So the guy who tried to blow up a bomb in NYC was charged with, among other things, the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

This caused me to raise my eye brows slightly... so I went and looked up the US legal definition of WMDs. I found this little gem:

* "Any explosive or incendiary device [...] with a charge of more than four ounces;
* Any weapon designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals or their precursors; [...]"

It continues to include other things, but I enjoyed these two. Apparantly, four ounces of saw dust with a short-circuited wire running through it is a weapon of mass destruction. As is a blowgun if you dip the dart into your toilet bowl before shooting it at someone.

Has the US legal system really fallen so far?

-Fooglmog
Guy with no clue.

carrot top is a WMD

I don't see the problem. Also, I'm pretty sure this guy had fertilizer in his car, which falls under the second thing you listed.

im sure there are some other stipulations that you left out, that constituted the "mass" part of WMD

you can start spitting on everyone you see, with herpies, and you will be using a weapon of mass destruction by my definition.

the means doesnt matter, its the goal imo that defines WMD

when you have a clue how much even 4 ounce explosives can do then come back and talk

Pssh. Of course the US legal system has fallen that far. Just watched this on fark:

http://reason.com/...-of-swat-raid-on-missouri

I bet if we put the same thing outside your door you wouldnt care what they classified it as as long as the guy didnt get to do it again

^^Agrees with joe2/mrford and the masses here...Hang the Bastard

<< agrees with ^^ hang the b*stard(s)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/...Vbied-standards-chart.jpg

amazing isn't it that if the perp was tried by an international jury of earthers, he'd be toast before the hour'd be up

That would be moronic, imo.

On the other hand, there are lots of laws that are retarded.

its legal in ohio for women to walk in public naked

actually, klown, from what i've read, the fertilizer he had was of a non-explosive sort.
so apart from flinging fluff all over...guess that could be "toxic" chemicals... hm. maybe you have a point after all

so...in light of this being "WMD" does all of this crap piled upon George Bush not "finding" WMD's become irrelevant because as i understand it all of the car bombs being set off and road side bombs classify as such and clearly we did find those and also found missle caches.

No, it wasn't. Stop using my name in vain. And it's not nice to refer to someone who hasn't even posted in the thread. Poor imo. She always gets the blame.

You know what is really funny. I went on a Muslim bashing spree for a couple of days. Karma at it's finest. Or at least it's attempt.

I just happen to be doing work in NYC and I just happen to be a BLOCK from time square eating at John's Pizza off of 44th. Good stuff.

We were walking towards John's and the police started moving everyone away from Broadway. Someone said "Oh I think it was a bomb".

All we heard was "Oh I think it was Obama."

So we said screw it we don't care if he is eating or watching a show in secret we be hungry, walked on the opposite side of the street and around the polices attempt to detour us failed. So we were about a half a block from a lame attempt at a bomb. Enjoying good pizza and good beer.

SUCK IT TERRORISTS! I know you wanted me, but NOT this time! Send someone with a little more smarts!

[quote poster=Fooglmog]
This caused me to raise my eye brows slightly... so I went and looked up the US legal definition of WMDs. I found this little gem:

* "Any explosive or incendiary device [...] with a charge of more than four ounces;
* Any weapon designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals or their precursors; [...]"
[/quote]

A charge of 4 ounces?
I have a WMD sitting on my balcony under my BBQ, I guess.... glad I'm in Canada! :p

So basically everyone who owns a BBQ and a good supply of propane in the states owns a WMD?

this is quite intriguing.... then again i'm not overly surprised. The American legal system is going to put majority of its population either in jail or send them bankrupt because of their no-downloading nonsense.

so if i have a diesel Truck and i carry fertilizer around in my paddock i can be charged with this ?

I'm not saying that I'm happy if someone left four ounces of explosives on my stoop. Clearly, that would be dangerous and could cause damage. I believe that a person who would do that ought to be prosecuted.

I suppose that what I'm truly opposed to is the use of the term "WMD" in a manner that does not fit with the average person's concept of what a WMD is. If I walk into any gathering of people in the United States and say, "Someone tried to set off a WMD in New York", this kind of incident is not what will come to mind. We all know that this is the case.

Therefore, by calling this a WMD, those who don't take the time to learn all the details of the incident will be midled as to what actually ocurred and will respond in a way that's not necessarily appropriate. The United States relies on a well informed populace to select leaders that will respond effectively to the issues of the day. This cannot be done by a misinformed public. Situations like this, where terms are being bandied about based on technical definitions that don't fit with those of the common person are not conducive to that style of government.

-Fooglmog
Guy with no clue.

actually lolicon, anybody who owns a car with a gas tank owns a wmd.
after all, it's a timed (controlled) explosion.

mrford, if someone walked around spitting on me, while they had herpes, they wouldn't be around for trial. I believe that would be grounds for killing someone. Err, i guess herpes wouldn't really KILL me, but i guess i can just beat him towards death?

The operative word here is 'weapon', a bbq grill is not a weapon and niether is a diesel truck. A 4oz charge of C4 alone is more powerful then a hand grenade, if you put it in a bag of nails you could easily kill several people on a bus or train.

If you add a few grams of cobalt 60 to it, you could kill dozens of people and make an area the size of a collusium uninhabitable for years.

The point is, the guy TRIED to blow up a couple of propane tanks and 20 gallons of gasoline in the middle of time square. His intent was mass destruction, thus the charges against him.

(and remember, CHARGED with an offense does not really mean all that much - its the conviction that counts)

http://www.youtube.com/...YhZ6A&feature=related