Mackinac Watch: Suspected Bombers In Jail
This is a story that received little attention from the dinosaur media over the weekend, and is anyone surprised? Three Palestinian-Americans were arrested outside of a Wal-Mart store, and it was discovered that these men had purchased over 1000 prepaid cell-phones, and a variety of chips to go with them. They claim that they bought them, and were going to sell them to other people. (A stupid concept to buy them directly from the retailer rather than a wholesaler; they would be losing money on the deal.) According to the authorities, these men were also caught surveilling the Mackinac Bridge. Now the Coast Guard has upped its patrols around the bridge, according to Charles at LGF:
The U.S. Coast Guard has increased patrols near the Mackinac Bridge after prosecutors said they believe three Palestinian-American men from Texas now jailed on terrorism-related charges were targeting the 5-mile-long span.
The men were arrested Friday outside a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. outlet in Caro in the state’s Thumb region after employees became suspicious about their purchase of 80 cell phones. Authorities say the men had about 1,000 cell phones in their van.
Maruan Awad Muhareb of Mesquite, Texas; Adham Abdelhamid Othman of Dallas; and Louai Abdelhamied Othman of Mesquite were charged with collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes.
Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark Reene said that investigators believe the men were targeting the Mackinac Bridge.
The Detroit Free Press, citing a law enforcement official familiar with the case who it didn’t name, reported today that the phones plus photographs and videos of the bridge led authorities to believe the men were targeting the structure.
Authorities contacted the office of Gov. Jennifer Granholm about the men, The Detroit News reported. Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said: “At this point, there is no credible evidence of a terrorist activity” against the bridge.
No credible evidence? Talk about the inability to see the forest through the trees, as Debbie Schlussel astutely points out, for all those keeping score:
Sources tell DebbieSchlussel.com that the men are from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the group that works in concert with HAMAS in performing homicide bombings in Israel. The group once even considered merging with HAMAS, at the time that it was headed by University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian, a founder of the group. Maybe now sleepy Americans will awaken to note that Palestinian terrorism is not just Israel’s problem. It’s America’s.
Sources say the plot was uncovered because law enforcement personnel observed two or more other men videotaping the Mackinac Bridge.
Sources also say that it is very unlikely the men could have succeeded in blowing up the Mackinac Bridge—even with the chips from 1,000 phones for 1,000 bombs—as it is several miles long (it’s the world’s third longest suspension bridge). At a total length of 26,372 feet, the steel structure can support 38,486 tons of weight and is very, very strong and fortified. The sources say that, likely, the plan would have succeeded in bombing cars driving on the bridge, but not bringing the structure down.
It might have been an unlikely mission to succeed, but does anyone think that there would not have bee casualties in the attack. It is close to Labor Day, and there are approximately 50,000 people who would walk across that bridge sometime over Labor Day Weekend. A few terrorists amongst the populace who decide to blow themselves up, and you have a disaster. How would they have put together enough jihadists? Simply put, as Captain Ed notes today about this Michigan has the largest Arab-American communities in the nation:
Combine that with the pictures of Mighty Mac, and it looks like an attempt to commit a terrorist act on a second-tier target, where security would be more loose than in New York City or Washington, DC. Ironically, Michigan has one of the largest Arab-American communities and would have been under immediate pressure if a plot like this executed successfully. Perhaps the plotters thought they could disappear into the community after the explosions took place.
A very real and distinct possibility. But as we have seen in the past, these jihadis that are caught here are members of the community. They associate, for the most part, only with their people, and hardly any outsiders. Not only could they have disappeared into the community (as our enemies on the battlefield do frequently), or they could have received a number of "volunteers" to do the attack from the community.
Imagine the scenario: 50,000 people set out to cross the Mackinac on Labor Day Weekend. Among those people are approximately fifty-to-one-hundred jihadis. All with cell phones as detonators to bombs they are wearing underneath their jackets. (It would be getting a bit brisk there at that time, so a jacket would be seen as natural and unobtrusive.) About halfway across the bridge these men, women, whatever dispersed within the crowd start detonating themselves. First, in the middle to create chaos and panic. To ratchet that up, those in the back and the front would begin doing likewise; serving as a cut-off point for those fleeing the initial blasts. What do you have at the end of the day?
A whole lot of people dead and injured; a body count, which is what the Islamofascists always strive for. The goal, I believe (and Thomas will likely back me up on this) is not to take the bridge down, but to cause panic, confusion, chaos, and bring about a decent body count for the Islamofascists. They know they cannot bring the bridge down. Not without some heavy, heavy explosives, or possibly a small plane chartered from the nearby airport could do enough damage to make the bridge impassable. But if a plane were used, then why buy all the cell-phones?
In short, I believe we dodged another bullet on this one, and it was all due to a Wal-Mart employee who was paying attention. This is the public's job in a post-9/11 world: Remain vigilant.
Marcie
This is a story that received little attention from the dinosaur media over the weekend, and is anyone surprised? Three Palestinian-Americans were arrested outside of a Wal-Mart store, and it was discovered that these men had purchased over 1000 prepaid cell-phones, and a variety of chips to go with them. They claim that they bought them, and were going to sell them to other people. (A stupid concept to buy them directly from the retailer rather than a wholesaler; they would be losing money on the deal.) According to the authorities, these men were also caught surveilling the Mackinac Bridge. Now the Coast Guard has upped its patrols around the bridge, according to Charles at LGF:
The U.S. Coast Guard has increased patrols near the Mackinac Bridge after prosecutors said they believe three Palestinian-American men from Texas now jailed on terrorism-related charges were targeting the 5-mile-long span.
The men were arrested Friday outside a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. outlet in Caro in the state’s Thumb region after employees became suspicious about their purchase of 80 cell phones. Authorities say the men had about 1,000 cell phones in their van.
Maruan Awad Muhareb of Mesquite, Texas; Adham Abdelhamid Othman of Dallas; and Louai Abdelhamied Othman of Mesquite were charged with collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes.
Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark Reene said that investigators believe the men were targeting the Mackinac Bridge.
The Detroit Free Press, citing a law enforcement official familiar with the case who it didn’t name, reported today that the phones plus photographs and videos of the bridge led authorities to believe the men were targeting the structure.
Authorities contacted the office of Gov. Jennifer Granholm about the men, The Detroit News reported. Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said: “At this point, there is no credible evidence of a terrorist activity” against the bridge.
No credible evidence? Talk about the inability to see the forest through the trees, as Debbie Schlussel astutely points out, for all those keeping score:
Sources tell DebbieSchlussel.com that the men are from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the group that works in concert with HAMAS in performing homicide bombings in Israel. The group once even considered merging with HAMAS, at the time that it was headed by University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian, a founder of the group. Maybe now sleepy Americans will awaken to note that Palestinian terrorism is not just Israel’s problem. It’s America’s.
Sources say the plot was uncovered because law enforcement personnel observed two or more other men videotaping the Mackinac Bridge.
Sources also say that it is very unlikely the men could have succeeded in blowing up the Mackinac Bridge—even with the chips from 1,000 phones for 1,000 bombs—as it is several miles long (it’s the world’s third longest suspension bridge). At a total length of 26,372 feet, the steel structure can support 38,486 tons of weight and is very, very strong and fortified. The sources say that, likely, the plan would have succeeded in bombing cars driving on the bridge, but not bringing the structure down.
It might have been an unlikely mission to succeed, but does anyone think that there would not have bee casualties in the attack. It is close to Labor Day, and there are approximately 50,000 people who would walk across that bridge sometime over Labor Day Weekend. A few terrorists amongst the populace who decide to blow themselves up, and you have a disaster. How would they have put together enough jihadists? Simply put, as Captain Ed notes today about this Michigan has the largest Arab-American communities in the nation:
Combine that with the pictures of Mighty Mac, and it looks like an attempt to commit a terrorist act on a second-tier target, where security would be more loose than in New York City or Washington, DC. Ironically, Michigan has one of the largest Arab-American communities and would have been under immediate pressure if a plot like this executed successfully. Perhaps the plotters thought they could disappear into the community after the explosions took place.
A very real and distinct possibility. But as we have seen in the past, these jihadis that are caught here are members of the community. They associate, for the most part, only with their people, and hardly any outsiders. Not only could they have disappeared into the community (as our enemies on the battlefield do frequently), or they could have received a number of "volunteers" to do the attack from the community.
Imagine the scenario: 50,000 people set out to cross the Mackinac on Labor Day Weekend. Among those people are approximately fifty-to-one-hundred jihadis. All with cell phones as detonators to bombs they are wearing underneath their jackets. (It would be getting a bit brisk there at that time, so a jacket would be seen as natural and unobtrusive.) About halfway across the bridge these men, women, whatever dispersed within the crowd start detonating themselves. First, in the middle to create chaos and panic. To ratchet that up, those in the back and the front would begin doing likewise; serving as a cut-off point for those fleeing the initial blasts. What do you have at the end of the day?
A whole lot of people dead and injured; a body count, which is what the Islamofascists always strive for. The goal, I believe (and Thomas will likely back me up on this) is not to take the bridge down, but to cause panic, confusion, chaos, and bring about a decent body count for the Islamofascists. They know they cannot bring the bridge down. Not without some heavy, heavy explosives, or possibly a small plane chartered from the nearby airport could do enough damage to make the bridge impassable. But if a plane were used, then why buy all the cell-phones?
In short, I believe we dodged another bullet on this one, and it was all due to a Wal-Mart employee who was paying attention. This is the public's job in a post-9/11 world: Remain vigilant.
Marcie
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 11:28 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home