Crop Dusters

Fox Cable News | 9-25-01

[vmatt]

Fox news just reported evidence that at least one terrorist attempted to get a US government loan to buy a crop duster!

[sarcasm]

Robert Epling of Community Bank of Florida said he's been told that Mohamed Atta, one of the suspected hijackers, sought a USDA loan for a crop-duster. The USDA is a tenant in the bank, which checked its files about Atta at the request of the FBI.

"We understand he was turned down" at the USDA "and they referred him to us," said Epling. A loan officer at the bank remembered a phone call from someone inquiring about crop-dusters, an unusual request because there are so few of the planes left in the area, Epling said. Nothing came of the inquiry from the unnamed person.

James Lester, an employee of South Florida Crop Care in Belle Glade, told the FBI that Atta was among the men who in groups of two or three visited the crop-dusting firm nearly every weekend for six or eight weeks before the attacks.

Atta was a persistent questioner and "I recognized him because he stayed on my feet all the time. I just about had to push him away from me," Lester said

[G-Rated]

That is brazen!

[DCBryan1]

Three words

Got gas masks?

[Darth Sidious]

Here's how it probably happened:

Abdul got his orders through the chain of command from Bin Laden: "get crop-duster and spray anthrax over the Great Satan". Abdul has no idea how to acquire the crop duster.

Then he sees that guy from the tv commercials with the question-mark covered suit talk about getting government money, and the rest is history...

[Senator Pardek]

I'm sure he knew how to take advantage of his ethnicity to increase his odds. What a country!

[gopgen]

LOL! "I, Matthew Lesko, can show you how to get money for almost anything out of the Great Satan! CALL NOW!"

[holyscroller]

In response to your question, "got gas masks?" I've been checking on the internet, and unless you want to pay thru the nose (no pun intended) on eBay, there are none to be found, and all distributors say they have no idea when they'll get more. The last ones available sold for about $24.95. One handy dandy item I did find was a hand crank powered radio for $99.99 (no electric or batteries required.)

[TERMINATTOR]

To arms, to arms, the terrorists are coming!

America's Militia wants YOU!

Nine out of ten Americans will fight to keep George W. Bush in the white house, and Osama bin Laden out!

Congress has provided (Article I - Section. 8, U.S. Constitution) the Militia with the means to arm themselves: CMP (Civilian Markmenship Program).

Luke 22:36 (KJV) --Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.

Got sword? (M1 Garand ==>CMP)

No mercy, no quarter!
May the jihadists burn in hell for eternity!
Help speed them on their way!

Bible quotes in favor of annihilating jihadists
Poll: bin Laden's skull can be best used as an ....

Molon Labe !

[chuck allen]

< /sarcasam > close your tags damit!

[DCBryan1]

The same kind of "run" on survival equipment happened during the Persian Gulf war, and recently during Y2k....fortunately, people now will have CBR/NBC equipment that would not have had it < 10 Sep 01.

Prices will come down again (I HOPE)...

Because I need x2 MCU-2p mask, and x2 M40a1 gas masks with lots of filters!

[Combat Override Button]

After viewing several experts on Fox, MSNBC, etc on this subject I am not sure it is much of a threat although I am not well educated in this area. The main points that I took away from the several interviews were 1) it is difficult to develop effective bio/chem agent, 2) it is more difficult to make them so that they are sustainable (shelf-life) 3) it is difficult to make them in large quantities 4) there is little chance accomplishing tasks 1-3 and then loading the stuff on a crop duster without killing yourself.

Also, there are better and easier ways of killing people such as what happened on Sept 11. Examples used to back up the commentators statements was the chemical attack in Japan... they spent millions developing the gas and it wasn't really that effective. Finally it was discussed that the 'bad guys' probably looked into the crop duster idea and probably came to the same conclusions.

That being said, I still have a NBC suit ready. I welcome recommended articles on the subject.

[Dan Day]

One handy dandy item I did find was a hand crank powered radio for $99.99 (no electric or batteries required.)

Shop around some more.

I found a great little radio/flashlight/flasher combo that could charge its internal batteries via hand crank *OR* solar power *AND* could also be powered by storebought AA batteries, for a mere $20 last year.

I bought one for the trunk of each of my cars, plus one each for a bunch of folks on my Christmas list.

[Dan Day]

After viewing several experts on Fox, MSNBC, etc on this subject I am not sure it is much of a threat although I am not well educated in this area. The main points that I took away from the several interviews were 1) it is difficult to develop effective bio/chem agent, 2) it is more difficult to make them so that they are sustainable (shelf-life) 3) it is difficult to make them in large quantities 4) there is little chance accomplishing tasks 1-3 and then loading the stuff on a crop duster without killing yourself.

There's also:

4. It's very difficult to disperse the agents in a way that isn't either too diluted to hurt anyone very much, or too concentrated to affect anything other than a very small area.

In the case of anthrax, for example, it takes almost a nuclear-bomb-making level of technology to powder the spores in exactly the right way to avoid either clumping (which prevents airborne dispersal) or killing the spores (by grinding too fine). At last check, only the US and the Soviet Union had managed to pull it off.

Similarly, it's true that a few hundred pounds of botulinum toxin could kill every person on the planet -- but only if you could figure out a way to break it up into six billion infinitismal lots and then distribute it to everyone and get them to ingest it...

[Arleigh]

Wouldn't that be ironic if the terrorists figured out a way to use our own money to kill us? It would be poetic justice. It would almost serve us right, for being such a nation of idiot, goody-goodies.

"Here, Mister Terrorist, here's the means to kill us all. While I certainly don't agree with your plan to murder us all with anthrax, this is America and we value diversity so I'll defend your right to murder me with my life!

What is so dang wrong about not giving ANY government handout to immigrants? Yesterday, I heard Ben Cardin (D-MD) saying that when Welfare bill gets re-authorized this, he wants to take out any restrictions for immigrants. He says such restrictions "offensive." According to Ben, "everyone is an immigrant."

Sorry, Ben, but you're WRONG. I was born here. I am not an immigrant.

[steveo]

For great profit!

[Arleigh]

In the case of anthrax, for example, it takes almost a nuclear-bomb-making level of technology to powder the spores in exactly the right way to avoid either clumping (which prevents airborne dispersal) or killing the spores (by grinding too fine). At last check, only the US and the Soviet Union had managed to pull it off.

Where did you ever hear this? Source? I think you're whistling past the grave yard, here. Maybe it's hard to powder the spores "exactly right," but I'll bet "sorta right" would kill a few tens of thousands if dusted over a stock car race. After all, anthrax germs seem perfectly capable of creating spores and infecting cattle without "nuclear-bomb-making" technology.

[WhiteyAppleseed]

Hey! No problem. I just saw on CNN that the 102nd Fighter WIng out of Otis is ready to shoot down any plane where a terrorist has taken root. I'm sure the American flying public is reassured! And if that fails, well, maybe the pilot will have a gun.

[MaeWest]

Then he sees that guy from the tv commercials with the question-mark covered suit talk about getting government money, and the rest is history...

LOLWTIME. You guys are hysterical!

[dennisw]

Fox news just reported evidence that at least one terrorist attempted to get a US government loan to buy a crop duster!

 

What a country!