I am going on a trip soon and am reminded that I cannot bring liquids, lotions or creams with me on the plane. This restriction of course dates back over a year to a dozen or so Muslim Brits who were captured in London. They were allegedly going to make TATP explosives in the Lav and get their 72 virgins.
Anybody hear anything about them since? Were they charged? Sent to Gitmo? Join the witness protection program?
BTW, I looked up TATP on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetone_peroxide
Turns out this stuff takes a LONG time to make. Can you imagine someone tying up a Lav for hours? Or working with the smells it generates?
Oh, and Richard Reid. That's why I have to take off my shoes and walk on the airport's filty floors.
Well, we know where he is, but has his trial date been set? Are we going to learn that the PETN in his shoe needs a detonator to set it off, not merely a match?
Just curious.
Full Version: What Ever Happened To...
Common Ground Common Sense > National & International News > Original Essays, Research and Op-ed Pieces by Our members
QUOTE(jeffmoskin @ Mar 26 2007, 06:57 AM) 
I am going on a trip soon and am reminded that I cannot bring liquids, lotions or creams with me on the plane. This restriction of course dates back over a year to a dozen or so Muslim Brits who were captured in London. They were allegedly going to make TATP explosives in the Lav and get their 72 virgins.
Anybody hear anything about them since? Were they charged? Sent to Gitmo? Join the witness protection program?
BTW, I looked up TATP on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetone_peroxide
Turns out this stuff takes a LONG time to make. Can you imagine someone tying up a Lav for hours? Or working with the smells it generates?
Oh, and Richard Reid. That's why I have to take off my shoes and walk on the airport's filty floors.
Well, we know where he is, but has his trial date been set? Are we going to learn that the PETN in his shoe needs a detonator to set it off, not merely a match?
Just curious.
Anybody hear anything about them since? Were they charged? Sent to Gitmo? Join the witness protection program?
BTW, I looked up TATP on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetone_peroxide
Turns out this stuff takes a LONG time to make. Can you imagine someone tying up a Lav for hours? Or working with the smells it generates?
Oh, and Richard Reid. That's why I have to take off my shoes and walk on the airport's filty floors.
Well, we know where he is, but has his trial date been set? Are we going to learn that the PETN in his shoe needs a detonator to set it off, not merely a match?
Just curious.
Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006
Thwarting the Airline Plot: Inside the Investigation
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,...1225453,00.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6081000152.html
Plot to Bomb U.S.-Bound Jets Is Foiled
Britain Arrests 24 Suspected Conspirators
By John Ward Anderson and Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, August 11, 2006; A01
LONDON, Aug. 10 -- A plot to simultaneously blow up as many as 10 U.S.-bound passenger jets with liquid explosives hidden in carry-on luggage was foiled with the arrest of 24 suspects, British and U.S. officials said Thursday. Tough new security measures snarled air traffic through the day and filled departure lounges in Britain and the United States with crowds of frustrated travelers.
British authorities had been secretly watching the alleged conspirators, most of them British citizens of Pakistani origin, since late last year, officials said, and moved in to make arrests after concluding they were close to trying to stage their suicide attacks. Officials warned that some members of the plot may remain at large.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security increased its threat level for U.S.-bound commercial flights from Britain to "red" -- the first use of this highest terrorism alert signaling imminent attack, invoked in this case out of prudence to conform with a British alert. Officials said they had no information that the plot was to include attacks in the United States.
At the Washington area's three main airports, many flights were canceled and security screening lines grew long and slow-moving as passengers underwent special inspections after drinks and most other liquids and gels were banned as carry-on items. At British airports, carry-on bags were prohibited altogether, with passengers allowed to take aboard only essentials such as wallets, eyeglasses and baby formula.
By day's end, commercial aviation was returning to normal. Officials said that people boarding flights from the United States to Britain and on some other routes could continue to face extra screening Friday and that restrictions on carry-on items would remain in force for the time being.
"Put simply, this was a plot to commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale," said Paul Stephenson, deputy commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, describing a plot that if successful could have rivaled the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in death toll.
The plot "was sophisticated, it had a lot of members and it was international in scope," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told reporters. He said the suspects planned to smuggle bombs and detonators disguised as beverages, electronic devices and other everyday objects onto planes.
He expressed concern that components, each benign on its own, might be brought aboard, then mixed together to create a bomb.
Intelligence officials and private analysts expressed suspicion that the plot was an al-Qaeda operation, but said there was no confirmation. News that all of the suspects were British citizens fit with some analysts' view that future Islamic terrorism attacks will be organized by locally based groups acting largely on their own, with inspiration but not direction from Osama bin Laden.
Many young Muslims in Britain are angry with the U.S. and British governments over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Three of the four suicide attackers who killed 52 passengers in London's transit system last summer were British citizens of Pakistani origin, investigators concluded. The fourth was identified as a Jamaican-born convert to Islam.
President Bush called Thursday's arrests "a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation."
British officials did not announce the suspects' names, and other basic details of the alleged plot remained unknown. Officials speaking not for quotation by name offered sometimes conflicting partial information.
Counterterrorism officials said the plotters intended to strike at United, American and Continental airline flights to New York, Washington and California. But law enforcement officials said that no specific cities were targeted, just the United States in general, and that the suspects were interested in nonstop flights between Britain and the United States, which would have made New York and Washington obvious candidates.
A U.S. intelligence official, who would not be quoted by name, said that British Airways flights were also targeted, although it did not appear that plans had progressed to "specific flights" on specific days. However, it was "certainly to the point of where it could have been carried out in the very near future. I'm talking about days or a few weeks. This month. They were very, very far along."
A senior U.S. law enforcement official said the working theory was that the bombs would be detonated in midair, similar to the so-called Bojinka plot, a code name used by bin Laden operatives for a 1995 plan to bomb 11 U.S. airliners simultaneously over the Pacific Ocean. The "similarities to Bojinka are striking, and are very much on everyone's mind," the official said. Simultaneous detonation would maximize the death toll in part by preventing authorities from grounding other planes carrying explosives.
U.S. and European intelligence officials said that the 24 people arrested by British police in London, the London suburb of High Wycombe and the city of Birmingham were all British citizens, in their twenties, and that most, perhaps all, were of Pakistani origin or had roots in Pakistan. Many had traveled to that country recently, the officials said.
[Early Friday, the Bank of England froze the assets of 19 people, naming them as people arrested Thursday in connection with the plan, the Associated Press reported.]
Pakistani officials said Thursday they had worked closely with U.S. and British intelligence since December to counter the plot. Tasnim Aslam, spokeswoman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry in Islamabad, said several arrests were made in Pakistan on Wednesday; security sources said the arrests took place in Punjab province.
Until recently, authorities believed they had the entire group of plotters under surveillance and were allowing them to continue their planning as police secretly gathered evidence for trial. But authorities became concerned in recent days that there might be additional unknown conspirators, according to two senior intelligence sources.
The lack of certainty forced authorities to begin the arrests sooner than anticipated, U.S. and European intelligence officials said, and to impose a ban on taking liquids aboard planes in case other plotters moved forward in response to the arrests.
"This is by no means over," said one U.S. intelligence source, who like others agreed to discuss limited elements of the plot on condition of anonymity.
The strict security measures caused cancellations, delays and congestion at Heathrow -- Europe's busiest airport with 186,000 passengers on a typical day -- and other large airports in Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted, north of London. The problems reverberated across Europe, as major carriers including Air France, KLM, Lufthansa and Iberia canceled most or all of their flights to Britain.
Airline employees in Britain struggled to cope with crowds of frustrated, confused and sometimes worried and angry passengers who found their business and vacation plans suddenly disrupted, with few options for leaving the island.
Many were forced to repack in the middle of terminals, told that they could carry nothing on board but the most essential items, such as wallets, travel documents, medicines and eyeglasses. No liquids were allowed unless they could be verified, and mothers were forced to sample their babies' bottles in front of security guards to confirm their contents.
Travelers swarmed ticket counters, awaiting word on their flights. Thousands of stranded passengers flooded local hotels and jockeyed for seats on crowded trains to France, Belgium and Switzerland.
"This is the way of life now," said Craig Burgess, a UNICEF employee who got stranded at Heathrow and went into London to try to catch a train to Paris or Geneva so he could continue on to New Delhi to join his family. "I understand the caution and the safety. You'd rather have this happen than something tragic," he said.
Muslim community leaders in Britain expressed skepticism that a grand plot by Muslims had been discovered. They noted that most other alleged conspiracies announced by British police unraveled for lack of proof. Leaders said they feared a renewed Islamophobia.
Mohammad Naseem, chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque -- close to the scene of some of Thursday's raids -- said the community reaction was "dismay and anxiety. People have lost trust in politicians. All we are asking for is proof."
Ahmed Versi, editor of Britain's Muslim News, said hate mail had already started pouring into his office over the Internet on Thursday morning, saying Muslims were unwelcome in Britain. "Muslims are worried they may face physical attacks," he said in a telephone interview.
On quiet two-lane Walton Drive in High Wycombe, west of London, police raided a two-story brick duplex. Police officers stood sentry on either end of the block and in front of the house at No. 36 throughout the day; blue-and-white police tape kept people off the small patch of lawn and flowers in front of the glass front door. Inside, investigators in light-colored hazard suits inspected the home.
People on the street said at least six people lived in the house, including two brothers in their twenties who frequently played soccer at a local park. The people in the house were described as pleasant, if reserved.
"They don't seem like terrorists, they are family people. They never had any trouble with the neighbors," said neighbor Kamran Haider, 25. "I wouldn't suspect them to be involved in any criminal activity."
DeYoung reported from Washington. Staff writers Dafna Linzer, Anushka Asthana and Dan Eggen and researcher Julie Tate in Washington and special correspondents Kamran Khan in Karachi, Pakistan, and Corinne Gavard in Paris contributed to this report.
Plot to Bomb U.S.-Bound Jets Is Foiled
Britain Arrests 24 Suspected Conspirators
By John Ward Anderson and Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, August 11, 2006; A01
LONDON, Aug. 10 -- A plot to simultaneously blow up as many as 10 U.S.-bound passenger jets with liquid explosives hidden in carry-on luggage was foiled with the arrest of 24 suspects, British and U.S. officials said Thursday. Tough new security measures snarled air traffic through the day and filled departure lounges in Britain and the United States with crowds of frustrated travelers.
British authorities had been secretly watching the alleged conspirators, most of them British citizens of Pakistani origin, since late last year, officials said, and moved in to make arrests after concluding they were close to trying to stage their suicide attacks. Officials warned that some members of the plot may remain at large.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security increased its threat level for U.S.-bound commercial flights from Britain to "red" -- the first use of this highest terrorism alert signaling imminent attack, invoked in this case out of prudence to conform with a British alert. Officials said they had no information that the plot was to include attacks in the United States.
At the Washington area's three main airports, many flights were canceled and security screening lines grew long and slow-moving as passengers underwent special inspections after drinks and most other liquids and gels were banned as carry-on items. At British airports, carry-on bags were prohibited altogether, with passengers allowed to take aboard only essentials such as wallets, eyeglasses and baby formula.
By day's end, commercial aviation was returning to normal. Officials said that people boarding flights from the United States to Britain and on some other routes could continue to face extra screening Friday and that restrictions on carry-on items would remain in force for the time being.
"Put simply, this was a plot to commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale," said Paul Stephenson, deputy commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, describing a plot that if successful could have rivaled the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in death toll.
The plot "was sophisticated, it had a lot of members and it was international in scope," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told reporters. He said the suspects planned to smuggle bombs and detonators disguised as beverages, electronic devices and other everyday objects onto planes.
He expressed concern that components, each benign on its own, might be brought aboard, then mixed together to create a bomb.
Intelligence officials and private analysts expressed suspicion that the plot was an al-Qaeda operation, but said there was no confirmation. News that all of the suspects were British citizens fit with some analysts' view that future Islamic terrorism attacks will be organized by locally based groups acting largely on their own, with inspiration but not direction from Osama bin Laden.
Many young Muslims in Britain are angry with the U.S. and British governments over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Three of the four suicide attackers who killed 52 passengers in London's transit system last summer were British citizens of Pakistani origin, investigators concluded. The fourth was identified as a Jamaican-born convert to Islam.
President Bush called Thursday's arrests "a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation."
British officials did not announce the suspects' names, and other basic details of the alleged plot remained unknown. Officials speaking not for quotation by name offered sometimes conflicting partial information.
Counterterrorism officials said the plotters intended to strike at United, American and Continental airline flights to New York, Washington and California. But law enforcement officials said that no specific cities were targeted, just the United States in general, and that the suspects were interested in nonstop flights between Britain and the United States, which would have made New York and Washington obvious candidates.
A U.S. intelligence official, who would not be quoted by name, said that British Airways flights were also targeted, although it did not appear that plans had progressed to "specific flights" on specific days. However, it was "certainly to the point of where it could have been carried out in the very near future. I'm talking about days or a few weeks. This month. They were very, very far along."
A senior U.S. law enforcement official said the working theory was that the bombs would be detonated in midair, similar to the so-called Bojinka plot, a code name used by bin Laden operatives for a 1995 plan to bomb 11 U.S. airliners simultaneously over the Pacific Ocean. The "similarities to Bojinka are striking, and are very much on everyone's mind," the official said. Simultaneous detonation would maximize the death toll in part by preventing authorities from grounding other planes carrying explosives.
U.S. and European intelligence officials said that the 24 people arrested by British police in London, the London suburb of High Wycombe and the city of Birmingham were all British citizens, in their twenties, and that most, perhaps all, were of Pakistani origin or had roots in Pakistan. Many had traveled to that country recently, the officials said.
[Early Friday, the Bank of England froze the assets of 19 people, naming them as people arrested Thursday in connection with the plan, the Associated Press reported.]
Pakistani officials said Thursday they had worked closely with U.S. and British intelligence since December to counter the plot. Tasnim Aslam, spokeswoman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry in Islamabad, said several arrests were made in Pakistan on Wednesday; security sources said the arrests took place in Punjab province.
Until recently, authorities believed they had the entire group of plotters under surveillance and were allowing them to continue their planning as police secretly gathered evidence for trial. But authorities became concerned in recent days that there might be additional unknown conspirators, according to two senior intelligence sources.
The lack of certainty forced authorities to begin the arrests sooner than anticipated, U.S. and European intelligence officials said, and to impose a ban on taking liquids aboard planes in case other plotters moved forward in response to the arrests.
"This is by no means over," said one U.S. intelligence source, who like others agreed to discuss limited elements of the plot on condition of anonymity.
The strict security measures caused cancellations, delays and congestion at Heathrow -- Europe's busiest airport with 186,000 passengers on a typical day -- and other large airports in Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted, north of London. The problems reverberated across Europe, as major carriers including Air France, KLM, Lufthansa and Iberia canceled most or all of their flights to Britain.
Airline employees in Britain struggled to cope with crowds of frustrated, confused and sometimes worried and angry passengers who found their business and vacation plans suddenly disrupted, with few options for leaving the island.
Many were forced to repack in the middle of terminals, told that they could carry nothing on board but the most essential items, such as wallets, travel documents, medicines and eyeglasses. No liquids were allowed unless they could be verified, and mothers were forced to sample their babies' bottles in front of security guards to confirm their contents.
Travelers swarmed ticket counters, awaiting word on their flights. Thousands of stranded passengers flooded local hotels and jockeyed for seats on crowded trains to France, Belgium and Switzerland.
"This is the way of life now," said Craig Burgess, a UNICEF employee who got stranded at Heathrow and went into London to try to catch a train to Paris or Geneva so he could continue on to New Delhi to join his family. "I understand the caution and the safety. You'd rather have this happen than something tragic," he said.
Muslim community leaders in Britain expressed skepticism that a grand plot by Muslims had been discovered. They noted that most other alleged conspiracies announced by British police unraveled for lack of proof. Leaders said they feared a renewed Islamophobia.
Mohammad Naseem, chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque -- close to the scene of some of Thursday's raids -- said the community reaction was "dismay and anxiety. People have lost trust in politicians. All we are asking for is proof."
Ahmed Versi, editor of Britain's Muslim News, said hate mail had already started pouring into his office over the Internet on Thursday morning, saying Muslims were unwelcome in Britain. "Muslims are worried they may face physical attacks," he said in a telephone interview.
On quiet two-lane Walton Drive in High Wycombe, west of London, police raided a two-story brick duplex. Police officers stood sentry on either end of the block and in front of the house at No. 36 throughout the day; blue-and-white police tape kept people off the small patch of lawn and flowers in front of the glass front door. Inside, investigators in light-colored hazard suits inspected the home.
People on the street said at least six people lived in the house, including two brothers in their twenties who frequently played soccer at a local park. The people in the house were described as pleasant, if reserved.
"They don't seem like terrorists, they are family people. They never had any trouble with the neighbors," said neighbor Kamran Haider, 25. "I wouldn't suspect them to be involved in any criminal activity."
DeYoung reported from Washington. Staff writers Dafna Linzer, Anushka Asthana and Dan Eggen and researcher Julie Tate in Washington and special correspondents Kamran Khan in Karachi, Pakistan, and Corinne Gavard in Paris contributed to this report.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...1&f=5633964
Remarks by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke of Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorist Branch:
"This is the first time we have been able to release information about the progress of the investigation, since the morning of the arrests on 10th August.
"This is not because we have wanted to withhold information from the public on the contrary, we want to tell the public as much as we can about the terrorist threat. But we have now reached the stage where I can give you more details. I cannot give you a running commentary on the enquiry. Neither can I give details of the specific evidence against individuals. What I can give is an indication of the type of evidence that will be presented in support of the prosecution.
"First, there is evidence from surveillance carried out before 10 August. This includes important, indeed, highly significant video and audio recordings.
"I can also tell you that since 10 August we have found bomb making equipment. There are chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide, electrical components, documents and other items.
"We have also found a number of video recordings - these are sometimes referred to as martyrdom videos. This has all given us a clearer picture of the alleged plot.
"However, the investigation is far from complete. The scale is immense. Enquiries will span the globe.
"The enormity of the alleged plot will be matched only by our determination to follow every lead and line of enquiry. I shall try to give you an idea of the size and complexity of this investigation.
"There have been 69 searches. These have been in houses, flats and business premises, vehicles and open spaces.
"As well as the bomb making equipment, we have found more than 400 computers, 200 mobile telephones and 8,000 items of removable storage media such as memory sticks, CDs and DVDs. So far, from the computers alone, we have removed some 6,000 gigabytes of data.
"The meticulous investigation of all this material will take many months. All the data will be analyzed.
"There will be thousands of forensic examinations and comparisons. Fingerprints, DNA, electronic data, handwriting comparisons, chemical analysis, and indeed the full range of forensic disciplines will be used.
"Aside from this particular case, we continue, working with the Security Service and others to investigate the threat from terrorism.
"I would like to reassure the public that we are doing everything we can to keep you safe, for you to live your lives without being in constant fear. However, we must be realistic. The threat from terrorism is real, it is here, it is deadly and it is enduring.
"As we all look for explanations, we cannot afford to be complacent and ignore the reality of what we face.
"These are difficult times for all communities, but I can assure you that the police service will not flinch from its duty to protect the public. More information will be given as and when it is appropriate to do so."
Remarks by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke of Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorist Branch:
"This is the first time we have been able to release information about the progress of the investigation, since the morning of the arrests on 10th August.
"This is not because we have wanted to withhold information from the public on the contrary, we want to tell the public as much as we can about the terrorist threat. But we have now reached the stage where I can give you more details. I cannot give you a running commentary on the enquiry. Neither can I give details of the specific evidence against individuals. What I can give is an indication of the type of evidence that will be presented in support of the prosecution.
"First, there is evidence from surveillance carried out before 10 August. This includes important, indeed, highly significant video and audio recordings.
"I can also tell you that since 10 August we have found bomb making equipment. There are chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide, electrical components, documents and other items.
"We have also found a number of video recordings - these are sometimes referred to as martyrdom videos. This has all given us a clearer picture of the alleged plot.
"However, the investigation is far from complete. The scale is immense. Enquiries will span the globe.
"The enormity of the alleged plot will be matched only by our determination to follow every lead and line of enquiry. I shall try to give you an idea of the size and complexity of this investigation.
"There have been 69 searches. These have been in houses, flats and business premises, vehicles and open spaces.
"As well as the bomb making equipment, we have found more than 400 computers, 200 mobile telephones and 8,000 items of removable storage media such as memory sticks, CDs and DVDs. So far, from the computers alone, we have removed some 6,000 gigabytes of data.
"The meticulous investigation of all this material will take many months. All the data will be analyzed.
"There will be thousands of forensic examinations and comparisons. Fingerprints, DNA, electronic data, handwriting comparisons, chemical analysis, and indeed the full range of forensic disciplines will be used.
"Aside from this particular case, we continue, working with the Security Service and others to investigate the threat from terrorism.
"I would like to reassure the public that we are doing everything we can to keep you safe, for you to live your lives without being in constant fear. However, we must be realistic. The threat from terrorism is real, it is here, it is deadly and it is enduring.
"As we all look for explanations, we cannot afford to be complacent and ignore the reality of what we face.
"These are difficult times for all communities, but I can assure you that the police service will not flinch from its duty to protect the public. More information will be given as and when it is appropriate to do so."
It is coming up on the one year anniversity.
Is this a "real threat" or is it just one more thing to make us afraid, and to continually keep us inconvenienced (airport shakedowns) and subservient?
Is this a "real threat" or is it just one more thing to make us afraid, and to continually keep us inconvenienced (airport shakedowns) and subservient?
QUOTE(jeffmoskin @ Mar 27 2007, 06:34 AM)
It is coming up on the one year anniversity.
Is this a "real threat" or is it just one more thing to make us afraid, and to continually keep us inconvenienced (airport shakedowns) and subservient?
Is this a "real threat" or is it just one more thing to make us afraid, and to continually keep us inconvenienced (airport shakedowns) and subservient?
After my last trip, and having forgotten my lotion - I believe it's a way to make me pay 25X the cost for some lotion at the Airport that I don't even like.
IMHO, this is all about...
FEAR...
without which there would be public outrage about the so-called "War on Terror" and all the delays, costs, and inconveniences to which we are all now subjected.
Here in BushWorld
FEAR...
without which there would be public outrage about the so-called "War on Terror" and all the delays, costs, and inconveniences to which we are all now subjected.
Here in BushWorld
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