the current publicity shot of Air Force One above Mount Rushmore.

Additional reporting by Kirsten Fleming and David Hastie
murray.weiss@ny post.com
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Air Farce One - President's Plane Buzzes NYC, Startles NYers, White House Apologizes

from The New York Post
by DAVID SEIFMAN, MURRAY WEISS and JEREMY OLSHAN
Last updated: 10:45 pm April 27, 2009 Posted: 3:33 pmApril 27, 2009

A jumbo jet being chased by a F-16 fighter jets buzzed Lower Manhattan this morning, panicking New Yorkers, many of whom were forced to evacuate their office buildings.

It was not a terrorist attack, however, but a photo opportunity for Air Force One, sources told the Post.

President Obama was in Washington at the time, but the low-flying 747 circling the Statue of Liberty was one of the planes used as Air Force One, sources said.

The NYPD and the city were notified of the planned flight, but did not share that information with Mayor Bloomberg and other New Yorkers, many of whom said they were terrified.

Hours after the incident, a furious Bloomberg called the photo-op "insensitive."

"First thing is I'm annoyed - furious is a better word - that I wasn't told," he said. "Why the Defense Department wanted to do a photo op right around the site of the World Trade Center catastrophe defies imagination. Poor judgment would be a nice ways to phrase."

Bloomberg said federal officials notified the NYPD and another city official, whom he declined to identify, of the flight plan.

"Had I known about it I would have called them right away and asked them not to," he said.
"The good news is it was nothing more than an ill considered, badly conceived, insensitive photo op - with the taxpayers' money."

Dominick Caglioti, who works at the Mercantile Exchange, thought the worst as he saw the jets hurtle toward his window just after 10:30 a.m. After learning it was all a photo op, he was furious.

"It's so stupid because they tell you about every fire drill, but they didn't tell us about this," he said.

The planes flew over the Verrazano Bridge, buzzed the left ear Lady Liberty and then continued up the Hudson past Jersey City and then circling back toward Staten Island, federal sources told the Post.

Thousands flooded the streets downtown as buildings called evacuations.

"There is situation outside. We don't have any further information," went one announcement at the Embassy Suites downtown.

After hearing it was all planned, many of those in the streets complained New Yorkers should have been warned.

"You don't do this to people down here after all we have been to," said Jillian Pizzarello, who also works at the Mercantile Exchange.

According to the Department of Defense, that Presidential Airlift Group began its aerial photography mission at Andrews Airforce Base.

"This mission, involving the VC-25 and an F-16, was conducted in conjunction with normally scheduled continuation training for assigned aircrew members," officials said.
Click to read the article and nearly 400 comments

Obama To Change Statue of Liberty!