[Nathaniel Firethorn]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,97014,00.html

"In our view, we do not believe we are in violation of the law because it was not our intent to defraud the U.S. government, to smuggle in contraband or to avoid duties," ABC News Vice President Jeffrey Schneider said Wednesday. "It was to test the system."So the end justifies the means, Mr. Schneider? :rolleyes:

- pdmoderator

[TheOtherOne]

Federal authorities are considering criminal charges against ABC News reporters who smuggled harmless depleted uranium into the country past Homeland Security screeners for a second straight year for an investigative piece on lax border security.:scrutiny: I wonder if Federal authorities would just "consider" criminal charges for me if I took a harmless unloaded handgun through airport security to investigate the system?

[garrettwc]

I would so love to see a couple of these idiots charged and penalized.

I remember when the first one of these aired. I thought to myself, "We don't have enough problems with terrorists? ABC has to go and make a how to video for them?":banghead:

[JohnBT]

Methinks he's confusing freedom of speech with freedom of action.

I vote for jail time...for stupidity if nothing else.

John

[Double Naught Spy]

I am afraid that you don't get to test the system by making the claim after the fact. You have to make the arrangements in advance. Otherwise, you are just a smuggler.

[El Tejon]

RICO!!! RICO!!!

Shut them down, now, Mr. United States Attorney!

[Waitone]

Is depleted uranium a list element meaning it can't be traded without restrictions?

Reason I'm asking is because ABC could have just as easily use lead (Pb) to smuggle.

Did ABC use depleted uranium in their story because it used the magic word "uranium" all the better to scare the ignorant and distracted?

If they wanted to demonstrate how porous the borders are they could have put a midget, undocumented transient freelance worker in a suitcase and hand carried it across the border.

Sound to me like ABC is preparing one of its patented hit pieces.

[garrettwc]

Did ABC use depleted uranium in their story because it used the magic word "uranium" all the better to scare the ignorant and distracted?


IIRC in the original story, the stated purpose was to show the the "sniffer technology" used to check incoming containers on ships don't sniff worth beans.

They wanted to have something with a real radiation signature (the reporter was shown sweeping it with geiger counter at the point of origin). The idea being could a bomb be placed inside something that would shield it from detection.

[Moparmike]

Jail time.

Oh, you were violating federal law for a story?? I am so sorry, let me help you to a big steaming cup of "Shut up and get back in your cell." Tasty, no?:D

[Kaylee]

ABC? Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of folks.


but.......but we're SPECIAL! We don't have to listen to the same laws we're trying to push on you. We know better.... we're like edumactated and stuff.....

[Sean Smith]

If DU was more dangerous than an equal weight in rocks in my Mom's garden, I'd be excited. Given the radium levels in Rhode Island granite, Mom's garden might be more dangerous, actually. As fun as it is to watch journalists squirm, it would be a waste of time to prosecute them just for making our security look dumb and ineffective. Isn't that kind of like making the sky look blue with fluffy clouds on a nice summer day?

[El Tejon]

Sean, I disagree. This is a way to take down an entire socialist network!

Oh, to get Peter Jennings in front of a grand jury!!!

[4v50 Gary]

Let the Federales march in and shut down ABC. I won't miss it. Freedom to opress the press. While we should abhor it, the biased reporting won't be missed. :)

[C.R.Sam]

Regrettably, probably the worst they will get is , cop a plea, a very affordable fine and no time.

That seems pretty common with caught smugglers.

Sam

[Pendragon]

Funny how many of us complain and cry out when one of ours is held to account for breaking an unjust mala prohibitum while doing nothing inherently bad or dangerous.

What did these guys do? They "smuggled" an essentially harmless substance that can "look evil" (to a geiger counter) into the country.

Oh, but they are socialists, they are the press, they deserve to be got any way we can get 'em.

I think they have a good point.

What concerned me was new reporters I heard implying the stuff was useful in making nuclear weapons...

[Waitone]

If ABC was interested in demonstrating the porous borders using radioactive materials it could have picked any number of isotopes in lab sample form and accomplished the task legally and cleanly. Depleted uranium has residual radioactivity of a minor intensity to the point of being negligable.

ABC was up to any number gags. Demonstrating how worthless our border / port security is in reality. Sub-topic is no one is safe from a dirty bomb. Other isotopes give off higher levels of radiation and are available from legal sources and could have been used for a legitimate story.

ABC did one of two things here. First, the company forged ahead without a clue of the technical reality of radiation physics; something that could have been fixed with a few consulting fees. At that time ABC could have deep sixed depleted uranium and picked up another isotope. Second, the word "uranium" was part and parcel of the story and it had to be used in spite of its minimal radiation output.

In any case ABC just reinforced my view that "journalism" is in general a semi-kestered enterprise.

[Sean Smith]

A fundamental weakness of our society is that the people who are supposed to keep the populace informed (journalists) are among the stupidest and least educated members of said populace. :rolleyes:

From a terrorist point of view, depleted uranium is completely worthless. You can't use it to make a nuclear weapon because it isn't fissile, and you can't use it to make a radiological weapon because it is only a feeble alpha emitter. Its only real use is for making armor-piercing projectiles or tank armor, and that is only because of its density, not any scary nuk-u-lar properties it has. It doesn't surprise me that nobody detected it, because the stuff is barely radioactive at all. Most people's basements are more powerful radiation sources (courtesy of naturally-ocurring radon) than any chunk of DU you might carry around.

You'd be better off trying to kill people by smuggling Cuban cigars to increase the rate of throat and mouth cancers.