* In working with Al Qaeda anthrax planners KSM and Al-Balucchi in January 2002, did Baltimore resident Majid Khan learn anything about the pair’s anthrax planning that he can now share? What contaminant was allegedly going to be used to contaminate the Upstate New York City reservoir serving New York City?
Posted by DXer on February 16, 2012
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CASE CLOSED ... what really happened in the 2001 anthrax attacks? 
DXer said
Some Sept. 11 Trial Secrets May Not Be Secrets Anymore
Prosecutors agreed to compare hundreds if not thousands of pages of classified documents in the case against 9/11 defendants with material released under the Freedom of Information Act.
DXer said
Military panel calls treatment of Guantanamo detainee [Majid Khan] ‘an affront to American values’
By Ellie Kaufman
Updated 10:20 PM ET, Sun October 31, 2021
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/31/politics/military-panel-guantanamo-detainee-letter/index.html
DXer said
Ex-Maryland man who joined al-Qaida sentenced at Guantanamo
By BEN FOX
today
https://apnews.com/article/cuba-war-crimes-maryland-bombings-sentencing-d1dcada8f92fe2d4dc387edcc902d14e
Khan’s cooperation is expected to help with other war crimes cases at Guantanamo, one involving five men held there who are charged with planning and aiding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
DXer said
Was KSM contemplating using Yersinia Pestis, the bacteria that causes plague?
In the indictment announced today of KSM, Al-Hawsawi and the others, the indictment mentions experiments in the use of biological weapons. What experiments in the use of bioweapons were conducted?
Posted by Lew Weinstein on April 4, 2011
https://caseclosedbylewweinstein.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/in-the-indictment-announced-today-of-ksm-al-hawsawi-and-the-others-the-indictment-mentions-experiments-in-the-use-of-biological-weapons-what-experiments-in-the-use-of-bioweapons-were-conducted/
DXer said
This is an unrelated contamination case today:
Milder View of Suspect in U.S. Case on Terror
By BENJAMIN WEISERAPRIL 29, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/30/nyregion/milder-view-of-suspect-in-us-case-on-terror.html
It was just over a year ago that the government unsealed charges against a Tunisian citizen named Ahmed Abassi, saying he had come to the United States to develop a network of terrorists and commit acts of terror. Prosecutors said he had “radicalized” one supposed terrorist and spoken of killing 100,000 people through bioterrorism.
But at a hearing on Tuesday in Federal District Court in Manhattan, a prosecutor told a judge that the government was now prepared to allow Mr. Abassi, 27, to plead guilty to two counts that did not involve terrorism.
The prosecutor noted that the government also might not seek a special terrorism enhancement under the advisory sentencing guidelines, which would mean Mr. Abassi’s recommended sentence would not exceed six months.
The prosecutor, Michael Ferrara, did not elaborate as to why the government’s portrayal of the defendant had changed since his arrest.
But Mr. Abassi’s lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, told Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum that her client had been “entrapped,” and she suggested that the government’s recordings of his conversations with an undercover agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation would show that he was not the terrorist the authorities had made him out to be.
***
Mr. Abassi also suggested a plot to contaminate the air or the water with bacteria as a way to kill up to 100,000 people, prosecutors said.
DXer said
Returning to the unrelated ongoing testimony in the Abu Hamza trial…
Abu Hamza trial: ‘Supergrass’ informant testifies
By Tara McKelvey
BBC News Magazine
In Afghanistan they all studied together. “We learned how to make poison that can anesthetise and also be fatal,” Badat said. “The main poison would be cyanide.”
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-27105612
DXer said
Another learned, indirect rebuttal of my argument that Dr. Ayman recognized that it would violate the hadiths to attack foodstuffs ironically cites me.
The publication “Al-Qaeda’s Odyssey to the Global Jihad”, by Yoram Schweitzer and Aviv Oreg (March 2014) states:
“One of the ideas was to scatter anthrax spores over large wheat-growing areas in the United States using rented crop dusters. Muhammad Atta, the leader of the group of pilots responsible for the 9/11 attacks, was told to examine the operational feasibility of this idea. See Ross Getman, “Al-Qaeda, Anthrax and Ayman,” November 20, 2002, http://cryptome.org/alqaeda-anthrax.htm. ”
See also
“In a May 2003 brochure, the CIA explained that it believed that Al-Qaida has explored the possibility of using agricultural aircraft for large-area dissemination of biological warfare agents such as anthrax.”
Posted by Lew Weinstein on January 23, 2012
https://caseclosedbylewweinstein.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/in-a-may-2003-brochure-the-cia-explained-that-it-believed-that-al-qaida-has-explored-the-possibility-of-using-agricultural-aircraft-for-large-area-dissemination-of-biological-warfare-agents-such-as/
In that Cryptome essay the authors cite, I never mentioned wheat. I don’t recall ever knowing of an idea to “scatter anthrax spores over large wheat-growing areas” — although perhaps there were vague media references to the heartland.
I instead think of the cropdusting inquiries relating to cropdusters to attack urban areas. With respect to targeting, I have always thought that Dr. Ayman would target NYC and DC.
But without asking the learned and well-connected authors, I am going to guess that the authors might be thinking of additional sourcing on this question of attacking wheat.
In any event, I think any author arguing that Zawahiri and Sufaat are murderous fanatics who don’t honor the limits to warfare set out in the hadiths have the stronger argument.
Zawahiri’s childhood friend who emphasized the importance to me of the hadiths in the same breath told me that Zawahiri was a murderous fanatic who knows no limits.
The good friend of the scientist supplied virulent Ames by Bruce Ivins agrees — adding that Zawahiri is an idiot and a fanatic. The scientist told the FBI that he could not advise them of a cell if he did not know about it.
(I don’t think of Dr. Ayman as an idiot; I just think that under his belief system his soul is lost because he favors the murder of innocents).
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
And I say that precisely because I know that Dr. Ayman and Yazid Sufaat are intelligent fellows who can rethink their position and at least recognize that it is a PR blunder to kill women and children and the elderly.
That’s the fundamental lie: that any sort of religious values could ever support what these men have done.
Like the CAIR-St. Louis fellow argues, Dr. Zawahiri violated the first ethical prescription of his profession: First do no harm.
DXer said
In the episode of ELEMENTARY last night, the brothers were producing 40 lbs. anthrax — said to be enough to kill a half million people in New York City. But it turned out the plan was to kill a herd of cattle for the insurance money.
There are as many twists in history as in any tv drama. Maybe someday it will turn out that Ayman Zawahiri and Shehata planned from Turkey to kill heroin addicts.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
The poisoning of water supply with an pathogen obtained from USAMRIID is a much discussed incident in 1970 involving the attempted blackmail of a USAMRIID scientist.
What was the pathogen involved in the allegation?
Did evidence support the existence of such an attempt?
Serge Popov and Ken Aliben have said that the Russians, for example, had a spy at USAMRIID and they could get whatever pathogen they wanted just by submitting a request to the spy service.
“In 1970 (sometimes dated “early 1970s”), the US radical group the Weather Underground reportedly attempted to blackmail a homosexual officer at the US Army’s bacteriological warfare facility in Fort Detrick, Maryland, into supplying organisms that could then be used to contaminate urban water supplies (Mullins, 1992; Berkowitz et al., 1972, citing the New York Times of 21 November 1970). According to one source, the terrorists apparently succeeded in gaining the cooperation of the officer in question but “This plot was discovered when the officer requested issue of several items unrelated to his work” (Purver, 1995).”
Water Policy 8 (2006) 481–503
Water and terrorism Peter H. Gleick
Click to access water_and_terrorism_2006.pdf
But see
Global Biosecurity: Threats and Responses (2010)
edited by Peter Katona, John P. Sullivan, Michael D. Intriligator
“Most allegations of interest in bioterrorism cannot be confirmed and many are clearly false. For example, in 1970, Jack Anderson, the well-known investigative journalist, reported that the U.S. Customs Bureua had information that a drug dealer caliming association with Weather Underground, a Leftist group opposed to American “imperialism” and the Vietnam War, expresssed an interest obtaining biological agents from USARMIID. A careful review of the evidence casts considerable doubt on the reliability of the account.
Michael Intriligator, like Leonard Cole, was very eloquent at the DC conference that Lew moderated that was organized by UCLA group. Professor Intriligator was quite adamant and passionate in arguing that the FBI’s “Ivins Theory” was wrong.
At page 56, in his treatise on biosecurity, he notes that Al Qaeda has come under considerable criticism for killing innocents and that perpetrators are loath to admit to the use of biological weapons.
His treatise can be purchased in paperback here for $45.
http://www.amazon.com/Global-Biosecurity-Responses-Contemporary-Security/dp/0415670594
See also
Weather Underground: A Case Study
• Anna Muldoon
Published Online: 15 JUL 2011
Abstract
The Weather Underground was a radical anti-war group, formed in the late1960s, which was responsible for a number of bombings in the US. In November 1970, several newspaper articles reported that the Weather Underground had attempted to acquire biological weapons to contaminate a city’s water supply. There is no evidence, however, that the group ever sought weapons of mass destruction, nor that they attempted to acquire biological agents in 1970.
Keywords:
• Terrorism;
• Fort Detrick;
• USAMRIID;
• water supply;
• hoax
DXer said
Seth Carus, in Bioterrorism and Biocrimes (February 2001) explains:
Click to access a402108.pdf
“In late November 1970, Jack Anderson wrote a story, reportedly based on an Customs Bureau intelligence report, claiming that the Weatherman faction, a radical leftist terrorist group associated with the Students for a Democratic Society, was attempting to acquire pathogens from the U.S. Army’s biological warfare research facility at Ft. Detrick, Maryland.951 According to Anderson, the Weatherman hoped to use an allegedly homosexual Army officer stationed at Ft. Detrick to gain access to information and materials. His story mentions two meetings in which this effort was discussed.
In the first meeting, described in a November 3, 1970 report, an informant to the Customs Bureau discussed a meeting with a drug dealer who allegedly associated with individuals in the Weatherman organization. According to the Customs informant, this Weatherman associate wanted “information on what kind of bacteria would be effective and would bypass the filtering system of a city and would incapacitate a population by infection for seven-to-ten days.” According to the informant, this drug dealer “stated to me that he was merely engaged in a discussion with some SDS Weatherman as to the possibility of this.” In addition, the informant reported that, “He asked me to contact the (homosexual) officer I know there and set him up for a discussion, and mentioned the possibility of the use of blackmail to induce the ‘gay’ officer in question to cooperate.”
The second meeting between the drug dealer and the Customs informant took place several days later, was reported in a November 11 account. According to the informant, “He (the drug dealer) suggested that I obtain pictures and records that could be used to blackmail this officer into furnishing information as to the nature and character of a BW weapon that (1) is capable of infection, but not fatal infection, the entire population of a large city for seven-to-ten days, and (2) would pass through the water filtering plant of a large city and go directly into the homes of the population.”
Following publication of the Anderson report, the U.S. Army confirmed that it had received reports that the Weatherman organization was plotting to acquire biological agents from Fort Detrick. The Army also indicated that the warning had been received from the Customs Bureau, and that it was based on information provided by an informant.952
“Army Tells of Plot to Steal Bacteria From Ft. Detrick,” New York Times, November 21, 1970, p. 34.
See also Jack Anderson: “Plot to Infect Large City Reported,” November 20, 1970
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19701120&id=3fBOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ygEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7222,1435384”
“The Weathermen are radical revolutionaries who seek to outrage the public by dramatic acts of violence that they believe will create a repressive climate that will alientate nonviolent radicals.” [Dang. Bin Laden copied the strategy as if he was painting a portrait from google images.]
Describing the informant’s reports to the Customs Bureau, Anderson continues:
“[The drug dealer] stated that he has been trained to procure the BW material for over a year, and he has interested parties that will purchase the right thing for a lot of money.”
DXer said
Associated Press carried the story:
Army Tells of Plot to Steal Bacteria From Ft. Detrick
WASHINGTON Nov. 20 [1970] (AP)
…
An Army spokesman said the materials at Ft. Detrick, the Army’s biological research center, were insufficient to carry out such a plan and that it was unaware of anyone being approached at the installation by persons wanting to steal biological weapons. A report published in several newspapers said that the revolutionary underground Weatherman organization planned to blackmail a homosexual lieutenant at Ft. Detrick into giving them enough materials “to incapacitate a population by infection for 7 to I0 days. The city was not named.
In a statement, the Army said: “We understand that there is an alleged plan by some persons to try to obtain incapacitating materials from Ft. Detriek. The fort has no stockpile of antipersonnel biological materials capable of achieving the efforts described.” The use of chlorine in municipal water treatment facilities, the Army said, would effectively destroy most biological organisms. It said that persons at the fort assigned to duties giving them access to toxic materials are subject to strict security investigations which are periodically reviewed ”to make certain that no personnel are vulnerable to blackmail.”
DXer said
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19361610.2014.851575#.U0ZcQM3rNkI
Journal of Applied Security Research
Volume 9, Issue 1, 2014
The Bioterrorism Act and Water Utilities Protection: How to Proceed from Policy to Practice
Frank Cinturatia
pages 97-108
Publishing models and article dates explained
Published online: 14 Jan 2014
The use of biological agents to attack water utilities is a real and serious threat that terrorists pose. The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo and Muslim extremist groups’ development and deployment of such weapons have proven the potential of a bioterrorist attack. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Bioterrorism Act of 2002 was signed into law. This act aims to address threats to resources such as the food supply and pharmaceuticals. In this article the water security portion of the act will be discussed while highlighting various security methods in which the bill can be implemented into practice.
Comment:
Without being an expert on the hadiths (and instead pointing to Princeton scholar Bernard Lewis’ discussion), I’ve long argued that the hadiths prohibit poisoning an enemy’s water supply. The strongest rebuttal to my argument is that KSM plotted to do exactly that. Another powerful rebuttal involves a cyanide plot in Rome in 2002 involving a localized water supply serving the embassy. See TIME article.
I have to admit that the reservoir plot is powerful evidence that at least KSM, if not also Dr. Ayman, is in violation of the hadiths.
I was directed to the importance of the hadiths in analysis years ago by someone who knew Dr. Ayman well growing up in Maadi. I, of course, cannot save Dr. Ayman’s soul. In his belief system, his choices govern his afterlife.
DXer said
This April 10, 2014 piece makes the point that the attributed use of a biological weapon would be a public relations debacle:
“However, it is imperative to state that terrorists would certainly measure and evaluate the tradeoff between conducting a spectacular non conventional attack against losing local support due to the colossal human loss involved.”
‘Super Terrorism’ in India: Fact or Fiction?
Balasubramaniyan Viswanathan – Apr 10, 14
http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/super-terrorism-in-india-fact-or-fiction-4957/
Groups like Al Qaeda are known to have attempted to produce biological and chemical weapons in the past. For instance, Al Qaeda conducted clandestine experiments to develop a chemical and biological weapon program known as the “yogurt project” under the aegis of Ayman Al Zawahiri. The program had a proposed start-up budget of $2,000 to $4,000.
Super Terrorism: Fact or Fiction
Expert opinion on super terrorism has been divided. However, many analysts are of the view that the possibility of a nuclear terrorist attack has in all likelihood receded (given rigid institutional controls) compared to other possibilities such as chemical and biological terrorism. This is due to the relative ease of production and related costs associated with the latter two.
***
The use of biological weapons by non-state actors in India is also a possibility. According to Vicky Nanjappa, a journalist and expert on Islamic terrorism in India, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and its front organizations, complemented with an apparatus of hospitals, labs and medical professionals, could draw on these resources for a bio-attack on Indian targets if it wanted to do so.
***
According to various open source analysis based on the interrogation report of Yasin Bhatkal, groups like Indian Mujahideen have shown clear intent to acquire weapons which could cause mass casualties. In 2010, a hitherto unknown group claiming themselves to be Indian Mujahideen (Assam) sent a message threatening to unleash biological weapons if their demands were not met.
Though these threats cannot be considered credible, they are still a wakeup call for Indian policy planners. They establish the fact that there is clear intent to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Now the question becomes whether or not they have the capability to do so.
***
Presently, terrorists groups in India do not have the resources (financial or human) to access to nuclear weapons or the nuclear weapons material to create a nuclear attack or even radiological dispersal. However, technological advances have rendered the other dimensions of super terrorism, such as a chemical and biological attack, more easily accessible as the cost and effort to manufacture them are less and less compared to the nuclear/radiological realm. For instance, a state-of-the-art biological laboratory could be erected and made functional with as little as USD 10,000 worth of off-the-shelf equipment, and would be small enough to house in a small room.
***
Conclusion
Nuclear terrorism is still a distant dream for terror groups in India. However, low costs associated with a chemical or biological attack could present the desperate elements with an ideal and viable alternative to conventional bomb attacks. However, it is imperative to state that terrorists would certainly measure and evaluate the tradeoff between conducting a spectacular non conventional attack against losing local support due to the colossal human loss involved. This could be the real factor that deterred occurrence of such attacks to date in India. But it must be said this “self-restraint” may not last forever.
DXer said
The Bioterrorism Act and Water Utilities Protection: How to Proceed from Policy to Practice
Frank Cinturatia
pages 97-108
The use of biological agents to attack water utilities is a real and serious threat that terrorists pose. The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo and Muslim extremist groups’ development and deployment of such weapons have proven the potential of a bioterrorist attack. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Bioterrorism Act of 2002 was signed into law. This act aims to address threats to resources such as the food supply and pharmaceuticals. In this article the water security portion of the act will be discussed while highlighting various security methods in which the bill can be implemented into practice.
DXer said
What explanation does Asef Mohammad give for being in the pipe at the water treatment plant?
In movie THE NUT JOB, that opened today, the bad guys and the animals each had their own reason.
SPOILER ALERT:
But raccoon betrayed the brothers in the pipe. He wanted to control the nuts.
KSM long wanted to poison a reservoir. The FBI wants to control the nuts.
Man rescued after getting stuck in water pipe
Susanne Cervenka and Margaret F. Bonafide, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press8:36 p.m. EST January 17, 2014
Authorities don’t know why 26-year-old Asef Mohammad climbed into the 20-inch pipe.
ALAPAN, N.J. — The what was pretty clear: A New Jersey man got himself lodged in an outflow pipe at a water treatment plant for at least four hours.
But rescue officials and neighbors are still scratching their heads as to why 26-year-old Asef Mohammad jumped the chain-link and barbed-wire fence surrounding the United Water plant, climbed into a holding tank, then the 20-inch pipe.
“There is no reason for anyone whatsoever to climb into a pipe,” said Rich Henning, a spokesman for United Water. “In 25 years in this business, I have never seen this happen.”
Authorities aren’t sure yet when Mohammad crawled into the pipe, which is decommissioned and was not being used for water treatment. United Water will be reviewing security camera footage to see where and when the breach occurred, said Jim Mastrokalos, director of operations for United Water.
“There was no impact to the water quality or the water transmission,” he said.
United Water staff doing routine work Friday morning heard a faint cry for help and began looking for the source, Mastrokalos said. Mohammad was found at 7:05 a.m.
“Obviously, that pipe would not be the first place they’d look,” he said. “But they were proactive and didn’t ignore it.”
Mohammad managed to wiggle himself headfirst about 10 to 12 feet into the pipe.
Rescue crews had to dismantle the pipe section by section to reach Mohammad, said Ken Genieczko, assistant fire chief and incident commander. Crews initially weren’t sure where in the pipe Mohammad was and used cameras to find him.
Mohammad was alert and was talking to rescuers, who used a harness that Mohammad was able to put on himself to pull him from the pipe at 10:58 a.m., Genieczko said.
Mohammad was taken by ambulance to a medical helicopter that was waiting to transport him to Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center in New Brunswick.
Mohammad was placed under arrest and will be charged with fourth-degree trespassing, an indictable offense that will be presented to the grand jury, Manalapan police Capt. Michael Fountain said.
DXer said
MANALAPAN — The what was pretty clear: A township man who lives a stone’s throw from the United Water treatment plant got himself lodged headfirst into a vertical 20-inch outflow pipe for at least four hours. …
Mohammad lives on Emily Road, across the street from an access road to township-owned property. His home is about a third to half a mile, as the crow flies, to the water plant.
Mayor Jordan Maskowitz, who was on scene during the incident, said the rescue was an expensive undertaking and the township will look to recoup the costs.
http://www.app.com/article/20140117/NJNEWS/301170054/Trespasser-trapped-24-inch-pipe-United-Water-facility-Manalapan
DXer said
Is this the same Asef Mohammad on YouTube?
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmZLc0vbPFqwwmvVpCm8JAA?feature=c4-feed-c
DXer said
The first YouTube video of this Asef Mohammad is the sweet-sounding “If I Die Young.”
DXer said
I don’t see any news report providing any additional background and don’t know if this the same fellow. But the Asef Mohammad of this YouTube channel has various Afghanistan websites and religious videos.
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmZLc0vbPFqwwmvVpCm8JAA?feature=c4-feed-c
“Asef Mohammad replied to a comment from owrl and liked
Hey, in judgement day when u get every answer wrong and u burn every where,
i will laugh so much the u scream until every part of u is DEAD..!”
DXer said
What did the FBI find in the search of his residence yesterday?
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
This WABC report states that police are very familiar with Asef Mohammed. He apparently left his home, where he lives with his parents, at 2 a.m.
What do public records show? Has he previously been arrested? Where else in New Jersey, if anywhere, has he lived with his parents?
Was he born in Afghanistan?
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_jersey&id=9397160
Mohammed’s parents tell police he left at 2 a.m. in shorts and a jacket and he never came back.
…
Police say they are very familiar with Mohammed but do not know why he climbed into the pipe.
DXer said
Did he live previously in Jersey City with his parents?
DXer said
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/01/18/man-breaks-into-water-treatment-plant-gets-stuck-in-pipe-authorities-dont-know-why-he-did-it/
Herring said that police have dealt with Mohamed on numerous occasions before and he has often been found under the influence of drugs. …
“This was a person that purposely climbed a six-foot fence with three or four layers of barbed wire on top,” he said.
DXer said
Manalapan Police Department
http://www.manalapanpolice.org/homeland-security
HOMELAND SECURITY
Homeland Security is the responsibility of all levels of government and includes citizen participation.
Homeland Security involves the coordination of multiple agencies and programs into a single integrated agency to address any threat to our homeland.
As part of our Homeland Security responsiblities the agency has personnel assigned to Emergency Management. The agency’s Operations Division Commander, Captain Christopher Marsala serves as the Municipal Counter-Terrorism Coordinator and acts as a liaison between this agency and the County, State and Federal Government for any terrorism related activity.
The responsibility of homeland security is a shared responsibility of everyone. If you see anything that looks suspicious it should be reported to local authorities. The Manalapan Township Police Department will work with other local, county, state and federal agencies to ensure that any reported suspicious activity is investigated to its logical conclusion. This often starts with people who know their neighborhood or workplace seeing something that does not look right and reports it to authorities. It starts with you.
DXer said
Mark Cohen, who once worked for the local private investigator Joe Reimo, reports that in the past he has seen a man in shorts walk all day until nightfall up and down Wilson and Pension Road in shorts. He says he has seen him at the fork at Pension across from the water company many times. That makes no sense (to me) in terms of recon. In running down potential leads Mr. Cohen could be asked if he is making a positive identification that it is the same individual.
Maybe it points to some other motive. At our local regional spelling bee test on Saturday, a young man was in shorts. And a teen who visits each Christmas from Virginia often comes in shorts. And so I perhaps don’t see it as totally unusual for people getting in and out of a vehicle and going into a building. But leaving the house in shorts to go adventuring over a seriously barbed wire fence raises questions about his mental fitness or mental state. It does seem consistent with drug use which aligns with the media reports about the police knowing him.
I still don’t know whether that is his YouTube Channel.
If his clothes were retrieved, they could be tested.
But on balance, living with his parents near the water treatment plant and reportedly associated with drug usage, my guess is that he was under the influence and out exploring. My favorite place is an abandoned quarry. I go through a hole in the fence. I ruined my daughter’s camera when trying to film free fall. I threw her camera off the very high cliff — the parachute didn’t open and the camera hit the ground at full speed.
But on all the facts, I would be very disappointed and surprised if they did not access his residence and computers the same hour of finding him and before he was first named in any report.
DXer said
So crediting that WABC had the right picture, I believe this is his Asaf’s Facebook page. Normal texting, nothing unusual. Some discussion about hearing a band.
So I’m thinking this exchange, more reliably associated with the pertinent young man, leans toward some harmless adventuring.
That young man who visits each Christmas-time climbed out on the roof the first time he visited. The family had just been in the house a short while to visit and he had gone upstairs uninvited and climbed out the window to the roof.
Such free-spirited adventurism can be thought of perhaps similar to parkour.
Personally, I still think there was probable cause to search without delay his residence and email given that a water treatment plant was involved.
DXer said
He appears to have climbed into a water holding tank first.
http://www.app.com/article/20140117/NJNEWS/301170054
Asef Mohammad of Manalapan, stuck in pipe, gets rescued
Wriggled in headfirst; reason is a mystery
“climbed into a water holding tank, then the water pipe.”
Is this what a United Water tank looks like?
DXer said
I think burglary of the water holding tank can be excluded as a motive for being there — given he lived on such a nice street, had such accomplished parents, and there was nothing of value in the holding tank or pipe.
Houses on the Monmouth County’s Manalapan “Emily Road” tend to be $600-700k+ on the street.
Maybe the motive was akin to the motive of a spelunker. Maybe it is in the nature of spelunker using man-made objects — such as someone performing parkour can be thought of as a mountain climber using manmade objects.
DXer said
Is there an update on the water supply investigation in the midwest? I have no idea what it concerns. Perhaps it relates to a disgruntled employee or something. It has been 13 years since a former colleague of Dr. Zawahiri researched poisoning midwest water supplies.
“No Threat to Canton, Mayor Says Egyptian Man Who Researched City Water System, Parasitic Diseases at Library ‘Just Had Conversations,” Akron Beacon Journal, October 6, 2001
“Terrorist Investigation Heads To Local Library,” Clickondetroit, October 5, 2001
City Of Topeka Comments On FBI’s Midwest Water Supply Investigation
Updated: Fri 5:53 PM, Oct 18, 2013
City of Topeka Release:
TOPEKA, Kan. – The City of Topeka is aware that there have been reported threats against public water supplies in the Midwest. Because this is a threat to Midwestern cities, we have taken appropriate precautionary measures to monitor the water quality and should any unsafe conditions be identified, the City will immediately notify the public.
Specific details will not be released regarding safeguards the City is taking. The FBI should be contacted regarding details of any specific threat locations.
FULL STORY:
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ The FBI is investigating a threat against water systems in four cities, including Wichita, Kan.
FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton confirmed on Friday that the FBI has not been able to substantiate any threats to the four cities. She would not name the other cities.
Wichita spokesman Van Williams said security in the city’s water system is being increased after an unspecified terrorist threat. He says the city’s water is safe to drink.
The Wichita Eagle reported (http://bit.ly/19eGfsW ) that an internal city email it obtained Friday asked city employees to be vigilant during the next 30 days about anything hooked to a fire hydrant. Another e-mail advised plumbers in the city to call police if they see someone they don’t recognize “messing with a fire hydrant or vent pipe.”
DXer said
The radicalization of an ordinary man
BY CATHERINE SOLYOM, THE GAZETTE JULY 5, 2013
According to an undercover FBI agent who befriended him, Abbassi and Esseghaier had discussed poisoning a water or air supply, but they decided instead to attack a train.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/radicalization+ordinary/8622712/story.html
DXer said
Documentary: If Julian Assange had documents on how to release anthrax into a town’s water supply, he’d release them
By Hollie McKay
Published June 03, 2013
FoxNews.com
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/06/03/documentary-if-julian-assange-had-documents-on-how-to-release-anthrax-into/#ixzz2VMjUsr2U
The film also makes innumerable revelations of Assange’s mission, and how far he is willing to go even if it comes to endangering lives. One scene contains footage of an interviewer asking the silver-haired advocate if he uncovered information pertaining to how to leak the deadly Anthrax [bacteria] into a town’s water supply, would he publish it?
“Yes,” Assange responded, without hesitation.
Comment: That’s misguided.
DXer said
This week there is has been an arrest in NYC of a Tunisian who was suggesting to the FBI undercover contaminating the air or water supply with a bacteria. Does the Tunisian know Boussora, the little pointy-eared friend known to visit Jdey. There is a $5 million reward. How could is factial recognition technology if it can’t turn up Boussora?
Ther’es a new show called GRACELAND about undercovers.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Tunisian man denies NY terror cell plot claims
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — A Tunisian man accused of radicalizing a Canadian resident charged in a plot to derail a train has been charged with trying to stay in the United States illegally to build a terrorism cell for international acts of terror such as poisoning a water system with bacteria, authorities said Thursday.
Law enforcement authorities had watched Ahmed Abassi since he arrived in the United States from Canada in mid-March and arrested him on April 22 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, authorities said. Abassi met regularly with an undercover FBI agent and met with another Tunisian citizen who later was arrested in Canada in the plot to derail the train, they said.
“As alleged, Ahmed Abassi had an evil purpose for seeking to remain in the United States _ to commit acts of terror and develop a network of terrorists here and to use this country as a base to support the efforts of terrorists internationally,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a release issued after the federal indictment against Abassi was unsealed on Thursday.
The head of the New York FBI office, George Venizelos, said: “Mr. Abassi came to the United States to pursue terrorist activity and support others in the same shameful pursuit. What Mr. Abassi didn’t know was that one of his associates, privy to the details of his plan, was an undercover FBI agent.”
Prosecutors, in a letter submitted to a U.S. District Court judge in Manhattan, said Abassi had radicalized Chiheb Esseghaier, who is charged in Toronto with conspiring with al-Qaida members in Iran to derail a train that runs between New York City and Montreal. Esseghaier appeared briefly in court on April 24 and made a statement suggesting he did not recognize the court’s jurisdiction.
Prosecutors said Abassi told an undercover FBI agent that Esseghaier’s plans were good but the time was not right.
“The defendant noted that he had suggested an alternative plot _ contaminating the air or water with bacteria in order to kill up to 100,000 people _ but that Esseghaier was dismissive of that plan,” the government said.
DXer said
FBI investigate Quabbin Reservoir trespassing
7 people cited for trespassing
http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/hampshire/fbi-investigate-quabbin-reservoir-trespassing
The individuals claimed to be chemical engineers, recent college graduates, and stated that they were at the reservoir for education and career interest, according to State Police.
Preliminary investigation, conducted later in the day by the Commonwealth Fusion Center , suggests the seven individuals are from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore.
The individuals live in Amherst, Cambridge, Sunderland, Northampton and New York City.
They have no warrants against them and no crime was committed Tuesday, other than the trespassing. An investigation is being conducted due to the late hour of the incident, the individual’s explanation for why they were there, and the trespassing.
Comment:
The Commonwealth Fusion Threats runs down something hundreds of items a year. In the Boston marathon case, the Boston Police Chief recently emphasized that hindsight is 20/20 after his comment about the failure to pass on Boston the marathon bomber’s (Tamerlan’s) name to BPD or the Task Force was overblown. Moving forward, the priority is that all the components are working well together — fingerpointing and the blame game interferes with that. Director Mueller recently noted in a speech that terrorists are evolving, and so law enforcement needs to evolve with them.
In a news story today involving a reservoir, these Massachusetts chemical engineers allegedly trespassing at the reservoir will do better if they explain they were out enjoying the great weather in a beautiful setting with their friends after graduating. Going to the reservoir for “for education and career interest” — absent permission to be there — is not as good an explanation in the contest of KSM’s historic interest in poisoning a reservoir.
I once spent 7 hours lost walking through dense brush trying to find my way home from Nine Corners Lake the day after Thanksgiving.one year. So walking with friends is in fact a good idea. As dark approached, I thought I was going to have to spend the night outdoors.
DXer said
The Trooper saw them at 12:30 a.m., long after dark. A campfire would provide fuller context. Of course, the “It was pitch black and so we didn’t see the no trespassing sign” might also work… If true. How well lit was it? Did they have flashlights?
DXer said
They say you can hear the stars at Quabbin. No better place perhaps to celebrate graduation.
Quabbin’s water covers 39 square miles, is 18 miles long and has 181 miles of shoreline. When full, Quabbin holds 412 billion gallons of water. Statistically, on any given starlit night, you will find people enjoying its beauty when and where they shouldn’t. It was the men who were chemical engineers. From UMass and Smith.
“Interpretive Services
The Quabbin Interpretive Services Program operates the Quabbin Visitor Center, Education Programs, Teacher Workshops, and provides general information about DCR resources. Three full time staff members are available to assist with visitor information and services. An automated telephone system – 413 323-7221 – provides 24 hour access to current information on fishing, hunting, programs, rules and regulations, and public access.
Things to know before you go
The primary purpose of DCR water and surrounding lands is drinking water supply. Public access, therefore, is carefully regulated and controlled to protect over 2 million people’s source of drinking water. State regulations require all entry and exit through gates or other designated areas only. Anything that could pollute the water supply system, such as litter or refuse of any sort, is prohibited. Please observe restrictions on recreational activities. Direct water contact activities, such as swimming and wading, are strictly prohibited by regulation.”
The students apparently coming out of the Restricted Area.
Quabbin Reservoir Watershed Night Access
Click to access quabeve.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quabbin_Reservoir
“Because of state restrictions, most areas around the reservoir are accessible only by foot, through fifty-five surrounding gates. Few people ever go into the deep woods, and it has become a wildlife area. Bald eagles, moose, deer, coyotes, black bears, foxes, and bobcats share the habitat, among others.
***
The reservation is a popular spot for hiking and other outdoor activities.”
DXer said
A major report at the time on the documents seized from Osama’s residence was titled something like “Al Qaeda’s ‘Playbook’ revealed.”.
The report explained:
“The cache of electronic and handwritten materials obtained by the SEALs includes numerous hallmark al Qaeda plots including attacks on infrastructure targets such as water supply and transportation including rail and air, in what one official described as a “strategic guide for how to attack the U.S.” In the past, al Qaeda planned for attacks on water supplies have included an interest in mining dams and in poisoning water supply.”
KSM’s secret detainee assessment address the point made by many experts about dilution. As I recall it, he said that issue could be avoided simply by blowing up certain of the facilities and then the water supply would stop. So even though ganja and condoms might be more likely the relevant evidence turned up in this instance, it is to the Trooper’s credit that alone at night he undertook to ask for back-up upon meeting 7 people in the dark. We should never forget the range of possible encounters we ask law enforcement to have on our behalf.
Dxer said
Khan senior, now that your son is cooperating, can you tell us what contaminant was discussed with regard to the NYC reservoir? can you describe your business dealings with Iyman Faris?
DXer said
Here are dozens of court filings by Majid Khan’s defense counsel:
• Khan v. Bush
• Khan_HabeasPetition_09_28_06.pdf
• Khan_PetitionerMotionEmergAccess;EntryPO_10_08_06.pdf
• Khan_GovOppEmergencyAccess_10_26_06.pdf
• Khan_ReplyMemoSupportEmergAccess;EntryPO_11_03_06.pdf
• Khan_ReplyMemo-ExhibitA_11_03_06.pdf
• Khan_ReplyMemo-ExhibitB_11_03_06.pdf
• Khan_ReplyMemo-ExhibitC_11_03_06.pdf
• Khan_ReplyMemo-ExhibitD_11_03_06.pdf
• Khan_ReplyMemo-ExhibitE_11_03_06.pdf
• Khan_ReplyMemo-ExhibitF_11_03_06.pdf
• Khan_ReplyMemo-ExhibitG_11_03_06.pdf
• Khan_OrderDenyingAccess_11_17_06.pdf
• Khan_EmergencyMtnReconsideration_ExA_12_07_06.pdf
• Khan_EmergencyMtnReconsideration_12_07_06.pdf
• Khan_EmergencyMtnReconsideration_TxtProposedOrder_12_07_06.pdf
• Khan_RespOppMotionReconsideration_12_28_06.pdf
• Khan_PetitionersReplyMemoSuppMotReconsiderationNov.17Order_01_11_07.pdf
• Khan_PetOppMotionDismiss_05_03_07.pdf
• Khan_RespReplySuppMotionDismiss_05_21_07.pdf
• Khan_Order Denying MTD_2_29_08.pdf
• Khan v. Gates (DTA)
• Khan_DTAPetition_08_14_07.pdf
• Khan_EmergencyStipEntryProtectiveOrder_10_12_07.pdf
• Khan_MotionPreservationTortureEvidence(redacted)_11_30_07.pdf
• Khan_PetitionerMotionDeclareInterrMethodsTorture(redacted)_12_06_07.pdf
• Khan_InterimReliefOrder_12_11_07.pdf
• Khan_RespOppPetMotionPreserve,DeclareJudgement_12_20_07.pdf
• Petitioner’s Reply in Support of Torture Motions (redacted)_01_04_2008.pdf
• Petitioner’s Reply in Support of Torture Motions, Ex. 1, Khan Statement on Internal Feelings (redacted)_01_04_2008.pdf
• Petitioner’s Reply in Support of Torture Motions, Ex. 3, Khan Letter to Judges 1 (redacted)_01_04_2008.pdf
• Petitioner’s Reply in Support of Torture Motions, Ex. 4, Khan Letter to Judges 2 (redacted)_01_04_2008.pdf
• Other Documents
• Khan_CSRT Transcript.pdf
• Khan_Father’sStatementCSRT.pdf
• Khan_PostcardCCR(front)_05_04_07.pdf
• Khan_PostcardCCR(back)_05_04_07.pdf
• Khan_PostcardCCR(front)_06_10_07.pdf
• Khan_PostcardCCR(back)_06_10_07.pdf
• 2006.10.26- RES.-Opp to Motion for Counsel access-Khan.pdf
• 2008-01-04 Khan Pet Reply in Supp of Torture Motions (redacted).pdf
• 2008-03-06 Mtn of NYTimes, APA, USA Today to Unseal.pdf
• 2008-03-28 Govt Response to NYTimes, APA, and USA Today Motn.pdf
• 2008-04-07 Reply Brief in Suppt of Motn to Unseal.pdf
• 2008-05-09 Khan Motion to Unseal Petr’s Torture Memo.pdf
• 2008-05-16 Govt Opp to Motn to File Motn in Excess of Pg Limit and X-Mtn for Abey.pdf
• 2008-05-20 Petr’s Reply Memo in Suppt of Mtn to Xcd Pg Limit and in Opp of Gvt X-Mtn.pdf
• 2008-06-03 Khan Order.pdf
• 2008-06-12 Al Odah_Boum_SCOTUS DECISION.pdf
• 2008-08-07 Declaration of G Gutierrez.pdf
• 2008-08-07 Declaration of Wells Dixon.pdf
• 2009-04-24 Khan- Order to Dismiss DTA.pdf
• 2009-01-09 Khan Habeas PO – revised per CSO requests.pdf
• 146 02.27.2009.pdf
• 165 03.13.2009.pdf
• 172 03.20.2009 M.pdf
• 171 03.20.2009 M.pdf
• 173 03.20.2009.pdf
• 177 03.23.2009.pdf
• 185 04.07.2009 M.pdf
• 192 04.22.2009 M.pdf
• 196 04.27.2009 M.pdf
• 203 05.07.2009.pdf
• 205 05.11.2009.pdf
• 216 06.01.2009.pdf
• 222 06.08.2009 M.pdf
• 230. 07.29.2009.pdf
DXer said
Inorganic arsenic in infant formula twice the limit for drinking water is probably not a good thing. Just sayin…
Some organic cereal bars contain organic brown rice syrup, an alternative to high fructose corn syrup. But a new study has found it can contain levels of arsenic higher than what’s considered safe in drinking water.
By Linda Carroll
http://todayhealth.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/16/10425025-high-arsenic-levels-found-in-organic-foods-baby-formula