JOHN ASHCROFT: AN INTERESTING TIMETABLE

Anyone who's followed any of the 9/11 "conspiracy theory" BS that's floating around cyberspace, knows about this story concerning John Ashcroft.
In a then little-known article published on July 26th, 2001, CBS News reported that Ashcroft had started flying chartered government jets instead of his usual commercial flights. The reason given for the sudden change was described simply as "threat assessment" by the FBI, and that Ashcroft planned to fly by private jet for the remainder of his term.

When I came upon this story a few years ago, I thought the timing was mildly interesting, but nothing more. After all, Ashcroft's decision came almost two weeks BEFORE the infamous Presidential Daily Briefing that stated "Bin Laden Determined to Strike inside US".

However, when I read this article today entitled "Rumsfeld, Ashcroft received warning of al Qaida attack before 9/11" it caught my attention. This story came to light in the wake of Bob Woodward's book "State of Denial" which has exposed a July 10, 2001 meeting involving then-National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, former CIA Director George Tenet, and counterterrorism chief Cofer Black.

Before I continue, it should be noted that somehow this meeting was NEVER mentioned in the official 9/11 Commission Report.

The article describes the meeting like this:

One official who helped to prepare the briefing, which included a PowerPoint presentation, described it as a "10 on a scale of 1 to 10" that "connected the dots" in earlier intelligence reports to present a stark warning that al-Qaida, which had already killed Americans in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and East Africa, was poised to strike again.

Rice originally claimed that she never had such a meeting. However on Monday evening, Rice's spokesperson issued a statement in which she admitted she'd had the meeting "on or around the 10th" and had asked that it be presented to both Donald Rumsfeld and John Ashcroft.

That briefing reportedly took place on July 17th, 2001.

So CBS reports that John Ashcroft has suddenly stopped flying commercial airliners just NINE DAYS after he receives a briefing about an imminent (the articles words, not mine) attack from al Qaeda?

Since 9/11 Ashcroft has refused to discuss the specifics behind his reasoning for flying private jets. In this story, he mentions "personal threats on his life" and not hijacking as a rationale behind his decision. And although the story also mentions two different FBI briefings concerning this threat in May and June of 2001, it's interesting to note that they admit the "switch" to private jets didn't happen until July of 2001. Which begs the question, "Why would anyone wait over two months to address a 'threat' on one's life?"

Even though there's no evidence that the secret presentation from Tenet and Black included specifics about hijackings or suicide missions with jetliners... the timing surrounding this seems fishy. Coupled with the fact that these meetings were never included in the official 9/11 report, and you have the type of situation that invites conspiracy theories.