Posted on 07/10/2012 9:03:10 PM PDT by posterchild
A Massachusetts man accused of plotting to attack the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol building with model planes filled with C-4 explosives will plead guilty to two terror charges, say prosecutors, and serve a 17-year federal sentence.
According to court documents filed by prosecutors and attorneys for Rezwan Ferdaus, a Northeastern University physics graduate and U.S. citizen, Ferdaus has agreed to plead guilty to attempting to provide material support to terrorists and attempting to damage and destroy federal buildings by means of an explosive.
Ferdaus, 27, was arrested at the culmination of a long-term sting operation by undercover FBI agents posing as Al Qaeda operatives.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
As powerful as C-4 is, just how much damage would anyone expect a model plane load to do, given the construction of the two buildings and the nature of the delivery systems?
Really.
Sounds like the feebs ginned up a stupid wannabe posing as terrorists and then slapped him down.
At least that keeps them busy, but I'd bet there are more serious problem types out there.
I’m psychic! I knew just from the headline that this “U.S. citizen” would have a name like “Rezwan Ferdaus”. Must be a disgruntled domestic right-wing terrorist.
“...I knew just from the headline that this “U.S. citizen” would have a name like “Rezwan Ferdaus”...”
::::::::::::::
Yeah, when they had to say that, it gave it away.
I wonder if he studied “model building” in a madrassa when he was younger???
A lot. Several pounds. Easily.
Model planes are very advanced with actual jet engines in some cases. Others like B17 models can have 4 nitro engines and have wingspans of several feet.
I just hate it that now another great hobby will likely end up hyperregulated or banned outright.
This particular helicopter costs (I believe) about $1500.
I think 20+ pounds of C4 could do some real damage, especially if someone knew right where to set it off.
This reads a little bit like science fiction
Great name, can I borrow it?
commies took over Northeastern in the mid 90s
At least that keeps them busy, but I'd bet there are more serious problem types out there.
Exactamundo.
Original thread The (second) largest possiblity could carry no more than a couple of pounds. Mug was set up to prove the Feds were working.
A “model plane” is a scale replica of a full-size aircraft. If you build a remote-controlled aircraft to a purpose instead of to an appearance, you might as well call it a “drone”, and drones have been known to do a fair amount of damage. Looks to me more like the muzzies are tying to copy the rather successful assassination campaign we’re pursuing against them, but using commercially-available equipment if they can’t get the “good stuff.”
The government DENIED that the Tampa Teen Terrorist was in fact a terrorist who flew a stolen plane into a bank building.
He pledged his support for Osama Bin Laden in his suicide note (which was suppressed for several months, in part because he made a terrorist threat against the Superbowl) and called his actions terrorist (which was one of the first words in the letter but got scratched out by someone).
The government also tried to spin the Austin suicide pilot who crashed into an IRS building as an angry right winger.
Denial ain’t a river. Doesn’t matter the genuine damage they cause or only wish to bring about.
How much convincing would the FBI need to give you to make you take their bait? I don’t think you would. That’s the difference between the “right” and the “left”.
I have NO doubts that the FBI (under Barack Obama/Eric Holder) HAS tried to stir up a sting to “catch” some “tea partier” ready to set off a bomb. Doesn’t sound like they have been successful in catching anyone if they did try to tempt them.
Meanwhile, bomb throwing anarchist Democrat socialists DID plot to fire bomb and kidnap delegates at the 2008 GOP convention, complete with convictions, and there was not a peep out of the national press.
Well he (and the other self-motivators) succeeded. Which is why the FBI prefers to be in on the planning from the begining, those plots they can manage to foil. And denial that the others were actual terrorism boosts the FBI effectiveness score.
While scale model planes vary in size, keep in mind that the buildings in question are of very substantial construction, and the payloads involved would be unlikely to breach walls or significantly damage structural elements beyond a very limited area, if at all, partly because of design constraints imposed by the delivery system--it has to look credibly like an historical or current aircraft enough to pass muster, carry a payload, and still be airworthy.
I think the FBI learned their lesson after the WTC bombing of '93, and they don't actually set anyone up with the materials and know-how who might actually have a chance to succeed, unlike teaching jihaditypes to mix ANFO (unless, of course--and this is shaky--they actually want the incident to occur for some reason or another).
The jihadis have become far more competent at explosives design, as evidenced by their IEDs, but this guy reeks of wannabe. Someone tied in with a network would likely have more sophisticated supply and information contacts, without looking for help or accepting it from people outside that network. If the FBI have been stringing him along, then he is a ‘reserve bust’, one who can be taken down at leisure and played for news value (distractive, or to push for funding/public relations), unless he is actually making significant progress on his own and is becoming a real threat.
The effect of the model plane against the buildings in question would be about the same as the guy who was banging away at the White House with an SKS at 300+ meters--‘full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing’. Great for propaganda purposes, but little else. Someone might even be injured or even killed, but that would be more a function of being in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time, rather the capability of the weapon involved.
Against an automobile or a crowd, the results might be very different, but those are not structural targets.
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