Florida Terror Scare

[Guest JangoFett4Hire]

Is anyone else under the suspicion that this is a charade, and possibly a diversionary tactic? WHY would the alleged terrorists discuss this plot at an audible volume in a public place??? ALSO, why would they discuss this in english, and NOT arabic? Wouldnt it make more sense to plan something in a foreign language if you didnt want to get caught??? I think that this is a wild goose chase, there is nothing to be found in those 2 cars on Alligator Alley and something else is in the works, somewhere else. Am I a paranoid conspiracy theorist or do you agree??

[Guest Cancer Marney]

I think it's completely plausible. Terrorists are dumb and careless, especially when they're high on adrenaline. The myth about a "clever, deadly, invisible enemy" is largely artificial. It's hard to find these people because there are so few of them (out of a population of 288 million) and because they're so insular, because of the nature of our open society, and because we're hamstrung by constantly having to appear "sensitive" to the bloody Moslem community, not because terrorists are remarkably smart or sophisticated.

Witness Mohammed Atta getting pulled over for speeding - one call, someone could've found out there was a warrant for his arrest, and the Twin Towers might still be standing.

 

That said, I'd expect them to speak in Arabic as well.

 

But the government really does have better things to do than constantly inventing amateurish plots to deceive and distract the American people. Christ, if we really wanted to do that, we'd put Jennifer Lopez in a bikini or publish some fake topless shots of her or something and you people would be talking about it for months... that would be much more effective than a fake terrorist scare. So that part of your post is paranoid conspiracy-theorist nonsense.

 

We're pretty busy these days, and we can't be bothered to pull stupid shit like this. Trust me.

[Guest JangoFett4Hire]

No Marney, you misunderstood me, so let me clarify myself. I mean a diversionary tactic on the part of "them" not "us". While we're busy looking through their cars and doing background checks or whatever, the terrorists strike in a big way. These guys could be patsies while the "real" terrorists carry out their act of evil on Miami, LA, Boston, fill in the blank.

 

I didn't mean that this was all part of an elaborate hoax set up by the Feds to calm the masses or prove the validity of the "code orange"... know what I mean??

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Ah, I see.

 

In that case I think your diversion theory is slightly more probable, but not by much. It's hard enough to pull off a terror attack. Pulling off a real one and coordinating a fake one to catch us off our guard would be, I believe, beyond their capabilities. At least at the present time, when we've just smashed their headquarters, confiscated much of their funds, and arrested... uhm... lots.

 

<glances over her shoulder. Whistles a nonchalant tune and goes back to writing her position paper>

[Guest JangoFett4Hire]

Perhaps tom clancy would be interested in my theories

[Guest JangoFett4Hire]

I seriously want to know why they spoke in english and not arabic. That really bugs me...

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Maybe they didn't know Arabic. A lot of the scum advocating further terrorist strikes against the United States are home-grown fundamentalists; many of them adopt their evil beliefs only after they're adults, and they wouldn't necessarily have been taught anything but English when they were kids.

 

The Farrukh Dhondy column I mentioned in another thread addresses this problem in more detail.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Maybe their Americanized foreign terrorists. From what I read...

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2002Sep13.html

 

My initial hunch is that they were "saying" what they were to spook some nearby nosy patrons at that restaurant. I do that sort of thing -- although my stupid remarks don't concern blowing up buildings -- all the time...

[Guest NoCalMike]

umm, or maybe this is just another overblown, "watch my network" attempt. This will probobaly fizzle and go away. Doubt it was anything. And if it was, the guys are caught and will be punished.

[Guest meanmaisch]

Hysetria will be running wild for the next few weeks, so there will probably be more threats. Something tells me nothing will come of it, though.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

umm, or maybe this is just another overblown, "watch my network" attempt. This will probobaly fizzle and go away. Doubt it was anything. And if it was, the guys are caught and will be punished.

Excuse me, but what the hell does this post even mean?

[Guest cartman]

I believe he is saying that the TV network that came up with this story is just pushing it to get ratings.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

If that's true, that's a remarkably worthless point to make - even by the low standards NCM usually sets. Almost all TV networks in America are commercial enterprises, and they all push every news story they have to get ratings.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Hey, I was right (even a broken clock is correct twice a day)...

 

http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/4068519.htm

 

Three medical students of Middle Eastern descent who were stopped as suspected terrorists on Alligator Alley early Friday morning remained detained after they were overheard in a Georgia restaurant vowing to make America ``cry on 9/13.''

 

Federal sources involved in the investigation said they believe the three men - all U.S. citizens - were playing a stupid joke on another restaurant patron who gave them a suspicious look.

 

All three were on their way from Illinois to take medical training in Miami.

 

Federal sources said the men could be released as early as today with a ticket for blowing the I-75 toll booth near Naples.

 

Alligator Alley was closed to traffic all day Friday as explosives investigators searched for any kinds of devices in the two cars. Those searches had come up empty as of 1 p.m. Friday afternoon.

 

''It appears there isn't a terrorist threat as it relates to destrutive devices in the cars,'' Gov. Jeb Bush said at a Miami news conference Friday. ``If this was a hoax, my hope is these people would be prosecuted.''

 

One federal source said although there is a federal statute against making terrorist threats, it remained unclear on Friday exactly what transpired Thursday morning in a Shoney's restaurant in Calhoun, Ga.

 

Eunice Stone, a nurse, told authorities and Fox News Channel she was sitting in a booth next to the three men shortly about 10:30 a.m. when she overheard the men laughing about 9/11 and making comments like ''if we don't have enough to bring it down I have contacts'' and ``if they're mourning 9/11 what are they going to do about 9/13?''

 

In an interview on Fox News Channel on Friday, Stone said she thought they might be playing a hoax.

 

''We hesitated to call anyone because we thought, they're just playing us,'' Stone said. ``But then I thought what's the right thing to do? If it turns out it's nothing, then it's nothing.

 

''I hope I haven't done something wrong,'' she said. ``I hope I haven't caused someone problems that really didn't do anything because I wouldn't want to cause someone problems. But at the same time I thought what if they really are doing something and I caught them?''

 

Stone collected license tag numbers and called Georgia authorities, who issued an alert for the two cars.

 

The odyssey ended after midnight Friday morning when a Collier County sheriff's deputy pulled over both cars after they blew throught the Naples toll booth. However, several other things conspired to escalate the incident even further.

 

According to police sources, all three men at first were uncooperative - denying consent to search the car.

 

''It was probably not the right time for them to be copping an attitude with police,'' said one federal law enforcement source who was up all night monitoring the investigation. ``But that's exactly what happened.''

 

Then, two separate police dogs alerted to the presence of incendiary materials in both cars, and the license tag on one of the cars wasn't registered to the vehicle.

 

Authorities are still investigating the license tag issue, but said Friday they do not suspect the three in a terrorist plot.

 

The Miami-Dade Police Department's explosives robot has been called in to further examine the cars and their contents.

 

According to investigators, all three men -- a Lebanese, a Jordanian and an Iranian - are U.S. citizens - one U.S. born.

 

Investigators have not found any links between the men and al-Qaeda -- the international terrorist organization beleived to responsible for the World Trade Center attacks -- nor have their names turned up on any federal terrorist watch lists, the sources said.

 

The three men apparently were enroute to South Miami to attend a medical college.

[Guest EricMM]

Idiots...

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

If I were the 3 guys, I'd sue the idiot woman in Georgia. I said at 9:00 this morning, 20 minutes in to the whole ordeal constant coverage on CNN, that the woman from the backwoods town in Georgia was probably just irked that they were muslims. They probably said something about going to Miami for the Medical Conference that they were supposed to attend and she convuluted up a story about them being terrorists. In the current state we are in, they had to take the threat seriously, but I no doubt believe that the men were harassed for over 16 hours, and had their cars torn to pieces looking for "explosives" and even tore up some of their possibly expensive medical equipment. If I were them Id sue the woman, but they probably won't and its ashame. At this point I believe the woman was lying more than I believe that 3 men were playing a joke on the woman. I mean come on, what muslim would even think about playing a joke on anyone, especially in the south and Georgia where they could have possibly been drug out of the Shoney's and killed by some redneck with a hatred towards all funny lookin foreign people in his backwoods hometown.

P-uh-lease.

[Guest EricMM]

I heard they demolished some "suspicious" boxes.

 

Ultimately this hinges on whether or not those three guys said what was posted earlier. If they were making jokes about 9/11 and such, looking the way they look, in Americas atmosphere, they deserve to be "harrassed for 16 hours"

 

If however they were talking about something else entirely and the woman's paranoia got these guys in trouble, then they should be released and let the topic drop.

 

Still like the article said, why didn't they let the poe search their car. I've never understood how many people get a kick out of not letting the police do their job. If you've got nothing to hide, don't protest every little thing. The police are just not the bad guys...

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Eric, I'm actually starting to like you, and that disturbs me.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

If I were the 3 guys, I'd sue the idiot woman in Georgia. I said at 9:00 this morning, 20 minutes in to the whole ordeal constant coverage on CNN, that the woman from the backwoods town in Georgia was probably just irked that they were muslims. They probably said something about going to Miami for the Medical Conference that they were supposed to attend and she convuluted up a story about them being terrorists. In the current state we are in, they had to take the threat seriously, but I no doubt believe that the men were harassed for over 16 hours, and had their cars torn to pieces looking for "explosives" and even tore up some of their possibly expensive medical equipment. If I were them Id sue the woman, but they probably won't and its ashame.

From what I've heard it was meant to be a prank because they thought the woman was looking at them funny. Saying you're gonna blow up a building is not the way to teach someone a lesson.

[Guest The Superstar]

I was scared as hell. I live 5 minutes from I-75 in Naples, so when I heard "They're closing I-75 because of a terrorist threat" I started getting real nervous. My mom & sister were supposed to use that road to get to Jacksonville today. Luckily it was a hoax, but all those jackasses get is a ticket?

[Guest Chuck Woolery]

Give me a fucking break. Like... uh, some guy said, this was the result of a woman's paranoia over the "brown people" or the "Muslim people" that caused her to hear things that weren't said, or misinterpret things. She should be the one under everyone's scrutiny... which, I believe she is.

[Guest DrTom]

this was the result of a woman's paranoia over the "brown people" or the "Muslim people" that caused her to hear things

Let's see how "the brown people" have treated America recently...

 

1993: First WTC bombing

1998: Two embassy bombings

2000: USS Cole attacked

2001: Three airplanes used as missiles, while a fourth attempt failed.

 

By my count of separate incidents, that's eight in eight years. All done by "the brown people."

 

You're not paranoid if they're really after you.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

If I was one of those three Muslim students, I would have approached that lady, if she had been clearly expressing her distaste (or whatever you want to call it) regarding their race and make a crack like, "are you expecting me to blow up the Sears Tower or something lady?"

 

There are idiots like this all around the place. I personally know of two indian females, one a friend the other a friend of my better half, who, on separate occassions, have been confronted by white trash regarding their "role" in 9/11. But what these students did, imo, could fall under the old saying "Fire!" in a crowded theater rule...

[Guest NoCalMike]

Err, Marney, my point was not stupid. All I am saying is that networks in general will just jump on ANYTHING that can cause paranoia or concern, not because they care, but because they just want ratings. This is not to say this car incident isn't a real threat, but the "facts" are so sketchy, why even report it? Do people all over america need heresay of some woman who might have thought she heard this or that, and that they think 3 students were driving a car heading somewhere? That is about as vague as the report this morning was. I didn't get off work too long ago, so I haven't heard much about it since, but the media is just too quick to jump on ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.....

 

Oh and my standards aren't low by any means. I don't go around calling people "fuckheads" just because they have different views and opinions no matter how "wrong" I think they are.

[Guest NoCalMike]

Another example was last year a few weeks after Sept. 11th. Every media outlet was reporting about a possible explosion of the bay bridge or golden gate bridge. based on what I ask? Umm just because it is a landmark in CA? There was no evidence or facts EVER to support such theories yet for 10 straight days it was shoved down our throats as a highly possible thing. Stuff like that is just unecessary.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

This is not to say this car incident isn't a real threat, but the "facts" are so sketchy, why even report it?

Maybe because it's their job?

 

Do people all over america need heresay of some woman who might have thought she heard this or that, and that they think 3 students were driving a car heading somewhere?  That is about as vague as the report this morning was.

When half a dozen federal agencies are involved and a section of a highway shut down? Uh yeah, sounds like news to me.

 

Another example was last year a few weeks after Sept. 11th. Every media outlet was reporting about a possible explosion of the bay bridge or golden gate bridge. based on what I ask? Umm just because it is a landmark in CA? There was no evidence or facts EVER to support such theories yet for 10 straight days it was shoved down our throats as a highly possible thing. Stuff like that is just unecessary.

On that, I agree.

[Guest Chuck Woolery]

this was the result of a woman's paranoia over the "brown people" or the "Muslim people" that caused her to hear things

Let's see how "the brown people" have treated America recently...

 

1993: First WTC bombing

1998: Two embassy bombings

2000: USS Cole attacked

2001: Three airplanes used as missiles, while a fourth attempt failed.

 

By my count of separate incidents, that's eight in eight years. All done by "the brown people."

 

You're not paranoid if they're really after you.

I will give you that, Tom... but, from what I am hearing, the woman looked at them suspiciously... for what? For being Muslim? For being from the Middle East? I love this country, and I'm whiter than white, but I must say that it would occur to me to say something along those lines, if not "make America cry" then something equally ludicrous. There's no law against looking at somebody oddly... but the woman, by doing that, incriminated them in her mind, and probably would've jumped if they had said they wanted two eggs because it reminded her of the two towers.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

True enough. Besides, from the photo, she's really pudgy. So I don't like her right off the bat...

[Guest MaxPower27]

I was worried as well, because, like Superstar, I live in Florida. He lives in Naples, I live in Cape Coral.

 

I have a hard time taking a side on the whole thing. Part of me says that the 3 guys were wrong for "trying to scare" the lady, but she was wrong for stereotyping.

 

NCM: The networks were right for reporting the story from the beginning. Not only for what Marney said, about the fact that it is a possible terroristic threat, and part of a major highway is closed. I heard about it on the radio on my way home from work, and turned it to a news station.

 

Look at it this way, as well. If they say "Ah, fuck it, it's nothing anyway" and god forbid, something happens, the networks look pretty fucking stupid. They'd rather get ripped for reporting something like this than get ripped for not reporting a terrorist attack on a highway.

[Guest B-X]

http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/4071560.htm

 

Here is a story by a Miami station that basically lists all the things that CNN (and a rival station also) got wrong. It's a big list, and after reading it, my respect for CNN fell.