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2006-08-11 Science & Technology

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Posted by Steve 2006-08-11 09:09|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [1738 views since 2007-05-07] Top

1 The most dangerous terrorist group to ever exist was Aum Shinrikyo Agreed, they may even have attempted an atom (nuclear) bomb.

Posted by phil_b">phil_b 2006-08-11 09:35|| http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]">[http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/] 2006-08-11 09:35|| Front Page Top

2 I have several objections to what this article states are disadvantages. I'm no chemist or explosives expert by any means, but it seems to me that if a liquid explosives are A) unstable like nitroglycerin, or B) subject to deterioration, that's not going to bar some suicide bombers who A) are not stable themselves and want the bomb to go off, prematurely or not, and B) plan on using the material immediately, not putting it into storage!

Aside from explosives, I'm also concerned about:
o Creating a toxic reaction, like chlorine gas or some other poisonous inhalant that could kill/blind/incapacitate many if not all crew and passengers.

o Creating a highly corrosive substance that will eat through cables, hoses, and other flight control elements.

Remember, these guys aren't concerned about their own safety, much less the safety of others. This only has to work one time for them to score a victory and kill a lot of innocent people.

Posted by Dar">Dar 2006-08-11 11:04|| 2006-08-11 11:04|| Front Page Top

3 Nitroglycerine is one of the more powerful explosives, but subject to going off spontaneously if jarred. Very dangerous to carry around.

OK! New idea for a security screening! Every passenger has to step onto a platform that jars them up and down a little bit. With a little work, a trip through security could be like a brief amusement park visit. Wheee!

Posted by Angie Schultz 2006-08-11 11:26|| 2006-08-11 11:26|| Front Page Top

4 "Okay, sir, now if you'll step over here, put your feet on the footprints in the mat ... very good sir, I'm going to stand behind this plexiglas shield ... now please, sir, jump up and down ten times."

Posted by Steve White">Steve White 2006-08-11 11:43|| 2006-08-11 11:43|| Front Page Top

5 Let's not give Aum too much credit. They attempted seven or eight times to initiate an anthrax attack with zero success. They attempted several Sarin attacks, with two succeeding. The issue with the second attack, the subway attack, wasn't the Sarin. It was the lack of decontamination by rescuers and thus secondary and tertiary exposures far outnumbered primary exposures.

The terrorists face one primary issue with every plot, whether it be this one or a WMD one. How do they minimize the number of potential points of failure? In Oklahoma City there was one, the risk that the timer would fail to operate. This whole plot seems to have several points of failure connected tot he transport and mixing of the chemicals.

Posted by Chuck Simmins">Chuck Simmins 2006-08-11 11:47|| http://northshorejournal.org]">[http://northshorejournal.org] 2006-08-11 11:47|| Front Page Top

6 It appears the explosive they were going to use was the "Mother Of Satan"

Posted by tipper 2006-08-11 12:55|| 2006-08-11 12:55|| Front Page Top

7
Liquid explosives are difficult and weak.

I think that the article has inadvertently identified the most lethal terrorist approach. Release a poison gas agent into the ventilation system. At a minimum the terrorist would kill many passengers. It is also very likely that it would get the flight crew with a crash resulting. Easier to make, easier to deploy.

Posted by Master of Obvious 2006-08-11 13:18|| 2006-08-11 13:18|| Front Page Top

8 I wear contacts, so I am concerned about those who are being forbidden to take such fluids onto their planes. However, I have a simple solution: If a passenger has a contact lens fluid bottle and claims it is for himself, have him wash his hands, remove his left contact (test #1), shake the bottle vigorously (test #2), and reinsert using the fluid from the bottle (test #3). Repeat for right hand contact unless he is writhing on the ground or has no free hand to perform removal and re-insertion.

Posted by Ptah">Ptah 2006-08-11 13:43|| http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org]">[http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org] 2006-08-11 13:43|| Front Page Top

9 Maybe not explosives. What if binary nerve agent? Could you sneak each part on the plane as liquid? Wouldn't take much to kill everyone.

Posted by BrerRabbit 2006-08-11 15:11|| 2006-08-11 15:11|| Front Page Top

10 In this article the writer proves that a little Googling and a lot of typing don't really amount to much.

Salt this one DEBKA style, at a minimum.

Posted by Parabellum 2006-08-11 18:28|| 2006-08-11 18:28|| Front Page Top

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