Posted on 10/12/2005 4:45:14 AM PDT by texianyankee
Imagine a man with a bomb strapped to his body making his way into a packed football stadium, reaching his seat and blowing himself up. There would be a heavy death toll in what would be the first successful terrorist act on U.S. soil since 9-11.
Jolting us back to memories of the Oklahoma City bombing, this would obviously be a massive headline in our ongoing war on terror. One would think attention would be heightened even further if such a story were to occur again in Oklahoma.
Well, there's reason to believe it nearly happened, and it was indeed in Oklahoma, making the paltry coverage of the story unfathomable.
On Oct. 1, as the Oklahoma Sooners hosted Kansas State in front of 84,000 fans, University of Oklahoma student Joel Hinrichs III blew himself up outside the stadium.
There is evidence that he sought to enter the game and was turned away by security after refusing to allow his backpack to be searched. Some minutes later, that backpack, containing the chosen explosive of shoe bomber Richard Reid and the London subway bombers, exploded, killing Mr. Hinrichs as he sat on a bench.
There have been some dutiful print and broadcast accounts of this event, all leaning heavily on the favored establishment take – that this was a troubled young man who sought only to kill himself, simply doing so in an offbeat way.
Oh, really?
Well, what if the young man had a Pakistani roommate? What if he had been spending time at the Islamic Center of Norman, Okla., once frequented by "20th hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui? What if the warrant used in the search of the bomber's apartment had been sealed by federal authorities?
What if explosives had been found in that apartment? What if the young man had tried to purchase ammonium nitrate, the chosen explosive of Tim McVeigh, at a Norman feed store days earlier?
That's a lot of what ifs, and they range from the confirmed to the unconfirmed. But the parts we do know – the Pakistani roommate, the attempted fertilizer purchase, the veil of secrecy around the investigation – should be enough to cast doubt on the simplistic "troubled young man" theory favored by, among others, OU's nervous president, David Boren.
Mr. Hinrichs' father told me his son was not the type to join radical causes and would not want to hurt anyone. But his son's chosen method – blowing himself up in a public place – would seem to cast doubt on his concern for his fellow man.
As for the terrorist angle, Mr. Hinrichs is now the subject of understandably intense scrutiny, virtually none of it from the mainstream media. You might think the story fizzled because there was, in fact, no death beyond the bomber. True enough, but I'd suggest that if a raid revealed some radical plan to bomb an abortion clinic anywhere in America, the suspects would be household names by nightfall without a single fuse lit.
Something about the nature of this event has swallowed almost whole the normal curiosity one would expect from the usual sources.
Is it political, because acknowledging a terror threat on our soil might bolster President Bush's war logic? Is it economic, out of fear of scaring people away from football games? Is it geographic snobbery because it didn't happen on either coast? Or is it a PC fear of seeming to lunge toward a jihadist angle?
Whatever the reason, hunting for details of this shocking story puts you in some offbeat company.
Jayna Davis is a writer who has spent years documenting what she asserts is an Islamic connection to the Oklahoma City bombing. She has a fan in Douglas Hagmann, director of an outfit called the Northeastern Intelligence Network, whose Web site (homelandsecurityus.com) has a conspiracy geek vibe that might spark scoffing.
But the fact of the matter is that these people are breaking fresh news on this story that only later winds up in more conventional news outlets.
I'm not calling for a leap to the conclusion that Mr. Hinrichs was another in a series of Caucasians pressed into service by terror cells for their undercover value. But it seems equally unwise to shrug dismissively at the possibility.
Thanks for the ping on this....it is an interesting article.
Thanks for the ping! (o:
"His father actually said he'd exploded himself where he did because "he didn't want to hurt anyone." The fact is, there was a large parking lot at his apartment complex where it would have been far less likely he'd "hurt anyone."
There is also the famous 'DUCK POND' near by..he could have gone there..HE DIDN'T!!
Is any one in the media covering this? I have not seen it mentioned after the first day or two.
Sounds like it is time to vote COLE out of office!! This is just plain disgusting at this point!! What a load of cow patties!
My guess is that Hinrichs and his cohorts were going to do to the stadium what McVeigh and his cohorts did to the Murrah building. They planned to use a vehicle (perhaps Hinrichs' car) filled with ANFO triggered by TATP. The fact that Hinrichs tried to obtain ammonium nitrate a couple of days before the bombing indicates he wanted it for that attack. But he failed to obtain the AN, so they went with a back-up plan instead: putting a backpack with the TATP inside the stadium.
And so it goes... seeing as this is an AP article I suppose this is what will be printed across the country and this event will "dry up" unless individual agents within the investigation come forward. I can't see that happening at this point and even if they did they couldn't identify themselves or risk losing their jobs.
I don't believe anything this Congressman or the FBI are saying at this point - how could it go from "can't talk about that" - to DEFINITELY NOT??? (RE; the materials found). Plus, I thought that was under wraps per the justice department.
This IMHO this still stinks to high heaven and a cover-up is now going on - with more officials getting in on the act - just as it has since day 1.
IMO, the worst result of a cover-up is that the terrorists will up the ante next time, to make sure their intentions and message are obvious.
". . . it's good to see the Dallas Morning News published his editorial."
He's a regular DMN columnist.
It amazes me how the left attacks Bush for being stupid, yet connects him to all these anazingly intricate conspiracies.
Do I think there is an Islamic connection to the OK City bombers? Yes, without a doubt, and also without much evidence.
Do I think there is an Islamic connection to the latest bombing in OK? Yes, again, but there is more evidence.
And for "strike 3" there is the Moussouwi/ Norman mosque connection.
Any "theory" that points fingers at the US and ignores the Islamist connection is pure fantasy, in my estimation.
Some people back in those days were still trying to compare the front view picture. She builds a strong case in her book that we should totally disregard the frontal shot sketch of John Doe #2 but not the side profile.
If you do get her book to read, the paperback has an additional chapter that is an update on things that happened after her hardback came out. For instance, Richard Clarke and his mention of the Philippine connection with Nichols, the mention of her book to Louie Freeh in the 9-11 hearings, and her discovery that Zawahiri visited Oklahoma in the spring of 1995. Also, there is a chapter that talks about the Norman connection to terrorists.
You make an excellent point laz. They WANT the attention - that's why they finally did 9/11 - attacks against the military weren't enough.
At this point the leaders of AQ are probably focusing attention on Iraq and how to achieve control over it after the US leaves - per the letter intercepted. But that doesn't mean that the cells in the US are not plotting future attacks. I think the cell in Norman will be even more active considering what kind of response this latest episode has gotten. I mean - they didn't even interrogate these people.
A little Off-Topic:
Another thing that strikes me as somewhat unbelievable is because you KNOW if it were drugs and not explosives found the DEA would be ALL over EVERYONE even remotely associated with Hinrichs - charging or attempting to charge them with all kinds of conspiracy charges in order to get people to talk.
Maybe some of the DEA Agents should be transferred to fighting terrorism!!! IMHO they are better trained than these FBI guys, they've got the tools to protect themselves against these terrorists, and they could use their expertise in undercover ops and such to bust these cells wide open... THAT would be a better use of our tax dollars at this point, IMHO.
The Duck Pond is what I have been thinking all along, as the most obvious "open area" where he *could* have done his handiwork. You're so right.
u know..it doesn't even matter. We all know this kid had murder in the name of Islam on his mind. No rocket science required for this psycho drama. What is required is a sort of bravery in spite of the media. A bravery to call a terrorist a terrorist!! For cryin out loud..what is so hard about that?
If I were AQ, I wouldn't concentrate all my energy and effort into fighting the US in Iraq. I'd try to carry out a rash of localized domestic attacks in the US so that the anti-war movement could claim that our presense in Iraq is backfiring and inciting domestic terrorism. You and I both know that normal people would only be enraged by such attacks and would support the war being escalated. But I think it's a safe bet that liberals would vent their rage at Bush instead of the terrorists, and demand that we withdraw.
So if I were AQ, I'd deploy my best operatives in Iraq to continue harrassing the coalition there, and at the same time, I'd employ domestic recruits in the US to carry out enough small attacks to increase liberal whining and erode support for the war. AQ knows they have many friends here -- in Congress, in the MSM, in academia, in Hollywood -- that would exploit such attacks in accordance with their agenda.
And that's why, in the final analysis, I believe the MSM hasn't covered the OU bombing for the simple fact that it didn't succeed. Had Hinrichs succeeded in pulling off what he planned, and killed a lot of people in the stadium, the MSM would have been all over the story. Not because such an event couldn't be ignored, but because they would use it to bash Bush and the war.
Makes you wonder why Greta couldn't devote a few shows to the OU bombing instead of the dead blonde of the week. If Hinrichs had been as cute as Taylor Behl, Greta might be camping out in Norman, Oklahoma.
I think it's very hard to buy ammonium nitrate these days. I was listening to a gardening show on the radio the other day, and the host was saying that nowadays you have to buy calcium nitrate instead of ammonium nitrate. Perhaps this hasn't been publicized (except by this talk show host) in hopes of nabbing any Jihadists -- like Hinrichs -- who haven't gotten the news yet.
You make some very good points laz. The press is so concerned with the PC part of this - typical to say the least... If they could use it to bash the war, I'm sure they would. I've seen on some blogs and forums that have talked about this the anti-war crowd says "I thought we were fighting them there so we wouldn't have to fight them here". They are delusional if they wish to ignore the fact that they are ALREADY here and have been for quite some time...
Some interesting articles I ran across earlier tonight and have added to the summary at my blog:
The Muslim Student Association: A Wahabbi Front
by Steven Schwartz (a Muslim) - orginally published on NationalReview.com
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=6579
[Houda Elyazgi - interviewed on MSNBC on the OU Bombing represents the Muslim Student Association at OU]
How I made "Jihad in America" and lived to tell about it
by Steve Emerson - Chapter 1 Online at the AIJAC!
http://www.aijac.org.au/updates/Mar-02/060402.html
Book Excerpt mentions (among other things) a meeting of the Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA) that he sat in on back in 1992. Incredible information about the state of terrorists in America. Emerson is a former CNN reporter who quit his job to pursue his investigations full-time.
Have you heard any reports that there were "pellets" embedded in a nearby tree that were from the bomb?
Was this an early rumor that has since been disproven?
Specifically, I was told that Greg Knapp from KLIF-570 stated that info.
Maybe it has since been proven wrong. I was told this by a person I know who lives in the Dallas area & heard Knapp make that claim on his radio show.
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