This is exactly as I have been saying on FR since this story first broke. Did Ahmed actually invent a new clock or a new way of telling time or simply make his own electronic clock himself? There is nothing scholarly or inventive about taking an existing, working clock’s innards and putting them inside a suitcase like box, where the clock can’t even be read. It was clearly a hoax bomb, which is wrong to bring to a school or public place, and probably illegal.
What difference does it make whether this kid is a genius or an idiot? The fact is, he said he built something “that wasn’t much suspicious,” took it to school and scared the hell out of people. I believe he did it so 1. authorities would be much more respectful to the next jihadist who brings a real bomb to school and 2. the kid gets an American pity party and enough cash to subsidize his education in true bomb-building.
This has turned into an engineering story with freepers bragging about their know-how in clock-making rather than focusing on jihadist kiddies. Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees!