# I Think They're All Bozos In This Base: More Al-Qaeda Idiots Apprehended **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 8, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284 "2007-05-08T18:49:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/1 "2007-05-08T18:49:36Z")
[Yep, we’ve been rescued once again from a dire terrorist plot](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050800465_pf.html). From the lede, they sound pretty deadly: > [@](#): > > Federal authorities in New Jersey have arrested six men who allegedly plotted for 17 months toattack the Fort Dix military base with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, federal officials said today. But then: > [@](#): > > Charging document filed in federal court in Camden yesterday and unsealed today portray an ambitious and cold-blooded – but somewhat bungling – cadre who hoped to kill at least 100 soldiers, but also dropped training videos off at a local store to be copied, and spoke openly to a Philadelphia police sergeant about obtaining maps of Fort Dix. > > According to the documents, U.S. authorities were alerted to the group’s existence by a video store employee, who said a man had brought in a recording of 10 young men shooting assault weapons and shouting jihadist slogans. The man asked for the videotape to be copied onto a DVD, the charging documents said. and: > [@](#): > > Their training regimen included playing paintball, the documents say. One member of the group allegedly said they would need a “fatwa,” or ruling based on Islamic law, before attacking a base. They were hoping to get automatic weapons through their informant. So: in a year and a half, they’d basically played terrorist, the way Tom Sawyer and his friends played pirate. > [@](#): > > White House spokesman Tony Snow said that while there was “no direct evidence” that the men had connections to foreign groups, “their involvement in weapons training, operational surveillance and discussions about killing American military personnel warranted a strong law enforcement response,” the Associated Press reported. I’m sure it did. Why it merited the notice of the White House Press Secretary is the real question. Sounds to me like the assistant D.A. for central New Jersey could have handled this one. This one goes down with the guys in Florida who were going to attack the Sears Tower, and the Brooklyn Bridge blowtorch guy. If al-Qaeda has anything at all to do with these bozos, I think their goal must be to lull us into a false sense of security. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/2 "2007-05-08T18:52:53Z")
It worked the last time. I mean, what sort of message is a guy sending when he says he doesn’t need to know how to land the airliner he’s learning to fly? ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/3 "2007-05-08T18:57:55Z")
**I Think They’re All Bozos In This Base** Shias for Industry? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/4 "2007-05-08T19:01:32Z")
Well, now they are belong to us. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/5 "2007-05-08T19:27:09Z")
If this is the level of terrorism we’ll have to face from here on out, we have nothing to worry about. How, exactly, were they going to obtain RPGs and automatic weapons, and from whom? For all of their other failings, the BATF keeps their ar to the ground about that sort of thing. How, exactly, were they going to gain access to Fort Dix? Even if they managed to get access to the base, they’re heavily outnumbered by people who have access to scores of weapons and are trained to use them for a living. And they had to wait for a fatwa? Right. As if they needed an excuse to attack the “Great Satan”. No, I think they got cold feet. Most people do when they’re faced with abject failure. If they’re all going to be that stupid we’ve already won. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/6 "2007-05-08T21:20:13Z")
[QUOTE=scotandrsn] **I Think They’re All Bozos In This Base** Shias for Industry? [/QUOTE] Shias for Defense! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/7 "2007-05-08T21:42:31Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Well, now they are belong to us. [/QUOTE] And we’re inside it, arrestin their doodz. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/8 "2007-05-09T01:06:46Z")
If I was a terrorist wannabe, I think I would try for a softer target than a heavily-armed US military base. But that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/9 "2007-05-09T05:20:45Z")
Heh, Al Qaeda is more of a movement than an organization in many respects. Anyone who is a terrorist can claim the title of Al Qaeda in order to lend credibility to their endeavors. However, I think that if it hasn’t happened yet, they must be really stupid. The guys you have to worry about are the ones actually reading the anti-terrorist blogs and learning how to fight us that way. Any terrorist that’s going after a military target, or even a high profile well secured target like the Sears tower is a moron, when there are so many lower profile targets that would be easier to hit. There will always be posers, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some people out there who are the real deal. Fortunately for us, we have martyrdom, if the smart guys keep blowing themselves up in the attacks, they won’t be around to keep being smart and coming up with good plans. I’m genuinely shocked that we haven’t seen another attack in a while. ---
**Author:** ![Aquila\_Be](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Aquila\_Be](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquila_Be)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/10 "2007-05-09T10:41:12Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] How, exactly, were they going to gain access to Fort Dix? [/quote] According to the link in post #1: > [@](#): > > Authorities said the group settled on Fort Dix in part because one defendant, Serdar Tatar, 23, had delivered pizzas to the base from his family’s nearby restaurant, Super Mario Pizza, and knew the area “like the palm of his hand,” [QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] If they’re all going to be that stupid we’ve already won. [/QUOTE] It’s better than you think because[Nationality of suspects surprises experts](http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_5850228) From the link: > [@](#): > > Experts in Islam, national security, the Balkans and the Middle East were surprised by the makeup of the group, which includes four ethnic Albanians born in the former Yugoslavia, one Turk and a U.S. citizen born in Jordan. Three are living here illegally. > “To me, there’s this great irony that you’ve got Albanians who want to attack the U.S. military, based on whatever reasoning. Of all the people I talk to in all the world, I haven’t found anyone who loves the U.S. more than the Albanian community” because of the U.S.-led intervention against Serbian “ethnic cleansing” in the Albanian enclave of Kosovo, said Robert A. Saunders, an expert on political Islam at the State University of New York in Farmingdale. Expert on political Islam Saunders again: > [@](#): > > “It’s not about religion. It’s about politics. It is a political Muslim identity; it’s not a religious Muslim identity.” People like Expert Saunders are training the next generation of Experts in political Islam at places like the State University of New York to keep an eye on things, so the future looks rosy. I’m so relieved. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/11 "2007-05-09T13:30:10Z")
More Sharia! ---
**Author:** ![Burton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Burton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burton)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/12 "2007-05-09T16:13:57Z")
The mere fact that they’re here and were contemplating it is very serious in my opinion. There’s got to be more with similar ideas that aren’t so stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/13 "2007-05-09T18:10:10Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion] More Sharia! [/QUOTE] Share and Sharia alike. Or would that be Sonny and Sharia? ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/14 "2007-05-09T18:21:21Z")
What can these guys be charged with, and what’s the possible jail time? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/15 "2007-05-09T18:48:53Z")
Maybe next time they’ll choose the Army/Navy game instead, as they once contemplated. That could have been really, really bad. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/16 "2007-05-09T18:57:20Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] So: in a year and a half, they’d basically played terrorist, the way Tom Sawyer and his friends played pirate. [/QUOTE] Aw…such a cute kid that Tom Sawyer was…all he wanted to do was murder a couple of hundred Americans. Let’s see now… suppose your “Tom Sawyers” had been playing pirate this way: Suppose they weren’t muslims talking about jihad and getting guns to go shoot some soldiers. Suppose they were all just some good ol’ white boys from Alabama, talkin’ 'bout getting guns to go shoot some niggers. That wouldn’t bother you at all would it? After all, it’s just a few kids playing pirate like Tom Sawyer. No need to get the police involved , is there? . ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/17 "2007-05-09T19:07:32Z")
[QUOTE=erie774] Share and Sharia alike. Or would that be Sonny and Sharia? [/QUOTE] If I was more clever, I’d come up with a “I Got You Babe” parody. So someone else gets to do it instead. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/18 "2007-05-09T19:12:31Z")
Timothy McVeigh was kind of a bumbler, wasn’t he? I mean, he was caught after the bombing because he had no plates and a loaded gun in his car. It didn’t keep him from destroying a federal building, damaging more than 300 more in the blast, and killing 168 people and wounding 850 more. The OP confuses incompetence with innocuousness. They are very different things, and anyone serious about law enforcement wouldn’t make this mistake. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/19 "2007-05-09T19:42:25Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] Timothy McVeigh was kind of a bumbler, wasn’t he? I mean, he was caught after the bombing because he had no plates and a loaded gun in his car. It didn’t keep him from destroying a federal building, damaging more than 300 more in the blast, and killing 168 people and wounding 850 more. The OP confuses incompetence with innocuousness. They are very different things, and anyone serious about law enforcement wouldn’t make this mistake. [/QUOTE] Agreed. The smug scoffing here is dumber than the behavior of those Islamist assholes playing paintball. There are a lot of other **smart** terrorist sonsofbitches who can - and will - hurt us in obscene ways. Every single one of you posters is too fucking smart to talk so stupidly. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284/20 "2007-05-09T19:44:53Z")
For those who aren’t getting the thread title reference [Read me Dr. Memory?](http://www.firesigntheatre.com/albums/album.php?album=bozos) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-theyre-all-bozos-in-this-base-more-al-qaeda-idiots-apprehended/403284.md?page=2)