'Dirty Bomber' Targeted Apartments

[demdave]

(CBS/AP) Jose Padilla, a detainee held in U.S. custody, was training to blow up hotels and apartment buildings in the United States in addition to a possible attack with a "dirty bomb" nuclear device, according to government documents.

The documents, released Tuesday by the Justice Department, said that Padilla and an al Qaeda accomplice were to enter the United States through Mexico or Puerto Rico.

"Padilla and the accomplice were to locate as many as three high-rise apartment buildings which had natural gas supplied to the floors," the government summary of interrogations revealed.

"They would rent two apartments in each building, seal all the openings, turn on the gas, and set timers to detonate the buildings simultaneously at a later time," the papers alleged.


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/01/terror/main620582.shtml

[demnan]

1. Yeah, I'm sure they looked at mine

It fits the description and houses many employees of the Pentagon a mere mile away.

I really have felt like a sitting duck since 9/11.

[htuttle]

2. Do they have ANYTHING on him other than 'planning'?

If not, think about the implications of this for a minute: You could lock someone in an empty room save for a piece of paper and a pencil. If they make the 'wrong' marks on that sheet of paper, such as something resembling a 'plan' or worse yet a 'threat', they could be jailed indefinitely without trial.

Isn't that a 'thought crime'? Why hasn't Tom Clancy been jailed for 'planning' to detonate a nuke in the US? Where is the line between 'intent' and 'imagination'?

How many other crimes can you commit in such circumstances?'

This is a very slippery slope, and we've already lost our footing...

[Spazito]

3. Key statement here, imo

"Padilla and the accomplice were to locate as many as three high-rise apartment buildings which had natural gas supplied to the floors," the government summary of interrogations revealed.

Interrogations from where? Gitmo? Yeah, right, was that before or after the torture, one has to ask. I sure hope they have something better than that to offer as evidence.

[aquart]

5. IOW, they hadn't yet STARTED to locate such buildings?

Wow. 3 contaminated high rises. Gosh.

Does the phrase BIG DEAL have meaning here? 3 buildings have their cancer percentages upped. Would that be higher or lower than that of a soldier working with depleted uranium?

And interrupting a gas pipeline is not the safest occupation on the planet.

I still haven't had my first question answered: Can Padilla read?

Because his educational background did not sound promising.

[frylock]

8. i would assume that most cia assets are capable of reading..

yes.

[aquart]

21. So you're assuming the dropout is an "asset'?

Why?

[MGKrebs]

4. Why would Padilla need to "enter" through Mexico?

He LIVED here.

The plot called for blowing up 20 buildings simultaneously, but Padilla said he could not rent multiple apartments under one identity without drawing attention.

Padilla figured this out, and Al Qaida didn't? Ooookay.

[Just Me]

6. Padilla = propaganda.

The government has proferred on national television.

Disgusting. Revolting. Unbelievable.

There should be NO immunity for such abuse,...for intentional information manipulation,...for total propaganda in betrayal of this government's duty to both the constitution and the American people.

I am so completely appalled at such despotic tactics,...it makes me sick that our government is getting away with this shit. :puke:

:argh:

[FleshCartoon]

7. I don't believe them...

...anymore when they announce these "terroist plans."

The announcements tend to coincide with something that is causing the administration to get bad press.

[radwriter0555]

9. agreed, it stinks to high heaven. and it's taken 2+ years to figure

this grand scheme OUT????

[NNN0LHI]

10. Wonder what they had to do to him for 2 years in a military brig...

...to get him to say what they wanted to hear? Electrodes? Broomstick up the ass? Damn near beaten to death by some MP goons? Did you almost drown him? What? What was it? I am curious. What did it take Ashcroft? Lets see the photos.

Don

[lebkuchen]

11. Ashcroft had him in custody for 2 years and finally got him to "talk"

What kinds of tortures did Padilla endure, one wonders, to extract such a confession? Third degree burns with threats to peel off the scabs?

[aquart]

22. Was he alone in a cell for two entire years?

[lightbulb]

12. All this was extracted from a US citizen

without benefit of council or any independent monitoring of the interrogation techniques used. If this were anything resembling a fair trial as we used to understand the concept in the US, judge would kick the prosecution out of court within minutes.

This is your new government, folks. Yesterday was a US holiday dedicated to soldiers who were killed (and are still being killed) fighting for an certain set of ideals. It begs the question: Is this the America most of them had in mind when they died?

[plcdude]

15. you make the very important point

of due process and the legal acquisition of evidence and confessions. Does this government not see that what it is doing is an obvious injustice? I don't think they are very smart actually. The real question still remains on whether or not an American citizen can be designated an "enemy combatant" (whatever that is) or a traitor, or spy of an enemy agency. Even traitors and spies have the right to due process. By bringing this information forward they indict themselves. Arresting Padillo, reading him his rights as an American, and allowing legal representation could still have resulted in a confession and charges. Now all we have is the word of the interrogators who may have wrongfully or even mythically brought about a confession. Why we have due process is to guarantee that we don't have questions about evidence and confessions. What kind of country are we living in now? Of course I am afraid to answer my own question.

[bobbieinok]

25. on NPR 2+ months ago story on this - DOJ arguing before a court

that defedant must not be allowed contact with lawyer - with anyone other than DOJ interrogators - so that, in need of human contact, prisoner will want to do whatever interrogators ask

absolutely horrific use of psychology of isolation and bonding with captors/kidnappers

[salin]

13. Meanwhile... any national coverage of the guy in NJ who

was caught with explosives and a written plan (oh no, it was just his day dreaming notes) to blow up 1,500 democrats participating in a Presidential Caucus?

[Cheneys_former_heart]

14. Suure, Asscroft, we believe you

Isn't it disgusting that something as important as terrorism is being used to justify whatever Asscroft decides is good for the * administration. We deserve so much better.

[demdave]

16. More info on the entire "operation".

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0601042padilla1.html

JUNE 1--Backing up the designation of al-Qaeda soldier Jose Padilla as an enemy combatant, Justice Department officials today released a declassified document showing that the American citizen trained to blow up U.S. hotels and apartment buildings and plotted a possible "dirty bomb" attack. The document, which includes information provided by Padilla, 33, during interrogation sessions, describe his plans to locate "high-rise apartment buildings which had natural gas supplied to the floors." The plan, Padilla told investigators, was to "rent two apartments in each building, seal all the openings, turn on the gas, and set timers to detonate the buildings simultaneously at a later time." The document, a copy of which you'll find below, notes that Padilla met with various al-Qaeda leaders, including Muhammad Atef and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who wanted him to "hit targets in New York City, although Florida and Washington, D.C. were discussed as well." In May 2002, Padilla was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare airport after flying into the U.S. from Pakistan. Investigators were tipped to Padilla's al-Qaeda connection by Abu Zubaydah, an Osama bin Laden deputy in American custody. In June 2002, President George W. Bush ordered Padilla held as an enemy combatant, and the al-Qaeda member was turned over to the Department of Defense. Since then, Padilla, who has not been charged, has been imprisoned at a Navy brig in South Carolina. (7 pages)

[Just Me]

18. Amazing. Too bad the focus isn't upon domestic terrorism,...

,...which has wreaked 23X the acts of terror compared to outsiders.

What would this country be like if we treated domestic terrorists the same way we do foreign/international terrorists?

Geez. We would be a nation gutted by WMDS, doing a "shock and awe" campaign against states like WV, TX, AL, MS, GA, AZ, among others.

Imagine that. Imagine targeting state-sponsors of "terrorism", unequivocally. Imagine.

<on edit - whoops - I forgot to include D.C. *LOL*>

[struggle4progress]

17. If Ashcroft has anything on Padilla, he should charge him.

I'm not impressed by all this noisy hoopla "Padilla planned this and that" if A******* doesn't have enough evidence to charge him.

[Sideways]

19. YES ....I screamed at the TV ...charge him or shut the fuck up

This noisy fuckwittage cacophony is just ear candy. Hey ASS-CRACK HEAD charge him or you and your calico cat hating minions can just go to hell. Don't pass Go...don't collect $200....just go to fucking hell. Fucking LOUSY fucking PUKE CHRISTIAN FAKE. I hope ASS-CRACK has a never ending boil on his pathetic dick. If he has one.

[stickdog]

20. How about the murderer who ACTUALLY mailed anthrax around?

Why is he free while Padilla can be held indefinitely without a lawyer or a trial for thoughtcrime?

[John_H]

23. The rollout is on schedule and the hoes are playing right along.

[DaveSZ]

24. More fascist scare tactics

This is all * has left in hopes of getting reelected (or elected for the first time).

He has to scare the hell out of everyone and hope they vote for him.

[area51]

26. Uh-huh.

As if we can believe anything this nazi govt. says.