A camera flash was going to set off the bomb? How come your other story said they were either going to use "a cell phone or an iPod"? What gives? This sounds like a bunch of baloney to me.

Eric, ever hear of "breaking news"? The facts are not all in, and won't be for some time.

But news orgs want to be "first" with whatever they think is true.

So take this article, like all others with a grain of salt. But if you think the alleged plot itself is bogus, then you are a hopeless crank.

Guess that means we are going to have to start flying in the nude with no carryons. SIGN ME UP!!!

I think they meant the disassembled camera flash. I used to take them apart and use them as tasers when I was a kid.

Ramzi Yousef pioneered using data bank watches to set off similar bombs which killed several people on airplanes. It's not so far fetched. (He used an explosive tied to the data bank watch placed in a seat above the fuel tank of the airplane).

Learn how to spell bologna.

Maybe because they don't know yet, or their sources are wrong, or with FIFTY people they had different methods. I hope you're not going to go to sleep and believe the comfortable fiction that there are no threats, whether or not this one sounds credible. The idea they'd take over four planes on 9/10/2001 with boxcutters would have sounded likewise fantastic. The threat is genuine, although the reporting is usually lame and biased.

Great Job ABC... here come the journalists beginning their step-by-step stories about how to build a bomb based on the publics need to know. Copy cats will appreciate it. Hype before common sense.

Drive by media! What else would you expect. They report the first thing they hear. Might be garbage but they do not care.

They will stop at nothing to attack. We must remain vigilant and trust in our governement to do their job of protecting us. All of these leaks and questioning of our covert strategies works to whose advantage in this war? That's right, the terrorist. Tap my phone, look at my bank records. I have nothing to hide and if you don't either than shut your mouth and let the government do their job.

since we are all still waiting on the indictment on hastert that Ross 'broke' as a news story, i am not sure i would trust anything out of his mouth.

I wonder if they caught these guys by wiretapping their phones. I bet they did.

Just remember, guys: We said NO to racial profiling.

Anyone care to change their minds?

Anyone who uses the term "imperialist warmonger" has no sense of what the word freedom means.

"Here lies so-and-so. Born XXX Died 10 August 2006. Killed by explosive bottle of Gatorade whilst on flight from London to Cali."

Some ending, huh?

Smooth move Press Corps! Why don't you all find out how they were caught and tell the world about it?, Then we'll have yet another way of protecting those who want to kill us!! Morons!!!

If you read the article it says, "The flash in a disposable camera has enough electrical power, they apparently believed, to set off the homemade explosive."

I bleive the reporter meant "battery" since flashes do not contain electricity. Therefore you could use a i-pod, laptop, camera or pager batteries.

As Jenlink says, "So take this article, like all others with a grain of salt." The major media in this county only reports the news that matches their agenda. It is up to you to do the research and not take somebody elses word for it.

That is the way the major media got busted on the Bush national guard, fabrications, and the doctored photos and videos comming out Lebonon. They want to discredit the war on terror, so be careful and do your research.

When will President Bush and Congress officially pass a Declaration of War against terror and the Countries that harbor and fund terror? President Bush stated after 9/11 to the World that “You will either be with us in the War on Terror or against us”. Yet we know Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations openly support and fund these fanatical Islamic groups. How many "9/11s" will our nation have to endure before we get serious? Would a Declaration of War been declared if this most recent plot of blowing up commercial airlines had been successful – or are our political leaders waiting for multiple homicide bombers in our cities? As a Viet Nam vet – 3 tours – I am becoming more and more concerned in that I perceive that the Iraq conflict is becoming a mirror of Viet Nam. It is time to get serious and allow the military to perform its mission and win this War on Terror.

Don't worry about this article telling people how to do this. Common knowledge on some sights on the net and to a good engineer/physicist or chemist.

Well, here we go again....the drive-by-media wanting to be first with the breaking story. Then telling the whole world how they were gonna do it! Like we need to know that. Maybe now the people on the left will stop screaming about how bad Bush is and realize we are at WAR. A war that knows no boundaries!

The use of flash-bulbs from cameras is an old well known source for making homemade improvised detonators and dates back into at least the 1970's. It is not a new idea.

"Tap my phone, look at my bank records. I have nothing to hide and if you don't either than shut your mouth and let the government do their job."

I am afforded rights and protections and I choose not to give them up. Give yours up at your own peril. The governments job is to work within the legal frameworks of our country's legislation. Government is not an all powerful unregulated presence. As a citizen patriot, I refuse to give up my rights. The government's "job" isn't to run roughshod over the very things that make this country free and great. Shutting up isn't an option in a free society.

You must be an IDIOT if you think this is not real! You probably think that we are not vulnerable and subject to other attacks. Wake Up! This is the real world.

Lets remember:

Law enforcement stopped this plot, not war.

The war in Iraq, fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here, didn't exactly work as planned.

It was the Brits that discovered it, not the US with all its PATRIOT act police state crap.

If it was a real plot, not a plot like the Florida people who were basically set up and zero threat to anyone but themselves, then the Bushies had nothing to do with stopping it, the liberal UK administration stopped it.

"A camera flash was going to set off the bomb? How come your other story said they were either going to use "a cell phone or an iPod"? What gives? This sounds like a bunch of baloney to me."

Cell phone / Ipod ---> camera flash ----> detonation.

Get it Eric?

The flash would work because it uses a big capacitor to store energy.

I wonder what is going in the world that our government is trying to distract us from?

"Tap my phone, look at my bank records. I have nothing to hide and if you don't either than shut your mouth and let the government do their job."

Speak for yourself, man. Yes, it's the government's job to protect us, but those who run our government have a long record of lying to us and manipulating us. Once you give up freedoms and privacy, they ain't ever coming back. Use just a little imagination and extrapolate out a few years, will ya?

"I have nothing to hide and if you don't either than shut your mouth and let the government do their job."

Spoken like a true sheep. If our government told you the sky was falling, you would probably believe that too....

Its really sad that so many of you people fall victim to this NeoCon garbage. There is good reason why the current administration is sitting at less than a 30% domestic approval rating. Across the world, its even less than that. America is a bully with worthless foreign policies. Instead of trying to rule the world, we should focus on the problems at home. If we kept our nose where it belongs, perhaps we wouldnt be so hated....

Oh Aaron, you seem to have been adequately Foxed into thinking everything will be taken care of by our leaders who we must blindly trust. Always question....always, it's the most American thing you can do.

It's real. But I don't expect the country to protect me. I'm not sure that its possible. But let one of those cowards come and visit me at home and I'll show them that I am prepared to protect myself.

I wonder if Airliners will still allow us to choose our seats from now on. per the comment on Yuseff

The use of a cell phone AND a flash would be reasonable.

The container would have the explosives and the flash in the bottom with a radio receiver in the cell phone band.

The terrorist would make a call on the cell phone triggering the flash that triggers the explosive.

A cell phone itself, would be very difficult to modify to both run the radio and computer chips AND provide enough energy to trigger the explosive without the Flash or blasting cap...

Aaron - you are surely a fool. Move to Russia and take the neocons with you.

You need to read the comments in the Daily Kos, the website that championed Ned Lamont's victory. Beyond imagination. God forbid these idiots ever get back in control of our security, we're all dead in this country. They conveniently forget that Clinton did nothing for 8 years about it, and that we STILL were attacked all over the world, culminating with 9/11. Remember how they said Bush "did nothing" ?? Now what are they saying. Karl Rove, you better pull through for us this November.

They arrested a bunch of people who had an alleged plan. Meanwhile major airports across the globe are shutdown. This is a bunch of fearmongering BS, IMO. Playing on peoples fears and enciting panic.

Everyone has something to hide. If you put a lie detector on any average Joe American and ask twenty "none of your darn business" kinds of questions, you would be surprised at the skeletons that tumble out of the closet. Aaron, would you undergo such a test? Since you're innocent, then you wouldn't mind giving out some interesting data about your loved ones or your enemies who aren't so perfect.

The freedoms of the entire civilized world in perpetuity are not a good trade for the lives of a few hundred. If it was, why do we fight wars? How many thousands die on the roads? And yet we don't do much at all to ensure safe driving. . .

Let them attack. We do more to harm ourselves and our culture through "increased security" than they would ever be able to do on their own. And it's our culture, our way of life, that they oppose. We're giving them the victory on this and calling it a defeat. There are enough real dangers that we could be spending money on to outweigh the risk of losing a couple thousand people every 5 years.

What kind of government do we have? A republic if we can keep it. - B. Franklin

Eric, I suggest you build yourself a time machine and transport yourself back to the Soviet Union Stalin era. Perhaps you would be more comfortable with the civil rights enjoyed in that setting when government was doing "its job" to eliminate "threats."

Fight terrorism effectively with vigilance and strength, but not at the expense of our Republican Democracy and our freedom.

Just a correction for Eric. They would hide the trigger in a modified camera. Not use the flash. Come on man, pull it together upstairs.

The flash in a disposable camera has no power at all, all the power is stored in a battery, and the battery does indeed have enough "power" to set off a blasting cap. In fact the "power" requirement is exceedingly small.

Most explosives with high energy content need a detonator such as a blasting cap. 3V is sufficient to set off a blasting cap, but not nearly enough to set off a bulk explosive like nitroglycerine (a liquid). Nitroglycerine is very unstable, but also rather difficult to detonate. It usually just burns if not triggered the right way. Even though it is too dangerous to safely handle it's not reliable enough to count on either.

There is a real threat, we lose planes to the fanatics every so often, but the reaction by big gov and big media seems a bit excessive to me.

Aaron I agree with you but you missed one thing. Not only is it our government’s job and the police's job to protect us it's also every human being’s job. When it really hits the fan there is going to be no one there to protect you and this is what we all most be aware of!

Great job in foiling the bad guys. Too bad you people over the pond are losing Tony Blair.

It is our government that has made us unsafe. When will we stop our perpetual meddling in the affairs of other nations?

When will we stop invading other countries that have not harmed us? When will we stop our "sanctions" (acts of war), embargoes, "No-fly Zones", bombing innocents, poisoning their water supplies to cause sickness and death, especially among children. THIS is the American foreign policy -- cruel, brutal, and unbelievably inhumane.

You don't understand why they hate us? Wake up.

Its all crap until an attack actually happens. After that its all about "why did our government fail us?"

I'm sure this is the first of many theories to be floated by all the news outlets who think they bring the truth. No drinks on planes is yesterday's duct tape scare.

Btw, shocking to find out the background of those arrested. Here's an idea, forget about hurting someone's feelings and start profiling! If you think you might get offended, don't fly. Eventually the offended parties will start reigning in and calling out the few bad apples unfortunately associated with their demographic and begin solving the problem.

To Aaron:
Anyone who gives up freedom for security deserves neither - Ben Franklin

Aaron, the terrorist already won when you are willing to let your gov do anything they want.

It is our government that has made us unsafe. When will we stop our perpetual meddling in the affairs of other nations?

When will we stop invading other countries that have not harmed us? When will we stop our criminal "sanctions" (acts of war), embargoes, "No-fly Zones", bombing innocents, poisoning their water supplies to cause sickness and death, especially among children. THIS is the American foreign policy -- cruel, brutal, and unbelievably inhumane.

You don't understand why they hate us? Wake up.

The ACLU must be outraged...the government tapped phones, surveilled, etc. Oh no, maybe racial profiling was used too? In today's world, we can pretend terrorism doesn't exist and have weak countermeasures. Or we can fight a war to win. I'm glad the plots were foiled, and perpetrators caught. And glad we have leaders and allies (UK, Pakistan) willing to stay the course with us.

Right on Aaron. I just don't get why the lefties don't get that the Islamic fanatics want to take over the world with their wonderful system. Those folks should take their families to one of those countries and set up camp and see how they like it. It's a clash of cultures......us or them........what do you want?

Who still believes they took over four planes on 9/10/2001 with boxcutters?

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.

Those willing to give up a little liberty for a little security deserve neither security nor liberty.

Benjamin Franklin

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.

Thomas Jefferson to Archibald Stuart, 1791. ME 8:276

The only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure.

Thomas Jefferson to Lafayette, 1823. ME 15:491

What county can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that its people preserve the spirit of resistance.

Thomas Jefferson

It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The freemen of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. We revere this lesson too much ... to forget it.

James Madison

Do you really think copycats need to read cnn.com to figure out how to make bombs.... Then again what else does one expect in the Bush era? "Attack the media - distract from the issues!"

Good Job United Kingdom, enough said!
Lucy

so a plot is foiled and our liberties are taken away. did "they" win or lose?

First your phone, then bank records, then IQ, DNA, Meyers-Briggs. Then where to live, work and marry. And, how many kids to have, you get to pick the sex. Vote right, llve right without rights.

I think these islamic facists must be stopped at whatever cost. They continue to try to kill innocents any way they can. It is the political correctness in our country that gives them our secrets and methods and hobbles our ability to make more progress. We were lucky this time. The press uses its all-knowing wisdom (hindsight) to endlessly criticize any governmental effort to stop these nuts. It is time our country "takes of the gloves" and gets more serious about fighting this and less concerned about making sure all the pacifists feel good about what we are doing--they will be satisfied with nothing anyway.

trust your government? Remember, those who sacrifice their freedom for security, end up with neither..

Since George Bush was blamed for causing Hurricane Katrina and global warming, is it too much to ask that he be given credit for doing his job which is to protect the citizens of his country?

If we get hit we blame the CIA for not ptotecting us. If we stop the bad guys we blame the CIA for hurting their civil rights. PICK A SIDE ALREADY.

It is rumored that they were planning to use TATP explosive, the kind used by suicide bombers. It can be home made from acetone and hydrogen peroxide and is not detected by conventional explosives detectors.

TATP is highly unstable and very easily detonated. A burst of energy from a camera flash could well do the job, and the camera would easily get past security.

They that would sacrifice freedom for a little temporary safety deserve neither.

And to think, some people would like to limit the power of the goverment to investigate potential threats...

They accuse us of meaningless "scare tactics" but THE THREAT IS REAL!!!!

Why must the people who post on these pages always through the media under the bus? Would you rather they just didn't report anything? Oh, right, it's mostly Drudge Readers. Thus, I know your answer - you want to hear what confirms your ideas and nothings else. Any thing that even smells like going aginst your picture of reality is biased. "Shut your mouth and let the government do their job"? Oh brother. So scary on so many levels.

As a person working in the Travel Industry, this is the best way any terrorist can create havoc. Not only killing many people at one time, but create such a ripple effect that the U.S. Economy may not be able to sustain this time around. I can understand some people's opinion of "freedom" being stripped away. BUT - wouldn't you rather be safe than dead for a cause that is utterly ubsurd. Our country is the ONLY country in the world that does not have a manadory passport requirment for travel everywhere in the world. And if lobbyists have their way, the deadline to have your passport to travel will be extended AGAIN. And tell me about our "government" doing their job - exactly where are we with security at our borders - all borders not just airports? President Bush's agenda is not for the American's safety, it is for his sliver lined oil owning pockets, and correcting Dad's mistake. Almost four years and 11 months to the day and the U.S. has almost had another disaster within the Travel Industry. Now that is what I would call a shame.

And for those of you that missed the other news of the day - there were 12 foriegn exchanged students - from Egypt that were suppose to be at the University of Montana, but has yet to report in, 3 of the 12 were found. Where are the other 9 students? Montana University does not believe they are terrorist related? Do you think the Flight School in Florida thought they were training suicide bombers?
Think about that for a moment...

well i know the flash on those cameras would be strong enough to set something off. all it takes is a small spark on certain chemical and they can explode. just like gun powder.

i'll tell anyone who thinks we're not constantly being plotted against is truely clueless. yeah i can see how george bush is wrong taking the battle to them.

It's amazing to watch our soldiers fight for freedom and democracy, and then lisen to drivel by the likes of Curt.

The American Ideal is totally gone. The concept that our government watches and monitors everything we do in the interest of the "Public Safety" is disturbing, to say the least. Aren't we deposing regimes around the world by using the excuse that we are fighting tyranny? That doesn't fly very far at all anymore.

Other Dictatorships vs the US, who will win?:

Other Dicatorships: Trying to acquire WMD's to facilitate using them on their idealogical adversaries. Not doing a very good job, apparently.

US: Has thousands of Nuclear and Biological Weapons. In fact, we invented them. Has signaled willingness to use these weapons on North Korea and other idealogical adversaries.

Score: 0 to 1.

Other Dictatorships: Maintaining a war footing and using subversion tactics against rival dictatorships and free countries to ensure their interests are still in the spotlight.

US: Actively blowing rival dicatorships into a Geostationary orbit, to shoot them again when our Star Wars system is operational next month. Status of the armed forces couldn't really be called "War Footing," as "footing" implies stationary stance. More like "War Sprinting"

Score: 0 to 2.

Other Dicatorships:
Keeping files on each of their citizens to ensure compliance with whatever dogma the elite leader spews forth today. Prison camps should you fail to comply and they catch you. Enforcement budget: whatever the dictator doesn't take for his yacht, or $10,000USD.

US:
6 different agencies keeping detailed, computerized, cross linked files on each citizen. Complete with GPS tracking via your cellular telephone. No, really. Gotta love these camera, gps, multimedia phone thingies. Used to just tell us what you are saying, but now upgraded to tell us where you are AND what you are doing.
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba should you screw up. Or you could land in *censored*, or *censored*, or maybe even *censored*, but let's hope not. Enforcement Budget: "When the number of zero's in our budget fell off the end of the first sheet of paper, we got confused..."

Score: 0 to 3.

Thank *censored* (Jesus Christ in the US, GWB) that our team is winning. Yeah.

REID IS AWESOME AND SO ARE THE BRITISH , WE LOVE YOU GUYS

Fools anxious to tear up the Constitution are more dangerous than terrorists.

Eric, It will take a while to get this story "right". There are 21 suspects to be questioned - It will take the Brits until at least Saturday to slowly chop their fingers off as they attempt to get to the bottom of this.

well i know the flash on those cameras would be strong enough to set something off. all it takes is a small spark on certain chemical and they can explode. just like gun powder.

i'll tell anyone who thinks we're not constantly being plotted against is truely clueless. yeah i can see how george bush is wrong taking the battle to them.

From numerous news reports:

"A spokesman for Number 10 added that Mr Blair had briefed US President George Bush on the situation during the night. It is believed the covert investigation has been going on for several months and it is understood that officers made the arrests overnight not because they feared an attack was likely to happen today but for other intelligence reasons which meant they had to act quickly."

"Other intelligence reasons"?

Like what?

Like taking the heat off Israel in Lebanon?

Like improving the ratings for Bush (who ordered Blair to fire Straw) who just got whacked by the vote against his Democrat supporter Lieberman?

Like taking the pressure off Blair to announce when he's going to stop wrecking the world and ruining the country?

Yes, just what are these "other intelligence reasons" that required the whole country to be put in tumult when they did not fear an attack was likely to happen?

AMEN Aaron!! Tap my phones--read my mail--look at my bank accounts--pat me down at the aiport! I don't care. Just catch these crazies before they kill another. New York Times, are you listening?????

It sounds like the iPod or cell phone was going to act as part of the detonator making the flash go off in turn igniting the gel.

When this news first broke in the middle of the night the news networks made it seem like they caught them red-handed with all the explosives at the airport!! Now it looks like you got a bunch of guys living at their dwellings whom might of only drew pictures in a notebook!!

Tell that to our four fathers, who fought off an imperialistic country that did just those things you've now asked your country to do to you.

My congrats to the investigators and police who's hard work discovered this plot! It surely has saved thousands of lives. The increased security measures and military actions may seem excessive at times but huge terrorist actions like this that are thrwarted validate the worldwide war on terrorism.

I agree. The past few years are evidence that terrorism is a real threat. Let us not forget the London and Spain train bombings. The British government should be commended for their efforts in stopping this attack, yet the threat is not over. We must remain vigilant in our efforts to stop these mad-men. They only want one thing, to bring chaos and destruction to our lives. To stop the terrorist we must address the root of the problem. Radical Islam must be controlled, yet the British government does little to contain this problem. Terrorism will end when the leaders of Islam stop the spread of radical teachings and spread a message of acceptance, one which they claim to hold.

Hey just for all you experts. A commercial blasting cap can be set off with a watch battery. And if you think there is anything that ABC or any other network can run that would give these terrorist new ideas, think again. They even know how to build a blasting cap with no metallic parts. So pull your heads out of your fourth point of contact. The masterminds behind these ideas have more knowledge than any news story will ever reveal. There are so many combinations of even simple household items that could cause enough of an explosion to bring a plane down. A simple incendiary device could be made from two compounds that a regular fire extinguisher could not put out and it could burn through aluminum in a matter of just a couple of minutes. Remember all the flack about the spying, surveillance, wire tapping? You better believe that’s what stopped this. It’s time to wake up and realize we are at war with a global enemy and we must remove them from the face of this earth. You want to be safe but expect to sacrifice nothing for it. AHH, The old something for nothing attitude. Guess what? Those days are over.

I guess these terrorists are going to sink the airlines by making plots so complicated that we'll eventually won't be able to fly without being strait jacketed and and belted into our seats by the flight attendants. Forget no carry ons, this will be the wave of the future...

"Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one."
~ Ben Franklin

the only job the government is doing is fear mongering and scaring people...ooga booga!
you've already let the terrorists win aaron! good job! dubya would be proud!