Bomb Scare at Pentagon

But no bomb
US News • Views: 30,817

A man was arrested early this morning near the Pentagon with “suspicious materials and pro-Al Qaeda literature,” but no bombs were discovered.

A man who was carrying suspected bomb making materials and pro-al Qaeda literature was arrested in Arlington National Cemetery early this morning, triggering a bomb scare that snarled Washington’s morning rush hour. The FBI, however, determined that the material in his backpack was harmless.

“There was not a device and the products found are determined right now to be inert,” said Brenda Heck, special agent in charge of counterterrorism for the FBI.

The material in the suspect’s backpack tested negative as a potential explosive, sources said.

Sources told ABC News earlier that the backpack contained what was believed to be ammonium nitrate and spent ammunition for an automatic weapon. The material was reportedly contained in four large ziplock type bags.

Sources also said there were pro-al Qaeda statements found in a notebook that contained mostly notes for a financial class. There was also was a page containing words “al qaeda,” “Taliban rules,” “mujahidin” and “defeated coalition forces.”

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67 comments
1 mr.fusion  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 9:54:03am

Sooner or later one of these nitwits is going to get lucky and their bomb is going to go off

2 blueraven  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 9:55:33am

He is a naturalized US citizen, believed to be from Ethiopia.

3 The Mountain That Blogs  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 9:55:39am

O’Doyle Taliban rules!

4 Political Atheist  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 9:58:23am

I do expect us to get hit hard. Like the failed NYC attack.
I also expect it will not be a lone nutcase like this guy appears to be.

5 Tigger2005  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:03:19am

re: #4 Rightwingconspirator

I do expect us to get hit hard. Like the failed NYC attack.
I also expect it will not be a lone nutcase like this guy appears to be.

After getting Bin Laden though I think our intelligence services are a bit better now than we give them credit for. Unfortunately we have now lost people in Pakistan who were cooperating with us.

6 ReamWorks SKG  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:06:11am

The material was reportedly contained in four large ziplock type bags.

No doubt so TSA would see nothing amiss.

7 blueraven  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:08:41am

re: #6 reuven

The material was reportedly contained in four large ziplock type bags.

No doubt so TSA would see nothing amiss.

Wait…what does the TSA have to do with this?

8 Killgore Trout  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:10:04am

re: #4 Rightwingconspirator

I do expect us to get hit hard. Like the failed NYC attack.
I also expect it will not be a lone nutcase like this guy appears to be.

I’m sure we’ll get hit again. All of these plots are pretty ridiculous and they have varying degrees of potential success. In theory 9-11 was pretty absurd but they pulled it off. We’ve been lucky for a long time.

9 sattv4u2  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:10:18am

Melaku was arrested last month for smashing windows and stealing valuables from 27 cars in Leesburg, Va.

A man by the same name and birth month was also arrested in Fairfax County for reckless driving and failure to stop

Looks like he’s been off the rails for awhile now

The thing I don’t get and was only a passing comment in the story

Melaku is a naturalized citizen and lance corporal in the Marine Corps Reserve, 4th engineer batallion out of the Baltimore, Md.,
No mention if the authorities are talking to his unit, just that police were seen at his home in Virginia

10 Charles Johnson  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:16:25am

re: #8 Killgore Trout

I’m sure we’ll get hit again. All of these plots are pretty ridiculous and they have varying degrees of potential success. In theory 9-11 was pretty absurd but they pulled it off. We’ve been lucky for a long time.

I don’t know if I agree - in a thoroughly evil way, the 9/11 plot was actually brilliant. It exploited a terrible weakness that we didn’t even know existed at that time, turning airplanes into weapons of mass destruction.

And I don’t think it’s just luck that’s prevented us from being hit again. Some of the measures put in place after 9/11 are absurd and counter-productive, but some of them have definitely been effective as well. It’s very unlikely that another 9/11-style attack could be pulled off, for example.

But it’s definitely true that we’re not going to be able to catch every terrorist.

11 darthstar  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:17:48am

TALIBAN RULZ!!! Clearly a sign of a threat to our national security. Same goes for Travis Tritt, Clint Black, and Bon Jovi fans.

12 ReamWorks SKG  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:17:55am

I thought this story was interesting:

In Saudi Arabia, a group of woman engaged in some civil disobedience by driving!

[Link: www.guardian.co.uk…]

A few months ago, I was at a trade show (I think it was CES) and I asked a man from Saudi Arabia if driving was better there without any woman drivers. He told me that he thinks the drivers there are the worst, and that people generally don’t follow standard traffic convention. It’s a free-for-all.

13 sattv4u2  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:18:13am

re: #5 Tigger2005

After getting Bin Laden though I think our intelligence services are a bit better now than we give them credit for. Unfortunately we have now lost people in Pakistan who were cooperating with us.

At this time I’m more concerned about a home grown “disgruntled” loner walking into the middle of a Times Square or a Disney World or s sporting event after reading something like the Turner Diaries and going for it!

Intel has to be VERY lucky to stop something of that nature

14 Killgore Trout  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:20:03am

re: #10 Charles

We’ve been spared by a lot of incompetent bomb makers.

15 Stan the Demanded Plan  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:21:15am

re: #12 reuven


I’m totally following this. Here’s Andy Carvin’s tweet

acarvin Andy Carvin

#women2drive version of the iconic We Can Do It! poster from WWII, via the Atlantic Wire. [Link: bit.ly…]

16 Interesting Times  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:22:18am

re: #10 Charles

It’s very unlikely that another 9/11-style attack could be pulled off, for example.

A huge reason for that, I’d say, is that passengers know better now - once upon a time, the conventional wisdom was to cooperate with hijackers, but no one’s following that “advice” anymore (see Bomber, Shoe, and Bomber, Underwear, both subdued with the help of flight crew and passengers)

17 jamesfirecat  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:23:20am

re: #13 sattv4u2

At this time I’m more concerned about a home grown “disgruntled” loner walking into the middle of a Times Square or a Disney World or s sporting event after reading something like the Turner Diaries and going for it!

Intel has to be VERY lucky to stop something of that nature

In one way the internet is actually a blessing if you think about it, most of the people who would do things like that seem to be so crazy that where once they might have kept their rantings in a private journal only to be found after the fact, now they’re posting it up on the web where sometimes it can be found before they get a chance to act….

Didn’t Jared Lee Loughner post something on his you tube page the day he headed out to shoot Congresswoman Giffords?

18 rwdflynavy  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:23:40am

re: #16 publicityStunted

A huge reason for that, I’d say, is that passengers know better now - once upon a time, the conventional wisdom was to cooperate with hijackers, but no one’s following that “advice” anymore (see Bomber, Shoe, and Bomber, Underwear, both subdued with the help of flight crew and passengers)

This is why I think it is ludicrous we can’t bring a pocket knife on an airplane. That 9/11 style, take over the plane with box cutters thing won’t work again.

19 Cannadian Club Akbar  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:24:14am

re: #16 publicityStunted

A huge reason for that, I’d say, is that passengers know better now - once upon a time, the conventional wisdom was to cooperate with hijackers, but no one’s following that “advice” anymore (see Bomber, Shoe, and Bomber, Underwear, both subdued with the help of flight crew and passengers)

I know since 9/11, when I fly, I make eye contact with as many passengers as I can.

20 ReamWorks SKG  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:24:16am

re: #15 Stanley Sea

There’s a group I support called “Women of the Wall” that’s pushing for equal rights in Israel for Women to read from the Torah out loud and pray with Tefillin at the Kotel. They have the same poster:

[Link: farm5.static.flickr.com…]

21 dragonfire1981  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:24:40am

Look at America today folks.

Who do you think we need to fear more? Muslim extremists or Second-amendment loving, government hating, Obama fearing Tea Party types?

22 rwdflynavy  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:26:48am

re: #21 dragonfire1981

Look at America today folks.

Who do you think we need to fear more? Muslim extremists or Second-amendment loving, government hating, Obama fearing Tea Party types?

Why do you hate the second amendment?
//

23 Killgore Trout  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:28:55am

re: #21 dragonfire1981

Look at America today folks.

Who do you think we need to fear more? Muslim extremists or Second-amendment loving, government hating, Obama fearing Tea Party types?

I still give the edge to Islamic extremists but the most recent attack on the Pentagon was by a 9-11 truther in 2010.

24 sattv4u2  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:29:27am

re: #19 Cannadian Club Akbar

I know since 9/11, when I fly, I make eye contact with as many passengers as I can.


And each of them pull the stewardess aside and say
“That man over there ,, he seems weird,, he keeps darting his eyes back and forth to all of us,, like he’s picking out a victim”

//

25 ReamWorks SKG  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:29:37am

re: #17 jamesfirecat

Jared Lee Loughner was an interesting case because he was completely insane. It’s tough to enact “good” legislation to protect against people who are just utterly nuts. Of course, you can make it a little harder for them to get a large cache of weapons. And you can have better public health care for the mentally ill. Still, fringe cases sometimes make for bad laws.

But there’s a flip side: The Internet makes schizophrenic people more dangerous. (This is just my theory, of course.) A close friend of mine from college, sadly, is schizophrenic. It didn’t manifest itself until his 30s. I suspect if he didn’t have access to a lot of crazy conspiracy theories on the Internet, and if it wasn’t so easy for bad ideas to spread, his personal daemons would be more benign. He’s been in and out of prison, is obsessed with 9/11 conspiracies, the “Illuminati”, etc.

I have no idea what the solution is.

26 sattv4u2  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:30:46am

re: #21 dragonfire1981

Look at America today folks.

Who do you think we need to fear more? Muslim extremists or Second-amendment loving, government hating, Obama fearing Tea Party types?

ummm,,, eerrrr,,, I don’t think this guy, or the potential undie bomber, or the [potential shoe bomber (et al) were “Tea Partiers”

27 NJDhockeyfan  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:31:22am

Pakistan army denies colluding with insurgents

Pakistan’s army on Friday disputed reports that its security forces had tipped off insurgents at bomb-making factories after getting intelligence about the sites from the United States.

The Foreign Ministry also lodged a protest with the American embassy over a purported attack on a Pakistani military post — the latest signs of strained relations since the U.S. killed Osama bin Laden last month without notifying officials here ahead of time.

The army called the assertions of collusion with militants “totally false and malicious.”

American officials told The Associated Press in early June that they’d shared satellite information with Pakistan about two militant bomb-making factories. Within 24 hours, they said they watched the militants clear out the sites, raising suspicions that the Pakistanis had shared the information.

I think the Pakistan army is full of shit. I could be wrong but I doubt it.

28 Cannadian Club Akbar  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:31:41am

re: #23 Killgore Trout

I still give the edge to Islamic extremists but the most recent attack on the Pentagon was by a 9-11 truther in 2010.

Was that the guy on the tractor?

29 sattv4u2  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:31:50am

re: #19 Cannadian Club Akbar

How much was your bail !?!?!

////

Arrested man: 48 beers was about 10 too many

[Link: www.wtsp.com…]
A man told Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies he had about 10 beers too many as he celebrated his birthday.

Fifty-eight-year-old James Taylor says he drank 48 beers on Thursday evening

30 Charles Johnson  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:32:32am

Hot Air readers love Sarah Palin - she appeals to the intellectual level over there:

[Link: hotair.com…]

Followed by Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain.

I sometimes wonder whether “Allahpundit,” as an atheist and social liberal, wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, “How did I get here?” He’s trapped in a job where ALL of his readers are hate-obsessed anti-gay religious fanatics, and more and more his posts read like he’s just phoning them in.

I hope he’s making plenty of money. But there’s not enough money in the world to get me to do something like that.

31 ReamWorks SKG  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:33:27am

re: #19 Cannadian Club Akbar

I know since 9/11, when I fly, I make eye contact with as many passengers as I can.

Ha! I avoid eye contact, lest someone try to strike up a conversation. (I fly about 4 times/month.) The last thing I want is a chatterbox yakking away for 10 hours from SFO to NRT.

This guy was next to me from HKG->SFO last December

[Link: en.wikipedia.org…]

It was “Blah blah blah IPad, blah blah blah Internet, blah blah blah Maker Faire” for 10 hours.

32 Cannadian Club Akbar  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:33:50am

re: #29 sattv4u2

So 38 beers is that guys normal? Hell, if he smokes I’ll build a 7-11 right next to his house!! I’ll be rich!!
/

33 iossarian  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:35:15am

re: #29 sattv4u2

How much was your bail !?!?!

///

Arrested man: 48 beers was about 10 too many

[Link: www.wtsp.com…]
A man told Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies he had about 10 beers too many as he celebrated his birthday.

Fifty-eight-year-old James Taylor says he drank 48 beers on Thursday evening

That’s hilarious. It kind of reminds me of a punchline that used to get added to pretty much all of the stories that came out of my college days/daze:

“… and then we hit the whiskies.”

34 Cannadian Club Akbar  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:36:56am

re: #32 Cannadian Club Akbar

48 beers in the Florida sun?!!! Holy shit!!!

35 sattv4u2  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:37:08am

re: #33 iossarian

That’s hilarious. It kind of reminds me of a punchline that used to get added to pretty much all of the stories that came out of my college days/daze:

“… and then we hit the whiskies.”

Followed by
“hold my glass,,, I think I can do this,, I saw it once on a cartoon”

36 Charles Johnson  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:37:26am

You may notice that I turned off the tweet counters on open threads, because they were obviously being inflated by the usual idiots.

37 Desert Fox  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:37:31am

re: #21 dragonfire1981

Look at America today folks.

Who do you think we need to fear more? Muslim extremists or Second-amendment loving, government hating, Obama fearing Tea Party types?

If those are my only choices, a) Muslim extremists.

38 sattv4u2  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:38:08am

re: #34 Cannadian Club Akbar

48 beers in the Florida sun?!!! Holy shit!!!


To celebrate his birthday, he wanted to have one for every year

39 Buck  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:38:33am

Two bits of news from Vancouver.

First the Kissing riot couple have been identified, and secondly a 17-year-old is facing charges after family member turns him in to Burnaby, BC RCMP after seeing images online of him looting, destroying cop car during the riot.

[Link: www.theprovince.com…]

40 Cannadian Club Akbar  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:38:38am

re: #31 reuven

When I flew back from NYC in 2007, I sat next to an Au Pair who worked in Miami. Lil hottie. That didn’t suck.:)

41 sattv4u2  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:39:09am

re: #40 Cannadian Club Akbar

When I flew back from NYC in 2007, I sat next to an Au Pair who worked in Miami. Lil hottie. That didn’t suck.:)

Did for her!

42 Cannadian Club Akbar  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:40:55am

re: #41 sattv4u2

Did for her!

You stare at someone for 2 hours without blinking. That’s not scary.
/

43 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:42:49am

re: #21 dragonfire1981

Look at America today folks.

Who do you think we need to fear more? Muslim extremists or Second-amendment loving, government hating, Obama fearing Tea Party types?

I have always found it funny that those are the ones screaming about the potential for veiled women to be hiding weapons.

Meanwhile, they are the ones screaming themselves for *actual* CC, everywhere they go.

44 wrenchwench  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:47:56am

re: #36 Charles

You may notice that I turned off the tweet counters on open threads, because they were obviously being inflated by the usual idiots.

Hey, I only hit it once!

45 Obdicut  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:48:01am

re: #21 dragonfire1981

Look at America today folks.

Who do you think we need to fear more? Muslim extremists or Second-amendment loving, government hating, Obama fearing Tea Party types?

I choose C) People like Paul Ryan demolishing the foundations of civil society.

Between either of the above, I’m not really worried about either of them. Terrorism is incredibly unlikely to kill me. Which do I think is more likely to happen? Both. Islamic supremacist assholes will probably continue to go on shooting sprees, anti-abortion fanatics will keep murdering doctors and blowing up clinics, and “sovereign citizens” will keep getting into gunfights with the police.

Islamic terrorism really isn’t a different flavor than the rest of this crap.

46 Fat Bastard Vegetarian  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:51:52am

Taliban rules?

No.

San Dimas High School Football Rules!

47 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:52:16am

re: #37 Desert Fox

If those are my only choices, a) Muslim extremists.

My vote goes to the other group. There are a lot more of them, and their history is just as violent. Lol imagine “Muslim exremists” holding rallies all over the country, packing; shrieking to high heaven at House reps, their bratty children waving anti-government picket signs. The thought alone is basically impossible.

Hell, the “Muslim extremists” probably have better spelling and grammar skills than a lot of those tea party mensa members.

48 laZardo  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:52:47am

Headan to bed. Nighty!

49 rwdflynavy  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:53:08am

re: #46 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Taliban rules?

No.

San Dimas High School Football Rules!

I so wish I had more updings to give…

50 Obdicut  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:53:26am

re: #47 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin

Hell, the “Muslim extremists” probably have better spelling and grammar skills than a lot of those tea party mensa members.

Except for this douchebag:

Image: 20081229NYDeathJuice.jpg

51 rwdflynavy  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:54:01am

re: #50 Obdicut

Except for this douchebag:

52 Cannadian Club Akbar  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:54:31am

re: #50 Obdicut

Except for this douchebag:

Image: 20081229NYDeathJuice.jpg

Dude probably ordered No Pulp and got pulp instead.

53 sattv4u2  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:55:34am

re: #49 rwdflynavy

I so wish I had more updings to give…

FBV was a cheerleader

Pyramid Base both junior and senior years

54 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:56:46am

re: #50 Obdicut

Except for this douchebag:

Image: 20081229NYDeathJuice.jpg

Lol I remember that pic. A-hole. Afaic, he’s about on the same level as those other a-holes, shrieking and waving guns and misspelled pickets of Obama as a monkey.

55 sattv4u2  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:57:14am

re: #50 Obdicut

Except for this douchebag:

Image: 20081229NYDeathJuice.jpg

Obviously, NOT a fan of O.J. Simpson!!

56 Fat Bastard Vegetarian  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 10:59:45am

re: #55 sattv4u2

Wouldn’t it be fun to sit near a protest site in the Middle East and hand out English language protest signs to non-English speaking, Anti Israel/Anti American protesters?

57 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 11:00:57am

re: #46 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Taliban rules?

No.

San Dimas High School

I played a JV b-ball game there, once. Many, many, many years ago.

59 Fat Bastard Vegetarian  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 11:05:17am

Y’all seen this?

60 Fat Bastard Vegetarian  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 11:06:54am

re: #57 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin

(i was riffing on the movie Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure)

61 William Barnett-Lewis  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 11:18:52am

re: #21 dragonfire1981

Look at America today folks.

Who do you think we need to fear more? Muslim extremists or Second-amendment loving, government hating, Obama fearing Tea Party types?

Teabaggers by a long shot, if you’ll pardon the expression. Neither is a very big threat but there’s more crazy Teabaggers than crazy Muslims in America. I fully expect a handful of them to lose it when Obama is re-elected. Muslims? Not so much.

62 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 11:23:35am

re: #12 reuven

I thought this story was interesting:

In Saudi Arabia, a group of woman engaged in some civil disobedience by driving!

[Link: www.guardian.co.uk…]

A few months ago, I was at a trade show (I think it was CES) and I asked a man from Saudi Arabia if driving was better there without any woman drivers. He told me that he thinks the drivers there are the worst, and that people generally don’t follow standard traffic convention. It’s a free-for-all.

I once read an interview with an Egyptian-born imam in New York who said that when he came to NYC for the first time he was most impressed with the courteous and law-abiding driving.

My understanding of Middle Eastern traffic has been heavily influenced by this man’s story.

63 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 11:25:38am

re: #13 sattv4u2

At this time I’m more concerned about a home grown “disgruntled” loner walking into the middle of a Times Square or a Disney World or s sporting event after reading something like the Turner Diaries and going for it!

Intel has to be VERY lucky to stop something of that nature

Do-It-Yourself lone wolf crazies are very hard to intercept.

64 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 11:26:31am

re: #16 publicityStunted

A huge reason for that, I’d say, is that passengers know better now - once upon a time, the conventional wisdom was to cooperate with hijackers, but no one’s following that “advice” anymore (see Bomber, Shoe, and Bomber, Underwear, both subdued with the help of flight crew and passengers)

Once upon a time, that advice made sense. Rules changed dramatically.

65 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 11:27:11am

re: #20 reuven

There’s a group I support called “Women of the Wall” that’s pushing for equal rights in Israel for Women to read from the Torah out loud and pray with Tefillin at the Kotel. They have the same poster:

[Link: farm5.static.flickr.com…]

Yeaaahhhh!!!

Is that available as a poster?

66 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jun 17, 2011 11:28:11am

re: #21 dragonfire1981

Look at America today folks.

Who do you think we need to fear more? Muslim extremists or Second-amendment loving, government hating, Obama fearing Tea Party types?

I can fear lots of people at once!

67 Stephen T.  Sat, Jun 18, 2011 9:17:31am

re: #26 sattv4u2

ummm,,, eerrr,,, I don’t think this guy, or the potential undie bomber, or the [potential shoe bomber (et al) were “Tea Partiers”

The shoe bomber, the underwear bomber and the Times Square bomber, while all Muslim extremists were not people to be afraid of. We’ve seen their incompetence. I’m much more afraid of an organized, armed and angry Tea Party crowd than I am of every Muslim extremists. Especially when they claim loudly and often that people like Timothy McVeigh and Eric Robert Rudolph are NOT terrorists.


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