Prosecutor: Mackinac Bridge was target (plan for cell phones)

The Saginaw News ^ | JUSTIN ENGEL08/12/06

[SE Mom]

Tuscola County prosecutors filed terrorism-related charges Saturday against three men who they say bought dozens of cell phones Friday in Caro in a globally coordinated plot involving the Mackinac Bridge.

They charged brothers Adham Abdelhamid Othman, 21, and Louai Abdelhamied Othman, 23, along with their cousin, Maruan Awad Muhareb, 18, with identical counts of collecting material to support terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target with intent to committ terrorism.

[RunningWolf]

I was drifted a little there and went back to the islamist obsession with taking down aircraft.

W.

[maggief]

Excellent find TK!

[PennsylvaniaMom]

Disabling the prepaid cell phones makes excellent sense due to the recent events in Britain. Is it really just a coincidence that on Thursday, cell phone service 'went out' on Long Island (Long Island, the local of both JFK and LaGuardia?) The technology is there, and if there is a plausible threat then it should be used to disable service. Period. A few days or weeks inconvenience maybe what it takes to assure that the 'plots' whatever they be have been broken up and arrests made. After that documented users (those with a name, credit card, etc) on file get back on air first; those with undocumented service (the TracPhones, etc.) don't come back into use until a name, credit card, driver's license number, etc., is presented. Just my two cents, but I think it may come to that reality.

[Diva]

I worked on building that bridge for three years. I was a field engineer on it and I know the structure well.

I've been fascinated with this bridge since seeing a documetary about its construction several years ago. And it looks as though I may finally get my chance to go across it after living in Michigan for 21 years. My son has to be at school in St. Paul in a few weeks which happens to coincide with our being in Gaylord. No sense in going down and around, better to go up and across the UP.

Being an engineer on this beautiful bridge must have been an amazing experience.

[conservative in nyc]

Try to keep an open mind about things. Don't get sidelined by the phones' potential use as a detonator - maybe they are intended to be, but it's perfectly possible that they aren't. In any event, something does stink here.

It is possible that these men were only out to resell phone parts to make a profit, while at the same time indirectly aiding and abetting criminal activity. The real key might be tracking their purchasers to get to the real evil doers.

Lithium is used in meth production, and some states have placed limits on the number of lithium batteries a person can purchase in one day. A bulk supplier of lithium batteries would have a ready market for his product, and should get somewhat of a premium for doing the hard work that meth producers themselves wouldn't want to do.

In addition to being potential IED triggers, the phones themselves are used by terrorists, run-of-the-mill gangs, and organized crime to avoid detection. Those folks wouldn't need new batteries or chargers every time they purchase a new phone, since they already have them. Again, a bulk supplier of phones to nefarious folks might be able to command a premium for doing the hard work of buying these phones in bulk.

The phones themselves might be worth more in parts than they are in whole. Tracfone probably sells the initial units at a loss in order to sell overpriced airtime later.

Tracfone is owned by a Latin American company, and it's remotely possible that these phones are being shipped for use in Latin America, where they might not be as cheap. One local Michigan station interviewed someone standing in line at the Caro Wal*Mart behind the arrested men. He asked the arrested men what they were doing with the phones. The men said that they were selling them to construction workers for a profit.

[FourPeas]

Thread about another suspicious cell phone/battery purchase: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1682647/posts

[ARealMothersSonForever]

OK. We have an obvious threat with the phones. What is your solution?

I do not buy into that statement. Our threat stems from islamic fascists. Phones are like (Gasp!) firearms. We could spend a lot of effort and time jaw-jacking about phones, or we could eradicate fanatical muzzie extremists. I work in telecomm/datacomm/videocomm. People talk dirty on telephones, make threats on data lines, and stream kiddie porn over video links. Should we outlaw all communications because of these miscreants? Of course not. Yet I am labeled as radical when calling for the expulsion and extermination of radical islamic fascist muzzies. Go figure.

It is all in the approach. If one can blame hammers and nails for building houses, one may likewise blame cellphones for terrorism. Blame the web for porn. Conservatives do not generally call for expanding government, unless it is the military to clearly defeat an enemy. America is reduced to quibbling about which nanny-state has the moral high ground. Pathetic.

[melt]

dozens of cell phones

"Sources tell us that each one bought 72 Virgins..."

[Diva]

wouldn't it be a hit on both the US and Canada ?

Actually, the Mackinac bridge connects Michigan to Michigan. : ) We have other bridges that connect us to Canada, I have always worried that the bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ont. would make a juicy target and... its much closer to Dearbornistan.

[TexKat]

Hello there maggief!

[FourPeas]

well said

[Dolphy]

If you are talking about the type involved with these arrests then I would. You can contact the FBI via their website...they have an on-line reporting form.

[maggief]

Greetings FRiend!

:)

[SE Mom]

Here you go- ping for the Mack Bridge story..

[grey_whiskers]

using 100% nitric, it would eat thru enough corrosion and wire rope to make it separate due to the tension on it very quickly....

What angle is the cable running at? you would have to have a way to keep the acid from running downhill...

Besides, think how much *fun* it would be to catch the terrorists at it and then throw a bottle of the nitric in their eyes.

Then tie them up.

Then...

well, use your imagination.

Full Disclosure: All the BS about civil liberties. Deport all the foreign-born Muslims, build a wall across Mexico, and keep a lookout on the ones coming in from Canada.

Cheers!

[conservative in nyc]

Last Thursday's Queens cell phone outage only affected Nextel customers and was due to a pipe burst getting water into the Nextel switching equipment at Verizon's central switching station for the area. It had nothing to do with Tracphone - as far as I know, they don't use the Sprint Nextel network. Sprint Nextel offers their own prepaid phones through Boost Mobile.

More here.

[DCPatriot]

Is the writer related to the Governor?

[tcrlaf]

Yup...
Dey just be good Mennonites, doncha know?

[SE Mom]

LOL!

[SE Mom]

No idea..I don't live in Michigan:) I'm just trying to keep up with connecting the dots...