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Pakistani Taliban claims NYC car bomb attempt

Arch Enemy said:
Linkage

~10 years since the hostilities started, and they can still infiltrate New York City.

Can be spun five ways: [1] the wars in Afghanistan/Pakistan are fruitless, and we are still as vulnerable as ever; [2] the mission isn't complete; [3] the Iraq excursion was an unnecessary detour, and our real threat has always been the Taliban/FATA al-Qa'ida; [4] Bush failed; [5] Obama failed.
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[“Can be spun five ways: [1] the wars in Afghanistan/Pakistan are fruitless, and we are still as vulnerable as ever;”/QUOTE]

Those two war zones were the ones that should have received the majority of our attention right after 09/11. The AFGHANT THEATRE was the war that required sustaining direct military action switching to political action until the war was resolved.
I feel that it is not being partisan but being factual to state that Bush/Cheney took their eyes off this Theatre.

“ [2] the mission isn't complete;”
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How true !!

“ [3] the Iraq excursion was an unnecessary detour, and our real threat has always been the Taliban/FATA al-Qa'ida;”
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I would say that the facts on the ground especially after we invaded have sustained that position.

“ [4] Bush failed;”
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- Based upon the fact that we are still redoing what Bush abandoned what else can we say.

“[5] Obama failed. “
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well not yet but as time goes on and it becomes “his” wars it will be extremely difficult for even the most ardent Obama defenders or Obama apologists to deny his culpability.
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Redress said:
There is always going to be ways to infiltrate the US, unless we totally seal our borders, which would be even more harmful. Absolute security is just not going to happen.

I did love your list of 5 ways to spin it, very well done.
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They'd have an easier time posing as New York City cab drivers.
 
danarhea said:
You know, there is something that just doesn't meet the eye here. It was such an amateurish attempt, and now "The Pakistani Taliban" is taking credit for it. "The Pakistani Taliban" is a huge generalization of a lot of different groups, and there is no specific group mentioned, just the general Pakistani Taliban.

Could this have been a false flag operation planned by somebody? Could the bomb have been a dud for a reason, with it's only real purpose to instill fear in Americans, to socialize us for yet another war of some kind, or to socialize us for expanding operations in Afghanistan? In connecting the dots, those dots could lead anywhere.

BTW, I am just playing Devil's advocate here, and attempting to get some discussion going on this angle, in order to see where the discussion might lead.
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My wife had CBS news on and someone on CBS commented that maybe this was a "test b0mb" to see how the NY Police authorites would respond. So you may not be all that far off.
 
Objective Voice said:
One thing's for sure, this terrorist act will surely ramp up the illegal immigration debate.
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How do we know that it was illegals ? Could be legal immigrants. Hey the Ft. Hood killer monster was a born in the USA muslim fanatic/terrorist. If there was a national "show me your papers law" that killer schmuck would have passed with flying colors. Also some converts to muslimism are just a violent and foerign born muslim terrorists.
 
PogueMoran said:
They'd have an easier time posing as New York City cab drivers.
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At least that way if the prohibition against profiling is relaxed all that needs to be done after another trror incident in NY is to go get the cabbies. This could be easier than Arizona!!!
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Given the incompetence of the event I was thinking a lone nutter white racist for this incident.

It will be interesting to find out who the Nissan Pathfinder belongs to and where it came from.

NYC or a larger US metro center most likely a islamic terrorist, a rural community a white racist.

Although way any group would want to associate them with such a poor job is beyond me
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Plate was stolen in Connecticut ( not mine) from another vehicle.

Early reports from store secruity videos show that a 'white' man with a dark or black shirt was seen walking away from the "area".
 
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Deuce said:
Infiltrate New York? It's not a secure location. Anyone with a car, bike, train ticket, helicopter, wheelchair, skateboard, or pair of legs can get in.
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Yes, that a funny staement "Infiltrate New York?" Like what they got through the land mine filed in Northern Jersey ? Or the submarine nets in Longisland Sound ??
 
Police may have video of possible car bomb suspect

Police may have video of possible car bomb suspect - CNN.com

The video "shows a white male in his 40s, in Shubert Alley, looking back in the direction of West 45th Street," Commissioner Ray Kelly told a news conference, adding that the man looked around in a "furtive manner."

"He also was seen shedding a dark-colored shirt, revealing a red one underneath. He put the darker one into a bag that he was carrying," he said.
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F107HyperSabr said:
My wife had CBS news on and someone on CBS commented that maybe this was a "test b0mb" to see how the NY Police authorites would respond. So you may not be all that far off.
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Somehow I doubt authorities would activate an actual incendiary device in such a crowded area as a test. Too reckless.
 
Deuce said:
Somehow I doubt authorities would activate an actual incendiary device in such a crowded area as a test. Too reckless.
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I think the meaning is it was a dry run by an organization to view and study how the authorities would react

Allowing for a future act to be more effective
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
I think the meaning is it was a dry run by an organization to view and study how the authorities would react

Allowing for a future act to be more effective
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It also allows (damn near forces) us to lock down whatever security hole they exploited. Think about airline security, every time some half-assed plot is uncovered we get a new procedure or piece of equipment that may or may not prevent such a thing from happening. People in that area are going to be freaking out about every unattended vehicle now.
 
Arch Enemy said:
Linkage

~10 years since the hostilities started, and they can still infiltrate New York City.

Can be spun five ways: [1] the wars in Afghanistan/Pakistan are fruitless, and we are still as vulnerable as ever; [2] the mission isn't complete; [3] the Iraq excursion was an unnecessary detour, and our real threat has always been the Taliban/FATA al-Qa'ida; [4] Bush failed; [5] Obama failed.
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Or #6, the Taliban wasn't actually involved. They need some cred at this point to prove that their network still has teeth, which it doesn't, so they'll say anything to up their threat profile, which at this point is not so threatening.

Seems more like a small group of sympathizers, or one sympathizer that didn't know what he was doing.

I'm just glad the bomb didn't go off. Hopefully this doesn't spur another round of security madness in the government to take away more freedoms. "Now we get to search cars without a warrant... you know... in case people have bombs? It's for YOUR safety!"
 
Arch Enemy said:
Linkage

~10 years since the hostilities started, and they can still infiltrate New York City.

Can be spun five ways: [1] the wars in Afghanistan/Pakistan are fruitless, and we are still as vulnerable as ever; [2] the mission isn't complete; [3] the Iraq excursion was an unnecessary detour, and our real threat has always been the Taliban/FATA al-Qa'ida; [4] Bush failed; [5] Obama failed.
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You forgot one.

Terrorists are so stupid, they can't blow up a car properly. What idiots.
 
Question:

Had it gone off, where would we be today?
 
Orion said:
Or #6, the Taliban wasn't actually involved. They need some cred at this point to prove that their network still has teeth, which it doesn't, so they'll say anything to up their threat profile, which at this point is not so threatening.
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Whether the Taliban is responsible for this attempt is only to measure their operational capabilities. We know that the Taliban still has teeth, but we just don't know the extent their teeth can reach. I wouldn't rule the Taliban out completely for this attempt, although it seems that t he fact that the person responsible escaped the scene seems to rule out that insane jihadist mentality we've come to expect from the Taliban, al-Qa'ida and other affiliated organizations.
Seems more like a small group of sympathizers, or one sympathizer that didn't know what he was doing.
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I would bet that it was an American. It is becoming more and more apparent that the age of International terrorism is on a decline, mainly because of how hard the US hit al-Qa'ida in 2001, but the age of homegrown terrorism is on the rise; Jihad Jane, for example.

I'm just glad the bomb didn't go off. Hopefully this doesn't spur another round of security madness in the government to take away more freedoms. "Now we get to search cars without a warrant... you know... in case people have bombs? It's for YOUR safety!"
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If the bomb had gone off, then there would have been a redaction of American freedom. That is how it works, as the popular support would have been there for the Government to act.

The most recent ruling in Belgium on the Burqas: Imagine if it had been the day AFTER a Jihadist suicide bomber blew him/her-self up in Brussels; popular support would have been there to effectively eliminate the burqa.
 
Erod said:
As would I, but the mood of the nation would be......?
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Pissed.

Left would be pissed at the Right because in 8 years in office they couldn't destroy the Taliban.

Right would be pissed at the Left because after 10 years in office they couldn't destroy the Taliban.
 
Arch Enemy said:
Pissed.

Left would be pissed at the Right because in 8 years in office they couldn't destroy the Taliban.

Right would be pissed at the Left because after 10 years in office they couldn't destroy the Taliban.
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I say worse than pissed. Freaked out.

Transplant an explosion the size of OKC into downtown Manhattan, and that the aftermath that would ensue. Manhattan would re-open.....when?

The bomb was placed in front of the Comedy Central studios, right? I wonder what their take on this will be?
 
Erod said:
I say worse than pissed. Freaked out.

Transplant an explosion the size of OKC into downtown Manhattan, and that the aftermath that would ensue. Manhattan would re-open.....when?

The bomb was placed in front of the Comedy Central studios, right? I wonder what their take on this will be?
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You're probably right. I've never been further north than Philadelphia, so I am not entirely sure the scope or the compact nature of Manhattan (although conventional knowledge suggests "like sardines").

I hope CCS responds as it should. A good laugh, followed by a "go **** yourself".
 
In regards to the NYC car bomb attempt. I find that the most useful information, as always, is not coming from the organizations, but for commoners. Now, these claims cannot be verified, but the speculation is some of the more interesting scenarios I've seen thus far:

Source: The Long War Journal

Comment by "Wilkmaster" said:
My early analysis is that this is a similar attack to the Tiger-Tiger and Glasgow airport attacks, except that it was carried out by someone radicalized by means of the Internet who may have even gotten their bombmaking instructions on the web and tried to fashion a "greatest hits" or field-expedient device. A telling clue is the pressure (rice) cooker. They are common in South Asia and this evidence point to links with Pakistan. A born-and-raised American would be unlikely to use a pressure cooker to magnify the blast. The bomb was hastily constructed and the bomber was no expert, true, but a lot of AQ-allied devices/plots don't go off. The bad news is a bomb-laden car was parked in Times Square on a Saturday night and we got lucky again thanks to alert citizens and LEOs.
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The New York Times article being referred to can be found here

Comment by "KP" said:
Interesting that the claim should come from Qari Hussain Mehsud and not say Hakimullah Mehsud. Again another opportunity missed by the TTP to show he is alive and in charge.

One should also note that the the release is a sequence of images plus an audiotape glued together it's not a full video production. Is that because of a rush job or, as I've commented on before, has their media production unit been taken out or are they having problems getting videos out of Waziristan?. Or is this just a generic claim?

One thing I'm not clear on is: Is there any evidence in the tape that they knew the target in advance (do they mention a (failed) car bomb in Times Square rather than the flowery "jaw-breaking blow"). If not then this looks rather like another pre-prepared statement for when they either do try to land a blow or to claim credit for someone's else work. They've done it before (for the Binghampton, NY immigration office shooting) so unless it's shown to be TTP I'd be skeptical.

Binghamton shootings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bloomberg is skeptical too and has said so.
The Associated Press: Mayor: No terror link in Times Square car bomb try

I'm still not bought into the TTP being behind this. It wasn't a suicide attack. But whoever it was behind it he didn't test his device beforehand. So we don't have some great bomb maker here and you'd think QAM would be embarrassed about that. He could have run amok with a knife or a gun or driven the car into the crowd and caused more casualties. Remember the 7/21 follow up attack in London was lead by a guy weak on math so he messed up the formulation of the main charge (chipati flour/peroxide) so it didn't explode. The Christmas Day bomber detonator failed to work (and I doubt 3oz of PETN is enough to knock down an airliner ... think about the liquids restriction). If they're down to this quality of solo attacker we don't have much to be afraid of so don't give them the propaganda win of a claim unless they can prove it.

In other news the SUV has 100lbs of "fertilizer" in it but apparently the wrong sort of fertilizer (i.e. not ammonium nitrate). Seriously this seems amazingly rushed by a guy who didn't know what he was doing. Or didn't watch Mythbusters episode on propane tank rockets last week. Even if the car caught fire the propane tanks won't explode they'll vent instead unless they changed out the vent valve. Even with the vent valve blocked it took 8 minutes of a very hot fire to get them to explode. So in this device they're an auxiliary charge so without something else detonating (the fertilizer) they wouldn't be a problem.

The Associated Press: NYPD: Car bomb contained nonexplosive fertilizer

The car didn't even burn so it retains all of it evidentiary value: the "fertilizer" must have a source; the propane tanks will have serials and perhaps prints; the clocks used for timing will be traceable; there will be DNA and fingerprints in the SUV unless they were very careful; there will be a multiple VINs (I suspect they took the one off the dash). And as others have pointed out there is lots of CCTV in the area.

Police have identified the SUVs owner in Texas (i.e. they're read the other VINs). The vehicle was not reported stolen (odd as it takes a day to drive from TX to NYC). Owner is not in custody and may not be connected to the attack.

New York Police identify Texas owner of SUV in failed Times Square bombing | The Australian

The plates came fro Kramers Used Auto Parts in Stratford, Connecticut. Stolen or passed on, I presume? Another dot to connect.
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A Response to "Kp" by "Render" said:
KP – Excellent comment (as usual from you).

A couple (few) of points though…

The tape was released on a Youtube channel created less then 24 hours before the attack. Qari Meshud (QHM) was probably aware of the impending attack and city, but not the target itself or the method. Compartmentalization is the name of their game and QSM would likely have been told just what he needed to know in order to slap together a quickie video. I am surprised they didn’t wait for the results of the attack before they released the tape. But perhaps the results were irrelevant to the attempt itself? Or they just inshalla’d that it would work…

I agree that their (the Pak based al-Q/Talib) video making capabilities seem to have been degraded by quite a bit over the last few years or so and I think that those who watch that stuff closely (SITE, the Jawa’s, Internet Haganah etc) would agree. I think it’s pretty clear that many of their other capabilities in the international terrorism field have been degraded across the board, bomb making expertise in particular. They ran out of real professionals a long time ago…

The secondary VIN numbers on most modern vehicles are usually hard stamped directly into the metal of the body. Those can also be removed, but not without a fair amount of effort, quality power tools, and knowledge of where they are located. Nissan engines have a separate serial number hard stamped into the front of the block that can be matched to the original vehicle VIN, but engines do get swapped from time to time (the higher output pick-up and SUV engines are a fairly common swap among the import-modder crowd).

pathfinder engine swap - Google Search

I could be wrong about this, but my own unpublished research shows that the vast majority of the Islamic terrorist bombing attempts and attacks, even outside of the recognized combat zones, are not suicide bombs. The suicide bombs are more accurate (for obvious reasons) and therefore more damaging in human costs and so tend to draw a lot more headlines.

The fact that the Pathfinder was a scrapped vehicle and the plates were stolen from a used auto parts business says we may be looking for somebody who works in the auto salvage or repair business or possibly even an employee of that very company. Auto salvage companies and wholesalers do transfer scrap vehicles and parts all around the country on a regular basis. So that Pathfinder may not have been have been driven from Texas to New York under its own power. As a scrapped vehicle it may even have needed repairs just to get it drivable. The photo that shows the clock also shows window ice scraping tools which points to that vehicle having been driven during this winter in Connecticut or New York.

The propane tanks may be traceable to the point of last sale, but probably not much further if they were bought with cash.

Mayor Bloomberg’s less then confidence inspiring comments notwithstanding I am re-assured by the speed with which Law Enforcement has moved on this so far, both on the scene and in tracking down the vehicle/plates origin.

All my years in the auto parts industry are finally worth something more then a weekly pay check…

…and depending on the year of make (looks like mid-90’s from the pictures I saw in WSJ) I probably needed the driving lights off of that Pathfinder as they are the same model rock magnets used on my Ford Lightning.
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$50USD says bloggers, and commenters are going to figure this out before the Feds.
 
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