Where Are The Photos?

If, as the White House claims, the flyby of Air Force One over the Statue of Liberty was done to update file photos of Air Force One (the VC-25) over national landmarks, where are these photos as supposedly taken from the F-16 chase plane?

You would think that the White House would show these photos as proof of the expensive exercise that took place two days ago and which caused needless (but knowable) panic because of the secrecy imposed on the flight through New York Harbor and seen from Lower Manhattan and Jersey City.

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine has said he's yet to find any official within his state who was informed of the overflights.

Corzine said he has yet to find a New Jersey official informed in advance about the flight, which he called out of sync with "understandable anxiety that people in the metropolitan area have on both sides of the river."

An FAA spokesman has said the flyover "was approved and coordinated with everyone," with notifications made to the New York City Police Department, the mayor's office, the New Jersey State Police, and other agencies.

However, a confidential security memo that went out last week by the FAA's Air Traffic System Operations Security office -- while acknowledging "the possibility of public concern regarding Department of Defense aircraft flying at low levels," instructed that all information about the flight be kept confidential and not be released to the public or media.

"The information in this document is considered FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY, and should only be shared with persons with a need to know," the memo declared.

An Obama administration official has said the flyover was done because the White House Military Office wanted to update its file photo of the president's plane near the Statue of Liberty.

Again, who in the media has asked the question that we'd all like to see - where are the photos that caused so much consternation?

After all, we taxpayers paid $328,825 for the photo op and that doesn't count the lost wages and productivity from those businesses affected by the panic induced evacuations from buildings on both sides of the Hudson River because of the ominous approach of a large airliner bearing down on them.

As some folks have wondered, what was the Administration thinking of sending the VC-25 into NY harbor unannounced when there are so many people in the region who were directly and viscerally affected by 9/11 and who saw the planes crash into the Twin Towers?

I, for one, would like to see the quality of the photos taken, so that they can be compared to the versions that supposedly needed to be updated.

UPDATE:
Michelle Malkin has filed FOIA requests with the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Joint Staff FOIA Requester Service Center seeking more info. That includes the flight manifests, communications that would shed light on the origin of the “mission,” and copies of any and all photos taken. Good for her. At least someone is trying to get to the bottom of this mess.