4 ms·

Anybody else think it was odd they mentioned WMD? Didn't realize the definition of WMD was extended to stuff people make at home.

bdfh42 14y ago
But it makes them way easier to find next time a government invades another country. Politicians do not like to get "caught" twice - well unless it is an indiscreet sexual liaison. (cynical me?)
InclinedPlane 14y ago
The law with regard to "weapons of mass destruction" is quite nonsensical. It has nothing to do with mass destruction whatsoever.
- Terretta 14y ago
  Completely agreed. The military definition is reasonable. the domestic criminal code and FBI definition is a bit silly: any IED with over a tiny quarter ounce of explosive. They've essentially made WMD a synonym for explosive when we already had the perfectly serviceable word bomb. And now there's no room for a more serious charge (ahem).
bobsy 14y ago
Its interesting. When the US + UK went into Iraq looking for WMD's I imagined they were after something more menacing than something a kid knocked up in his apartment. If that is a WMD then what classification do we give the bombs that level buildings that have frequently been used in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan? The most troubling thing I find about the prosecution is how they listed damaging interstate trade, presumably to keep the death sentence open. Massachusetts doesn't have the death penalty. Perhaps the most troubling thing about the bombings is how two people apparently so disorganized successfully carried out a double bombing..
- weego 14y ago
  The WMD definition is as simple as it being what the other side has. We have tactical ordinance.
- mpyne 14y ago
  > If that is a WMD then what classification do we give the bombs that level buildings that have frequently been used in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan? "Conventional ordnance". Military materiel has long been treated separately from civilian scope though. Just try to buy a gun in Europe if you don't believe me, and then compare and contrast with a German Army armory. Military and civilian are two different worlds. > The most troubling thing I find about the prosecution is how they listed damaging interstate trade, presumably to keep the death sentence open. A Chinese national died due to this. That's not only interstate in scope, it's international in scope. "Damaging interstate trade" is the Feds piling on, they could probably easily come up with 14 other ways to ensure jurisdiction remained at the Federal level if they felt like it. Even as much as buying a pressure cooker online and having it shipped from out-of-state would be sufficient to allow Federal jurisdiction.
- Vivtek 14y ago
  Makes you kind of wonder if shutting down Boston for a day was partly motivated by the desire to be able to list damage to interstate trade.
DanBC 14y ago
There are things that could be made at home that would count as WMD. Aum Shinryko made and released aerosolized anthrax. (Luckily, wrong strain of anthrax, and thus no widespread death.) I'm surprised a pressure cooker bomb is included.

bdfh42 14y ago

But it makes them way easier to find next time a government invades another country. Politicians do not like to get "caught" twice - well unless it is an indiscreet sexual liaison. (cynical me?)

InclinedPlane 14y ago

The law with regard to "weapons of mass destruction" is quite nonsensical. It has nothing to do with mass destruction whatsoever.

Terretta 14y ago
Completely agreed. The military definition is reasonable. the domestic criminal code and FBI definition is a bit silly: any IED with over a tiny quarter ounce of explosive. They've essentially made WMD a synonym for explosive when we already had the perfectly serviceable word bomb. And now there's no room for a more serious charge (ahem).

bobsy 14y ago

Its interesting. When the US + UK went into Iraq looking for WMD's I imagined they were after something more menacing than something a kid knocked up in his apartment. If that is a WMD then what classification do we give the bombs that level buildings that have frequently been used in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan? The most troubling thing I find about the prosecution is how they listed damaging interstate trade, presumably to keep the death sentence open. Massachusetts doesn't have the death penalty. Perhaps the most troubling thing about the bombings is how two people apparently so disorganized successfully carried out a double bombing..

weego 14y ago
The WMD definition is as simple as it being what the other side has. We have tactical ordinance.
mpyne 14y ago
> If that is a WMD then what classification do we give the bombs that level buildings that have frequently been used in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan? "Conventional ordnance". Military materiel has long been treated separately from civilian scope though. Just try to buy a gun in Europe if you don't believe me, and then compare and contrast with a German Army armory. Military and civilian are two different worlds. > The most troubling thing I find about the prosecution is how they listed damaging interstate trade, presumably to keep the death sentence open. A Chinese national died due to this. That's not only interstate in scope, it's international in scope. "Damaging interstate trade" is the Feds piling on, they could probably easily come up with 14 other ways to ensure jurisdiction remained at the Federal level if they felt like it. Even as much as buying a pressure cooker online and having it shipped from out-of-state would be sufficient to allow Federal jurisdiction.
Vivtek 14y ago
Makes you kind of wonder if shutting down Boston for a day was partly motivated by the desire to be able to list damage to interstate trade.

DanBC 14y ago

There are things that could be made at home that would count as WMD. Aum Shinryko made and released aerosolized anthrax. (Luckily, wrong strain of anthrax, and thus no widespread death.) I'm surprised a pressure cooker bomb is included.