Thwarted terrorist attack.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Meh. Obviously they have to pick these guys up, but I agree with the idea that the arrests they've been trumpeting lately are far, far overblown. I would be worried if they'd shown any signs of competence, but...no.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
And then there's Che. Conspiracy Central.

Really, what conspiracies are those? Do you ever have a verifiable thought in your head, or do you just make things up as you go along?

[DaShi]

Well, you do hint that the FBI played a role in the planning of these attacks. That's a rather big leap.

[Dr Strangelove]

According to one article their plans were not feasible. They though of setting a fuel pipeline on fire in the hopes that it would spread back to the tanks causing a massive explosion. Experts say that wouldn't happen.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
According to one article their plans were not feasible. They though of setting a fuel pipeline on fire in the hopes that it would spread back to the tanks causing a massive explosion. Experts say that wouldn't happen.

They'd have gotten a massive explosion, but only in the tank farm. The fire would have gone along the fuel line because of the lack of air.

I heard from one source that the plot was uncovered when one of the plotters tried to buy explosives from the F.B.I. undercover agent. Has anyone else heard this?

b etor, have you heard any scuttlebutt in the men's shower room down at FBI headquarters?

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by DaShi
Well, you do hint that the FBI played a role in the planning of these attacks. That's a rather big leap.

FBI informants are rarely part of the FBI.

[DaShi]

Ah, sorry.

[One_more_turn]

It seems the Islamic scene is heavily infiltrated with informants.

It also seems that informants ENCOURAGE those angry types to execute the plots to the point where they can be locked up for lives.

[Berzerker]

well, our goal in Iraq is to drain the swamp...so why not drain the swamp here?

[One_more_turn]

Lots of masochists do not want the swamps drained.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Hey, it worked for Louisiana. Lots more area suitable for habitation, nice canals to redirect the river away from threatened areas, less space for those annoying shrimp and oysters to reproduce. Of course, it seems it might have been a temporary benefit only, as the land is now subsiding and hundreds of square miles of land are being lost to the Gulf of Mexico. It's quite possible that the long-term unintended consequences of draining the swamps could lead to complete disaster for the region, beginning by threatening the inhabitants' way of life and eventually leading to the area becoming a mere shadow of its former glory.

Oh. Wait.

[Arrian]

to catching would-be terrorists, even if their plans are "unfeasible" or they seem "incompetant."

A bunch of morons taking flying classes but not learning how to land! What fools! What could they possibly accomplish?

-Arrian

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Arrian
A bunch of morons taking flying classes but not learning how to land! What fools! What could they possibly accomplish?

-Arrian

That actually alarmed the schools so much they contacted the FBI. Hardly the thing to overlook. A bunch of guys who needed their informant to buy them shoes, who spent their time doing anti-gang work and helping the homeless, probably not so much.

In both the Miami case and the Lodi, CA case, the informants repeatedly pushed the "terrorists" to go further. In the case of the Lodi man, he attempted to back out of going to "training" several times. Despite being convicted, there isn't any real evidence he attended a Taliban madrassa in Pakistan.

[Slaughtermeyer]

Originally posted by DaShi
Well, you do hint that the FBI played a role in the planning of these attacks. That's a rather big leap.

In the case of the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, when the FBI became aware because of their informer who penetrated the terrorist cell that a bomb was being prepared, the FBI deliberately nixed the informer's proposal that harmless powder be secretly substituted for the real thing. The informer was so concerned about the refusal to substitute harmless power that he secretly recorded his conversations with his FBI handlers that prove his accusation.

In the words of the New York Times,

The informer was to have helped the plotters build the bomb and supply the fake powder, but the plan was called off by an F.B.I. supervisor who had other ideas about how the informer, Emad Salem, should be used, the informer said.

The account, which is given in the transcript of hundreds of hours of tape recordings that Mr. Salem secretly made of his talks with law-enforcement agents, portrays the authorities as being in a far better position than previously known to foil the February 26th bombing of New York City's tallest towers.

http://whatreallyhappened.com/IMAGES/wtc_bombing3.wmv

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/OK/wtcbomb.html

[Arrian]

That actually alarmed the schools so much they contacted the FBI

I know, Che. My analogy wasn't perfect, it's true.

-Arrian