Text 7650, 73 rader
Skriven 2010-05-08 08:04:54 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
   Kommentar till text 7622 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
Ärende: Thank heaven...
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Ward Dossche wrote to Robert Bashe on Friday May 07 2010 at 13:50:

[Richard Reid]
WD> That he is an idiot: yes.

WD> There's not really much professionalism involved into the different
WD> plastic explosives. You mold it in the right shape and insert a
WD> detonator. Light the detonator or start a reaction with another
WD> substance that will lead to whammo.

WD> We did such things in the military and it isn't exactly rocket
WD> science.

Not if you were in the military, made bombs there, and know how to acquire the
makings. Only problem is that not everybody was in the military (Was Reid? I
would assume he would be rejected because of low intelligence.). Even I as a
chemist only have a theoretical knowledge of what plastic explosives are - I
wouldn't know how to get any - and have no idea of what kind of detonator is
required (or how to get one) and whether a fuse or an electric current is
required to set it off.

The kind of "training" these terrorist groups give in such matters is - at
least in my eyes - illustrated by the Times Square "bomb", that included all
the makings of a bomb except that they weren't mixed and would thus never have
really exploded, only burned, even if the "detonator" had been effective
(fireworks, indeed!).

In other words, the groups and individuals appear to be pretty incompetent
unless someone can organize real explosives (dynamite, notroglycerin, plastic
explosives and detonators) for them. So it's unlikely Reid got many smarts from
his supposed "training" in Pakistan (or was it Afghanistan? - I forget).

WD> What really is funny is that Reid was bumped from his flight a day
WD> earlier and then re-issued a ticket for a day later. He had
WD> walked-around all night without sleeping and his sweaty feet caused
WD> the fuse to become moist. :-)

;-) I wonder whether it was raining that night? That gets leather shoes pretty
wet too.

WD> He is an idiot. So was this Abdulmutallab, the Christmas airline
WD> bomber who merely managed to scorch his scrotum. And so is this guy at
WD> Times Square.

May all would-be terrorists remain as stupid as this. Unfortunately, some have
a few brains and those are the ones who really can do harm. What I really fear
is the idea of "mad scientists" (chemists and microbiologists) providing things
like Sarin or even bioterror weapons to the crazies. The former only happened
once - in Japan - and the latter (the anthrax scare after 9/11), amateurish as
it was, disrupted the entire country for a considerable period. Just think of
what a halfway well-organized bioterror attack could produce in chaos and
casualties. People don't call such things "the poor man's atom bomb" for
nothing. High explosives are less dangerous in terms of effects.

WD> Strange when you think that Al Qaida assumes responsibility for these
WD> 3 idiots.

Apparently they're scraping the bottom of the barrel. Probably got their best
people in Iraq and Afghanistan.

WD> It's a far cry from their professionalism and dedication on 9/11.
WD> Seems like there's a problem in their quality control department.

Luckily, most people of this kind think with their balls and not with their
brains (assuming they have any). And after 9/11, a lot of the smarter ones were
driven into hiding or taken out of circulation more or less permanently.
Unfortunately, we can't count on all of them being as dumb as the ones we've
discussed here.

Cheers, Bob

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