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I never realized there were no pressure cookers in Iraq

Whitewing

Well-known member
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev charged with using weapon of mass destruction at Boston Marathon

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-terror-charges-filed-173308381.html

Terror suspect Dzhokhar "Jahar" Tsarnaev was charged on Monday with two federal counts of using a weapon of mass destruction to kill, injure and cause widespread damage at the Boston Marathon a week ago. If convicted, the 19-year-old could face the death penalty.

Three people were killed and more than 200 others wounded when two powerful homemade bombs exploded near the race’s finish line.

The bed-ridden Tsarnaev was informed of the charges and read his rights in his hospital room Monday morning. The college student is in serious condition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he is under heavy police guard.

Tsarnaev, who is sedated and unable to speak, suffered apparent gunshot wounds to the head, neck, hand and legs during firefights with police before his capture Friday night, authorities said. His older brother Tamerlan Tsanraev, who investigators say was part of the terror attack, died in a firefight with police during their escape attempt.

In a 10-page criminal complaint against Dzhokhar, an FBI agent says investigators have overwhelming photographic evidence showing the brothers placing two backpack bombs in the crowd at the race finish.

A large pyrotechnic and clothing Dzhokhar wore during the terror attack were later found in his dorm room at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, according to the charges.

The complaint sheds no light on a motive for the attack. Miriam Conrad, Dzhokhar's federal public defender, asked the court to also appoint two more attorneys who are, “learned in the law applicable to capital cases.”

Investigators say the Tsarnaev brothers began preparing for an apparent escape attempt just hours after the FBI sought the public’s help by releasing photos of them at the bombing scene.

Shortly before midnight Thursday, one of the brothers carjacked a man at gunpoint, according to the criminal complaint.

“Did you hear about the Boston explosion?” the complaint alleges the carjacker said. “I did that.”

The complaint goes on to allege that the brothers threw improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at patrol officers who spotted them in the stolen car and gave chase. Bomb-making materials similar to what was recovered in the marathon aftermath were later found inside the abandoned getaway car, according to the charges.

“The presumption of innocence is pretty tough in this case,” said Jimmy Ardoin, a veteran criminal defense attorney who read the criminal complaint at the request of Yahoo News.

“On its face, it seems pretty strong,” Ardoin said. “Although once you get into court, you never know what will be admitted into evidence and what won’t.

A probable cause hearing is scheduled for May 30. Despite calls from some Republicans to try Dzhokhar in a military court like a war criminal, White House press secretary Jay Carney said he would not be held as an enemy combatant. It is not known if Boston authorities will file cases against him in state court as well.

The federal government has not revealed if it will seek the death penalty. But in a statement, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said, “We will hold those who are responsible for these heinous acts accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

“Thanks to the valor of state and local police, the dedication of federal law enforcement and intelligence officials, and the vigilance of members of the public, we’ve once again shown that those who target innocent Americans and attempt to terrorize our cities will not escape from justice,” Holder said.

The Tsarnaev brothers, who were born in the former Russian territory known as Kyrgyzstan and are of Chechen descent, lived in Cambridge, Mass., for several years. Dzhokhar became a naturalized American citizen last year.

According to investigators, the carjack victim told police that the brothers spoke to one another in a foreign language while he was held hostage. The victim managed to escape on foot when the brothers got out of the car at a gas station.
 

Mike

Well-known member
They had pressure cookers that glow in the dark..............


Defense Personnel Transport Uranium Ore Out of Iraq

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 7, 2008 – Defense personnel have completed the transfer of 550 metric tons of Iraqi uranium ore to Canada, Defense officials said here today.
The Iraqi government asked the United States to help transfer the yellowcake -- as the ore is known -- from Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center near Baghdad to its buyer in Canada, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today.

The military dubbed the movement Operation McCall, and it ended July 5. DoD’s portion of the operation involved the transfer of the ore.

Yellowcake is a uranium ore that can be processed to become nuclear fuel. State and Energy Department personnel also participated in the transfer.

Officials transferred the uranium by convoy from Tuwaitha nuclear research facility to a secure location in Baghdad’s International Zone, Whitman said. The ore was in 110 shipping containers. The shipping containers were placed aboard Air Force C-17 Globemaster III airlifters and taken to an intermediate location. It took 37 sorties to transfer the yellowcake.

At the intermediate location -- which Whitman could not name -- the ore was loaded aboard the SS Gopher State, a Military Sealift Command ship, which took it to Montreal.

“This was material that was discovered when we initially went in to Tuwaitha,” Whitman said. “It was under the control of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency since that time.”

Whitman stressed that yellowcake is not of direct use in a nuclear weapon. “It is a commodity that is traded routinely in the global nuclear energy sector,” he said. “It can be used as a feed material for nuclear weapons if a country has access to the necessary fuel technology.”

The cost of the transfer was $70 million, and the government of Iraq will reimburse the United States for a portion of the cost, Whitman said.
 

Steve

Well-known member
Seems the defintion of WMD has changed, post 2009

yes it once meant a nuke, gassing or a biological attack on a mass scale..

but like most words and definitions the liberals get a hold of.. they dilut the meaning and soon it means almost nothing..

this was an act of terrorism.. a bombing.. an atrocity,.. but a WMD.. ? :?
 
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