Man Charged with D.C.-Area Subway Bomb Plot

[Appaholic]

Justice Department says he thought he was working with al-Qaida

WASHINGTON — A Pakistani-born U.S. citizen was arrested Wednesday on charges of planning bombings at Metrorail stations in the Washington, D.C., area after an FBI sting operation, the Justice Department announced.

"Farooque Ahmed, 34, of Ashburn, Va., was arrested today for attempting to assist others whom he believed to be members of al-Qaida," the department said in a statement.

A grand jury returned an indictment against Ahmed on Tuesday, "charging him with attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization, collecting information to assist in planning a terrorist attack on a transit facility, and attempting to provide material support to help carry out multiple bombings," the department added.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison.

Instead of real al-Qaida agents, Ahmed was meeting with undercover agents, officials said.

Investigators say that starting in April, Ahmed began meeting with someone he thought was an al-Qaida courier who put him touch with others who asked him if he'd willing to do surveillance of stops on the subway system, known as the Metro.

Court documents say he watched and took picture at four stations, all in Virginia, and made sketches. He suggested putting bombs in rolling suitcases for simultaneous explosions in 2011, the FBI says. The three stations he picked out would help "kill as many military personnel as possible," according to court documents, apparently because of the use of those lines by people going to and from the Pentagon.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39872773/ns ... -security/

[89Hen]

[grizzaholic]

He's just misunderstood.

[andy7171]

It is a peaceful religion.

[grizzaholic]

It is a peaceful religion.

THIS.

[89Hen]

"Farooque Ahmed, 34, of Ashburn, Va., was arrested today for attempting to assist others whom he believed to be members of al-Qaida," the department said in a statement.

How do you like me now PBS?

[bandl]

"Farooque Ahmed, 34, of Ashburn, Va., was arrested today for attempting to assist others whom he believed to be members of al-Qaida," the department said in a statement.

How do you like me now PBS?

Does he have a Chicklet piece of gum on the left side of his mouth or is that a snaggle tooth or what? Seriously, what is going on with that?

[93henfan]

How do you like me now PBS?

Does he have a Chicklet piece of gum on the left side of his mouth or is that a snaggle tooth or what? Seriously, what is going on with that?

Now I wave my wand and...

PRESTO! The chicklet is now on the other side!!!

[CID1990]

I wonder which Metro stops he was planning on bombing?

I can think of a couple that need the remodeling.

[bandl]

I wonder which Metro stops he was planning on bombing?

I can think of a couple that need the remodeling.

I believe it was Court House, Arlington Cemetery ( ), Pentagon City and Crystal City.

Before I knew which stops, my first thought was "I sure hope he was smart enough to choose all underground stations." So why Arlington Cemetery? Mostly tourists there. And why not National Airport if he wanted to bomb an above-ground station? At least he could wreak some havoc on two forms of travel here.

And if he was really trying to kill as many military personnel as possible, why not the Pentagon station???? And why Court House instead of Rosslyn, which is a very busy transfer point from DC/Maryland to/from VA?

[ASUG8]

I wonder which Metro stops he was planning on bombing?

I can think of a couple that need the remodeling.

I believe it was Court House, Arlington Cemetery ( ), Pentagon City and Crystal City.

Before I knew which stops, my first thought was "I sure hope he was smart enough to choose all underground stations." So why Arlington Cemetery? Mostly tourists there. And why not National Airport if he wanted to bomb an above-ground station? At least he could wreak some havoc on two forms of travel here.

And if he was really trying to kill as many military personnel as possible, why not the Pentagon station???? And why Court House instead of Rosslyn, which is a very busy transfer point from DC/Maryland to/from VA?

Why not? Because he wasn't intelligent enough to keep from getting caught.

On the other hand, it's a little disturbing that you've thought out the "right" way to do this.

[bandl]

I believe it was Court House, Arlington Cemetery ( ), Pentagon City and Crystal City.

Before I knew which stops, my first thought was "I sure hope he was smart enough to choose all underground stations." So why Arlington Cemetery? Mostly tourists there. And why not National Airport if he wanted to bomb an above-ground station? At least he could wreak some havoc on two forms of travel here.

And if he was really trying to kill as many military personnel as possible, why not the Pentagon station???? And why Court House instead of Rosslyn, which is a very busy transfer point from DC/Maryland to/from VA?

Why not? Because he wasn't intelligent enough to keep from getting caught.

On the other hand, it's a little disturbing that you've thought out the "right" way to do this.

It's really not that hard to figure out which metro stations to target if he's going after military personnel like he was targetting. If that was your criteria, wouldn't your first choice be, you know, the metro station at largest military office in the world, the Pentagon? Wouldn't your second choice be a transfer (i.e. busy) metro station near the Pentagon? Rosslyn is the busiest metro stop in VA. Or maybe an airport stop over a tourist stop like Arlington Cemetery (or a commuter stop like Crystal City, or a commuter/shopping stop like Pentagon city)?

But I am certainly glad this guy didn't think these things through.

[89Hen]

On the other hand, it's a little disturbing that you've thought out the "right" way to do this.

It's really not that hard to figure out which metro stations to target if he's going after military personnel like he was targetting. If that was your criteria, wouldn't your first choice be, you know, the metro station at largest military office in the world, the Pentagon? Wouldn't your second choice be a transfer (i.e. busy) metro station near the Pentagon? Rosslyn is the busiest metro stop in VA. Or maybe an airport stop over a tourist stop like Arlington Cemetery (or a commuter stop like Crystal City, or a commuter/shopping stop like Pentagon city)?

But I am certainly glad this guy didn't think these things through.

It's actually something that many people around here think about. If you want to do the most damage, you hit Chinatown, Metro Center and L'enfant Plaza. Those are the three big transfer hubs for all the lines. If you want military, you do Pentagon, Crystal City and Navy Yards. If you want to cripple the infrastructure of DC, just drive a truck under the American Legion Bridge (north side beltway over Potomac).

[bandl]

It's really not that hard to figure out which metro stations to target if he's going after military personnel like he was targetting. If that was your criteria, wouldn't your first choice be, you know, the metro station at largest military office in the world, the Pentagon? Wouldn't your second choice be a transfer (i.e. busy) metro station near the Pentagon? Rosslyn is the busiest metro stop in VA. Or maybe an airport stop over a tourist stop like Arlington Cemetery (or a commuter stop like Crystal City, or a commuter/shopping stop like Pentagon city)?

But I am certainly glad this guy didn't think these things through.

It's actually something that many people around here think about. If you want to do the most damage, you hit Chinatown, Metro Center and L'enfant Plaza. Those are the three big transfer hubs for all the lines. If you want military, you do Pentagon, Crystal City and Navy Yards. If you want to cripple the infrastructure of DC, just drive a truck under the American Legion Bridge (north side beltway over Potomac).

Luckily I don't think this guy knew that he could take the Metro into DC...

[93henfan]

I saw a story yesterday about how they're beefing up security bigtime for the Marine Corps Marathon this weekend. Apparently all the runners (tens of thousands, lots military) gather in the Pentagon parking lot for the start and there have been multiple instances of bullets striking the Pentagon and surrounding buildings in recent weeks. They're worried that may have been a rehearsal.

[89Hen]

This weekend is crazy busy in DC. Some concert event closing parts of Penn Ave, Marine Marathon, Jon Stewart rally... LOTS of street closures.

[93henfan]

This weekend is crazy busy in DC. Some concert event closing parts of Penn Ave, Marine Marathon, Jon Stewart rally... LOTS of street closures.

Wonder how many will show up for the March to Keep Fear Alive and the Rally to Restore Sanity? 150K?

Yes, that's quite the weekend in DC, since that is on Saturday and the MCM is on Sunday.

[89Hen]

Wonder how many will show up for the March to Keep Fear Alive and the Rally to Restore Sanity? 150K?

Drop the 0.

[93henfan]

Wonder how many will show up for the March to Keep Fear Alive and the Rally to Restore Sanity? 150K?

Drop the 0.

Fair enough. I read a crowd estimate of 200K but I thought that sounded too high.

[89Hen]

Drop the 0.

Fair enough. I read a crowd estimate of 200K but I thought that sounded too high.

FWIW, I haven't heard or seen anything on the rally in the last month... basically since it was announced.

[ASUG8]

Why not? Because he wasn't intelligent enough to keep from getting caught.

On the other hand, it's a little disturbing that you've thought out the "right" way to do this.

It's really not that hard to figure out which metro stations to target if he's going after military personnel like he was targetting. If that was your criteria, wouldn't your first choice be, you know, the metro station at largest military office in the world, the Pentagon? Wouldn't your second choice be a transfer (i.e. busy) metro station near the Pentagon? Rosslyn is the busiest metro stop in VA. Or maybe an airport stop over a tourist stop like Arlington Cemetery (or a commuter stop like Crystal City, or a commuter/shopping stop like Pentagon city)?

But I am certainly glad this guy didn't think these things through.

My bad - should have used the sarcasm smiley.

It's no surprise that bombing subways where people congregate and egress is limited is the best way to maximize destruction (Moscow, London, Japan....). No question that an attack on DC makes a huge political statement, especially if you can get unarmed military casualties in the mix. It's a sad state of affairs that we have a burgeoning homegrown terrorist industry growing, but fortunately we're throwing enough resources at it to thwart most attempts.

[89Hen]

It's a sad state of affairs that we have a burgeoning homegrown terrorist industry growing

Do we?

[ASUG8]

It's a sad state of affairs that we have a burgeoning homegrown terrorist industry growing

Do we?

Why don't you Google "US homegrown terrorists"?

Here's a couple of articles to save you the time.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/10/ ... an-muslim/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/1 ... hreat.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[89Hen]

Do we?

Why don't you Google "US homegrown terrorists"?

Here's a couple of articles to save you the time.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/10/ ... an-muslim/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/1 ... hreat.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm not disputing we have some. I'm disputing it's "burgeoning" or significantly growing.

[ASUG8]

Why don't you Google "US homegrown terrorists"?

Here's a couple of articles to save you the time.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/10/ ... an-muslim/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/1 ... hreat.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm not disputing we have some. I'm disputing it's "burgeoning" or significantly growing.

It seems to come up in the news more often - maybe it's due to more media coverage, or maybe there is actually more of it happening.