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(Some Guy)   FBI sends Seattle Post-Intelligencer photos of three men acting suspiciously on Puget Sound ferry, saying they may be planning a terror attack. Seattle PI refuses to publish them   (opinionjournal.com) divider line
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    More: Asinine  
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1541 clicks; posted to Politics » on 22 Aug 2007 at 8:27 PM (15 years ago)   |   Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook



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rancidPlasma
2007-08-22 3:47:44 PM  
You can't call for a flamewar just like that smitty, you have to be sneaky.
 
TFer
2007-08-22 3:53:29 PM  
You can't call for a flamewar just like that smitty, you have to be sneaky.

Who died and made you God? He can do what he wants, this is America. And besides, even God can't tell him what to do, that is, if God even exists. SPI's actions account to basically treason in this post-9/11 world. Suspicious activity should be reported to the authorities. I have DHS programmed into my phone just waiting for the first dark-skinned guy who looks at me funny. You may call me Hitler, but I tell you what, you guys with your fancy "rights" are the real Hitlers.

/just playing along.
 
Boojum2k
2007-08-22 4:02:07 PM  
Meh. Can't blame them too much, and the pictures are freely available online for those interested.
 
oldebayer
2007-08-22 4:03:58 PM  
CNN, which everyone knows hates America, show the pix this morning.

One of the guys definitely looked fishy. He had the top button on his shirt buttoned.
 
mediaho
2007-08-22 4:13:05 PM  
God damn it. I gave Opinion Journal a clickthrough.
 
z_gringo
2007-08-22 4:15:31 PM  
Why does the Seattle Post-Intelligencer hate America?
 
rancidPlasma
2007-08-22 4:17:08 PM  
TFer: You can't call for a flamewar just like that smitty, you have to be sneaky.

Who died and made you God? He can do what he wants, this is America. And besides, even God can't tell him what to do, that is, if God even exists. SPI's actions account to basically treason in this post-9/11 world. Suspicious activity should be reported to the authorities. I have DHS programmed into my phone just waiting for the first dark-skinned guy who looks at me funny. You may call me Hitler, but I tell you what, you guys with your fancy "rights" are the real Hitlers.

/just playing along.

Damn! I wish I could vote up comments! All you need in there is "Republitards" OR "Dumbocrats"
 
Sensei Can You See [TotalFark]
2007-08-22 4:24:39 PM  
rancidPlasma: You can't call for a flamewar just like that smitty, you have to be sneaky.

Hmmm. Seems pretty sneaky to me to use the Asinine tag without saying whether it refers to the FBI or the SPI.
 
Sensei Can You See [TotalFark]
2007-08-22 4:25:26 PM  
Boojum2k: Meh. Can't blame them too much, and the pictures are freely available online for those interested.

I'll buy that explanation next time they skip a story about Paris Hilton, saying pix and info are freely available online.
 
rancidPlasma
2007-08-22 4:26:21 PM  
MyNameIsNotMervGriffin: rancidPlasma: You can't call for a flamewar just like that smitty, you have to be sneaky.

Hmmm. Seems pretty sneaky to me to use the Asinine tag without saying whether it refers to the FBI or the SPI.
....

I was referring to his:

"Click the number to your right to join the flamewar"
 
Sensei Can You See [TotalFark]
2007-08-22 4:28:20 PM  
rancidPlasma: I was referring to his:

"Click the number to your right to join the flamewar"

Ah. Would you prefer "DON'T click the number to your right, whatever you do. I'm warning you--please, for the love of God don't click that number"?
 
Sensei Can You See [TotalFark]
2007-08-22 4:39:21 PM  
Boojum2k: Meh. Can't blame them too much, and the pictures are freely available online for those interested.

Besides, they used all available space to publish a photo of Pooty-Poot with his shirt off:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Putins_Image.html
 
clanque
2007-08-22 4:39:42 PM  
I don't think the Seattle papers' logic makes sense. They write about the FBI having pictures of "persons of interest" but don't publish the pictures at the center of the story. If it's not a story, don't write about it.

Maybe their goal was to ensure that people continued to follow the story by buying the next day's paper to see what happens next.

Of course, unless the FBI actually had something more to go on than just some Middle Eastern-looking guys on a ferry, the bureau should have been more forthcoming.
 
clanque
2007-08-22 4:41:08 PM  
I meant to conclude with "unless the FBI had something more...it should have STFU. If it did have more...should have been more forthcoming."
 
Sensei Can You See [TotalFark]
2007-08-22 4:44:48 PM  
clanque: Of course, unless the FBI actually had something more to go on than just some Middle Eastern-looking guys on a ferry, the bureau should have been more forthcoming.

Apparently the guys were taking photos of the ferry doors and asking the crew lots of questions about how the boat operated. Puget Sound ferries have been the top maritime terrorism targets for a long time, according to DHS.

Easy to pooh-pooh all that, I suppose. But then again everyone's still upset at Bush for not doing whatever he was supposed to do about a vague terrorism threat report a couple of months before 9/11, too.
 
Oakenshield
2007-08-22 4:57:54 PM  
Well golly. If the FBI really wants us to see pictures that are of interest to them, why don't they just get a paper of their own?
 
vernonFL
2007-08-22 5:31:23 PM  
I have a brilliant idea for the Seattle FBI/Police:

Why don't you send a couple of undercover guys out on these ferries looking for suspicious people! You can observe them and question them yourselves instead of relying on people's hearsay and rumours!
 
cameroncrazy1984 [TotalFark]
2007-08-22 5:36:59 PM  
vernonFL: I have a brilliant idea for the Seattle FBI/Police:

Why don't you send a couple of undercover guys out on these ferries looking for suspicious people! You can observe them and question them yourselves instead of relying on people's hearsay and rumours!

Thats a great idea. And also that's why they won't do it.
 
Hal B. Sure
2007-08-22 5:47:21 PM  
Oakenshield: Well golly. If the FBI really wants us to see pictures that are of interest to them, why don't they just get a paper of their own?

Too much work. They should just pay for an article like everyone else.
 
Scooby's'pawn
2007-08-22 5:57:58 PM  
cameroncrazy1984: vernonFL: I have a brilliant idea for the Seattle FBI/Police:

Why don't you send a couple of undercover guys out on these ferries looking for suspicious people! You can observe them and question them yourselves instead of relying on people's hearsay and rumours!

Thats a great idea. And also that's why they won't do it.

Yeah. How many ferry runs can there be? Seattle-Bremerton car ferry, Seattle-Bremerton Foot Ferry, Seattle-Bainbridge Ferry, Seattle-Port Orchard ferry, Kingston-Edmonds Ferry... And how many runs can they have a day? 15 each? So maybe only 100 runs (both directions) a day. I'm sure there's enough undercover people to cover the entire ferry and sift through the 100-500 people on each ferry right?

When several people report a total of 6 suspicious incidents and they are able to say that several are definitely the same two men...

I mean, what are the odds?

/sarcasm off

The police/FBI can't always be there to protect you and spot the bad guys. Some passengers and ferry personnel were suspicious enough to report the incidents to the FBI. If the FBI didn't follow up on it, they'd be derelict in their duties. There's no law that the PI has to run the photos, but not running them is PC bullshiat.
 
st_gulik
2007-08-22 5:58:10 PM  
MyNameIsNotMervGriffin: Hmmm. Seems pretty sneaky to me to use the Asinine tag without saying whether it refers to the FBI or the SPI.

It's Obvious who the Evil SPY is in the Story here! Just look at the acronym for the Seattle Post Intelligencer spells out!

We need to Nuke Seattle before they Nuke the Rest of Us!
 
st_gulik
2007-08-22 6:05:10 PM  
Scooby's'pawn: The police/FBI can't always be there to protect you and spot the bad guys. Some passengers and ferry personnel were suspicious enough to report the incidents to the FBI. If the FBI didn't follow up on it, they'd be derelict in their duties. There's no law that the PI has to run the photos, but not running them is PC bullshiat.

It's also called covering your legal ass. If those guys are normal citizens who live in Seattle and they see their pictures in the paper and say, "Hey! The Paper just called me a Terrorist, just because I wanted to show Cousin Jim and Uncle Bob all the Ferries in town, I'm going to Sue the Paper!" Then the paper is SCREWED.
 
Knucklepopper
2007-08-22 6:15:37 PM  
TFer: You may call me Hitler, but I tell you what, you guys with your fancy "rights" are the real Hitlers.

Dude, if you were a chick, I'd copulate with you.
 
cameroncrazy1984 [TotalFark]
2007-08-22 6:49:57 PM  
st_gulik: It's also called covering your legal ass. If those guys are normal citizens who live in Seattle and they see their pictures in the paper and say, "Hey! The Paper just called me a Terrorist, just because I wanted to show Cousin Jim and Uncle Bob all the Ferries in town, I'm going to Sue the Paper!" Then the paper is SCREWED.

That's exactly it. "Suspicious activity." isn't a real legal reason to slander someone.
 
Poopspasm
2007-08-22 8:42:44 PM  
Um, how big of a terror target is a farking ferry? Really?

I'm not asking to be a dick, but I've never been to Seattle, and I'm having trouble imagining why someone would go to the other side of planet earth to attack a boat. Anyone?
 
Shaggy_C
2007-08-22 8:50:11 PM  
Poopspasm: I'm not asking to be a dick, but I've never been to Seattle, and I'm having trouble imagining why someone would go to the other side of planet earth to attack a boat. Anyone?

It was listed as the #1 maritime terrorist target in the US iirc.


Anyhow, I'm against this. Putting up pics of people? WTF?? If it's such a concern, have some investigators ride on the boats and keep their eyes open. You don't do this, it's wrong. It takes 'innocent before proven guilty' completely out of the equation and will fark these guys somewhere down the line. Completely convinced of it.

I know the response will be "b-b-but Wanted posters!!" and I'll pre-empt you: Wanted posters are for people who are accused of a crime. These guys haven't been accused of SHIAT!
 
Killer Miller
2007-08-22 8:51:16 PM  
This doesn't happen very often. It's not like the FBI is sending out pictures of people in public on a regular basis to newspapers and asking them to be printed because they are possible terrorists. There must be something that is causing them a heightened sense of concern.
 
deadsanta
2007-08-22 9:07:50 PM  
Sounds like a newsroom had to go consult their legal department first, which they did, and have since published the photos.

/yawn.
 
arollo
2007-08-22 9:10:34 PM  
I think most of the darker-skinned men in the US are getting visits by the FBI these days.

I don't really have a snarky comment. I just think it's real sad.
 
ameliawizard
2007-08-22 10:11:27 PM  
Two young men exhibiting strange behavior equals ghey.

The FBI is clueless.

/oh the puns
 
Help-Im-Sober
2007-08-22 10:21:25 PM  
Shaggy_C;
Anyhow, I'm against this. Putting up pics of people? WTF?? If it's such a concern, have some investigators ride on the boats and keep their eyes open. You don't do this, it's wrong. It takes 'innocent before proven guilty' completely out of the equation and will fark these guys somewhere down the line. Completely convinced of it.

I know the response will be "b-b-but Wanted posters!!" and I'll pre-empt you: Wanted posters are for people who are accused of a crime. These guys haven't been accused of SHIAT!

I came in here to say basically the same thing you articulated it better than I could, Kudos

What the hell are we paying the FBI for if they can't do their own work?
 
pauly99
2007-08-22 10:57:12 PM  
typical american mentality.

if you're not white, you must be a terrorist . . .

americans bore me, but they piss off the rest of the world . . .
 
scoughlin
2007-08-22 10:59:07 PM  
Poopspasm: Um, how big of a terror target is a farking ferry? Really?

I'm not asking to be a dick, but I've never been to Seattle, and I'm having trouble imagining why someone would go to the other side of planet earth to attack a boat. Anyone?

The ferry system is the largest in the country and I believe 2nd largest in the world. It has tens of millions of passengers annually and is very important to the region. It gets people to work and back, is a tourist attraction and many businesses rely on it to get products across the Sound. If the ferries were somehow shut down due to an attack, many people that live on the west end of Puget Sound would have to drive all the way around the water to get to Seattle, and the added traffic would create an absolute nightmare on the freeways. I wouldn't underestimate these extremists, they don't give a shiat about going across the globe to attack us as long as it sends a message and causes some mayhem.
 
No Such Agency
2007-08-22 11:02:42 PM  
scoughlin:
If the ferries were somehow shut down due to an attack, many people that live on the west end of Puget Sound would have to drive all the way around the water to get to Seattle, and the added traffic would create an absolute nightmare on the freeways.

"Truly, Osama, who killed over 3000 infidels in his magnum opus, will be proud of us for inconveniencing a bunch of latte-drinking left-coasters!"

TERRORISTS HAVE NOT ATTACKED THE US MAINLAND SINCE 9/11. They're not about to blow the doors off a damned car ferry in some pathetic mini-attack at this point.
 
irving47
2007-08-22 11:03:38 PM  
Scooby: you forget the Whidbey Island and Port Townsend ferries?
 
Curt Blizzah
2007-08-23 12:02:02 AM  
The SPI probably hasn't shown the pics as not to accuse the people the FBI have in the photos of a crime and be subject to a lawsuit, a la the whole Richard Jewell vs. the Atlanta Constitution court case.

Link (new window)

Interesting note: I should have been in Centennial Park at the time of the bomb, at the same area the bomb went off, at the 1996 Olympics, picking up trash as the job I had dictated, but I was in a bar a couple blocks away getting drunk. So many people were in Atlanta at the time, you could clock in at a job, and go somewhere else. After the bomb went off, I had to rush back to the park to clock out, and get my free sandwich, chips, and Powerade. The bar had a band playing, and I heard a pop, but did not find out about the bomb until everyone was watching the TVs in the place.
 
M-G
2007-08-23 12:28:58 AM  
So this web site is put together by the WSJ? And they're concerned about Murdoch buying them why?
 
ItHurtsWhenIDoThis [TotalFark]
2007-08-23 12:43:07 AM  
No Such Agency: TERRORISTS HAVE NOT ATTACKED THE US MAINLAND SINCE 9/11. They're not about to blow the doors off a damned car ferry in some pathetic mini-attack at this point.

Hmm, a terrorist arrives from Canada, and now another Canadian telling me I'm being foolish and should drop my guard. Coincidence? Mr Ahmed Ressam a friend of yours?
 
Darkace911
2007-08-23 1:06:05 AM  
Hello, first amendment, the government cannot tell a newspaper what to publish or what not to publish. The number of people in government who failed civics class must be very high. What does "Protect the Homeland" sound like in German? Ihre Papiere bitte?
 
IamSpartacus
2007-08-23 1:15:02 AM  
Curt Blizzah:

Interesting how things work out.

I was at the Olympics with my family, we were taking a night stroll in the park and got back to the hotel just around midnight.

A distant relative owned a hotel near the site and had to host medical personnel and make room in the lobby for some of the wounded.
 
scoughlin
2007-08-23 1:42:52 AM  
No Such Agency:
TERRORISTS HAVE NOT ATTACKED THE US MAINLAND SINCE 9/11. They're not about to blow the doors off a damned car ferry in some pathetic mini-attack at this point.

I think you fail to realize that there are six ferries in the fleet that can (and regularly do, during rush hour) carry up to 2500 passengers and either 144 or 202 cars depending on length. It would be far from a "mini-attack".
 
pizza_crust
2007-08-23 4:12:45 AM  
they need tot ake pictures of the boogie man under my bed too, he's planning somethign i just know it and i think he was facing east the other day too sitting on a rug! why wont the fbi save me too:(
 
Bored Horde
2007-08-23 5:20:46 AM  
scoughlin: No Such Agency:
TERRORISTS HAVE NOT ATTACKED THE US MAINLAND SINCE 9/11. They're not about to blow the doors off a damned car ferry in some pathetic mini-attack at this point.

I think you fail to realize that there are six ferries in the fleet that can (and regularly do, during rush hour) carry up to 2500 passengers and either 144 or 202 cars depending on length. It would be far from a "mini-attack".

A boat is a terrible target for a terrorist attack, the very structure is designed to contain explosions in a small area and even a massive breach below the waterline would still allow plenty of time to evacuate the passenger sections.

Maybe they're planning on releasing time-bombs of sugar into the fuel tank? Heh, good luck with 10 ferries stalled in the middle of the water.
 
davynelson
2007-08-23 9:09:37 AM  
so then the FBI finds them, and asks them if they're up to anything suspicious, and they say no, and the FBI says "Just checkin" and everybody goes home happy

except for the guys on the ferry, who sue the USA and probably go homes with millions in defamation damages
 
FatherDale
2007-08-23 10:34:56 AM  
MyNameIsNotMervGriffin: Boojum2k: Meh. Can't blame them too much, and the pictures are freely available online for those interested.

I'll buy that explanation next time they skip a story about Paris Hilton, saying pix and info are freely available online.

FTW
 
DeathByGeekSquad
2007-08-23 10:57:14 AM  
st_gulik: Scooby's'pawn: The police/FBI can't always be there to protect you and spot the bad guys. Some passengers and ferry personnel were suspicious enough to report the incidents to the FBI. If the FBI didn't follow up on it, they'd be derelict in their duties. There's no law that the PI has to run the photos, but not running them is PC bullshiat.

It's also called covering your legal ass. If those guys are normal citizens who live in Seattle and they see their pictures in the paper and say, "Hey! The Paper just called me a Terrorist, just because I wanted to show Cousin Jim and Uncle Bob all the Ferries in town, I'm going to Sue the Paper!" Then the paper is SCREWED.

Which is why it clearly states that the people are just wanted for clarification purposes, not terrorism charges.
 
zenobia
2007-08-23 11:11:58 AM  
Oakenshield
Well golly. If the FBI really wants us to see pictures that are of interest to them, why don't they just get a paper of their own?

This.

I know we're overwhelmed by info-sources right now, but some media outlets are still trying to hold on to the concept of journalistic ethics getting their asses wiped by rumor-mongering competitors.
 
RandomExcess
2007-08-23 11:55:35 AM  
It won't be so funny when these suspects pilot the ferries into the Sears Tower and the St. Louis Arch.
 
machoprogrammer
2007-08-23 12:30:41 PM  
FBI usually doesn't issue alerts unless it has sound reasoning behind it.

I worked for the FBI, so I am getting a kick out of some of these replies.
 
machoprogrammer
2007-08-23 12:37:15 PM  
link to the press release

Considering multiple passengers reported them, and they were seen on multiple ferries on several different days, something is fishy. Probably not a "dry run", but could be simple surveillance. Hopefully it is nothing.
 
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