Posted on 01/05/2005 11:26:17 AM PST by Happy2BMe
WASHINGTON (AP) Federal authorities searched Wednesday for a man using a Middle Eastern name and possible bogus construction credentials to try to purchase large quantities of the same explosive used by Timothy McVeigh to blow up the Oklahoma City federal building.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Ammonium nitrate and fuel oil? Yikes!
This article is really poorly written. You can't buy the "explosive" McVeigh used, because that "explosive" isn't commercially available. Instead, he more likely was trying to purchase the COMPONENTS of said explosive, those being ammonium nitrate and diesel.
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". . a man using a Middle Eastern name and possible bogus construction credentials to try to purchase large quantities of the same explosive used by Timothy McVeigh to blow up the Oklahoma City federal building."
DETECT, DETAIN, DEPORT.
Yikes!
(SNIP) Except for the Fox News Channel, there has been virtually no discussion in the media of the evidence that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were not the only ones involved in the Murrah Building bombing. This evidence has been compiled in a 500-page report that will be released soon by a private group called the Oklahoma Bombing Investigation Committee. This indicates that there was a much larger conspiracy involving middle Eastern terrorists and bombs other than the one in the Ryder truck.
It accuses the FBI of helping to cover it up. The fact that the new documents include eyewitness reports and videotapes of John Doe number two lends a lot of weight to that charge. This fits with the claim of Stephen Jones, McVeigh's former attorney, that the FBI blocked his investigation in the Philippines of a Middle Eastern connection to the bombing.
http://www.aim.org/media_monitor/A998_0_2_0_C/
A) Trying to most anything in the USA in quantities of a metric ton seems very suspicious and B) The ALCU will probably jump in and demand that access to ANFO is part of the first admendment.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Muslim charities and organizations in the United States say they are the target of a government "witch hunt" since Sept. 11, 2001, which is intimidating donors and hampering their work.
Required by their faith to pay "zakat," or alms for the needy, Muslims say the ripple effects of the government's hunt for terrorist funds are hurting their community at its core and making them feel like suspects.
They say the official designation of three U.S. Muslim charities as suspected sponsors of terrorism, coupled with what they consider rising anti-Muslim discrimination since the 2001 attacks by Islamic militants, has put them in the firing line simply because of their religious affiliation.
Charities also complain about high levels of secrecy surrounding the designations, and say excessive scrutiny and hefty costs to meet strict new U.S. regulations mean a smaller percentage of donations is now really reaching those in need.
"I feel like we are suspect, having done nothing wrong," said Laila al-Marayati, board member of charity KinderUSA. "People just assume that by definition if you're Muslim, you're going to have something to do with terrorism ... We're under the assumption that we're under surveillance all the time."
Dalia Hashad, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union advocacy group, said: "To say that the Muslim community, and certainly Muslim charities, are receiving extra scrutiny is not an exaggeration, and I don't think the word witch hunt is inappropriate to describe what the government is doing."
An inquiry by the Senate Finance Committee into the activities of 25 Muslim groups -- including the three already frozen by officials -- was the latest example of "guilt by association," Islamic groups say.
The committee asked the Internal Revenue Service in December for records including donor lists for the 25 groups "to conduct oversight on the issue of organizations, particularly tax exempt organizations such as charities and foundations, which finance terrorism and perpetuate violence."
The IRS has not yet supplied the information, a committee spokeswoman said.
Some nongovernmental groups tracking Muslim charities said they were surprised by many of the names on the list that they said had not been linked to terrorism before, such as the Islamic Society of North America, one of the largest Muslim organizations in the country.
"What's really going on here is a very inappropriate fishing expedition," said Hussein Ibish, spokesman for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
"This political witch hunt is very disheartening and disappointing for us," said Jihad Smaili, a board member of KindHearts, one of the groups listed by the Senate committee. "It appears you are convicted and then you have to show your innocence."
NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS
The Treasury Department says the Sept. 11 attacks showed militant groups had infiltrated and abused charities.
"However, this has not resulted in a shutdown of all charities, but rather a focused attempt to target those that are financing or supporting terrorism," Treasury spokeswoman Molly Millerwise said.
"We continue to work with the charitable sector and the Islamic and Arab communities to ensure we are meeting our national security goals while also protecting the integrity of the charitable sector," she said.
The Treasury has so far designated more than 20 charities worldwide as part of the financial support network for al Qaeda, Hamas, and other militant groups.
Earlier this month, the Treasury ordered U.S. banks to freeze the assets of the Oregon branch of the Saudi charity Al Haramain pending investigation.
The government has already designated U.S. charities Benevolence International Foundation, Global Relief Foundation and Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development as suspected supporters of terrorism and frozen their assets.
"When the government started cracking down and raiding domestic organizations ... there was a sharp drop in donations," said Imad Ahmed, president of the Islamic-American Zakat Foundation in Maryland, whose donations fell 20 percent.
Anwar Khan, U.S. spokesman for the international charity Islamic Relief in California, said he feared a "long-term apprehensiveness toward giving" because donors were scared their money would be seized, rather than given to the needy.
"Not everyone in every case may be innocent, but a lot of innocent people doing very good work are being unnecessarily targeted," the ACLU's Hashad said. "It's a very sad thing for democracy."
Can you say Jamie Gorelick. Sure you can.
The ole "Middle Eastern" name, eh? I guess using the word 'Islamic' is too politically incorrect these days. ....and too specific. You see, it would exclude Israeli Jews and Christian Arabs.
Thanks for the ping!
Actually, you can't buy the explosive he used because HE ALREADY USED IT; you can't "reuse" explosives once they have blown up.
I can buy that at walmart...Rapid Green lawn fertilizer and Diesel...really anyone can...You just need a way to ignite it, and you need to know how to mix it...You also need to know how to increase it's brisance..
All pretty much common knowledge for anyone thats been around the "powder" business...
MD
The "same" as McVeigh (and John Doe) used? If we knew who "John Doe" was, we might be able to rearrange that headline to read "same explosive as used by middle easterner in the OKC bombing"...
Richard Reid, Charles Bishop, and even John Lindh-Walker knew when to use their muslim names and when to use their Western names.
What IS a Middle Eastern name in such a world?
bump
The original rumor was that McVeigh was trying to buy hydrazine to supercharge the explosive. This is "rocket" fuel, a hypergolic monopropellant, C2H4, invented back in the 1930's by der Germans. The ammonium nitrate used by McVeigh and company was not up to the strength necessary for a real explosion. Talk with a master blaster, or someone who really knows the math involved and you will soon learn the explosives supposedly used would blow out windows but couldn't possibly have done that much damage to the building from that distance. The jaw flapping about a "shaped charge" is pure BS. McVeigh, or his co-conspirators, had they used this homebrewed superexplosive for a peaceful purpose, would have qualified for a Nobel Prize in physics.
Do the math....
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