Talk:Air America (airline)/Archives/2013

Ending

This article ends without any real conclusion, such as what it did post-Vietnam, and when the airline was shut down and under what circumstances. --88.111.41.106 14:04, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

I was wondering the same thing. -- Beland 02:45, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

They disbanded June 30, 1976 according to [1]. I just fixed the article to reflect this - as written it seemed to imply the airline was still operating as late as the late 1980s. Dragomiloff 03:00, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Drug smuggling

The section on drug smuggling uses biased language, so I have re-worded parts of it. For example, the phrase "There are studies which refute the unsubstantiated allegation" should not have the word "unsubstantiated" in it. That word suggests that the sources mentioned at the beginning of the section are lying. The testimony of some of the former flight crews and wartime officials is, by definition, "substantiation", whether this testimony is ultimately accurate or not.

The other sentence that needed editing was: "The Hollywood screenplay Air America (film) focused its anti-war spin largely upon falsely depicting and expanding upon the drug smuggling myth." This absurd sentence passed ideological judgment on a film through the use of phrases like "anti-war spin", "falsely", and "myth". Clearly, given that there is at least some evidence for the drug allegations, these words are not acceptable. I think my re-write preserves the essence of the sentence without any of the subjective baggage.Nojamus (talk) 20:31, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

I think this still needs a bit of clarification, even though the language is now much more neutral than it was. The sentence:

"University of Georgia historian William M. Leary claims that this was done without the airline employees' direct knowledge and that the airline itself did not trade in drugs"

is misleading. If you follow up the reference, you end up at a page that belongs to "airamerica.org", that is, Leary is writing here not as a neutral historian, but as an engaged participant, almost as a fan of Air America. I would suggest deleting the reference to his credentials, and telling the truth, as follows: "Writing for airamerica.org, WIlliam M. Leary claims.. etc etc." Also, when you read Leary's actual wording about the drug trade, it's kind of weaselly. He says (without citing a single source to back it up):

"My nearly two decades of research indicate that Air America was not involved in the drug trade."

In effect, he's asking us to take it on faith, rather than providing actual evidence. Plus, what he says could be true – the CIA was not involved in the drug TRADE because they were neither buyers nor sellers, and their transportation of the opium, or heroin was not part of a profit-making enterprise, but an operation ancillary to the real objective, which was, supporting a local warlord. So even if what Leary says is factually correct, (1) he provides no evidence and (2) it doesn't speak to the point at issue. So citing Leary here is not really citing any evidence. It's merely an argument from authority. Theonemacduff (talk) 06:40, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

Well, there is one problem. The word "alleged". I think either there is proof for it, or there is not. The current article states that there is a claim (alleged), but no proof. Is this correct? 194.166.100.205 (talk) 21:15, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

• We are not a court and therefore do not deal in "proof". Unless individual names of living people are mentioned, we go with the sources. It is extremely easy to find sources for this. --John (talk) 00:16, 16 July 2013 (UTC)

• Court of law or not, Accusations were made but never proven. All "evidence" thus being anecdotal accusations. IE He said-she said. Therefore "allegations" or "alleged" is appropriate--Degen Earthfast (talk) 18:29, 21 July 2013 (UTC).

Start Year: 1946 vs 1950

The article currently states that Air America started in 1950, but the "official" Air America site says that it started in 1946 (http://www.air-america.org/About/About.shtml). Should the article be updated to match? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.44.47.53 (talk) 16:52, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

The site traces Air America to CAT founded in 1946, It became Air America in 1950.--209.213.220.227 (talk) 13:30, 19 June 2010 (UTC)