[Old Student]

I think you miss the point. They will be able to find the guy who buys a dozen box cutters, half a ton of ammonium nitrate, a hundred gallons of diesel fuel, sixty packing crates, and five tickets to Washington, D.C.

Yes, it is still possible, and even quite probable, that would be legitimate purchases. Unless he's a young Muslim student who's overstayed his visa, or something else like that.

What they are trying to do is wade through the sheer mass of data to find the one or two items that are actually useful. I wish 'em luck. On the other hand, I don't mind them trying.

[proxy_user]

I dunno. You would think that if the terrorists had half a brain, they'd pay cash, and buy the stuff a little at a time.

I still say that it would be a much more profitable line of investigation to send an undercover agent to a radical mosque, and have him chat up the guys he meets there.