Read Today: According to the Romanian official: U.S. pilots routinely filed bogus flight plans, or none at all, and headed to undeclared destinations. C-130 Hercules cargo planes and other U.S. military aircraft arriving from Iraq regularly parked in a restricted area just off the runway, where they feigned technical trouble and sat under guard for days at a time — awaiting repairs that never occurred.
Three buildings on the military portion of the air base were strictly off-limits to Romanians but were frequented and controlled by the Americans. Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, former presidential security adviser Ioan Talpes said in an interview with the AP, had an arrangement with the CIA that gave the agency the right to use the base as needed.
Human rights advocates say renditions were the agency's way to outsource torture of prisoners to countries where it is permitted practice.
Detainees were subjected "to interrogation techniques tantamount to torture" and underscored "a permissive attitude on the part of the Romanian authorities. Romanian officials said the U.S. military has invested about $18 million in Mihail Kogalniceanu Airport, including a $4 million perimeter fence, a new hangar and road improvements. Romania has supported and provided troops for the U.S.-led campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
President Bush and other administration officials have confirmed the existence of the rendition program but have not named the countries involved
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