30-09-2011, 05:50 AM
FBI faces entrapment questions over Rezwan Ferdaus bomb plot arrest
2011[Have there been any serious bomb threats since Oklahoma City? It seems that the FBI have been the brains and suppliers behind most previous terror bombings; it is good that they are at least consistent. It is highly unlikely that the model F-4 planes seen in the video could have flown with a bomb payload of twelve pounds of C4. It is extremely unlikely that such an overloaded air platform could have obtained flight, or been controllable if it did. Maybe the guy was just a model airplane enthusiast and he used the FBI to obtain toys out of his own price range.]
Mass. Man and Possible FBI Entrapment plot, posted with vodpod
FBI faces entrapment questions over Rezwan Ferdaus bomb plot arrest
Sting operation to arrest physics graduate, 26, raises concerns that US Muslims might be targeted using entrapment techniques![[Image: Rezwan-Ferdaus-007.jpg]](http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/9/29/1317324324554/Rezwan-Ferdaus-007.jpg)
Rezwan Ferdaus is accused of plotting to crash explosive-filled miniature planes into the US Capital and Pentagon. Photograph: AP
The dramatic arrest of a man in Massachusetts accused of plotting to crash explosive-filled miniature airplanes into the US Capitol and the Pentagon has sparked fresh concerns that the FBI might be using entrapment techniques aimed at Muslims in America.
Rezwan Ferdaus, a 26-year-old US citizen and physics graduate who lived at home with his parents in Ashland, near Boston, was the target of an FBI sting in which he bought a miniature aircraft that he planned to outfit as a flying bomb.
However, some legal organisations and Muslim groups have questioned whether Ferdaus, whose activities were carried out with two undercover FBI agents posing as terrorists, would have been able to carry out such a sophisticated plot if left to his own devices. In numerous previous cases in the US, the FBI has been accused of over-zealousness in its investigations and of entrapping people into terror plots who might otherwise not have carried out an attack.
"It deeply concerns us. It is another in a pattern of high-profile cases. Would this person have conceived or executed this plot without the influence of the FBI?" said Heidi Boghosian, president of the National Lawyers Guild.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations also expressed its concern and wondered if more details would later emerge at trial that showed the full scale of the FBI involvement in setting up the sting. "There is a big, big difference between a plot initiated by the FBI and a plot initiated by a suspect, and it seems this might have been initiated by the FBI," said Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR's director of communications.
The lengthy affidavit filed by prosecutors against Ferdaus details an elaborate plot in which he repeatedly expressed his desire to kill Americans and his support for Islamic jihad. The affidavit showed he came up with a detailed plan of attack and even scouted his targets in Washington in person. He also built mobile phone "detonators" that he supplied to undercover FBI agents posing as al-Qaida terrorists and expressed his pleasure when told him they had been used to kill American soldiers in Iraq.
However, it also contains some areas of concern. Few details are given as to how Ferdaus came to the attention of the FBI. Mention is only made of a co-operating witness, known as CW, who met Ferdaus in December 2010 and soon began recording his conversations.
No details are given as to CW's identity, but it is mentioned that he or she has a criminal record and has served time in prison. That raises the prospect that the CW may have had some ulterior motive to bring an alleged terror suspect to the attention of the FBI or could be an unreliable witness.
Another potential area of concern is a meeting on 19 April 2011, when the undercover agents met with Ferdaus and questioned the "feasibility" of his plan. That raises the prospect that the FBI agents were somehow goading Ferdaus into more action. "Ferdaus responded in a defensive manner that he had made progress," the affidavit stated.
At the same meeting the undercover agents also gave financial assistance for Ferdaus to travel to Washington on a scouting trip: a fact that raises the question of whether he would have made the trip without that financial help. The undercover agents also supplied thousands of dollars in cash for Ferdaus to buy the F-86 Sabre miniature plane to be used in an attack.
Another portion of the affidavit also details Ferdaus's enthusiasm for making mobile phone detonation devices that he believed were being sent to Iraq and used by terrorists. Ferdaus suggested sending a box of 50 mobile phones to war zones where terrorists were in need of them. He even wanted to set up a sort of workshop to produce up to 30 of the devices a week.
"Ferdaus indicated that he could write instructions or make a video on how to construct the cell phone detonation devices," the affidavit said. Such an apparently outlandish idea that hinges on the idea that Islamic terrorists are desperately short of cheap mobile phones might suggest Ferdaus was, to some extent, a fantasist rather than a genuine threat.
However, some legal experts said that the case against Ferdaus appeared compelling, especially as he frequently and repeatedly indicated his desire and willingness to carry out terrorist attacks against Americans. In trying to mount a successful defence of entrapment it is vital to prove that a suspect has no pre-disposition to the crime they are accused of doing. In the Ferdaus case that would seem to be difficult, lawyers said.
"He took the weaponry and agreed to do it. That demonstrates a propensity and willingness to do it," said Anthony Barkow, a former terrorism prosecutor and executive director of the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at New York University.
Barkow defended the FBI investigation and said that the US authorities took careful steps to avoid the issue of entrapment. "The Justice Department is very aware of this issue," he said.
Certainly the affidavit against Ferdaus paints a compelling picture of a man hellbent on waging jihad in America and eager to take the guns and explosives eventually supplied to him by the undercover FBI agents. He repeatedly states in recorded conversations that he is happy for Americans to die and that the idea for the attack was his own. "That's excellent," Ferdaus said when told one of his phone detonators had been used overseas and had killed Americans.
The prosecution case also reveals how Ferdaus ordered the plane and rented a storage facility in which to keep it and then took delivery from the FBI agents of 25 pounds of C-4 explosives, three grenades and six AK-47 rifles. It also shows Ferdaus explaining how he had become convinced that he needed to attack America after viewing jihadist websites online. "I just can't stop; there is no other choice for me," he said of his decision to launch the attacks.
Prosecutors have staunchly defended the FBI operation. "Our top priority is to protect our nation from terrorism and national security threats," said US attorney Carmen Ortiz.
FBI officials have also said the investigation was carried out responsibly and to head off a real threat. "We have an obligation to take action to protect the public whenever an individual expresses a desire to commit violence. A committed individual, even one with no direct connections to, or formal training from, an international terrorist organization, can pose a serious danger to the community," said Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Boston Division
http://therearenosunglasses.wordpress.co...ot-arrest/
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JOURNAL: Terrorist UAV Bomber?
A self-activated Jihadi from the Boston area was arrested. His plot: to blow up a section of the Pentagon with several UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) ladden with C-4. He bought the plane. He also bought C-4, AK-47s,![[Image: 6a00d83451576d69e2015391f038a2970b-320wi]](http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451576d69e2015391f038a2970b-320wi)
and grenades from FBI agents posing as suppliers. Not much of a threat. However, despite the fake plot and the terrible target selection, the technique is sound. Off the shelf or DIY UAVs, provide an amazingly effective way to do incredible amounts of damage. Within the context of an open source guerrilla war in a formerly developed country, this tech would get very deadly/effective, very quickly.
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The FBI's Drone Bomb
September 29th, 2011Via: CNN:
A 26-year-old Massachusetts man with a physics degree was arrested and charged Wednesday with plotting an attack on the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol with a remote-controlled model aircraft, authorities said.
Rezwan Ferdaus, a U.S. citizen from Ashland, Massachusetts, planned to use model aircraft filled with C-4 plastic explosives, authorities said.
As a result of an undercover FBI investigation, Ferdaus, who has a physics degree from Northeastern University in Boston, was charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda for attacks on U.S. soldiers overseas, authorities said.
His federal public defender couldn't be reached immediately for comment.
A law enforcement official said Ferdaus posed no immediate danger to the public because undercover operatives kept in close contact with him.
Posted in COINTELPRO, Covert Operations, Dictatorship, False Flag Operations,Surveillance |
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Massachusetts man charged in plot to blow up Pentagon
September 28, 2011 by legitgov
ShareThisMassachusetts man charged in plot to blow up Pentagon --On Wednesday undercover FBI agents delivered fake C4 explosives, grenades and AK-47s to storage unit terror suspect possessed 28 Sep 2011 Undercover FBI agents arrested a U.S. citizen Wednesday in connection with a plot to attack the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol using large, remote-controlled aircraft filled with C-4 plastic explosives. Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, was also charged with attempting to provide material support to Al Qaeda [al-CIAduh], in order to carry out attacks on U.S. soldiers overseas, the Justice Department announced in a news release. Ferdaus was arrested in Framingham, Mass.
3009
2011[Have there been any serious bomb threats since Oklahoma City? It seems that the FBI have been the brains and suppliers behind most previous terror bombings; it is good that they are at least consistent. It is highly unlikely that the model F-4 planes seen in the video could have flown with a bomb payload of twelve pounds of C4. It is extremely unlikely that such an overloaded air platform could have obtained flight, or been controllable if it did. Maybe the guy was just a model airplane enthusiast and he used the FBI to obtain toys out of his own price range.]
Mass. Man and Possible FBI Entrapment plot, posted with vodpod
FBI faces entrapment questions over Rezwan Ferdaus bomb plot arrest
Sting operation to arrest physics graduate, 26, raises concerns that US Muslims might be targeted using entrapment techniques
Rezwan Ferdaus is accused of plotting to crash explosive-filled miniature planes into the US Capital and Pentagon. Photograph: APThe dramatic arrest of a man in Massachusetts accused of plotting to crash explosive-filled miniature airplanes into the US Capitol and the Pentagon has sparked fresh concerns that the FBI might be using entrapment techniques aimed at Muslims in America.
Rezwan Ferdaus, a 26-year-old US citizen and physics graduate who lived at home with his parents in Ashland, near Boston, was the target of an FBI sting in which he bought a miniature aircraft that he planned to outfit as a flying bomb.
However, some legal organisations and Muslim groups have questioned whether Ferdaus, whose activities were carried out with two undercover FBI agents posing as terrorists, would have been able to carry out such a sophisticated plot if left to his own devices. In numerous previous cases in the US, the FBI has been accused of over-zealousness in its investigations and of entrapping people into terror plots who might otherwise not have carried out an attack.
"It deeply concerns us. It is another in a pattern of high-profile cases. Would this person have conceived or executed this plot without the influence of the FBI?" said Heidi Boghosian, president of the National Lawyers Guild.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations also expressed its concern and wondered if more details would later emerge at trial that showed the full scale of the FBI involvement in setting up the sting. "There is a big, big difference between a plot initiated by the FBI and a plot initiated by a suspect, and it seems this might have been initiated by the FBI," said Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR's director of communications.
The lengthy affidavit filed by prosecutors against Ferdaus details an elaborate plot in which he repeatedly expressed his desire to kill Americans and his support for Islamic jihad. The affidavit showed he came up with a detailed plan of attack and even scouted his targets in Washington in person. He also built mobile phone "detonators" that he supplied to undercover FBI agents posing as al-Qaida terrorists and expressed his pleasure when told him they had been used to kill American soldiers in Iraq.
However, it also contains some areas of concern. Few details are given as to how Ferdaus came to the attention of the FBI. Mention is only made of a co-operating witness, known as CW, who met Ferdaus in December 2010 and soon began recording his conversations.
No details are given as to CW's identity, but it is mentioned that he or she has a criminal record and has served time in prison. That raises the prospect that the CW may have had some ulterior motive to bring an alleged terror suspect to the attention of the FBI or could be an unreliable witness.
Another potential area of concern is a meeting on 19 April 2011, when the undercover agents met with Ferdaus and questioned the "feasibility" of his plan. That raises the prospect that the FBI agents were somehow goading Ferdaus into more action. "Ferdaus responded in a defensive manner that he had made progress," the affidavit stated.
At the same meeting the undercover agents also gave financial assistance for Ferdaus to travel to Washington on a scouting trip: a fact that raises the question of whether he would have made the trip without that financial help. The undercover agents also supplied thousands of dollars in cash for Ferdaus to buy the F-86 Sabre miniature plane to be used in an attack.
Another portion of the affidavit also details Ferdaus's enthusiasm for making mobile phone detonation devices that he believed were being sent to Iraq and used by terrorists. Ferdaus suggested sending a box of 50 mobile phones to war zones where terrorists were in need of them. He even wanted to set up a sort of workshop to produce up to 30 of the devices a week.
"Ferdaus indicated that he could write instructions or make a video on how to construct the cell phone detonation devices," the affidavit said. Such an apparently outlandish idea that hinges on the idea that Islamic terrorists are desperately short of cheap mobile phones might suggest Ferdaus was, to some extent, a fantasist rather than a genuine threat.
However, some legal experts said that the case against Ferdaus appeared compelling, especially as he frequently and repeatedly indicated his desire and willingness to carry out terrorist attacks against Americans. In trying to mount a successful defence of entrapment it is vital to prove that a suspect has no pre-disposition to the crime they are accused of doing. In the Ferdaus case that would seem to be difficult, lawyers said.
"He took the weaponry and agreed to do it. That demonstrates a propensity and willingness to do it," said Anthony Barkow, a former terrorism prosecutor and executive director of the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at New York University.
Barkow defended the FBI investigation and said that the US authorities took careful steps to avoid the issue of entrapment. "The Justice Department is very aware of this issue," he said.
Certainly the affidavit against Ferdaus paints a compelling picture of a man hellbent on waging jihad in America and eager to take the guns and explosives eventually supplied to him by the undercover FBI agents. He repeatedly states in recorded conversations that he is happy for Americans to die and that the idea for the attack was his own. "That's excellent," Ferdaus said when told one of his phone detonators had been used overseas and had killed Americans.
The prosecution case also reveals how Ferdaus ordered the plane and rented a storage facility in which to keep it and then took delivery from the FBI agents of 25 pounds of C-4 explosives, three grenades and six AK-47 rifles. It also shows Ferdaus explaining how he had become convinced that he needed to attack America after viewing jihadist websites online. "I just can't stop; there is no other choice for me," he said of his decision to launch the attacks.
Prosecutors have staunchly defended the FBI operation. "Our top priority is to protect our nation from terrorism and national security threats," said US attorney Carmen Ortiz.
FBI officials have also said the investigation was carried out responsibly and to head off a real threat. "We have an obligation to take action to protect the public whenever an individual expresses a desire to commit violence. A committed individual, even one with no direct connections to, or formal training from, an international terrorist organization, can pose a serious danger to the community," said Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Boston Division
http://therearenosunglasses.wordpress.co...ot-arrest/
***** ***** *****
JOURNAL: Terrorist UAV Bomber?
A self-activated Jihadi from the Boston area was arrested. His plot: to blow up a section of the Pentagon with several UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) ladden with C-4. He bought the plane. He also bought C-4, AK-47s,
Posted by John Robb on Wednesday, 28 September 2011 at 09:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (14) |
[The comments are recommended reading.... EJ]
[The comments are recommended reading.... EJ]
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The FBI's Drone Bomb
September 29th, 2011Via: CNN:
A 26-year-old Massachusetts man with a physics degree was arrested and charged Wednesday with plotting an attack on the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol with a remote-controlled model aircraft, authorities said.
Rezwan Ferdaus, a U.S. citizen from Ashland, Massachusetts, planned to use model aircraft filled with C-4 plastic explosives, authorities said.
As a result of an undercover FBI investigation, Ferdaus, who has a physics degree from Northeastern University in Boston, was charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda for attacks on U.S. soldiers overseas, authorities said.
His federal public defender couldn't be reached immediately for comment.
A law enforcement official said Ferdaus posed no immediate danger to the public because undercover operatives kept in close contact with him.
Posted in COINTELPRO, Covert Operations, Dictatorship, False Flag Operations,Surveillance |
** **** *** *****
Massachusetts man charged in plot to blow up Pentagon
September 28, 2011 by legitgov
ShareThisMassachusetts man charged in plot to blow up Pentagon --On Wednesday undercover FBI agents delivered fake C4 explosives, grenades and AK-47s to storage unit terror suspect possessed 28 Sep 2011 Undercover FBI agents arrested a U.S. citizen Wednesday in connection with a plot to attack the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol using large, remote-controlled aircraft filled with C-4 plastic explosives. Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, was also charged with attempting to provide material support to Al Qaeda [al-CIAduh], in order to carry out attacks on U.S. soldiers overseas, the Justice Department announced in a news release. Ferdaus was arrested in Framingham, Mass.
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