Two Middle East men arrested outside Pentagon - Fake drivers’ licenses spur troopers to call in FBI

MSNBC.com ^ | February 12, 2002

[Rain-maker]

Sounds reasonable to assume it was a recon mission

Thanks for the input.Was scvratching my head on the reasoning.

[DoughtyOne]

And Parks wonders why he has no support other than the AME church. Earth to Parks, buy a clue you dingbat!

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

If it was a scouting mission, these guys were stunningly stupid to have a bunch of fake IDs with them. If you're going to purposely go into something like that to test security, you better make sure your whole vehicle and person have NOTHING incriminating. And, you'll get a lot farther if you look clean cut and speak well. It's funny how often somebody will trip security and stand out for no other reason than the fact that they look like they woke up under a bridge and talk like they're on a 4-day drunk.

On the other hand, if they just accidentally drove in to the Pentagon area with no overt hostile intentions, that's pretty stupid, too. With a bunch of fake licenses in the vehicle, you would think that these guys would be smart enough to stay away from a security area like the Pentagon. If I have 4 lbs of marijuana in my car, driving into the middle of the Salt Lake Olympics is probably a bad plan.

Either way, these guys are total morons. I'm glad they're busted.

[Rain-maker]

Memorizing the Koran has its drawbacks, when a real education is sacrificed.

Stunningly stupid for sure...hehehe.

[2sheep]

Perhaps the tow truck was there to move some concrete barricades and ease the path of a truck bomb?

Exactly what we thought.  Or pull down the railing fence around the White House for the same purpose.

[brat]

I'm with you. I wouldn't shoot them however...maybe I'd consider a one way airplane ride whether they liked it or not! Thank God Bush is finally catching on to the immigration problem! Hopefully it's not too little too late.

[ccmay]

Virtually every terrorist they profiled was born in Saudi Arabia but the vast majority of those were Yemeni Citizens.

There is significant cultural overlap between Yemen and the poorer rural provinces of southwestern Saudia Arabia (Asir, Najran, Jizan), with no clearly defined border between the two countries. The tribes go back and forth with little regard for the border, in the same way that the Pashtuns ignore the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

This area of Saudi Arabia is where Bin Laden and many of his henchmen came from. The more urbanized inhabitants of the north consider people from that area to be ignorant, violent rubes of questionable loyalty, and it is difficult for them to advance in the Saudi military or other national institutions. I suppose this feeds their aggrievement with the Saudi government and contributes to the radicalism associated with that area.

With so many of them, including Bin Laden, having Yemeni ancestry, it is no wonder they can claim citizenship in either country.

-ccm

[katana]

Easy enough to pick up and tow a delivery van filled with ammonium nitrate / deisel barrels past whatever target their little hearts desire. No explosive residue on the tow truck itself so no evidence on the the primary vehicle. Very clever.

Anyone, but in particular profile fitting males, carrying any sort of fake ID are or should be held and interrogated ad infinitum. In any other place this would be thumbscrew, car battery, and dry rice & hot water down the old gullet time.

[JoeGar]

Could they have been planning to use TOW missiles perhaps?

LOL!!

[monocle]

I suspect that forging official documents, such as driver licenses, is a felony in some states and forging official documents from several states might rise to RICO violations. Prosecute these idiots under RICO and put them away where they can be watched 24/7.

[TaxPayer2000]

I think a lot of people would be a bit taken aback by having no fruits or vegetables in their supermarkets in the winter. And every hotel in the country shutting down. Our society as we know it wouldn't function without illegals.

you don't really believe this do you?

[yoe]

Deport, Deport, Deport! Put them on a plane or put them in jail, a Mexican jail would be preferable!

[leadhead]

There is significant cultural overlap between Yemen and the poorer rural provinces of southwestern Saudia Arabia

As a cultural aside; when Saudis tell jokes, the Yemeni is usually the butt of them a la "Blonde" "Polish" and "Irish" jokes here.

[jocon307]

Require all illegals to get out of the country in one month; provide for travel expenses if necessary.

AGREED, AGREED, AGREED!

Then a complete moratorium on all immigration, except perhaps tourists, who would have to be STRICTLY monitored to ensure their timely departure. After that a COMPLETE overhaul of our immigration law and enforcement of same. Thanks to Ted Kennedy our country decided in 1965 to become the world's haven for the miserable, this has done NOTHING to help our country.

I used to be very pro-immigration, anybody who doesn't like my new views can thank the Muslim fascists, they've really turned my mind around.

Sorry folks, it's way past time to pull up the ladder.

[OldFriend]

$50 to get your car back.......consider yourself lucky.

[Chad Fairbanks]

The feds have just released a photo, related to this incident...

[fivecatsandadog]

Bingo

[LouD]

How stupid could they be.

Remember the first WTC bombing? They were able to identify the perpetrators because they went back for their deposit on the rental truck.

Although Atta and his fellow ringleaders appear to be well-trained, they no doubt have to rely upon a network of support assets who are not trained to the same level and do not exhibit the same level of tradecraft or discipline.

[kassie]

How stupid can they be?

Wasn't it Atta that stated he only wanted to learn how to fly a plane,not land?? I don't think they are all that smart.

[calmseas]

"Virginia state police have charged the men, whose names were not released, with traffic violations and possession of false identification."

Darn, does this mean I've got to give up my Elmer Fudd I.D.?