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TIME Exclusive: Cropduster Manual Discovered in Suspected Terrorist Hideout
Time.com ^ | September.22,2001 | MASSIMO CALABRESI AND SALLY DONNELLY

Posted on 09/22/2001 3:08:14 PM PDT by Reagan Man

Sources tell TIME that U.S. officials suspect that bin Laden conspirators may have been planning to disperse biological or chemical agents from cropdusting planes

Saturday, Sep. 22, 2001

New York -- U.S. law enforcement officials have found a manual on the operation of cropdusting equipment while searching suspected terrorist hideouts, government sources tell TIME magazine in an issue out on Monday, Sept. 24th.

The discovery has added to concerns among government counterterrorism experts that the bin Laden conspirators may have been planning — or may still be planning —to disperse biological or chemical agents from a cropdusting plane normally used for agricultural purposes.

Among the belongings of suspected terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, sources tell TIME, were manuals showing how to operate cropdusting equipment that could be used to spray fast-killing toxins into the air.

The discovery resulted in the grounding of all cropdusters nationwide on Sunday Sept. 16th. The dusters have been allowed back up, but are not allowed to take off or land from what traffic controllers refer to as Class B airspace, or the skies around major cities.

One senior official cautions that because corroborative evidence is lacking the FBI does not place "high credibility" in the notion that the hijackers were in fact exploring the idea of stealing or renting cropdusters. However, the FBI is advising members of a crop-dusters' group to report any suspicious buys of dangerous chemicals in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks.

Last week, the National Agricultural Aviation Association, a crop dusters trade group, posted a message from the FBI to its membership: "Members should be vigilant to any suspicious activity relative to the use, training in or acquisition of dangerous chemicals or airborne application of same including threats, unusual purchases, suspicious behavior by employees or customers, and unusual contacts with the public. Members should report any suspicious circumstances or information to local FBI offices."


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; alqaida; anthrax; antraz; cropduster; cropdusters; cropdusting; moussaoui; wmd; zacariasmoussaoui
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To: beerhead
I know ... Actually, the Class B airspace has been "enhanced" to include all airspace below the layers of the airspace (like an upside-down wedding cake), AND (get this) all airspace above it ... to infinity.

I hope the inhabitants of the Glrxx Galaxy know about this.

If I understand a little about the Bad Guys, they go for showy, gaudy, big-number attacks. The smaller areas are less "attractive" ... I heard that some crops have started to go bad because there was not ag spraying ... a no-win, I guess. I'll keep good thoughts for you.

301 posted on 09/22/2001 7:32:05 PM PDT by bootless
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To: Travis McGee
And there are those freepers who call us "hysterics and bigots" for being a bit suspicious of the arab moslem covert jihadists living freely among us planning mega murder.

Any freeper that calls another freeper a bigot for being suspicious of Arabs in general is a true idiot. If what I have seen on TV is any indication, most Arabs here think what happened on 9/11 is something we had coming. I wonder what the appeasers' reaction would be if their neighborhood was blown up. Some people have problems with enemy recognition and are naive enough to think that as soon as a foreigner lands on American soil they start becoming Americanized. Those days are long gone.

302 posted on 09/22/2001 7:34:37 PM PDT by WRhine
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To: True Capitalist
Thumbs up here too for THE HOT ZONE. A must read. This is not a work of fiction.
303 posted on 09/22/2001 7:35:56 PM PDT by 3catsanadog
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To: HiTech RedNeck
"I wonder why scenarios like this were not discussed on the zillions of 2nd Amendment threads here ???"

There were a few and all anyone got for their trouble was insults.

304 posted on 09/22/2001 7:43:44 PM PDT by wcbtinman
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To: HiTech RedNeck
THREAD 2
305 posted on 09/22/2001 7:52:44 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck
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To: HiTech RedNeck
re: Pakistan. How many Pakistanis were killed in the WTC? I remember that it was a lot...
306 posted on 09/22/2001 8:05:45 PM PDT by bootless
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To: Travis McGee
Great sleuthing! Does the FBI have all of that?

Yes, I sent it all to their cyber hotline. There were over a dozen other businesses across the country. Some looked more promising than others and most were probably dead-ends.

307 posted on 09/22/2001 8:08:31 PM PDT by Nita Nupress
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To: Anonymous2
There is an obscene joke: to the remark that there are good Muslims, too, a guy answers: "Good ones to be burried in good coffins, bad ones in bad". Not that I agree with him 100 per cent, but in current circumstances...
308 posted on 09/22/2001 8:12:45 PM PDT by Neophyte
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To: Godebert
Thank you,that helps a lot!
309 posted on 09/22/2001 8:15:03 PM PDT by poweqi
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To: L`enn
>>And why not? The entire population is not free to fly f-16's or drive Sherman tanks. <<

Of course they are,and rightly so. All you need is enough money and the proper paperwork certifying you to fly it's it's the F-16,or just the money alone if it's the Sherman tank you want.

310 posted on 09/22/2001 8:19:33 PM PDT by sneakypete
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To: FITZ
I used to have some as friends back in college and at work. Every one of them hated Jews and everyone of them hated the US government although they would say they "liked Americans as individuals".

That has been my experience with Arab nationals also. None of them like the U.S. Government and if pushed will read you off a litany of charges against our country yet they always say they like the American people. The funny thing is that very, very few Arab Muslims ever develop strong friendships with individual Americans. There are always exceptions of course. Still, most Arab nationals make crummy citizens and it is extremely difficult to separate out the extreme factions which aid terrorists from the more dominant moderate factions. Any American that underestimates the capacity for evil that a sizable minority of these people possess has a serious mental block.

311 posted on 09/22/2001 8:26:14 PM PDT by WRhine
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To: amom
hmmmm is right!
312 posted on 09/22/2001 8:33:22 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Reagan Man
It's even worse than this. Imagine that bad guys buy a couple of older school buses - which you can drive, legally, with a "normal" driver's licence, as long as you don't carry passengers.

Then, imagine a location on a nearby highway that you know of that is a bottleneck to traffic, such as the beltways that circle a major city.

Just before rush hour, in a coordinated fashion, they dump the school buses on their side, and set them on fire (maybe they have some extra diesel fuel, which burns slowly and is less explosive). Now, the city is clogged, there is no way to drive in or out of the city. If there is a decent rail system, that is easy enough to block using the same method.

Mix in the diesel fuel some of the bad stuff, as it burns a lot of it will be burned off, but their will be enough that is not burned off but just becomes airborne.

Take a few more diesel vehicles with engine that spit out blue smoke (poor tuning, rings shot, whatever). Add the aerosol delivery system to the exhaust, not the fuel, so that as the truck burns off fuel, mixed in the exhaust is the bad stuff. Some of the vehicles are stuck in traffic, and infect the people in cars. Some of the vehicles drive around the city in an ambling fashion, using city streets (since the highways are closed anyways).

You can buy used buses and diesel trucks (cube vans, whatever) for less than $5k each - so $100,000 will get you 20 of them. Scared yet?

313 posted on 09/22/2001 9:36:18 PM PDT by ikka
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To: Rockitz
If I were a terrorist and wanted to bring an enemy to his knees, I would go after food and water.

Heck we don't need terrorists to wipe out our farmers and thus our food supply, EPA is doing that right now, backed by the full force of the United States Government. Ask the farmers in Klamath Basin.

314 posted on 09/22/2001 9:40:22 PM PDT by holyscroller
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To: Reagan Man
"One senior official cautions that because corroborative evidence is lacking the FBI does not place "high credibility" in the notion that the hijackers were in fact exploring the idea of stealing or renting cropdusters."

Is this guy a comedian or what?? Everyone knows the FBI don't believe it till they see it...like sept 11 was corroborative evidence that the jihadist's intended to blow up the WTC.

315 posted on 09/22/2001 9:52:51 PM PDT by kimosabe31
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To: Kevin Curry
"Did you look to see if the driver had Middle-Eastern physical and facial features? "

Sure, I checked him out. Same ol' redneck guy as always.

316 posted on 09/22/2001 10:04:17 PM PDT by blam
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To: bootless
The FAA has an active NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) out prohibiting flight within 3 nautical miles (bigger than a statute mile) from ANY outdoor gathering, including professional, college or high school events. It goes on to say that any pilot ought to be in contact with ATC to keep them away from these sites. You will not be seeing blimps or banner-tow planes over stadiums for a long time.

Call me cynical, but I just don't think this ban will keep potential terrorist crop-dusters from commandoing a plane and flying it over populated areas.

317 posted on 09/22/2001 10:07:58 PM PDT by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
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To: bootless
I mean - commandeering. In any way they can.
318 posted on 09/22/2001 10:08:29 PM PDT by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
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To: NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
THREAD 2

Please stop posting here. Thread takes way too long to load. Thanks.

319 posted on 09/22/2001 10:14:46 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck
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To: NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
I understand...
320 posted on 09/22/2001 10:16:28 PM PDT by bootless
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