Posted on 08/11/2006 10:28:49 PM PDT by DannyTN
(TV5) -- While FBI agents pour into Caro another incident breaks out in Gratiot County. At approximately 11:35am August 11th police were called to the Dollar General Store in Ithaca after a" clerk in Ithaca became suspicious after two men came into the store, and became upset when they were turned down while trying to buy several disposal cell phones.
TV5's Mike Terry spoke with the clerk who called police. She said they were two "Middle Eastern" men and said they've been coming into the store weekly and buying disposable cell phones. She said the same thing was happening at the dollar general store in Alma.
You might think the clerk became suspicious because of what was going on in Caro but when we asked the clerk she said she wasn't even aware of what was going on.
The policy at their store is that they can only sell two cell phones, per person, per day. She saw the men put the phones in the trunk of the car and when she thought they were coming back in, she called 9-1-1.
We did talk to Ithaca police while there has been no crime committed-they do want to find these men, and run their names against government watch lists.
But here's the weird thing: they de-batteried the phones.
I've thought of that for some time. Didn't mention it for "don't give the ME's any helpful hints' reasons.
But since you have , Scanners now whiz through frequencies for traffic.
I'm sure they can dial every number every 15-30 min.
It might already be happening.
I'm just saddened that the Constitutional Right to taking flight training without learning to land has been stripped away after 9/11.
It's a shame that middle eastern men buying thousands of untraceable cell phones are being reported by their fellow americans. The Constitution clearly gives terrorists the right to communicate in a clandestine fashion and to freely procure IED detonators for killing american troops. This hysteria has to stop!
Sarcasm off...
Kudos to folks who were awake enough to report these activities.
The advantage, for us, is that every other cell phone contract we looked into had 100's of minutes every month, yet we never use ours unless we are traveling. So we were paying outrageous $ every month for a service we only used once or twice a year. Instead we just pre pay for a set amount of minutes, and we have yet to use them up. For us it is much cheaper. If you are an everyday cell phone user, this wouldn't make sense, but for those of us that want them only for emergencies, they are the right choice.
I wouldn't mind registering them, but I don't want them banned. The company also does have all our info, for when we recharge the phone, and we have used our credit card to recharge them, so they have our info anyway.
Bingo! As I also suggested in this thread, these phones might not be detonators at all. They could very well be the terrorists' attempts to circumvent the surveillance that the NYT clued them in on. These phone purchases are PROOF that the NYT is helping the terrorists! They show the terorists are changing their tactics after learning about US methods through the MSM. This is something that needs to be spread, so that as many people understand it as possible. It's a direct connection between the NYT's leaks and terrorists' changes in tactics...
Oh... one more comment to the wristwatch thing....
The big difference between a watch and a cell phone is that a cellphone battery can set off an electric blasting cap. A watch battery can't... making the cell phone more practical.
Car batteries, big nicads, gel-cells, piles of alkaline "D"-cells, lantern batteries... nVDC is nVDC -- although the common "car cord", with a voltage regulator built into the cigarette lighter plug, and a connector on the other end of the cord built to mate with a specific phone model, makes 12-14VDC very "user-friendly" for any cell phone. 12V battery wired to the plug, and the other end plugged into the phone, and you're there.
More than car bombs, though, I'd worry about long-duration power supplies to be used for bombs they've prepositioned. The advantage to them would be a long "standby" timeframe, so that they could "set it and forget it" until they wanted to let 'er rip. (Literally as long as they wanted to make it -- all they need to do is calculate standby MAH drain, and then rig up a battery with capacity sufficient to supply it for the desired length of time.)
I agree with you that those expressing hysteria over restricting the purchase of untraceable cell phones is bogus.
The only problem I have is that we may create a law where you can only purchase one cell phone per month. Sounds familiar?
Seems the activity is centered around Dearborn.
Most or all of the incidents have had that city involved.
An idea I've done.
Program your local FBI office phone number into your cell phone for quick response to any incident you might see.
I'm thinking of switching to a camera phone for the same reason.
There would be a pattern to this, that could be observed at the central cell sites. A phone in the tracfone category would appear on the local roaming database (it has to check in with the cell periodically to let the cell know it is there to get calls), and would stay there day after day, never ever making or getting calls.
The disposable phones are very expensive on a cost per minute basis.The people who buy these are either stuck with bad credit or don't want to creat a paper trail by signing a contract with a normal cell provider.But you don't buy a new phone every week,just add minutes back on to the phone that you already have.So why do they need all these phones?
Is the throwing off inconvenience of dieting and exercising worth more than your heart?
I'm not trying to be confrontative. I think, sed contra, that war is a particular situation which requires the temporary suspension of some liberties. The Framers even included a provision for the suspension of habeas corpus in times of such national emergency.
One way, though inadequate, to put a leash on such temporary suspensions would be "sunset" provisions, requiring their periodic renewal.
Ideologically, though, I'm in complete agreements. Our enemies, and the enemies of liberty MUST be held accountable for the liberties which we temporarily and prudentially suspend in order to deal with them.
I'd love for them to try that -- because it would be trivial for the cell carries to pick 'em out instantly -- AND, know the precise location of EACH device!
They don't even need to activate the phones(making them even more anonymous) if they have someone who knows how to "clone" cell phones. (A one minute operation if you know how. ).They don't need autodialers or anything ponderous to call a bunch of different numbers ... they can do it by callling the one number assigned to the clones.
You would quickly get caught if you used a cloned phone for day to day communication, but for a one time use thing, no worries as long as you don't have more than one cloned number operating in each cell zone.
Yeah, they can clone the device's IDs, but... the network can be set to flag multiple "same" phones registered more than ONECE at a time.
Remember, the entire scheme depends on them having ALL the phones turned ON at the same time.
The moment they turn them on, each phone will "reach out and touch" the nearest tower (actually several towers, if more than one is "within reach", and then negotate with them to determine the best connection). It then "registers" with the system, so that calls to the phone will be routed to that tower.
If the network is sending the SAME call to MULTIPLE phones, well, it's gonna know it's doing that.
The guys who used to "clone" phones (I don't even know if it's really possible to still do that, what with the PIN and other security measures built into modern phones) snuck under the radar by NEVER turning BOTH phones on at the same time. Go look at the Usenet archives for the cell phone newsgroups on Google for a few years ago. They used to advertise their "cloning" services -- and they WARNED people to NEVER turn both phones on at the same time, 'cuz if they did, they were gonna get caught.
BTW, among the various security measures in use is something called "RF Fingerprinting". No two transmitters (i.e., the transmitter section of the handset) puts out exactly the same waveform. Sure, they'll be on the same frequency, have the same ID, and so forth, but the actual carrier wave is gonna differ from one phone to the next, due to miniscule differences (within tolerance) in the various components -- tuned circuits (coils, capacitors, varicaps, crystals), frequency control (PLL circuits), and oscillators, buffers, and final output stage in the transmitters.
The result is that when the cellphone is first activated, the "fingerprint" is analyzed and stored, and then each subsequent time it "registers" at the closest tower, the fingerprint will be compared to the bona fide fingerprint. If they don't match, then to bad, so sad, etc.
In short, I hope the scumbags clone thousands of phones -- because it'll guarantee the world's biggest DUD when they go to hit the button! (And, it'll direct the celco techs to the exact location of EACH device!)
Excellent point! The tendency is to think of application to existing tactics, when in reality these purchases may be (seems likely given the numbers) preparation for a new attack tactic.
This possibility should be discussed by government agencies, to undercut the "shock" value of any such tactic.
Yes, cloning would be a spectacular fizzle as the network cannot honor a request to contact multiple phones with a single number. But, at least as the London plot shows, the Islamuzziefascists do believe in dry runs. Much more likely the phones would be sequentially called in rapid succession on their original numbers.
Maybe this explains why the purchasers in Caro, Michigan were reported to have separated the phones, batteries, chargers and wrapping into separate containers. Why do this you are going to re-sell the phones for normal consumer use?
Rethink that logic.
I think it should be put out on the media that all Tracphones sold in the last 90 days or so will NOT be able to go into service,this is basically the only option we have ...
Abdul hears that his phone won't work. He says to himself, "Is this to be true? Has the infidel unworked my telephone? Let me see!" He then turns on the phone, calls Moustafa, who answers, and says, "Hello Abdul (caller ID, y'know), may I help you today, inshalla (pbuh)?"
Abdul says, "The lying infidel! He has lied to us! Our telephones DO work!"
And that's the end of THAT tune!
Did you know that if you replace the word "cellphone" with something about "assault weapons" or "gun-show loophole", you'll be able to sell it to the Brady Bunch for use as ad copy?
There is no doubt that the cellphone is an ideal weapon for terrorists, cheap, common and untraceable.
Look at it this way: When you have teams of Arabs scouring the country for cellphones, they stick out like sore thumbs, and are easy to spot. And once they're spotted, it shouldn't be TOO hard to get a warrant to put a tail on 'em, tap their real phones, get mail intercepts, and so forth.
You wanna dry up the supply of cellphones?
You think that'll STOP them from jihadi crap?
You think they'll all go, "Oh, well, it was fun while it lasted. Now we all have to learn to make falafel and buy pushcarts!"????
Nope.
They'll just buy two dollar wristwatches, and use THEM to trigger their bombs.
You think THAT'S a better plan? Better than having them call attention to themselves, acting like total weirdos on a mission, buying up mass quantities of telephones?
A guy dresses up in "western casual", drives into town (any town, anywhere), parks his car downtown, and starts walking down the street, buying ONE wristwatch in EVERY store that sells them.
When he gets to the far edge of town, he crosses the street, turns back towards his car, and hits every OTHER store.
I wonder how many towns he can hit in a day? I wonder how many watches he can buy in a week?
More to the point, I wonder WHO will "think it odd" that "some guy walked in and bought a wristwatch"?
I can see it now -- clerk dials 911... "Hey, some guy walked in and bought a wristwatch." "Yeah, so?" "Well, aren't you going to DO something about it?" "Yeah -- we'll file charges against YOU if you pull this crap again. This is an emergency services line, NOT a 'some guy bought a wristwatch' clearinghouse!"
So he, go ahead, ban cellphones -- and watch the currently VERY obvious, visible jihadis to go invisible on us.
Brilliant. Just brilliant.
PS: This is SO surreal! We have an obvious Fifth Column going around the country, preparing an attack, and conservatives are calling for a ban on TELEPHONES??? Meanwhile, the JIHADIS are dismissed! I cannot believe the incredible focus on the TELEPHONE, as if IT was the problem!
WAKE UP, people! The problem is a FIFTH COLUMN in our country!
During WWII, we had a problem with German infiltrators. Did we ban telephones, telegraphs, cameras, guns, ammunition, etc? NOPE! We went after the REAL problem -- the INFILTRATORS!
Today, we have people leaving the INFILTRATORS alone, and going after the tools, as if THAT will make a whit of difference!
It's insane. Certifiably so.
No, this was Ithaca *Michigan* not Ithaca *New York*
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050307-121323-4533r.htm
Cell-phone technology an explosive tool for insurgents By Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The efficiency of cell-phone technology in rebuilding Iraq has a drawback in that insurgents are using the hand-held devices to orchestrate attacks and set off roadside bombs, defense officials say.
A growing network of cellular connections has proved a boon to contractors, the U.S. military and average Iraqis in turning the state-run economy into a free-market business environment.
But insurgents have been able to capitalize on the growing availability to create their own mobile command-and-control centers. Bomb-makers also use cell phones to remotely set off improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the roadside devices that have killed scores of U.S. troops.
Charles Krohn, an Army official in Baghdad from 2003 to 2004, said the insurgents developed an ingenious way to thwart eavesdropping as they set up meetings and attacks.
"They would use more than one phone to send a message," said Mr. Krohn, a visiting professor at the University of Michigan. "They would deliver part of the message on one number and call another number to deliver another part of the message. So if someone was listening, they would only get part of the message. If you were concerned about eavesdropping, you would want to use more than one telephone and there is no shortage of cell phones in Iraq."
Those in Abu Musab Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq organization use cell-phone communication to notify terrorists of attack plans, said one well-placed defense source.
"I don't know if Zarqawi himself uses a cell phone but his aides do," the source said.
Virtually all spoken electronic communication in the country is done via cell or satellite phones, not land lines. The constant chatter does give the National Security Agency and specialized commando units opportunities to intercept conversations. And, the Associated Press reported last month that Iraqis use a cell phone's text messaging feature to send tips on terrorists to trusted security officials.
But the technology seems to be doing the insurgency more good than harm.
Sources said insurgents have the know-how to make one cell phone communicate with a second phone whose components are built into the bomb's triggering mechanism.
"We don't quite know how to combat that," the defense source said.
U.S. troops seized a terrorist-produced video that shows insurgents in a car that passes an Army convoy going in the opposite direction, said a Marine officer who fought in the notorious Al Anbar Province west of Baghdad. When the convoy reached a certain point, the men in the vehicle can be seen using a cell phone to detonate a hidden IED.
"These guys like to film their atrocities," said the officer, who requested anonymity.
Insurgents use other types of phones. In April, near the insurgent-heavy town of Latifiyah, an Army convoy was devastated by a series of IEDs. An investigation showed that bombs were ignited by satellite phones activated by another satellite phone, the Marine officer said.
Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner, Virginia Republican, lamented that U.S. countermeasures are not keeping pace with terrorist IED making.
"It's almost a leapfrog," he said. "As soon as we get a system which seems to be producing the effectiveness, they leapfrog to another technology and keep moving forward."
There are days when the U.S. command decides for security reasons to shut down cell-phone connections in some sectors. Other times they jam it for hours to prevent terrorists from coordinating attacks via the airways.
The importance of cell phones to the insurgents was illustrated when Marines and Army troops captured the terrorist-infested city of Fallujah in November.
Marines discovered a network of makeshift IED factories and among the parts were cell phones and hand-held radios. Insurgents made the bombs, then smuggled them out for use in vehicles or as roadside explosives.
The insurgents' command structure is filled with Ba'athists who led Saddam's vast and layered security agencies, including the dreaded intelligence service, the Mukhabarat.
The CIA's top weapons inspector reported that the Mukhabarat maintained an extensive research and development program for all types of IEDs. Defense sources said the technology has helped terrorists build better bombs.
In fact, the insurgents have gotten so skilled that their expertise is being exported to Afghanistan, where U.S. forces are fighting al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists.
Gen. John Abizaid, the U.S. commander in the Persian Gulf, said, "It is a problem that requires not just an American effort but an international effort, because we see the technology moving, and the tactics and techniques, moving from Iraq to Pakistan to Afghanistan."
The CIA report on the Mukhabarat, or Iraqi Intelligence Service, said its M-21 directorate ran the Al Ghafiqi Project to produce a variety of IEDs.
"No one person constructed an entire explosive device alone," says the report, prepared by a team led by Charles Duelfer. "The construction process drifted through the sections of the directorate."
The reported also says: "Al Ghafiqi constantly invented new designs or methods to conceal explosives; books, briefcases, belts, vests, thermoses, car seats, floor mats and facial tissue boxes were all used to conceal" explosives.
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