Larisa Alexandrovna: Um, how did a pipe bomb at a nuke facility fall under the radar?

[Hissyspit]

http://www.atlargely.com/2007/11/um-how-did-a-pi.html

Um, how did a pipe bomb at a nuke facility fall under the radar?

Am I the only to have entirely missed the below?

"PHOENIX (Reuters) - The Palo Verde nuclear power plant, the largest in the United States, was sealed off for much of Friday after guards found a pipe bomb in a worker's truck as he tried to enter the facility, officials said.

The lock-down of the plant, about 50 miles (80 km) west of Phoenix, Arizona, was lifted on Friday afternoon. Operations were not affected, said the plant's operator, Arizona Public Service.

The driver of the truck, an engineer who had worked at Palo Verde as a contractor for a year, was detained as his apartment was searched but he was not under arrest and was cooperating with authorities, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said."

Okay, let me give the obvious a try... they determined that it was an improvised explosive device (read whole article) but did not arrest the contractor? In an era when babies are on no fly lists and the entire US populace is being watched for possible thought crimes, a guy with an improvised explosive device at a nuclear plant is NOT arrested? What am I missing here?


VOTE for Larisa's in the Weblog Awards at: http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-political-coverage-1.php

[Bluebear]

1. But make sure you don't take more than 3 ounces of shampoo on an airplane.

This country has lost its collective mind.

[Renew Deal]

2. And how did a truck with $500,000 at another nuclear facility fall under the radar?

There was also the truck racing away from a PA nuclear facility with $500,000. No one claimed the money. It was bizarre and nothing happened.

[xiamiam]

15. right...and story has been buried...like all the other shenanigans..disgusting..nt

[Swamp Rat]

3. k&r

[magellan]

4. I heard something about it having been thrown in the back of his truck

...without his knowledge. It had end caps and was filled but wasn't wired up. Very odd case.

[Atman]

5. Please look at the other threads on this subject

The knee-jerk hysteria usually stops as soon as common sense comes into play.

I'll summarize, though...

The pipe bomb was an extremely crude Wile E. Coyote device, complete with firecracker fuse. It was found rolling freely in the open bed of the man's pickup truck as he passed through the first of at least six security checkpoints.

Ask yourself a couple of questions: What bad guy, terrorist or not, knowing he is driving into a highly protected facility, would just toss his bomb into the open bed of a pickup truck?

Even if he miraculously made it past every single exterior check point with a bomb rolling around in his truck, how did he intend to carry a 5" piece of galvanized steel through the last couple of checkpoints, which are metal detectors?

What damage would a 5" tube of gunpowder do to a facility made of hardened concrete and steel designed to withstand the impact of an aircraft?

Could perhaps ANYONE have tossed the device into the back of the guy's truck, and he honestly didn't know about it? Read the four points above again before answering. It could have been just an angry ex-friend seeking revenge. It could have been an actual criminal tossing it into the first open receptacle as cops were bearing down on him. It could have been anything.

Anything, imho, except terrorist activity. If this is the mentality and ability of the people out to do us harm, then you can sleep tight with nothing to fear. If they're that fucking stupid, even George Bush can stop them.

.

[Richard Steele]

6. Excellent post- your last paragraph is just brilliant. nm

[Kagemusha]

8. Well said from start to finish.

There's a lot worse to be frightened of.

[lala_rawraw]

11. you missed the point...

I responded to this post - you posted it also at my blog - as follows:

"I think you are missing my point here. When there is an obvious situation - no matter if he, or his friend, or his friend's dog loaded the pipe bomb into his truck, it was still a bomb at a nuke facility - no one seems much interested. But they will shut down a whole city over a conversation someone had online talking about sports (code for terrorism these days). Or they will not let a baby board an airplane because he/she is on the no fly list. It appears to me that real - no matter if the driver or what not - terror possibilities are ignored, while thought crimes and such are enough to send you to Gitmo for three years of isolation. That is the point I am making."

[Atman]

12. Yes, I did post it at your blog, because I think it's important.

The stuff at airports is meant to remind us real citizens that we're under the thumb of Big Brother. Don't step out of line. Don't protest. Go along with the new police state.

My 21 yo son was pulled aside last year by the TSA, required a secondary search, even though he's not politically active and had never been on an airplane in his life. He told the story to a lot of his friends. He got the government's message out for them.

But the real security people, the ones at the N plant, the ones actually in charge of real security, knew bullshit when they saw it. They had no government mandated agenda regarding keeping the people on their toes. They were just searching, found something, investigated, and realized there was no actual threat. It's really quite simple. You're talking apples and oranges.

Our shampoo is taken away and our babies cavity searched to make us FEAR THE GOVERNMENT. But when security people have a REAL job to do, they tend to actually do it. Which they did in this case.

.

[lala_rawraw]

13. argh...

I am not questioning why you posted. I am glad you did. I was simply saying that I responded there and cut and pasted that response here. I agree with you of course. Perhaps I misunderstood your original comment. It is rather late, so if I did, I do apologize. We seem to be on the same page.

[Atman]

14. Okay, I hope we are.

I, too, apologize for making you go "argh!" It is late! It's just that I've seen this story posted several times today, and each time there is an initial flurry of agreement until the facts are pointed out.

I like your blog. I'm sorry my first post there proved to be so contentious.

Peace. It's time for bed.

.

[SidDithers]

16. Good post...nt

Sid

[soothsayer]

7. They call bottle rockets 'bombs' now, so hard to know

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

9. It went away fast, too.

Could have been a SEAL's Red Team exercise.

[Bitwit1234]

10. You think something is fishy when a stupid stunt

like flooding wall street uphill from the river, got front page for a week.

[Kurovski]

17. Kick. (nt)

[AntiFascist]

18. This Administration always needs some form of nuclear terror threat....

when I watched the reports of this the contractor claimed that the pipe bomb was placed in his truck without his knowledge. Why would he try to drive through a security checkpoint with it visible, otherwise? I'll bet some right-wing operative was responsible for doing this. They need to continue the fear-mongering in the news in order to build support for bombing Iran.