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Man Charged in Model Airplane Plot To Bomb Pentagon
garymortimer writes "A 26-year-old Massachusetts man with a physics degree was arrested and charged Wednesday with plotting an attack on the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol with remote-controlled model aircraft, authorities said. Rezwan Ferdaus, a U.S. citizen from Ashland, Massachusetts, planned to use model aircraft filled with C-4 plastic explosives. As a result of an undercover FBI investigation, Ferdaus, who has a physics degree from Northeastern University in Boston, was charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda for attacks on U.S. soldiers overseas. His federal public defender couldn't be reached immediately for comment."
Well shit does this mean I have to get groped before using my RC airplanes? I hope they are willing to at least give me a happy ending if so. I'm tired of them being teases.
I have to wonder the nature of the situation when the charges are for, "attempting to provide material support", as in, was he in contact with anyone who was actually planning to bomb anything, or was everyone he interacted with affiliated with law enforcement, and they took a disgruntled man and groomed him into the position they're not charging him for.
We'll probably never really know, which is why I really dislike conspiracy type charges when there aren't several people charged.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
The Pentagon is *really* big. So is the Capitol. Unless the remote controlled airplane was a full size Cessna, you couldn't carry enough C4 to do any real damage to either of them. The FBI spokesperson called him an aspiring terrorist. With the emphasis on ASS, I'd say.
Hmm . . . Christians have bombed federal buildings and abortion clinics in the U.S., and buildings in Norway.
By your logic, physics degrees should not be given to Christians because they might build nuclear bombs and drop them on people.
In a perfect world, scientific/engineering degrees would be reserved for people who display rational, scientific thought in all areas of their life, and don't suspend it when it comes to 2000 years old fairy tales promoted by authority figures, yes.
Nice conspiracy theory but.... ....."
Would you ever be fooled by this setup? "Yo dude, go buy a model airplane and I'll give you some C4 and
Please. Reality here.
First the article said the FBI worked with an informant. The idiot probably asked a buddy how to get some C4.
The guy wanted to do something and apparently the FBI just helped him along. I'm sure they have every meeting taped. According to the article they at least tried half-heatedly to make sure this idiot was serious. I'm sure that's on tape to.
Was he setup? Yep, the moment his intentions were clear, the FBI set him up.
BTW, its only entrapment if he can say "But for the actions of the FBI, he would never have done the crime."
The saying about online computer games "Don't be a dick", that goes for real life to. This idiot sounds like a real dick.
A real, full-size airliner barely put a dent in the Pentagon. A remote controlled plane the size of a Cessna full of C4 would break a few windows.
This guy was a physics major and can't calculate how much C4 it would take to punch a hole in a solid concrete building?
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
It's too bad that a fun hobby like RC aircraft was co-opted by the military for use in target drones and later surveillance aircraft and now weapons platforms. Of course one understands the reasons - they are cheap, well no now they are $100 million each but they used to be cheap, they are quiet, and you don't need to put a pilot in danger or have the whole logistical set up of a full airbase to support one. At some point the airbase itself becomes a target that needs to be defended. A drone can be launched or recovered from almost anywhere - depending on the drone.
It was an idea that made sense. But ideas grow, just like the concept of lighting gunpowder behind a ball of lead inside a tube. The basic properties of drones remain - almost anyone can fly one. They are cheap. They are quiet. And you can't put a hellfire missile on one but you certainly could put a couple pounds of explosives, and fly it absolutely anywhere. And I mean anywhere. If the military can do it, so can you. Because of this innate problem, my prediction is that RC aircraft - owning one, manufacturing one, or flying one, is about to be grabbed by the government and handed to the military. Just like today guns are under strict control, RC aircraft will soon be under strict control. And that's sad because the vast, vast majority of RC aircraft are flown by hobbyists for fun.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
You might even say, somebody set up them the bomb.
Yeah, more than likely he's a Unitarian.
Because denying religious people an education will make the world a safer, more peaceful and forward thinking place? I seriously doubt that.
I'm more inclined to think equal opportunities and education for all, regardless of their beliefs, is a very positive step forward.
A 26-year-old Massachusetts man with a physics degree
So, what was his Slashdot handle?
All terrorists are nutcases. No sane person decides that cold-blooded mass murder (often of people only tangentially related to the source of their anger) is the best way to accomplish their goals.
Given my druthers, I'd prefer smart terrorists. Guys like this making RC plane bombs, or that guy who tried to make a dirty bomb to set off at Obama's inauguration. They tend to be easier to catch, because they outsmart themselves. Someone less "clever" might just buy a gun and shoot some people -- see Scott Roeder, Byron Williams, Nidal Hassan, and Jared Loughner.
All different motives (anti-abortion, Glenn Beck told me to, anti-military, straight-up crazy), and all of them not-all-there. Three of the four successful, and the fourth (Williams) only failed because society was lucky enough for him to get a traffic ticket on the way to the shooting. I'll take a dent in the Pentagon's walls any day of the week.
AC, read this http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/08/fbi-terrorist-informants :)
Its the old skill set of "preemption," "prevention," and "disruption"
A massive informant network (rakers) spots "a" lone wolf and an undercover operative is sent in to see what can be done.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/foreign-affairs-defense/ap-documents-expansion-of-nypd-into-domestic-cia/
The operative will propose a plot, provide explosives and then solve the crime
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
You can grow a pair and realize that the vast majority of these nut jobs are muslim, or you can bury your head in the sand and pretend they're not. Your choice. Though it might help if you leave the west for a bit and travel the world and see for yourself exactly how true it is.
Om, nomnomnom...
The government is starting a new process to restrict shipment and sales of model rocket engines, after getting their asses handed to them in a big court case against rocket hobbyists a couple years ago.
Next hobby on the chopping block-- Punkin Chunkers? BattleBots? , DIY anything?
That's right citizen...just sit on your couch and watch the tube...actually building things helps the terrorists!
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You can also grow a brain and realize that the vast majority of these nut jobs are mad because we just won't leave them the fuck alone, and are constantly getting involved in their countries' business in the mideast because of our addiction to oil. If we didn't have troops and military bases over there, we wouldn't have them trying to blow us up all the time. Maybe if we minded our own fucking business instead of trying to be an evil empire, we wouldn't have so many enemies.
How many suicide bombers have attacked Switzerland?
A clear triumph for America's powers of cultural assimilation! While our barbaric foreign enemies carry out suicide attacks, our beneficent influence induces the local ones to attempt a weaponized UAV program! Heck, one more generation and they'll probably be saving the bombs for use against Planned Parenthood, and exercising their second amendment rights against other targets, just like the good, god-fearing folks at home who are sensible enough to fear the right god...
The vast majority of these nut jobs have brown hair.
The vast majority of these nut jobs are humans.
The vast majority of these nut jobs have two ears.
Want to know that ALL of the nut jobs have in common?
THEY'RE NUT JOBS!
Name me a time when there wasn't violence going on in the middle east. It was all rainbows and unicorns until Israel showed up and ruined the peace party.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
As I understand it, all Islamic terrorists arrested inside the U.S. were put up to it by the FBI.
You see, the FBI prefers to train it's own terrorists because doing so is far easier than catching the real deal, who might be dangerous, or hard to find, or worse not exist at all. Don't you feel safer with the FBI making sure there are terrorists to catch?
The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
As a Unitarian, let me assure you that we couldn't get out of committee meetings long enough to attempt any sort of terrorist action. Our secret plots all come out easily, anyway, because a major tenet of our faith is open discussion around the Sacred Coffeepot.
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
There's nothing but the FBI's words that he would have done the crime if not for the FBI stepping in and arresting him. He could have been at the conceptual "I wonder what would happen if" stage when the FBI stepped in and gave him the means he didn't have before and encouraged him to give greater motivation as well. The FBI has done that before. At this point the only side out there is the FBI trying to sell a press release that they alone saved Washington from another exploding airplane (oh, and we could use more funding, thanks). And from their track record, I'm not one to blindly believe the FBI.
Learn to love Alaska
So in other words, you feel your atheism gives you superior morality.
His atheism allows him to question morality, his own and others, as opposed to morals dictated by a religion that must be adhered to without question.
--
Religion is regarded by the common people as true,
by the wise as false,
and by the rulers as useful.
— Lucius Annæus Seneca.
Terrorism, the new religion.
I remember hearing big-name Republican candidates and pundits telling us that there would be a 9/11 ever few months if Obama got elected. Strange how it has seemed to work out.
They were willy enough to believe what he said while campaigning. As far as civil liberties go and the program to do whatever they hell we want to terrorists, he just kept doing what Bush did because once he was in the hotseat and got to look at what was really going on he realized we actually did need to worry a bit.
So yeah, that did turn out better, thanks to Bush laying the groundwork and Obama being rather ineffective and waffling.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
So let me get this straight. The FBI finds some useful idiot, gives him money/C4/whatever and coaches him on what to do. They create the problem... Then it makes national news? This is more than absurd. There was little chance of him actually completing this plan, much less actually inflicting any damage. This should haven't even made national news.
But let me state the obvious: This is a PR campaign. It keeps us afraid of the evil alCIAda boogeymen, and further gives the government more excuses to clamp down on us, the slave class.
As someone who has worked on drones for over a decade, I can tell you first hand that these drones could not have carried enough C4 to be anything more than a nuisance. Further, it takes more than buying an R/C plane to be a credible threat. He probably would have crashed, being the patsy hack he was. Oh wait, that's right. He wasn't a threat after all, according to the article.
Ask yourself. Why did this make national news? Did I mention the CIA has a budget for propaganda?
Why would anyone with half a brain do this? A model plane with a bit of C4 wouldn't do much to the exterior.
So you do something *besides* flying into the roof. Like, for instance, fly it into the the main entrance.
It would smash into the door and create a big C4+fuel fireball, killing or seriously wounding anyone in the vicinity and scaring the crap out of everyone else, while sending our Dear Leaders into a panic.
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
you feel your atheism gives you superior morality
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
NEWSFLASH: Fundamentalists are nuts! Story at 11!
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
I was under the impression that we paid for it. If not, where did the King of Saudi Arabia get all that money from? Did he win it in a card game?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Simple solution. Only use those parts that prove your case and burry the parts that show the setup. Do you seriously think the Feds would even think about offering the parts in which they cajole him into action at trial?
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
*Ahem*
Drone control is already centralized. In Nevada and California. Many of them are fly_by_Sat affairs, and the folks that man the flight control centers can go home at the end of the day and play with their kids. I've seen some news footage of the nice set-ups at "mission control". Biggest issue this brings up is making the whole affair too much like a video game, and killing real people from a nice cozy office thousands of miles from the battle. That, and the fact that these operators aren't getting the benefits that in-the-air combat pilots are getting for flying in a combat zone. Even the Brits are piloting their drones from NV.
Being an RC aircraft guy myself, I hope the utility of having a steady stream of young RC pilots being interested in joining up for miitary service might off-set what this idiot has done in the eyes of the feds when it comes time to evaluate the new rules for RC aircraft.
I think you may have been eluding to a control center being the target of an attack. Not much to worry about there unless the baddies have ICBMs. Some nice info here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4851765
Here is some video of pilots in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZP2AKEqEIU
And an article titled "Point. Click. Kill: Inside The Air Force's Frantic Unmanned Reinvention" :
http://www.popsci.com/drones
~~~ Trust me, I'm a professional! ~~~
This guy was defeated by the groundwork done by the FBI in tracking him, contacting him and then catching him red handed while he was planning the operation. Note that this wasn't done while he was driving to the Pentagon or setting up his drone. Terrorist plots need to be defeated at the planning stage, and that requires good old investigation and espionage. Not by groping people at the airport check-in queue.
"..One hosts to look them up, one DNS to find them, and in the darkness BIND them."
I wonder which geeky hobby is next up to be regulated into oblivion.
Writing programs for your own computer.