FBI: Grenade at Bush speech could have exploded

[Bluebear]

TBILISI, Georgia We're learning more about a grenade found in the crowd at President Bush's speech last week in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

An F-B-I agent says the grenade could have exploded.

Brian Parmen's statement comes after Georgian officials gave differing accounts of the device. They said it either wasn't in condition to explode or that it was an "engineering grenade" that would be fatal only at close range had it gone off.

The Georgians also said the grenade wasn't thrown -- the F-B-I says it was.

http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=3359691

[Flammable Materials]

1. Who do we believe? Who do we believe?

They're both such willing lapdogs of the Bush Crime Cartel!

[Jon_da_brockman]

2. Why is the FBI involved?

Doesnt their jurisdiction end at the borders? Shouldn't this be the CIA's charge?

[MADem]

3. FBI has limited authority overseas

They get involved in things like bombings, in situations where US citizens are involved (eg the COLE, Khobar Towers) -- they do INTERPOL coordination and that sort of stuff. They cannot act independently, they must coordinate with host nation assets and of course, be invited, which generally is not an issue. CIA doesn't do that sort of work; they do intel work, not forensic policework.

[annabanana]

8. not in this "post 9/11 world"

Everything you thought you knew about the intelligence community is, like, SO September 10th.

[Benhurst]

4. Yeah, sure it could have.

:scared: :scared: :scared:

And he was soooooooooo heroic. And The Great One didn't even have a goat book to read.

More bullshit from the Bush Crime Family.

[katty]

59. Are we all supposed to boo-hoo? Satan protects little shrub

[bowens43]

5. blah,blah , blah,blah.....

poor little idiot.

[TahitiNut]

6. And if shit were dynamite, the Chimperor's head could explode.

We're past the point where we can trust anything out of this administration.

[nolabels]

25. WHORE-CHEWS and HAND-GRENADES

Remember it only counts if it's close :think:

[pokercat999]

7. I'm tell'n ya the world

is full of damn incompetence. Can't even get a grenade to go off, how hard is that? I mean really, just pull the pin and get the hell out of the way.

Now throwing it that's the tricky part. You pull the pin and you realize that this is no ordinary firecracker! Your hand starts to shake the fingers holding the release lever are clenched so tight they feel like the are going to break. The grenade is tucked just under your right ear as you prepare to throw. Since it's a little heavy you throw it in shot-putt manner with high arch. OK, NOW! You fling it as high and as far as it will go which in my case is almost straight up and about 10 feet forward. Of course being the curious type I want to see it explode so I stand in my foxhole and watch it's flight. Suddenly the whole world crashes down on my head as the Drill Instructor pounds me to the bottom of the whole, probably saving my life, as the explosion occurs just a few feet away. I guess I'm white as a ghost cause the DI just shakes his head and calls for the next dumb-ass piece of cannon fodder to take his turn in this hell hole. I crawl out of the hole on shaky legs, with sweat streaming down my face in the cold New Jersey air, knowing that I'd rather never have to hold a grenade again and praying to a god that I don't believe in or acknowledge (except for these rare occasions)that he spare me the need. There's no need to acknowledge the DI's heroism, he does it everyday and soon he will be going again, for his third tour. As a twenty year old I never asked him why, as a fifty-five year old I would demand the answer. Maybe that's why we only send children to war.

[dbonds]

44. It must have been Jesus that kept it from exploding.

Or maybe bush 'sensed' the danger and channeled gods energy to keep it from exploding, not for his sake but for the people in the crowd. He didn't even let the crowd know there was a danger because he had it under control and did not want anyone hurt in a stampede. :sarcasm:

[MaineDem]

9. And I could have been the Queen of England

But I wasn't.

I believe so little of what anyone in this government says. It's sad really.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

10. Makes me wonder if it wasn't a "training grenade"...used for....

...training troops how to throw a grenade without the resultant explosion.

Are we really being told, if you read between the lines, that the grenade "could have exploded" had it been filled with the material used to make it explode?

[daleo]

37. Good catch, there is bound to be verbal misdirection. n/t

[LightningFlash]

11. Great.

Wasn't it just last week that an unidentified plane got reported in the sky?

Anytime some suspicious aircraft flies too low now, the White House thinks its a deadly conspiracy event. I've never seen such paranoid people.

[Botany]

12. Gee, really? A grenade can explode .......

After killing over 100,00 innocent Islamic people do you
think some people could be mad @ Commandeer Cuckoo Bananas?

Although I wouldn't trust 'em if they said it was cold and dark on
Jan 1st @ 2:00 AM ......

[anitar1]

57. I agree. Did not realize that a single grenade

could kill and injure such a huge crowd until I read this. Musta bin a nuclar grenade. What a damn farce. Who would believe this? A bunch of evangelicals, I suppose.

[BiggJawn]

13. They're right..

IF someone had stuffed it full of explosives and screwed in a live detonator....

I could've been a famous movie star, too, if I had just met the right people when I was younger...

[madrchsod]

14. it was a flaming bag of dog shit

no one wants to admit that this is what the world thinks of our leader....

[no_to_war_economy]

15. FBI: Grenade at Bush Rally Was Live

The FBI said Wednesday that a grenade thrown in the crowd during last week's speech by President Bush in the Georgian capital was capable of exploding and was considered a threat against the president.

The statement by agent Bryan Paarmann contradicted initial reports by Georgian officials that the grenade was not capable of exploding and had been found on the ground. The grenade, wrapped in a dark handkerchief, fell about 100 feet from the podium where Bush was speaking May 10 and "simply failed to function," he said.



http://apnews.myway.com//article/20050518/D8A5JFK01.html

[Hissyspit]

16. Dupe

Different report though.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1481288

[Atman]

17. IOW, there WAS a dummy on stage, but it wasn't the grenade. nt

nt

[jojo54]

18. LMAO

you could even see the strings............

[benburch]

19. Yeah, right...

Any lie to bump the poll numbers!

[shadowknows69]

20. well fuking great

there's all the evidence the radical right freaks need to prove to themselves that Commander Cuckoo Banannas is God's adopted 2nd son.

[daleo]

41. Remember, Hitler got lucky with a bomb once too.

So, the "glorious leader saved by a miracle" angle has some unfortunate historical associations.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

49. He did survive the blast, but lost most of his hearing and the partial...

...use of an arm. Based on the reports of Hitlers subsequent appearances, public or private, he appeared to go downhill physically from that point until he committed suicide in 1945, days before the end of WWII in Europe.

[daleo]

50. But I believe the Nazi regime used his survival as propaganda

"God is with our leader" type of propaganda. I could see the RW doing the same in this case, in the farther out corners of the echo chamber (talk radio, etc.) to get the meme out to the faithful.

[anitar1]

58. Probably caused by the advanced case of syphilis

that he had.

[merwin]

22. I think it's more about distriaction from the current events rather than

poll numbers. Get the patriotism up so people will forget how much of an incompetant president he is.

[Nihil]

24. "... considered a threat against the president" ? Yeah, right ...

A grenade (that may or may not have been live) was found 100 feet from
the podium. If it had exploded, there would have been no chance for
shrapnel to travel through the 100 feet of soggy baffle material between
the source and the over-hyped potential target. The only people that
would lose out would be the Georgians in the audience.

No, I think I trust the Georgian officials more than agent Bryan
Paarmann (or whoever gave him his prepared statement).

[Zerex71]

54. Too bad. We were *this close* to the Reign of Emperor Cheney.

[Javaman]

21. If that's the case, Moron* could have been a good prez, but he wasn't.

[Contrary1]

23. Couldn't have happened.

"It was found 30m (100 feet) from the stage in Freedom Square."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4559013.stm

The FBI asserts the grenade was thrown. Completely illogical.
Someone supposedly threw the grenade from further than 100 feet
away from The Idiot Son, and we are supposed to believe he was
the target?

Rove needs to rework the script.

[Nihil]

26. *Beep* Does not compute!

Thrown yet still remained "wrapped in a dark handkerchief"?

Thrown yet remained undiscovered until after the event?
("It was found 30m (100 feet) away from where Mr Bush had been
addressing a huge crowd in Tbilisi's Freedom Square.")

Thrown yet no-one complained about being hit forcefully by a couple of
pounds of metal?

Thrown yet no-one saw it hit the person in front?

Thrown yet no-one wondered what the hell was going on until after
the address?

Maybe not ...

[rocktivity]

27. How does the FBI know that it was thrown

When Bush wasn't informed about it until he was on his way home? If they saw or knew that someone in the crowd had thrown a grenade, why didn't they stop the speech and whisk Bush away?

Sounds like a cheap attempt for sympathy in the wake of hurricane Galloway and the public not buying the Newsweek smear.

:headbang:
rocknation

[KansDem]

55. "When Bush wasn't informed about it until he was on his way home?"

Perhaps Andy should have told Bush about the grenade:



Sir, you're under attack!

I don't see any children or children's' books, so what do I do this time?

[nine30]

28. Deleted

[dubyaD40web]

29. Darn

Why do grenades hate America?

[msrbly]

30. Same news different day

I liked this story better when I heard it the first time :Cessna does a flyby. Different "weapon" different day - same story. Stop the presses - someone somewhere hates the president and would like to take him out. Wake up msm - this isn't news. If there weren't constant threats on the president's life (and there are we just don't have to hear about them blow by blow) the secret service wouldn't be necessary.

[Roland99]

31. Non-story. Not worth our effort in keeping this alive

;)

[bushisanidiot]

32. The Nosepicker in Chief is hated world wide.. including his home country

what a friggin' embarrassment. He's even more hated than Reagan was.

how often was President Clinton boo'd off the stage??

i sure don't remember anything like this ever happening to him.

[frylock]

33. and if my aunt had nads, she would be my uncle..

yawwwwwwwwwwn.

[Selteri]

34. Just saw that on CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/05/18/bush.georgia/index.html

Somehow I have a hard time believing that it took THAT LONG to figure out it could have exploded.

[Up2Late]

35. Here's the Reuters report

(...landed within 100 feet of the podium..." It sounds like more of a threat to the crowd and more of a chaos/start a riot device.)

Georgia grenade was real and threat to Bush: FBI
Wed May 18, 2005 10:59 AM ET

By Niko Mchedlishvili

TBILISI (Reuters) - The FBI said on Wednesday a grenade thrown toward President Bush during a visit to Georgia last week had been a threat to the American leader and had only failed to explode because of a malfunction. In a statement, a Federal Bureau of Investigation official at the U.S. embassy said the grenade, thrown while Bush made a keynote speech in Tbilisi's Freedom Square on May 10, had been live and landed within 30 meters (100 feet) of the president.

"While the President ... was making his remarks on Freedom Square, a hand grenade was tossed in the general direction of the main stage and landed within 100 feet of the podium," said C. Bryan Paarmann, the FBI's legal attaché at the embassy. "We consider this act to be a threat against the health and welfare of both the President of the United States and the President of Georgia as well as the multitude of Georgian people that had turned out at this event," he said in the statement. Paarmann said a reward was offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator.

"This hand grenade appears to be a live device that simply failed to function due to a light strike on the blasting cap induced by a slow deployment of the spoon activation device," the FBI statement said. It contradicted an account by Georgian police at the time who said the grenade was a dud, left at the spot to sow panic among the tens of thousands who turned out to greet Bush.

A White House spokesman also said then that Bush, who had visited the ex-Soviet republic to show support for its pro-Western government, had never been in danger. There was no explanation for the discrepancy between the different versions.
(more and page 2 at link above)

[uppityperson]

36. BBC link too

Hey, at least it hasn't moved closer yet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4559013.stm
Live grenade 'was threat to Bush'

A hand grenade found close to George W Bush during his visit to the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia was armed and could have gone off, an FBI agent has said.
Bryan Paarmann also said the device had been hurled before falling into the crowd listening to the US leader's speech in the capital, Tbilisi.

It was found 30m (100 feet) from the stage in Freedom Square.

Picture says:"
Bush received an enthusiastic welcome in Georgia"

[caligirl]

38. NYT: FBI Says Grenade at Bush Rally Could Have Exploded

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Georgia-Grenade-Bush.html

Filed at 11:18 a.m. ET

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) -- A grenade hurled in a crowd during last week's speech by President Bush in the Georgian capital was capable of exploding and was considered a threat against the president, the FBI said Wednesday.

In Washington, the White House spokesman said Secret Service agents in Georgia were examining whether security changes were needed, noting that some people were seen getting around metal detectors at Bush's May 10 speech.

The FBI statement contradicted initial reports by Georgian officials that the Soviet-era grenade was found on the ground, was inactive and posed no danger to Bush.

The grenade, wrapped in a dark handkerchief, fell about 100 feet from the podium where Bush was speaking and ''simply failed to function,'' FBI agent Bryan Paarmann said.

Now the Really Big locks will come out on the WH gates.:hide:

[Benhurst]

39. And pigs could fly. NT

[Jo March]

40. And I could win the lottery. nt

[dbonds]

43. Got to fog up the airwaves with this junk.

Lots of bad news for Bushco lately, need to use those weapons of mass distraction.

[Lori Price CLG]

42. What a shame! n/t

[demo dutch]

45. I hear yu!

[Lori Price CLG]

46. But...

We'd then have Cheney/Halliburton as pResident... :dilemma:

LOL!
Lori

[truthisfreedom]

47. PHEAR, CITIZENS! phire up the PHEAR PHACTORY!

[librechik]

48. Maybe this FBI guy knows what he's talking about--cuz he threw it!

never underestimate the power of ROVE.

[progressivebydesign]

51. Why was the FBI involved in something overseas?

I thought they were domestic mostly. Isn't it the SS to come up with these things?

[Worst Username Ever]

52. "How unfortunate."

[DoNotRefill]

53. This reminds me of something....

Many years ago, a guy was importing into the US a "de-activated" SCUD missile. It was a big missile body on a launch truck, but it didn't have any fuel or explosive warhead. In other words, it was a big hunk of scrap-metal, and posed no danger to anybody. He also had import permits, et cetera, from various three letter agencies. The launcher and rocket were destined for a military museum. BATF got their panties all in a bunch and said something like "All he'd have to do is fill it with rocket fuel and put a bomb on the end of it, and it would be a Destructive Device!!!"

[radar]

56. Or...

...It could have been a signal to start a general attack...
We just don't know
Or, it could've been a device from the future sent back to destroy "our leader."
We just don't know
Or, maybe a small compact ball that expands into a huge terminator.
We just don't know
Thus, we will have to spend much of our budget investigating further; to eliminate all doubts.

*
"The Georgians also said the grenade wasn't thrown -- the F-B-I says it was."
Now, didn't the Americans only find out after the fact when leaving the country? What sources are they using with such confidence? A Newsweek moment here....