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How do we know it is not rigged with an explosive like the Pagers? Edit: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45763674 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=457

How do we know it is not rigged with an explosive like the Pagers? Edit: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45763674 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45763674 "Cohen (former head of Mossad) insisted that the publicly recognized success against Hezbollah was merely one element of a far wider, systematic deployment of sophisticated devices worldwide, although notably abscent in the Gaza Strip."

magicalhippo 8mo ago
Take it with you on an international trip or three. Surely those airport scanners will pick it up.
- hparadiz 8mo ago
  That's actually a great point. Out of the hundreds of pagers that were out in the wild you'd think one of them went through an airport check at some point and got flagged.
  - embedding-shape 8mo ago
    Why would it get flagged? Weren't they just slightly modified pagers essentially rigged to overheat, rather than they actually put explosives in them? Besides, if I was in a terrorist cell, had a pager for communicating, and was taking a vacation flight, I think I might leave that pager behind for a week.
    - hparadiz 8mo ago
      Lol no. They had actual explosives in them. Small but enough to kill and maim.
    - 9991 8mo ago
      > Weren't they just slightly modified pagers essentially rigged to overheat, rather than they actually put explosives in them? No
    - ivl 8mo ago
      No. They weren't flagged because they went into Lebanon which has very little import security, and because it was a supply chain attack. The batteries were swapped for a combination battery / explosive charge. The follow-up attack where Hezbollah moved to using walkie-talkies that were also rigged to explode was the real shocker, though.
- ImHereToVote 8mo ago
  You mean the security theater complex?
  - magicalhippo 8mo ago
    Yeah, I mean surely that would catch it, right... right?
ivl 8mo ago
His claim there did not necessarily imply rigged explosives, but supply chain attacks either for surveillance or assassination purposes. And his limiting it to "virtually every potential theater" would suggest that it's mostly present in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen, most likely Iraq as well. But let's be honest here, this isn't civilian equipment that's been compromised. It's supply chain attacks where the buyer is manipulated into buying goods that they've tampered with, or re-engineered. They weren't pagers anyone could pick up at Radio Shack. (Everyone who got hit was a target, or a direct relative of a target.)
- SiempreViernes 8mo ago
  Or just standing next to someone in the line at the supermarket. Also, lets be clear and admit that if your notion of "target" is "anyone close to a device I sold years ago", you're not the type of person that cares if the balled up paper made it to the trash can: so long as it left your hand you would be satisfied.
  - yes_really 8mo ago
    The pager operation has been one of the most targeted ones in history for its size. The ratio of civilian by Hezbollah member casualties was very low compared to other military operations or a war.
    - SiempreViernes 8mo ago
      The perpetrators of pager attack had no way at all to know who would be closest to the pagers when they exploded, nor any way to know that the nominal owner of a particular pager were a combatant in the first place. So the perpetrators did not know they would actually hurt a lawful target, they just hoped it might. Anyway, stop supporting the genocide dude.
      - yes_really 8mo ago
        Oh yeah, just random chance that the Hezbollah combatants would have their military pagers close to them rather than with some random civilian. What an incredible coincidence!
foolserrandboy 8mo ago
We know because we're not shooting rockets at them.
- hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 8mo ago
  If only things were that simple and they weren't also helping ICE terrorise civilians.
- Panda4 8mo ago
  Today they are targeting people shooting rockets, tomorrow they will target people commenting on these posts, the day after they will target specific group of people. So you may be safe today, what happens when they don't like your opinion ?

magicalhippo 8mo ago

Take it with you on an international trip or three. Surely those airport scanners will pick it up.

hparadiz 8mo ago
That's actually a great point. Out of the hundreds of pagers that were out in the wild you'd think one of them went through an airport check at some point and got flagged.
- embedding-shape 8mo ago
  Why would it get flagged? Weren't they just slightly modified pagers essentially rigged to overheat, rather than they actually put explosives in them? Besides, if I was in a terrorist cell, had a pager for communicating, and was taking a vacation flight, I think I might leave that pager behind for a week.
  - hparadiz 8mo ago
    Lol no. They had actual explosives in them. Small but enough to kill and maim.
  - 9991 8mo ago
    > Weren't they just slightly modified pagers essentially rigged to overheat, rather than they actually put explosives in them? No
  - ivl 8mo ago
    No. They weren't flagged because they went into Lebanon which has very little import security, and because it was a supply chain attack. The batteries were swapped for a combination battery / explosive charge. The follow-up attack where Hezbollah moved to using walkie-talkies that were also rigged to explode was the real shocker, though.
ImHereToVote 8mo ago
You mean the security theater complex?
- magicalhippo 8mo ago
  Yeah, I mean surely that would catch it, right... right?

ivl 8mo ago

His claim there did not necessarily imply rigged explosives, but supply chain attacks either for surveillance or assassination purposes. And his limiting it to "virtually every potential theater" would suggest that it's mostly present in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen, most likely Iraq as well. But let's be honest here, this isn't civilian equipment that's been compromised. It's supply chain attacks where the buyer is manipulated into buying goods that they've tampered with, or re-engineered. They weren't pagers anyone could pick up at Radio Shack. (Everyone who got hit was a target, or a direct relative of a target.)

SiempreViernes 8mo ago
Or just standing next to someone in the line at the supermarket. Also, lets be clear and admit that if your notion of "target" is "anyone close to a device I sold years ago", you're not the type of person that cares if the balled up paper made it to the trash can: so long as it left your hand you would be satisfied.
- yes_really 8mo ago
  The pager operation has been one of the most targeted ones in history for its size. The ratio of civilian by Hezbollah member casualties was very low compared to other military operations or a war.
  - SiempreViernes 8mo ago
    The perpetrators of pager attack had no way at all to know who would be closest to the pagers when they exploded, nor any way to know that the nominal owner of a particular pager were a combatant in the first place. So the perpetrators did not know they would actually hurt a lawful target, they just hoped it might. Anyway, stop supporting the genocide dude.
    - yes_really 8mo ago
      Oh yeah, just random chance that the Hezbollah combatants would have their military pagers close to them rather than with some random civilian. What an incredible coincidence!

foolserrandboy 8mo ago

We know because we're not shooting rockets at them.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 8mo ago
If only things were that simple and they weren't also helping ICE terrorise civilians.
Panda4 8mo ago
Today they are targeting people shooting rockets, tomorrow they will target people commenting on these posts, the day after they will target specific group of people. So you may be safe today, what happens when they don't like your opinion ?