Posted on 10/16/2005 2:22:41 PM PDT by DogBarkTree
The FBI's counterterrorism unit has launched a broad investigation of US-based theft rings after discovering some vehicles used in deadly car bombings in Iraq, including attacks that killed US troops and Iraqi civilians, were probably stolen in the United States, according to senior US Government officials.
The FBI's deputy assistant director for counterterrorism, Inspector John Lewis, said the investigation did not prove the vehicles were stolen specifically for car bombings in the Middle East, but there was evidence they were smuggled out of the US by organised criminal networks that included terrorists and insurgents.
Cracking the car-theft rings and tracing the cars could help identify insurgent leaders and shut down one of the means used to attack the US-led coalition and the Iraqi Government, the officials said.
The inquiry began after coalition troops raided a Falluja bomb factory last November and found a Texas-registered four-wheel-drive being prepared for a bombing mission. Investigators said there were several other cases where vehicles evidently stolen in the US wound up in Syria or other Middle Eastern countries and ultimately in the hands of Iraqi insurgent groups, including al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Indeed.
This makes no sense--they could hotwire any number of cars in Iraq--why do this?
Thanks again Washington, DC for your vigilence and responsibility regarding our borders....anything and everything can cross our borders. Easily.
(Sleep tight, George!)
You better shudder.
Thats a long drive to Iraq!
Ironic BTTT...
This puzzles me, too. Not sure I believe it.
Agreed, its nonsense. Not saying it didn't happen, just that its random chance. Who knows when that vehicle was stolen, or how it got to Iraq.
There are thousands of stolen vehicles yearly, and the best thing to do with them is get them out of the country because the US laws make it a little tricky to sell/license/register a stolen vehicles.
But send it over seas and you have no such problems. Sell them Africa, Syria, Iran, and who knows where it will end up.
The Idea that someone is stealing cars in the US specifically to use them as bombs in Iraq is total nonsense.
Yes--there are Arabs in the used car business in the US. So? Why bother to ship a vehicle 8,000 miles when there are plenty of blowupables right there? That's my point...
Arabs love American cars. Large families and big trunks.
Good point, hadn't thought of that aspect. There is probably good money in such a venture, too.
Yes--there are Arabs in the used car business in the US. So? Why bother to ship a vehicle 8,000 miles when there are plenty of blowupables right there? That's my point...
You have to not think as an American but think as an Arab. For one thing, it is cheaper to ship an American car to a middle eastern country yourself than it is to buy one there. As for why they choose American cars there have been so many white Toyota pick-ups used in suicide bombings they are probably changing there M.O. Initially, no one is going to suspect an American car. Who knows? I'm not a terrorist but I know that there are specific reasons for what may seem like a ridiculous ideas to you and I.
Guarantee you, they did not cross the Border. Favorite Technique: Steal the car, run it down to a port( NY Harbor, LA Harbor), put it in a Shipping Container (size of Semi trailer) before it is even reported as stolen.
When I was stationed in Texas at Bergstrom AFB (Austin), I recall the FBI uncovering an interstate car theft organization comprised of sheriffs and other law enforcement types aiding in getting stolen cars over the Mexican border. The key guy was a sheriff of a county to the north of Houston. This was about 20+ years ago. With the border in either direction now as porous as a cooking collander, it doesn't take a genius to get stolen cars into the stream of international terror.
For the irony?
Do we know they're using Chevys and Fords as suicide cars? I've never seen that anywhere (but that doesn't mean it's not true).
That's a lot of trouble to go to for irony...
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