Why Did Ashcroft CHARTER Plane After Recieving July 2001 alQueda Warning?

[kpete]

7/01 - Why Did Ashcroft Charter Plane After Recieving alQueda Warning?

July 17, 2001 -- Ashcroft briefed. July 28, 2001-- Ashcroft flies in a charter, leased, according to the article, earlier that week.

Fishing rod in hand, Attorney General John Ashcroft left on a weekend trip to Missouri Thursday afternoon aboard a chartered government jet, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart.

In response to inquiries from CBS News over why Ashcroft was traveling exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines, the Justice Department cited what it called a "threat assessment" by the FBI, and said Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term.

"There was a threat assessment and there are guidelines. He is acting under the guidelines," an FBI spokesman said. Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department, however, would identify what the threat was, when it was detected or who made it. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/26/national/main303601.shtml, dated July 26, 2001:

We SHOULD be asking whether that story has anything to do with this one:

State Dept. Confirms Rice-Tenet Meeting

Tuesday, October 3, 2006

McCormack said that after the meeting, Rice had asked that the same material be given to Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and then-Attorney General John Ashcroft.

Meanwhile, Ashcroft said Monday that he should have been notified of any such report dealing with a pending attack on the United States. "It just occurred to me how disappointing it was that they didn't come to me with this type of information," he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/03/AR2006100300410.html

more at:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/10/4/161326/154

[joemurphy]

1. Meeting? What meeting? I don't remember any meeting! n/t

[Supersedeas]

9. oh, that documented one...yes, just historical stuff really

[NewJeffCT]

2. Hey, you're not supposed to remember that

But, it does seem an odd coincidence that Tenet & Black met with Condi, Rummy & Ashcroft on 7/10/01 to warn them of an imminent terror attack... Ashcroft immediately switches to fly chartered air... Condi does nothing. Well, maybe there was a shoe sale in Manhattan?

[KansDem]

3. It's painfully obvious by now they knew 9/11 was coming...

I suppose anytime soon Bush will be justifying his (in)actions by saying, "I'm the decider, and I decided the sacrifice of 3,000 Americans for cheap oil would be advantageous..."

All right, all right, Bush wouldn't use "advantageous"--too many syllables--so he would say something like, "...would be good..."

[Kagemusha]

4. I'm sorry, I'm as much of an Ashcroft basher as anyone but...

Why would there be ANY DOUBT that Ashcroft's measure was in response to this meeting? Now presumably even the fact he had the briefing was considered classified information. However, it's not at all in doubt that Ashcroft started chartering the flight after he was advised to do so on the basis of information that, until now, the public was not made aware of in this kind of detail. But, it's simple, elementary logic. Why do we even need to ask this question? Let's ask questions that we DON'T know the answers to, already. It's not like Ashcroft could push Bush to take al-Qaeda seriously, even if he himself took the threat seriously enough to look out for #1.

[ryanus]

5. Wow. DU's gone CT

At least (some) CT theories are tolerated and even recommended. Right on.

These questions have been asked before. I'm glad that more an more people are looking into them.

[magellan]

6. Okay, here's what I'd like to know

Since there are official WH records proving this meeting took place and the information was obviously taken seriously enough for Asscroft to stop flying commercially

1) Why didn't the WH become proactive at that point to DEFEAT the threat, and

2) WHY WASN'T THE AMERICAN PUBLIC INFORMED?

[kpete]

7. You WIN the prize magellan

Those ARE the RIGHT questions...

LETS START ASKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kimmerspixelated]

10. Because they decided to LIHOP

that way it would be so convenient to invade Iraq!

[smoogatz]

8. Great question. Somebody should ask Asscroft.

If he didn't have good reason to believe that a domestic attack was imminent, as he claims, why did he quit flying commercial? It's a simple question: was the "threat" in the "threat assessment" he received--and that he apparently acted upon only by chartering a private jet--the threat of domestic hijacking(s)? If not, what was it?

[habitual]

11. fear of death n/t

[jberryhill]

12. Putting this report together with the July 10 meeting

...looks pretty much like a smoking gun.

[Wilms]

13. K&R n/t