http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1462555/posts
"New facts back tale of brush with Atta (Bryant's incredible face-to-face meeting in 2000)"
the weekend australian ^ | 8-13-05 | David Nason
Posted on 08/13/2005 12:44:35 AM PDT by doug from upland
"New facts back tale of brush with Atta"
David Nason, New York correspondent
August 13, 2005
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "NEW intelligence reports suggesting that 9/11 ringleader Mohammed Atta arrived in the US in late 1999 or early 2000 - six months earlier than previously thought - are likely to spark a reassessment of public servant Johnelle Bryant's incredible story of a face-to-face meeting with the terrorist.
In an extraordinary 2002 interview later branded a hoax by some media -- including the ABC's Media Watch -- Ms Bryant claimed to have met Atta in late April or early May of 2000 when she worked as a loan officer with the US Department of Agriculture's farm services agency in Florida.
Ms Bryant, who was medically retired from the department last year, said Atta had tried to apply for a $US650,000 US government loan to buy a six-seat, twin-engine aircraft that he wanted to convert to a crop duster.
In her interview with the US's ABC network, Ms Bryant told how Atta became angry when told he was ineligible for the loan and how he became fixated with an aerial photo of Washington DC hanging on her office wall.
When told the picture was not for sale, Ms Bryant said Atta became "very bitter".
"I believe he said: 'How would America like it if another country destroyed that city and some of the monuments in it'."
But despite some independent support for her claims, Ms Bryant's account was dismissed as a fake on the grounds that Atta did not get a visa to enter the US until May 18, 2000, and did not arrive until June 3 that year on a flight from Prague that landed at New Jersey's Newark airport.
Her claims were ignored in last year's 9/11 commission report on the events leading up to the terrorist attacks."
stepping back in time...
Note: The following post is an exact quote:
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/530230/posts
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."
I've been unable to find the names of the 911 Commission actual grunts .. the staffers who were assembling the actual data behind the scenes. Anyone else found out that information??