The CIA says it had been instructing Peru to shoot down suspicious aircraft without following international procedures for interception.

A report recently released by the CIA inspector general says 15 small civilian planes were shot down between 1995 and 2001 as part of the 'Airbridge Denial Program', a CIA counter-narcotics effort that killed an innocent American missionary, Veronica Bowers, and her infant daughter in 2001.

Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra, a top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, told AP on Thursday that most of the 15 planes shot down crashed in the jungle. The wreckage has not or could not be examined to ascertain whether narcotics were onboard the aircraft.

"The Bowers could have gone in the same category if they had crashed in the jungle," Hoekstra said, referring to the missionary and her child, who hail from his state. The missionary's plane made an emergency river landing after it was hit.

The CIA inspector general's report, released in November, raised questions about whether the missionaries' plane was the only craft mistakenly suspected of drug-smuggling.

It added that in most cases aircraft were shot down "without being properly identified, without being given the required warnings to land, and without being given time to respond to such warnings as were given to land."

The CIA report directly contradicts the State Department's findings in 2001. The State Department at the time said the other planes were shot down only after "exhausting international procedures for interception."

"[CIA] Director Michael Hayden is absolutely committed to a process looking at systemic issues and accountability that is as thorough and fair as possible," spokesman Mike Mansfield said.

Yet the US intelligence agency now is accused of lying to members of Congress and withholding crucial information from investigators and senior Bush administration officials.

The Peruvian "shoot down" program was shut down following the Bowers incident in 2001.  CIA Judge , Jury , Executioner .