Pipe Bombs or Pipe Dreams?

By: Jessica Armentrout

Posted: 9/21/07

In the media circus that has revolved around Republican Senator Larry Craig, even in the wake of the anniversary of September 11, relevant news items have been severely overlooked. One such example is the follow up of the arrest of Ahmaed Sherif Muhamed, 24, and Yousef Samir Megahed, 21, of Tampa Florida who have been federally indicted for the transporting and possession of an incendiary or explosive device. For those of you who did not know, and I would bet that would be most of you, though it's not really your fault, on August 6, Muhamed and Megahed were arrested in Goose Creek, SC, about 20 miles from Charleston. Both men are Egyptian students at the University of South Florida in Tampa who were discovered to be in possession of pipe bombs in the back of a Toyota Camry about seven miles from a Naval Weapons Station on U.S. Hwy 176.

Prior to writing this article, I had no idea what a pipe bomb was. So for the benefit of those who are ignorant, like I was, here are the basics. The bomb is a simple type of explosive… comparatively speaking. It is just a tightly sealed piece of pipe filled with an explosive material. A pretty large explosion can be produced from a small bomb simply because of the containment of the pipe. In most countries, simply making a pipe bomb is a serious offense no matter what the builder was planning for its use.

The students were pulled over originally for going about 15 mph over the speed limit and would have received a normal traffic ticket if not for suspicious behaviors performed in the face of the officers. When officers approached the car, the students were fumbling to hide a laptop computer from sight. This is what first made the officers a bit wary of these young men. The students were questioned separately and each told a different story about where they were coming from and their final destination. This oddity prompted the officers to search the car, and when they opened the trunk, they saw what they believed to be explosives. Bomb technicians from Charleston and the F.B.I were called in to examine the findings and confirmed that the students were in fact carrying pipe bombs and not the "fireworks" they had finally agreed upon in their alibis.

Some would say that pointing a finger at these students is simply racial profiling on the part of the police and anyone who is suspicious of them. However, after an extensive investigation, investigators have learned that Mohamed had been exchanging information often over the last few months about how to miniaturize bombs and explosives. Also interesting is that Megahed has been a student at the University of South Florida for about three years and he has yet to declare a major, though he has acquired permanent residency. I cannot imagine Clemson letting me get away with three years in general education.

Perhaps there was a bit of racial profiling in this case. Perhaps if it had been my roommate and me traveling down the same road, pulled over for the same reason, the officers never would have searched the car. But, what if the officers involved had been worried about being accused of racial profiling and just decided not to search the car? What would have happened? Maybe nothing. Maybe these two young, Muslim students would have really headed straight for the beaches of North Carolina (like they finally agreed upon to tell the cops) to shoot their fireworks and celebrate Mohamed's birthday. However, there are a lot of "maybes" and "what ifs" in that paragraph.

To me it is nothing less than a shame that a story like this raises less alarm to the national media, particularly near the sixth anniversary of such a tragedy, than a Republican Senator's private behavior would take precedence in attention and coverage than the possibility of having to mourn another catastrophic loss in this young century.