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Feds investigate plot to attack Metro
Just received this from the Wash. Post..
By Peter Finn and Greg Miller Wednesday, October 27, 2010; 1:47 PM Federal law enforcement authorities are investigating a nascent plot to carry out a series of terrorist bombings at stations in the Washington Metro system, according to intelligence and law enforcement sources. The investigation is focused on a naturalized U.S. citizen, originally from Pakistan, who became the target of an undercover sting operation, the sources said. An administration official said the man drew the attention of law enforcement officials by seeking to obtain unspecified materials. The planned attack was not imminent, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter remains under investigation. The man, Farooque Ahmed, 34, of Ashburn, Va., is believed to have conceived of the plot and planned to carry it out on his own, and it is not known how far he proceeded in his preparations... |
Originally Posted by FriendlySkies
(Post 15024501)
Just received this from the Wash. Post..
read the rest here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=topnews |
Originally Posted by DevilDog438
(Post 15024607)
Fan-fracking-tastic...yet another excuse for TSA and WMATA PD to work on yet another show of farce.
By why would TSA let a few facts get into the way of their propaganda? |
What were they going to attack it with.....a bottle of Febreeze?
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Originally Posted by Global_Hi_Flyer
(Post 15024847)
Yep. Good intelligence & investigatory work kept this from happening.
Wow... yeah. The police really saved the public from mass destruction here. :rolleyes: I feel safer already. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: |
As a local resident, I'm amused by the "support" he gave - "photographing station security and determining peak times". Duh, Metro stations 1) don't have much in the way of security and 2) the peak times are the rush hours Mon-Fri.
That great exercise in spy work should have taken about 1 minute of research. I mean, seriously, it's a subway station. Like pretty much any subway anywhere in the world, if one wants to, they can pack as much explosives as they can carry into a backpack and get on a train. It's public transit. Again, real terrorists don't even need to get their hands dirty these days. Find some rube somewhere, pay him a few bucks (or not) and a line of bull about hitting a bus stop, or subway stop, or carnival or fall festival or parade or whatever, and the government will go wild with news of their brilliant detective work. The media will eat it up, and the Kettles will be happy and scared at the same time. |
Originally Posted by clrankin
(Post 15025487)
So let's see... He "obtained the attention" of law enforcement by seeking to obtain "unspecified" things. He is accused of planning to bomb "unspecified" stations, with no concrete timeline in place to do so. And he's believed to be working alone.
Wow... yeah. The police really saved the public from mass destruction here. :rolleyes: I feel safer already. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Investigators say that starting in April, Ahmed began meeting with someone he thought was an al-Qaida courier who put him touch with others who asked him if he'd willing to do surveillance of stops on the subway system, known as the Metro. Court documents say he watched and took picture at four stations, all in Virginia, and made sketches. He suggested putting bombs in rolling suitcases for simultaneous explosions in 2011, the FBI says. The three stations he picked out would help "kill as many military personnel as possible," according to court documents, apparently because of the use of those lines by people going to and from the Pentagon. "At no time was the public in danger" as "the FBI was aware of Ahmed's activities from before the alleged attempt began and closely monitored his activities until his arrest," the department said. The department said the indictment laid out this timeline of events: * On April 18, "Ahmed allegedly drove to a hotel in Dulles, Va., and met with a courier he believed to be affiliated with a terrorist organization who provided Ahmed with a document that provided potential locations at which future meetings could be arranged." * On or about May 15, "at a hotel in Herndon, Va., Ahmed allegedly agreed to watch and photograph another hotel in Washington, D.C., and a Metrorail station in Arlington, Va., to obtain information about their security and busiest periods." * On or about July 19, "in a hotel room in Sterling, Va., Ahmed allegedly handed a memory stick containing video images of a Metrorail station in Arlington to an individual whom Ahmed believed to be affiliated with al-Qaida." * On that same day, "Ahmed allegedly agreed to assess the security of two other Metrorail stations in Arlington as locations of terrorist attacks." * On or about Sept. 28, "in a hotel room in Herndon, Ahmed handed a USB drive containing images of two Metrorail stations in Arlington to an individual whom Ahmed believed to be affiliated with al-Qaida." * On or about Sept. 28, "Ahmed provided to an individual whom he believed to be affiliated with al-Qaida diagrams that Ahmed drew of three Metrorail stations in Arlington and provided suggestions as to where explosives should be placed on trains in Metrorail stations in Arlington to kill the most people in simultaneous attacks planned for 2011. |
A "plot" by an individual with himself? Out goes the conspiracy to commit ___ charge(s) if dealing with anything but the most exaggerated form of a kangaroo court. If he doesn't open his mouth and/or accept a plea bargain, what case does the government have? Government "informants" and "agents" engaging in entrapment has become increasingly par for the course for such persons but the judicial process is so heavily under the influence of fear-mongering that the best case for such defendants is a hung jury, and even that is very unlikely. He probably would love an opportunity to abscond from the US justice system like the two US FAMs who absconded from the Brazilian justice system.
Clearly, to end up in this situation, this 34-years old has the mental capacity of a 14-years old teenager with an imagination run amok. I'm shaking in my shoes in the face of such "lone wolves". No more DC Metro for me. Instead into the car I go to face greater danger on the Beltway and GW Parkway. :rolleyes: |
Pictures and notes about busy times do not a terrorist make. I've taken pictures in Metro myself of trains coming in and out. And I've noted that 4:45-6:00 is McPherson Square's busiest time, so I avoid it then. Does doing that make me a terrorist? Or do I have to drive to Sterling and meet with someone in a hotel first? :D |
Originally Posted by Global_Hi_Flyer
(Post 15024847)
Yep. Good intelligence & investigatory work kept this from happening.
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Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8830/4.5.0.138 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)
Anybody else smell "entrapment" and it's a week before the election. "Team coverage" on Fox 5 tonight, guaranteed. |
Gotta remind the public that it's a dangerous world out there. Just coincidence that the bust and news release immediately precede TSA's latest escalation.
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Originally Posted by clrankin
(Post 15025819)
I'm still left more "yawning" than I am "quaking in my boots" over this alleged plot.
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He's charged with (1) attempting to do something that was or wasn't done; (2) attempting to do something else that was or wasn't done; and (3) collecting information that is publicly available for use in something that wasn't done.
I'm betting an obstruction of justice kind of charge or something else "attempted" will end up part of the picture eventually because he won't keep his mouth shut and/or has already verbally played along with the government agents/informants who were part of the bait. Amongst the things he is alleged to have attempted to do is donate $10,000 and help others donate money to OBL & Co. by structuring. For a man who claims he cannot afford an attorney today but supposedly could afford to donate $10,000 to OBL & Co., it seems like there is at least one fictional element that is part of the story. |
Originally Posted by n4zhg
(Post 15025903)
What intelligence? What investigatory work? This was a sting operation from the get-go. Given previous efforts along these lines the case may even die from entrapment.
This was about some form of police work, even if it was entrapment, rather than ANYTHING the TSA could ever have REMOTELY stopped. That doesn't stop some sheeple, like the woman interviewed on the radio who said "wow, it's scary since we don't have any security on Metro". You can bet that TSA folks are trying to figure out how to take credit for this. |
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