A different take on the "Candy" story

self | self

[Red Dawn]

I don't really want to start another thread on the Middle Eastern Men buying huge quantities of candy at Costco, but I haven't seen this perspective brought up yet, and would llke a few thoughts on the matter.

It would be very easy to buy a few hundred dollars worth here and there if their intention was to spread smallpox among the kids. It would certainly be inconspicuous.

Buying such large quantities though would surely suggest something far more sinister. My thinking is that if all this is true and not just another urban rumor, their intention was possibly to infect then "donate" this candy to large organizations such as Red Cross, United Way, Unicef, etc.

This way, the gov would have been responsible for our own destruction, and Osama and the boys could have a good laugh while celebrating Ramadan.

[EggsAckley]

Very chilling theory. Let's hope you're wrong.

[Mr. Bird]

IF the candy story is true, the culprits are idiots. Come on, the first admonition an American hears as a kid is "don't take candy from strangers". The same rule applies to charity groups; they won't blindly accept contributions like that without doing SOME checking. I think it's a hoax, for what that's worth.

[untenured]

My thinking is that if all this is true and not just another urban rumor, their intention was possibly to infect then "donate" this candy to large organizations such as Red Cross, United Way, Unicef, etc.

I would be surprised if such organizations have ever taken candy as donations even before 9/11, let alone now.

[AppyPappy]

Maybe the terrorists just want to instill panic in us.

[riri]

I agree. While, I do find this story suspicious, I think they could create alot of havoc with far less candy. Plus, they are notoriously cheap, these terrorists, they would definitely buy the minimum amount needed to do their deeds.

[NativeNewYorker]

Not unrealistic, considering the moral compass our foes steer by.

Here's a question: We know the profile of our domestic enemies in this battle: Arabic, age 15-50, fluent in English, male, likely NOT a citizen.

How many of these folks can there be? 100,000?

[Sabertooth]

"It would be very easy to buy a few hundred dollars worth here and there if their intention was to spread smallpox among the kids. It would certainly be inconspicuous.

Buying such large quantities though would surely suggest something far more sinister. My thinking is that if all this is true and not just another urban rumor, their intention was possibly to infect then "donate" this candy to large organizations such as Red Cross, United Way, Unicef, etc."

I've been on the other threads, and I think your concern is sound... Once the idea of contaminating Halloween candy with a highly infectious disease surfaces, you have to wonder how many smaller purchases are slipping under the radar.

The purchases aren't mere "urban legend," however.

Check snopes.com and Large candy purchases investigated by FBI .

[Sabertooth]

See #8.

The concern is not that terrorists would distribute the infected candy directly, but sneak it back onto store shelves as happened in the poison Tylenol case during the 80s.

For more on the feasibility of this, a doctor posted this thread yesterday...

SMALL POX AND HALLOWEEN CANDY-
A short primer on viral disease transmission

[VeritatisSplendor]

Sneaking 10,000 bags of candy back onto the shelves is a major task, likely to result in being spotted. Replace a truckload? Maybe. There were still less conspicuous ways of acquiring it. Does anyone know if Muslim children shun Halloween as having Christian or pagan religious significance? I know they shun Valentines Day.

[Sabertooth]

Who says they'd take the bags to one store?

Also, bags could have been donated to schools, churches, the Salvation Army, etc.

I don't really know what's happening with this, but the FBI has a man in custody at this moment.

[gfactor]

their intention was possibly to infect then "donate" this candy

Anybody think the idea was to plain old donate the candy? or the guy owns one or more stores (or sells to people who do). Don't people often buy wholesale for small businesses at costco? and how much candy did he buy?

[Stefan Stackhouse]

Another possible vector that has not been much discussed would be if terrorists infected retail displays of halloween costumes. It would be very feasible for them to covertly do this with little risk of detection. A single terrorist could infect costume displays in perhaps a couple dozen stores in a day's work. A cell of a dozen terrorists working for a couple of weeks could infect thousands of stores in over a hundred metro areas.

Native Americans were given blankets that had been used by smallpox victims in what was possibly history's first deliberate use of biological weapons. Textiles can be infected and the smallpox virus will remain infectious on the textile for months. This is a genuine and credible threat -- IF they have gotten possession of some live smallpox virus. I would consider this to be a more credible scenario than the candy route that has been extensively discussed here.

[Palladin]

Yes, Halloween is verboten to Muslim children as Muslims identify it with satanism.

[jkgs]

I've seen Middle-eastern men buying trunkloads of candy at Halloween for years. Most of the corner stores around my place are owned by Lebanese. They're always buying groceries on sale in bulk, and then reselling it in their stores at heavily inflated prices.

[Sabertooth]

They bought tens of thousands of dollars worth in cash. Their Costco IDs were fake. The FBI took one of the buyers into custody.

Check the links on #8.

[_Jim]

It would be very easy to buy a few hundred dollars worth here and there if their intention was to spread smallpox among the kids. It would certainly be inconspicuous.

It's now many days later - and we find out we escaped without any MAJOR incidents occurring ... despite stories and reports indicating the deadly peril that lay in wait for us and all our children in the way tainted Costco candy ...

FBI: Candy purchases seem legitimate

[_Jim]

They bought tens of thousands of dollars worth in cash. Their Costco IDs were fake. The FBI took one of the buyers into custody.

All was found to be OK. Nobody was poisoned. Nobody has been poisoned. See post #18 in this thread and the link it refers to.

[Samwise]

Red Dawn, I liked your movie. This is off topic; however, I wanted to note that the movie is the reason I realized that gun registration was a bad thing. Back to topic, I think some Middle Eastern types are trying to play mind games with us--doing perfecting legal (but weird) things just to creep us out. I hope your theory is wrong, but who knows? Who can read the minds of evil?