Mohamed And Megahed's S.C. Adventure

Remember those two Middle Eastern men who were found with suspicious materials in the trunk of their car after being stopped on a South Carolina highway near the Naval Weapons Center and the Naval Consolidated Brig on 04 August 2007? I put up a post about it on 06 August 2007. Well, they've been indicted on federal charges of transporting explosives across state lines. Here are some items that have been recently disclosed:

• Ahmed Mohamed admitted to FBI agents that he made a training video to show people in "Arabic countries" how to use remote-controlled bombs against American soldiers.

• Someone using Mohamed's laptop computer used the search words "martyrdooms" and "suiciders" to link to the video on YouTube.

• Authorities found a toy remote-control boat, still in its box, and a partially dismantled digital watch at Youssef Samir Megahed's Tampa, Fla., home. They suspect that the items are the beginnings of a homemade bomb.

• On Mohamed's computer, authorities found a file titled "Bomb Shock," which contains files about explosives, including detailed descriptions of TNT and of C-4, a military-grade plastic explosive.

One of them made a training video in Arabic showing how to make a remote-control detonated bomb, and had detailed information about explosives on his computer. The other had a remote-control boat and a digital watch that had been disassembled to some extent. Of course they are still claiming that what was in their trunk was only homemade fireworks and that this is all just a big misunderstanding.

Somehow I just don't buy their story. Besides the facts of the case and their explanations not seeming to match-up too well, there is also the fact that there has been limited coverage of this case. Now, I understand that this isn't O.J. or a drunk Mel Gibson, but if there was something out there that would clear these two, I'm willing to bet that Katie Couric or Keith Olbermann would be pointing to this as proof that the big-bad federal government is discriminating against poor Muslim college students who went a little over the speed limit while passing through South Carolina.

You'll notice that Katie and Keith aren't doing that, though, and Mohamed and Megahed's stories just aren't adding up. I think there's more to this, and I'll keep watching.

USMC 9971 OUT