Have you heard about the FBI foiling a plot by terrorists to shoot up movie theaters across the country? Neither have I. But there it is in this week's Rhinoceros Times (not online) in publisher John Hammer's "Under the Hammer."
In his column, Hammer writes that "Those who claim to know" tell of a plot in which terrorists were planning to go into "a number of movie theaters in shopping malls in different parts of the country at the same time of the day after Thanksgiving..." According to Hammer, "The terrorists would be armed with automatic weapons and, when the lights went down, they would simply stand up and spray the packed theater with bullets."
Scary, huh? Thank goodness "The FBI caught the terrorists before the plan could be carried out," as Hammer reports. Still, Hammer wants us to "Imagine if it had been successful." Before doing that though, imagine if any of this were true. It doesn't appear to be. I pay pretty close attention to the news and never heard of this plot or arrests. Almighty Google comes up empty, except for some similar urban myths. It looks like Hammer pulled this one out of his hat.
This is not the first time Hammer has put forth a "story" based on vague "sources." It should be the last. This sort of blatant fabrication is simply embarrassing and a gross disservice to Rhino readers. If Hammer had any allegiance to the truth, he would publish a correction in the next issue.
Thanks for the heads up and for confirming my recent decision to stop reading the scurrilous rag.
ReplyDeleteRoch, This is not to say that Hammers story is true, but has it ever occurred to any of you that the FBI and CIA do not, and can not, for security reasons advertise their activities which include foiling terrorist plots? Even in the military it is standard procedure to keep all activities secret and this is even more important with other departments of our security. When a story gets out it is because of a leak or mismanagement of some kind.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone out there actually believe there have been no foiled terrorist plots in this the most easily accessible country in the world when other countries in the world have been attacked? If so please speak up because I have a deal on a big bridge in a major city that I am willing to sell cheap. Brenda Bowers
Brenda wrote: "This is not to say that Hammers story is true..."
ReplyDeleteWe agree.
Are you sure it was his HAT out of which he pulled the story?
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, the FBI, etc., probably do all sorts of foiling, day in and day out, without reporting it to the rest of us. Or without arresting anyone (and thereby avoiding the creation of some sort of public record, tipping their secret hand to the world).
But this raises the question ... if the plot were so serious or even credible that it needed to be "foiled," then why aren't there any arrests? That's what the FBI must do - by law.
Maybe "foil" is a sufficiently fuzzy term that could mean "we heard some guys in McDonald's talking about this, and when we approached them and showed them our badges, they ran away."
Or maybe it means the FBI put them on a Blackwater jet to Egypt.
Why, just last week, I personally foiled a plot that would've put revenue of a major US corporation at risk. My 7-year-old son tried to steal a candy bar from 7-Eleven.
Anyone remember the various plots foiled in 2002? One had al Qaeda members going door-to-door ringing doorbells and opening fire on whomever answered. Scary. Yet, implausible. ("We will destroy America ... one person at a time ... even if it takes ... lets' see, if we got 100 people a day, and those would be very good days, it would take ... um ... 10,000 years.")
Paul,
ReplyDeletePlease note that it was I who used the term "foiled." According to Hammer, there actually were arrests -- that nobody, except for Hammer's inner circle, heard about.