Feds: Mass. man planned to blow up Pentagon

[Robb]

Source: CBS

BOSTON - A 26-year-old Massachusetts man has been arrested and accused of plotting to destroy the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol with large remote-controlled aircraft filled with explosives.

Rezwan Ferdaus of Ashland was arrested Wednesday in Framingham when undercover federal agents delivered materials he'd requested for his alleged plan, including grenades, six machine guns and what Ferdaus believed was C-4 explosive.

Ferdaus also targeted U.S. soldiers, CBS News has learned.

Ferdaus, a U.S. citizen and Northeastern University graduate, was scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Worcester on Wednesday afternoon.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/28/national/main20112959.shtml

---

Much longer story here: http://www.patriotledger.com/homepage/breaking/x1066526221/Ashland-man-charged-with-plot-to-attack-Pentagon-U-S-Capitol

[slay]

1. I hate the pentagon and everything it stands for

but there has got to be a better way than violence. hopefully.

[Beam Me Up]

2. would appear the dude is delusional

i mean, what would be the point? the PROBLEMS are systemic -- a part of the system, not any particular building or group of peeps in it. besides, the pentagon is one huge facility. would take a couple tons of C-4 to level that MOFO.

[awoke_in_2003]

5. and it would have to be...

strategically placed- like you say, it is a huge facility.

[24601]

14. I see your point. How much better your life would be if we never

ever fielded a military and, as a result, the Nazis ruled the world.

Your support of all our troops - even those killed in the Pentagon on 9-11 is touching beyond words. Thanks for admitting it and showing your true colors.

Shall we also infer that your hatred for All the Pentagon stands for extends to the Commander in Chief? Have you hated all the Commanders in Chief or just those since the Pentagon was built - FDR through Obama? Does your hate for all Secretaries of Defense/War/Navy, etc - or go back only to the building's construction or does it include those who helped defeat the confederacy and end slavery?

Naturally, it's logical to conclude you hate all the wage-grade union workers in the Pentagon.

But just one question since you hate ALL is stands for: Since the military led most of the nation in racial integration when the military was desegregated, is racial equality the core of your hate or just a side show.

[slay]

23. They are war profiteers

i do not support unnecessary, unaudited, military action and the pentagon takes up such a HUGE chunk of the budget, so no, i don't like those people at all. war mongers.

[No Elephants]

33. What did the Pentagon have to do with fielding an Army to fight Hitler?

And how is WWII like anything like the fighting we've done since then?

[24601]

62. The response as to some [your characterization here] who hates

ell the Pentagon stands for. All is an inclusive word and did not exclude any period of Pentagon History. If history was excluded - that limits it to only Obama's Pentagon, his appointees at the moment of the post.

If there are people here who detest anything military - I've been through that before. Just don't expect the USA to agree with you.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2011/jun/23/us-military-most-trusted-all-american-institutions/

[No Elephants]

67. The answers to my qs are "The Pentagon had very little to do with raising an army to fight Hitler."

And "World War II is almost nothing like the wars we've fought since then."

Funny, I asked you two questions about your Reply 14 and you chose to answer neither one.



Slay posted something like " I hate the Pentagon and all it stands for."

Given when the Pentagon actually started business, the Pentagon had nothing to do with raising an Army to fight Hitler. You instead went immediately to the one war in our country's history that almost everyone would agree was a necessary one.

My problem with your reply was that "the Pentagon and all it stands for" had very little to do with raising an Army to fight Hitler.



"If history was excluded - that limits it to only Obama's Pentagon, his appointees at the moment of the post."

? I never even implied that you should have limited your response to the Obama administration. To the contrary, my second question went to every war after WW II because those are the wars where "the Pentagon and all it stands for" were more involved.

"If there are people here who detest anything military - I've been through that before. Just don't expect the USA to agree with you."

I said nothing of the sort. I asked you two questions about your own post. In fact, even the poster to whom you were replying did not say anything about hating all things military.

[24601]

76. Sadly, the wording of your questions makes it clear that you will not

understand the answer.

You probably didn't know that the war department - rumored to have something to do with military success in WW II worked out of the Pentagon long before the end of WWII.

But perhaps the hate directed for all the Pentagon stands for was the fact that for many year it was the only building in Virginia where racial segregation as not allowed. It's easy to see why someone who hates a building would hate any move toward desegregation.

[tropicanarose]

22. What?

[formercia]

3. Another fucking Idiot

Well, at least the FBI hasn't been able to entrap anyone with an IQ over 50.

[hang a left]

13. ha ha ha

Probably even put the idea into the poor guys head and helped him draw out his sophisticated plans with his markers.

[No Elephants]

32. You probably need an IQ over 50 to get a degree in physics from Northeastern U.

[formercia]

36. Makes you wonder, though, doesn't it?

:rofl:

Must be a frat boy. They could be the dumbest hammer in the bag and still get a Degree.

[vminfla]

45. Successfully created detonators

This is a well-educated man who wanted to kill all of the "enemies of allah" that he could. I do not know where the myth that poverty and ignorance breeds terrorism as this man was neither dumb nor poor. He simply hated the West and all it stood for.

[formercia]

46. I knew someone like that once

...a former boyfriend of an Iranian woman I was dating, claimed he was a Revolutionary Guard, even wore a golden Key around his Neck. So why wasn't he back in Iran on the front lines fighting the Iraqis? That's because every country is full of people like George Bush and Dick Cheney. They talk big but when it push comes to shove, they decide to go back to College.

[vminfla]

47. I fail to see your point

Did you read the affidavit? He did more than talk. he delivered functional detonators.

[formercia]

48. That's what the FBI says

I'll wait for the Technical Report on testing them to see if they actually work.

Getting Detonators is no big deal. I've done Blasting work. I just had to show my ID to prove I was a resident of the State and fill out a short Federal Form. I paid Cash and left with cases of Explosives, Detonators and Detonating Cord. The vendor never asked me what I was going to do with it.

Having Detonators is not illegal. Using them in an illegal manner is.

Personally, having had to work with the FBI on a professional basis, I think they tend to be full of shit.

[vminfla]

49. Nothing to discredit the FBI's finding at this time

Granted, flamethrowers for agriculture and explosives for construction are readily available.

However, you did not fashion 7 cell phones for detonators as Ferdaus had. It is also ab ig leap of logic to assume that the defendant was an idiot given all of the other facts already in evidence.

He has had an accomplished graduate degree in the hard sciences from a good school. He has had experience working with robotics. He picked remote control planes that could carry approximately 50 pounds of payload. He made multiple reconossaince trips to the DC area. etc. etc.

[formercia]

50. He's still a fucking Idiot.

He should have gone back to that shithole he crawled out of while he still had the chance.

If he hates America so much, what the fuck is he doing here?

[vminfla]

53. He did plan to go to Afghanistan and train the Mujahadeen

Apparantly he liked playing drums more and decided to stay in the US.

[formercia]

54. I see he had his priorities straight.

:rofl:

He might have learned something, like all his 'Bomb' would have probably done is break a few windows. Even that may be a stretch, since the Pentagon installed blast resistant windows in the building.

[vminfla]

56. 50 pounds per plane of fast-moving C4 is going to do more than break a few windows

He picked planes that could travel 100 mph and carry 50 pounds (granted, I am not going to do the math here of how many pounds of C4 will result in how many mph of reduction in speed).

Again, this man was definitely deluded and driven by hate, but he was no fool or idiot.

[formercia]

58. One of my former co-workers proposed something similar back in the '80's

Different target, but it was using RC aircraft to attack buildings. He worked on it for a couple of Years. He had a Demolition Range at his disposal, all the C-4 he could ever use and plenty of targets to attack. He never did get it to be very effective and finally gave up on the idea. I've seen very intelligent people do really idiotic things. They kidded him about it for a long time.

[boppers]

68. "He never did get it to be very effective"

There's a reason actual guided missiles and stable remote control platforms cost a lot of money.... they're damn hard to make on a hobbyist budget.

[formercia]

74. It's a lot easier to take over an Airliner

No refunds, though.

[boppers]

63. No, not detonators.

Triggers.

Specifically, cell phones with wires soldered in the right places to be able to call the cell phone, and have a charge sent down the wires.

[No Elephants]

69. He was a graduate student when arrested, so he was smart enough to get into grad school.

The GREs are not easy and his undergrad grades had to be pretty good.

[LanternWaste]

55. I imagine one may be an idiot in one thing, and a genius in another.

I imagine one may be an idiot in one thing, and a genius in another... :shrug:

[vminfla]

57. Intelligence is not a factor in dogmatic belief

He had the means and the skills necessary to kill people. Although he was morally bankrupt, he was no fool in any regard.

[formercia]

59. I nominate the perp for the 'Dumbest Hammer in the Bag' Award

I hope he enjoys his prize of a Lifetime Stay at Club Fed.

[No Elephants]

70. Yes, but Reply 3 was specifically to the effect that his IQ was 50 or under.

I was simply pointing out that the facts given in the OP article--grad student with a degree in physics from Northeastern-- suggested that his IQ was probably over 50.

I never said that he was a genius in any area, only that his IQ was probably over 50.

I do very much agree that people can be, and usually are, smart or clever in some areas and not so much in others.

[Dogtown]

4. I don't believe it.

Entrapment, most likely.
Or outright perjuring themselves.

[coalition_unwilling]

6. I vote for some sort of COINTELPRO-like Black Op - n/t

[No Elephants]

71. They are experts in entrapment and they did work on him for a year, which is

also the period of time the OP article says they had him under surveillance.

[lurky]

7. "Large remote-controlled aircraft"?

Did you see the pictures? Those things are the size of a lawnmower. I wish the media would stop feeding the fire by hyping up all these two-bit clowns as if they were Bin Laden.

[boppers]

66. You must have one heck of a lawnmower.

A seven foot lawnmower?

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/09/model_airplanes_are_potential.html

[valerief]

8. What was he thinking? Only the CIA is allowed to explode the Pentagon. nt

[Beam Me Up]

10. ^ ^ ^ you wouldn't vote for MI?

somehow i seriously doubt even the cia trumps military intel. :shrug:

[bemildred]

9. Sounds like entrapment again. nt

[aquart]

11. Sounds like it was easy.

[bemildred]

15. Much easier if you entrap fools, but does it make the country safer?

I doubt it. They need to looking for the smart ones.

[aquart]

29. If you don't think stupid fools are dangerous, how do you explain George Bush?

[bemildred]

39. False premise.

The question is: what sort of fools are more dangerous, smart ones or dumb ones? Guys that would never do something on their own, or guys you never see coming?

[Robb]

41. That's assuming the "never do something on their own" is accurate.

Or, for that matter, that popping up on FBI's radar and being "assisted" by feds produced a different outcome than popping up on genuine radicals' and getting help from them. It happens (Faisal Shahzad).

Read the special agent's report downthread, I'm not convinced this guy wasn't self-motivated.

[bemildred]

43. Inciting to crime is inciting to crime.

And there is no question that this is the lazy man's way to be a terrorist-hunter.

[jmowreader]

12. I'm underwhelmed...

He was planning to blow up the Pentagon with grenades and six machine guns?

What are they charging him with, criminal stupidity?

[dipsydoodle]

16. Rezwan Ferdaus held over Pentagon and Capitol bomb plot

Source: BBC News 28 September 2011 Last updated at 22:04

A 26-year-old US citizen has been arrested for plotting to fly explosive-packed, remote controlled planes into the Pentagon and the US Capitol in Washington DC.

Rezwan Ferdaus was also charged for attempting to supply materials to al-Qaeda and aid attacks on US soldiers.

The Northeastern University physics graduate is accused of planning to commit "jihad" since early 2010.

Mr Ferdaus was arrested in Boston after an undercover investigation by the FBI.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15101449

[tropicanarose]

17. Excellent news.

[aquart]

18. Idiot.

26 and tossed his future for the hope of killing people.

[vminfla]

24. Northeastern University Graduate accused of planning to commit jihad

What? a Northeastern Graduate student? I am confused. I thought poverty caused terrorism?

[ronnie624]

73. Terrorism is political coercion through violence or the threat of violence.

When U.S. elites murder women and children in other countries, they're not being motivated by poverty.

[ZombieHorde]

19. Mass. musician accused of D.C. terrorist plot

Source: CBS/AP

A 26-year-old Massachusetts man has been arrested and accused of plotting to attack the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol with large remote-controlled aircraft filled with explosives.

CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports that U.S. officials say the suspect, Rezwan Ferdaus was deadly serious about his plans, but the plot had no chance of succeeding.

Ferdaus, an U.S. citizen and Northeastern University graduate, went by the name "Bollywood" when he played in a Massachusetts band. However, U.S. officials say the drummer is also a self-radicalized jihadist, intent on attacking Americans in the U.S. and overseas.

Ferdaus now faces charges of plotting attacks and supporting a foreign terrorist organization.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/28/eveningnews/main20113080.shtml

---

There is a little more to the story at the link.

[saras]

20. At the risk of coming off as non-PC, they'll soon have all the DD Muslims rounded up

After a while, it's going to get really hard finding anyone simpleminded enough to be talked into this sort of thing, no matter how many agents they use.

If the country is going to use a technique that sleazy, then we should have been using it on potential right-wing terrorists for the last two decades. We'd have even fuller jails that busting pot smokers has brought us.

[Ian David]

21. As if Spinal Tap didn't already have enough trouble keeping a drummer. n/t

[No Elephants]

72. DUzy!

[Blue_Tires]

52. I guess he couldn't find enough rebellion in his music...

Was his life really that bad? Even if he was doing the dive bar circuit, wouldn't he still get more girls than he could handle?

[Robb]

25. Good lord. I just noticed something remarkable.

To me, at least. See this picture of one of his models?



We have that exact patio table and chair set out back.

Finally, I have something in common with a homegrown jihadi.

[coalition_unwilling]

26. Your tax dollars at work - n/t

[vminfla]

44. Great Return on Investment There

One less sociopath on the streets.

[TomClash]

27. Feds: US man planned to blow up Pentagon

Source: Yahoo News

BOSTON (AP) — A man was arrested Wednesday and accused of plotting an assault on the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol using remote-controlled aircraft armed with explosives — the latest of several terrorism cases to spring from federal sting operations.

Rezwan Ferdaus was arrested in Framingham, Massachusetts, after undercover federal agents delivered materials he had allegedly requested, including grenades, six machine guns and what he believed was 24 pounds of C-4 explosive. Federal officials said the public was never in danger from the explosives, which it said were always under control and closely monitored.

Wednesday's arrest was similar to other cases in which reputed would-be terrorists were caught in sting operations that revolved around fictional plots against various targets, such as Dallas skyscapers or a Chicago nightclub. In this case, though, authorities say Ferdaus planned the scheme.

According to a federal affidavit, Ferdaus, 26, of Ashland, became convinced America was evil through jihadi websites and videos, and began planning "jihad" against the U.S. in early 2010. He contacted a federal informant that December and months later, allegedly began meeting to discuss the plot with undercover federal agents he believed were members of al-Qaida.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/feds-us-man-planned-blow-pentagon-210116487.html

---

The Feds have really jumped the shark.

[DeSwiss]

28. What?

The Pentagon doesn't want any competition? Because you know, nobody blows things up as good as the Pentagon.

- Nobody.......

K&R

[6000eliot]

35. So, the guy was surfing "jihadi" websites and wound up getting in touch with federal agents.

Kind of makes you wonder who is operating these websites, doesn't it?

[Tx4obama]

30. Here's a link that has the four page DOJ press release document

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/28/rezwan-ferdaus-terror-plot_n_985759.html

[vminfla]

38. Intelligent person with a bright future

It is a shame to see people with so much potential to be so hateful and full of bile that the only thing that gets them up in the morning is the desire to maim and kill "enemies of Allah".

[Robb]

40. Intelwire has the 42-page affidavit from the SAIC

http://intelwire.egoplex.com/Ferdaus-Affidavit.pdf

[vminfla]

42. Chilling

A chilling read. Thanks for sharing that.

[dipsydoodle]

31. Apologies for the duplication

I obviously didn't look back far enough.

[No Elephants]

34. I wonder how he got so radicalized that he sought to blow up the Pentagon.

I also wonder if we now have people planted in every mosque in the U.S.

[boston bean]

37. I went to Northeastern university in the late eighties early nineties.

I met people who were members of the Taliban from Afghanistan there.

Of course, back then I had no frickin clue what any of it really meant. But I can tell you this, they did not like the US and had disdain for women.

[Blue_Tires]

51. It's reading much like some Hollywood comedy

Rock musician with physics degree will destroy pentagon with remote controlled planes...Did that have a chance in hell of coming to fruition, much less working??

It's hard to feel any sympathy for him -- Some clowns have gotten long sentences over more cartoonish plots than this...

[bluedigger]

60. Short answer - no.

Counterterrorism experts and model-aircraft hobbyists said it would be nearly impossible to inflict large-scale damage of the sort Ferdaus allegedly envisioned using model planes. The aircraft are too small, can't carry enough explosives and are too tricky to fly, they said.
"The idea of pushing a button and this thing diving into the Pentagon is kind of joke, actually," said Greg Hahn, technical director of the Academy of Model Aeronautics.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/09/model_airplanes_are_potential.html

I don't get how he thought he could launch three planes at once. They are "remote controlled", not guided missiles. I'm also thinking Northeastern's Physics Department is pretty embarrassed.:eyes:

[boppers]

65. He had "solved" that.

As you link notes, was planning on using GPS co-ordinates for the end location, and basically planned to make them "self flying", with a very simple flight path.

In short, he was attempting to make homegrown guided missiles, not a plane he could "fly". It's not impossible, but it is technically challenging.

[bluedigger]

75. I see what you mean.

I guess it was so far fetched, I didn't get it.:rofl:

Given the max payload of 2lbs (less the GPS and the mounting device), he was really pushing the envelope, as they say.:crazy:

[boppers]

80. Payloads of 25 lbs are doable in the RC world.

Or, as the pentagon calls them, "Predators". It's a matter of thrust and wingspan.

[bluedigger]

81. It's a matter of a purpose built delivery platform, I think.

Scaled down replicas of actual fighters can't carry that much, according to the experts. From the link: "Hahn said the heavier of the two models Ferdaus was allegedly planning to use could carry a maximum of two pounds of plastic explosive before malfunctioning. That's not including the weight of any GPS system, he added."

(OK, I'm not sure what that implies for the lighter of the two.) I'm just glad he had a degree in physics instead of aeronautical engineering...

[boppers]

82. Spherical Cows get idealistic thinkers every time.

For those who have NO IDEA what I am talking about:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_cow

This is why things that work on paper in physics.... don't work.

[bluedigger]

83. That's great!

:rofl:

[hunter]

61. In World War II a German V2 missile hit a Woolworths store...

... in New Cross, London. 160 people died.

The largest loss of life in a single attack came on December 16, 1944, in Antwerp, Belgium, when the roof of a crowded cinema was struck, leaving 567 dead and 291 injured.

A V2 missile was a little over 45 feet tall, carried 2,200 lbs of explosive, and hit the target at 1,790 mph.

A remote controlled airplane is not going to "blow up" the Pentagon unless it is carrying a nuke.

Sure, he understands calculus, but this "terrorist" is a shining idiot.

[plumbob]

64. Booga-booga! Be afraid! Really? This is the best psy-ops that can

be made with the trillions of dollars we've given to the MIC?

Pitiful.

Try again.

Absolutely ridiculous. I have a room full of high school sophomores that could cobble together a scarier and more believable story than this in 30 minutes.

[wordpix]

78. well with the right connections he might have realized his American Dream

fortunately, he made them with the FBI and not an al-Awlaki type character.

Where do you live, plumbob? I'm in DC much of the time and I LIKE it that the FBI finds these guys. If you're in some out-of-target area, it's easy to laugh these things off but here, it's not funny at all.

[plumbob]

79. I'm right in the middle of the west Texas oilfields.

I'm not even believing that he hooked up with the FBI. I believe he's part of the show.

And panic, blind panic, is the best friend of totalitarianism.

I was raised on duck and cover. The Russians not only didn't come, they disintegrated. Then the Red Peril. Now we buy their stuff at WalMart.

So when the "terrorists" struck, I was just worn out from it all. The day we passed the Patriot Act was our formal surrender, crippling our economy with enormous overhead of money and energy lost. 3,000 people lost at Ground Zero. Once.

50,000 Americans die every year from drunk drivers. Who cares? Nobody - not enough to get serious, because it stays the same - that's 550,000 dead in 11 years while I'm supposed to worry about foreigners? No, thanks.

[wordpix]

77. I'm thinking these unmanned drones are equivalent to loose nukes

very dangerous :scared: