Threat appears to be bullshit

[metalman]

Obama says packages appeared to have explosives

The Associated Press
Friday, October 29, 2010; 4:30 PM

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama says initial examination of two packages bound for the U.S. determined that they apparently contained explosive materials.

Obama says the packages, which were intercepted overseas, originated in Yemen and were apparently bound for places of Jewish worship in Chicago.

blah, blah, blah...

[tsetsefly]

Re: Threat appears to be bullshit

I was just discussing this with friends. The government has so little credibility that I really think some of these "scares" are just an attempt for government to pass a law to get more money, power and control... And it always keeps the population scared..

[karim0028]

Re: Threat appears to be bullshit

IN case you hadnt noticed... Elections in 3-4 days. Gotta get brownie points and appear to be tough...

[Mega]

Re: Threat appears to be bullshit

Let me see here in the UK our airlines TOLD our goverment to stand down the checks, 24 hours latter.....

Atlest THIS time "They" were good enough NOT to crash any planes into any tall buildings, even ones with lots of bank fruad details..........

[BillBoard]

Re: Threat appears to be bullshit

Tough crowd! Come on peons shake in your boots, don't you know the boogie man mooslims wanna hurt ya?

Boo! be scared, really scared I tell you!

[KGW]

Re: Threat appears to be bullshit

For Heaven's Sake, don't forget Colbert's "March To Keep Fear Alive"

[BillBoard]

Re: Threat appears to be bullshit

Halloween is not enough.

[ASH]

Re: Threat appears to be bullshit

Doesn't sound like bullshit to me.

[flintlock]

Re: Threat appears to be bullshit

Doesn't sound like bullshit to me.

The chance that it is BS did cross my mind, but I don't believe it is either.

[FrankL]

Re: Threat appears to be bullshit

in Europe, government agencies that are tasked with preventing these kinds of terrorism claim that over the past few years plenty of possible attacks on various scales have been stopped. We've seen media coverage of failed attacks only that couldn't be hushed (e.g. aircraft shoe bomber, time square bomb). Suppose that is true... then the real question is not whether the threat was real or not.

The real question is the timing of, and why the US president gives a press conference on 2 relatively small bombs that are successfully intercepted like many other threats over the years. Ones that nobody would have heard anything about other than showing up in some statistics to validate the money budget of anti-terror agencies.

[GRG55]

Re: Threat appears to be bullshit

Lots of strange things going on these days. The only plausible explanation for the story linked below is that Starving Steve must be running a training camp for a cell of terrorist bears in the woods of Vancouver Island...

Tree pruner finds rocket launcher beside highway

October 30, 2010 4:16 AM

RCMP was investigating Friday after a loaded self-propelled rocket launcher with complete instructions on how to aim and fire the weapon was found by a tree pruner on the side of the Malahat Highway north of Victoria.

Steve Taylor, 33, couldn't believe his eyes Thursday when he looked down from the trees he was clearing -- about 100 metres north of McCurdy Drive in Shawnigan Lake -- to see something that looked like it was from the military. Upon closer inspection, he could clearly see the instructions.

"It said pull pin, aim through scope, and push trigger," Taylor said. Shawnigan Lake RCMP identified it as an M72 self-propelled rocket launcher...

[Master Shake]

Re: Threat appears to be bullshit

Doesn't sound like bullshit to me.

Me neither, although skepticism is well-justified these days.

[ASH]

Re: Threat appears to be bullshit

The chance that it is BS did cross my mind, but I don't believe it is either.

in Europe, government agencies that are tasked with preventing these kinds of terrorism claim that over the past few years plenty of possible attacks on various scales have been stopped. We've seen media coverage of failed attacks only that couldn't be hushed (e.g. aircraft shoe bomber, time square bomb). Suppose that is true... then the real question is not whether the threat was real or not.

The real question is the timing of, and why the US president gives a press conference on 2 relatively small bombs that are successfully intercepted like many other threats over the years. Ones that nobody would have heard anything about other than showing up in some statistics to validate the money budget of anti-terror agencies.

It depends upon what is meant by "bullshit". I would have said "chickenshit".

The election angle doesn't make much sense. Security scares tend to help (1) the Executive, and (2) the Republicans. The Executive is not up for election in this mid-term contest, yet it was the Executive who released this information, and if there is any general party-wide effect, it would tend to benefit the opposition party.

The fabrication angle doesn't make much sense, either, because it isn't "scary enough" -- the risk/reward proposition doesn't look good to me. This is too botched, too targeted at a narrow demographic (which already happens to be in the Executive's camp, on average), and involves too many players who aren't deeply invested in the political fortunes of any particular American political party, to make sense as fabrication. A realistic fabrication would look like this: the (real) intel that AQ in the Arabian Peninsula was planning to attack the US by mail would be augmented by false information that the target was, say, elementary schools. There would be no physical packages for the FBI to analyze, and far fewer sources of misinformation to coordinate (and therefore far fewer points of potential failure for the conspiracy). There would only be a lot of grave announcements, and the persisting fear of another attack.

[Shakespear]

Re: Threat appears to be bullshit

Cargo Security The New York Times writes: "Despite the increased scrutiny of people and luggage on passenger planes since 9/11, there are far fewer safeguards for packages and bundles, particularly when loaded on cargo-only planes."
Well, of course. We've always known this. We've not worried about terrorism on cargo planes because it isn't very terrorizing. Packages aren't people. If a passenger plane blows up, it affects a couple of hundred people. If a cargo plane blows up, it just affects the crew.
Cargo that is loaded on to passenger planes should be subjected to the same level of security as passenger luggage. Cargo that is loaded onto cargo planes should be treated no differently from cargo loaded into ships, trains, trucks, and the trunks of cars.
Of course: now that the media is talking about cargo security, we have to "do something." (Something must be done. This is something. Therefor, we must do it.) But if we're so scared that we have to devote resources to this kind of terrorist threat, we've well and truly lost.

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archive..._security.html

From a guy who think about this subject more than the average soul.

[BillBoard]

Re: Threat appears to be bullshit

Doesn't sound like bullshit to me.

It does to me:

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news227621.htm

Yemen says UPS planes never take off or land in it
[30/October/2010]

SANA'A, Oct. 30 (Saba) – No UPS cargo planes left Yemen to other countries in the last days and there are no direct flights from Yemen to the United Kingdom or the United States, a Yemeni official said, after allegations that British and U.S. officials had found suspicious packages on planes that originated in Yemen.

The official wondered how the media mentioned the name of Yemen reporting that an explosive device was found onboard a cargo plane that landed in London coming from Yemen.

UPS planes never land or take off in Yemen, the official made clear.

The security measures at Yemeni airports are tightened and the authorities search passengers and luggage well, the official said, adding that Yemen has recently installed modern checking systems that can detect dangerous or suspicious materials to the safety of passengers and planes.

We urge the media not to make hasty judgments about sensitive issues and the media should wait until investigations reveal the truth, the official said, as he pointed out that Yemen has launched an investigation into the allegations and planned to coordinate with the United Arab Emirates, Britain and the U.S. over the issue.

Yemen is determined to continue the war on terror in cooperation with the international community until it roots out all terrorists who pose threat to all, the official concluded.

FR
Saba