Three days old this article is, and this is the first I've heard anything (via AMERICAblog).

"ABC News has been told it's one of the most significant thefts of high-power explosives ever in the United States."

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1421579

Read the whole damn thing and then just TRY to thank george for making everyone safer.

:scared:

....there is no indication terrorism is involved."

What would we do without those precious authorities?

There's no other reason to steal explosives capable of blowing up planes.

dough.

Could be an inside job or some one who knows how to resell on the black market to other construction firms.

Who the hell knows.

That's the part that scares me the most.

Have you ever seen this stuff in action? If so you know it doesn't take even a pinch to blow open a door.

Contruction workers could conceivably hatch such a plan, but it took foresight and lots of planning. The thieves blow-torched their way into a bunker, basically, which indicates whoever stole it knew this guy had it and figured out a clever way to get it.

I don't know anything about it. "Plastic" explosives sound bad because it sounds like it wouldn't set off metal detectors and of course because it's explosive.

But if you say a little dab will do yah for blowing off a door, what can this amount do?

How is it used?

They are chemical compounds, not metals. They won't trigger a metal detector any more than your flesh will.

"Could be an inside job or some one who knows how to resell on the black market to other construction firms."

The thief is going to take care to ensure that all customers of the thief only use the materials for legitimate purposes?

If not, then is there any reason to treat an explosives thief any differently from the way that one would treat someone who is known to be a terrorist? Open reporting of the use of anti-terrorism measures in such a case could be educational.

Crime stories are newsworthy. That news can teach some simple ideas such as: stealing explosives --> penalty that dwarfs any possible criminal profit.

And yet they can say definitively that terrorists weren't involved?

Wow, great detective work, those Ouija boards are a boon to criminal science...

Just sayin . . .

Those explosives were highly guarded. My guess is it was some kind of inside job...

Scary, though...

no alarm installed.

150 pounds of C4 can take down a large hotel, office building, or..... casino (take that, Harry Reid).

And then there's the matter of the other 250 pounds of HE.

Homeland Security at its finest.

Wonder how many sites have this much plastique on hand.

down a long unmarked dirt road with no signs anywhere but on the chain link (topped with razor wire) saying "high explosives, keep out."

You had to know where this place was.

My guess is that the publicity after last year's amateur theft clued in some really bad guys and they were responsible for it this year.

One interesting way this administration keeps bad news from being big news is by creating so damned much of it that you barely have time to chase one thing down before there's another. By the time you get to it, it's "old news". And then you should "get over it".

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/36747.html

Stolen were 150 pounds of C-4, 250 pounds of sheet explosives, 20,000 feet of detonator cord and 2,500 blasting caps.

Tom Mangan, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said it was the largest theft of explosives he can remember. Federal authorities have said it's enough to flatten a large building.

Investigators have said, however, there's no evidence to suggest a link to terrorism

Obviously no link to any form of terrorism. In all likelihood it's just an explosives enthuiast adding to his collection.


Edit: Ooops. I missed that comment in the article you posted. Maybe it's time for bed.

HTF do they know there is no link to terrorists?

are they talking about linear shaped charge detcord?

That would be bad, bad, bad.

where every local newscast this week has led off with pictures of what was stolen.

They're still hoping it'll be like last years theft, found stashed in a canyon waiting for a buyer by a random hiker.

My guess is that this was a completely different bunch than last year, and that it could be anywhere in the country by now, probably on its way to a bank vault job or two.

But they cant come up with the idea of guarding explosives?

America is fighting the terrorists over there so we don't have to fight them here. Everything should be fine. :sarcasm:

There were some determined individuals behind this. Whether they are Al-Qaeda/Islamic-jihadist, or Timothy McVeigh wannabes, I feel the headlines will be blazing shortly due to an attack. Christmas day, probably not; not a high enough traffic volume..but??

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5652653&mesg_id=5652793

maybe a gov't unit that doesn't want its munitions tracked? Rogue op? Tin foil hat on...

I don't remember how I came across this buried story, but I bookmarked it. It just seemed to me A TAD ASKEW that only TWO GUYS were bringing an unmarked, unguarded semi, loaded with 35000 lbs. of explosives through the mountains in the first place. Though the two men were identified by name (they survived), the article did not mention who they worked for or gave any explanation for their little project(It did mention one was a military veteran). You would think the circumstances leading up to this accident would have raised a couple eyebrows, post 9/11. The Provo, Utah Daily Herald didn't dig very deep. They devoted more ink to how a 30 foot deep crater on Hightway 6 was going to disrupt traffic patterns.
http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=61849&g2Id=25669

unlike in the other story, i think the explosives in this one were "all used up". As for the "circumstances" in this case, doesn't seem nearly as fishy to me as the other one. I lived in upstate New York for a while and have seen blasting signs and crews near some of the Mountains. Also, Colorado, utah, etc have A LOT of mining companies and "blastable" land. My question is, the one guy was sleeping... what was the other guy doing?

I guess driving the truck, more or less......it seems on those roads you aim a truck more than drive it. I suppose there was a legit reason for transporting this much explosive in this manner, but you'd think there'd be some kind of escort.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

I'm a long time lurker who occasionally feels compelled to chime in.:toast:

Date: 12/31/05

Time: 23:59 EST

Place: Times Square, New York

Just guessin', here, but... If I WAS a terra-ist, or even a creepy tinfoil hat black ops MIHOPerator, that'd be my target-of-choice.

But maybe that's too obvious.

Isn't it?

worriedly,
Bright

Terror! Terror! Be very afraid!

Sorry, if Chimp1 is repeating the terror meme on tv, I take it for what it's worth; political posturing. But when a news story breaks with specifics such as - a potentially damaging substance has been stolen, and, the quantity of this potentially damaging substance stolen is great enough to cause tremendous grief if utilized in a terroristic scenario, I feel it is very much worth attention.

for another Terra Alert and to be skeptical. That does not equate to not paying attention.

We also must remain vigilant against genuine threats, be they foreign borne or domestic. And the skillful extraction of 400 lbs. of military grade plastic explosive should present itself as a top-notch operation.

Besides, we allowed hundreds of tons of explosives to be looted from un-guarded facilities in Iraq.

And then there's the shipment of nuclear material Halliburton lost in the Boston area last year.

What's a few hundred pounds of explosives, in the greater scheme of things, when a pretty white girls is missing in Aruba.

The nuclear and chemical plants (apparently ammo magazines as well) have not been forced to provide security that meets a "post 911" federal standard. Doesn't it seem as though THIS is what the Dept of homeland security SHOULD be doing--creating federal security guidelines for these industries and enforcing those security regulations?!

They say that their pretend war on terror is so serious that we must throw away the Bill of Rights and lose our individual liberties. Stories like this one illistrate the absurdity of their arguments to take away our civil rights. If they took national security with a fraction of the seriousness that they say they do, they would have taken the obvious first steps first--secure the areas that actually could pose a danger to national security.


~Bin Laden in Afghanastan--->>> leave Afghanastan to attack Iraq (no ties to terrorism)

~Let's keep the US safe from being attacked--->>allow ammo mags, nuclear & chemical plants to continue to use whatever security they feel like providing with no federal oversight--->>give the executive office the powers of a dictator, throw away the Bill of rights,the Constitution, the rule of law, and our civil liberties.

the War on Drugs was about stopping drug abuse. In fact, I'd say it is quite the opposite.

They aren't trying to make America safe, they are trying to make themselves safe by making Americans powerless to stop them from having absolute control.

My posts are not always as clear as I would like them to be. The war on terror is a hoax. When there are news stories such as the OP, people kind of scratch their heads and wonder why they are being told that it is imperative that they give up their civil liberties to keep us safe, but the bush* administration has not taken the simplest and most obvious measures. Joe citizen becomes more resistant to the fear mongering.

That is why stories like the OP drop off the radar. They don't serve the master well; they make Joe citizen less likely to trust the master.

yup boys and girls they are pissed off even more than usual and they are getting ready to defend their nation. that`s where the next attack will come from--the aryan nation

Whoever had the cojones to pull this off probably has the smarts to leverage 400 lbs. of plastic explosives in any number of directions:

1) A singular attack on a landmark such as the Golden Gate

2) A 9/11 style attack with three or more simultaneous targets

3) An unending series of car-bombs, Iraq style

My feeling is we will be finding out sooner than later...

This is highly embarassing to the Administration. Not quite on par with Katrina, and the selection of a horse-judging dope like Brownie to respond to our national disasters, but again it really highlights how BushCo does NOT have its eye on the ball. They are completely distracted by their neo-con dreams way off in the Middle East.

Clearly, we need our troops and equipment back here-- to guard the things that really matter, and save lives of Americans right here at home.

Brownie II better prepare the rescue squads-- those bombs are going to start going off at some point.

The war on American citizens who might dissent or otherwise get in the way of the corporate/PNAC agenda.

On edit: damn that spell-check ;)

around the same time the story for the illegal tapping happened.

wonder if it'll turn up in a bust of terrorist, utilizing the illegal spying.

that would be rich.

around the same time the story for the illegal tapping happened.

wonder if it'll turn up in a bust of terrorist, utilizing the illegal spying.

that would be rich.

They don't want it to be.

The feds. Guy trying to get into a football game with a bomb attached to himself, "ahhh, just a suicide." Pilots and passangers see what they say is a missle shot at their plane after leaving LAX, "naaaa, just a bottle rocket." Whatever Mayor Mike and the NYPD thought was enough to justify overtime and all the hassle on the subways and buses a few weeks ago, "naaa, it's bad intel."

The line from the white house is "keep Christmas shopping, don't save money, don't worry about protecting yourself, spend spend spend."

But, but, but....I thought George W. Bush was keeping us all safer from them terra-rists?

:eyes:

Or, shit is hitting the fan and they need a distractin... anyone care to speculate?

from what I understand most of the explosives used to do harm are 'homemade' recent attacks around the world within the last 16 years is proof of that.

Maybe they don't want to risk detonating themselves in the process of making it? Maybe they have an aversion to science and prefer to focus all of their attention on psychological and ideological matters? Maybe they are operating on a low budget and cannot afford the materials that would be required to make it just as they cannot afford to pay for return airfares?

out there floating around waiting to do god knows what?

but that's just me.

I was wondering the same thing! It was mentioned very briefly on national news, and then...poof! It disappeared!

Heres a link, http://www.roswell-record.com/archives/022202/news07.html note, Chris Cherry Is the reported owner of that wherehouse where these explosives were stolen.

Look at these numbers. 1000 lbs of stolen c4 from 14 thefts over the past 10 years = 71 lbs average theft, at an average rate of 7.14 lbs per year.

This was 400 lbs at once!

There sure as hell better be a shitload of behind-the-scenes activity finding this stuff! Thanks george for keeping us safe! :sarcasm:

Maybe Cheney took them to Irag, don't have a link
but alot of explosives were found in Irag, some still had
plastic wrap around them, when they were dug up. Report said that
some were Russian, but were curious as to why the plastic wrap
had not deteriorated. Strange