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Jul. 2nd, 2007 01:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drewkittyAs someone who knows something about terrorism, I've been a little puzzled about the hoopla about the two "car bombs" discovered in London. Now according to the information I've dug out, the "car bombs" were made of gasoline, propane and boxes of nails.
Gasoline is a volatile fuel. Propane isn't that bad either, but is transported in fairly safe containers and the current valves are good as well. It's noteworthy that when the Columbine shooters tried to rig propane bombs at their school, they didn't go off.
An explosion consists of an intense rate of combustion (meaning a lot of air and a lot of fuel; or if you prefer a lot of oxidizer and a lot of combustible), typically in an enclosed space that maximizes the effect.
I couldn't think of a way to make a car explode with any force using gasoline or propane, especially not with a mix of the two. Not enough air, and not enough oxidizer. Now you can set a car on fire, quite handily, and perhaps set a nearby person or two on fire, but you get a wet Hollywood looking FPWOOMPH! of a fireball and not much actual explosive power. Certainly not enough to move nails out of their cardboard boxes.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/02/terror_idiocy_outbreak/
I refer you to this article by a former UK bomb squad tech, who confirms what I've heard in every description of the devices.
They couldn't have worked as intended.
"There are ways to get a killer blast out of nothing more than fuel and air, but you need a lot more air than there is inside a car for a decent bang and you need to mix the two ingredients thoroughly and in the right proportions."
"We used to be constantly disappointed, on the bomb teams, at the consistently rubbish efforts of the ordinary bomber. Many people seem to think that any kind of fire or loud noise will become deadly if you add nails."
On the one hand, I'm pleased that terrorists have once again demonstrated themselves to be totally incompetent boobs.
On the other hand, I'd really rather that they not keep trying. They might just accidentally get it right, and that would suck.
Not least of which, because of the massive over-reaction that would take place. A car bomb that blows up 1200 people would suck, a lot, and be a human tragedy. It would not endanger Western civilization.
Only we could do that, by over-reacting to the fleabites of rabid fanatics.
And once again, the world news media hysterically over-reacts.
Gasoline is a volatile fuel. Propane isn't that bad either, but is transported in fairly safe containers and the current valves are good as well. It's noteworthy that when the Columbine shooters tried to rig propane bombs at their school, they didn't go off.
An explosion consists of an intense rate of combustion (meaning a lot of air and a lot of fuel; or if you prefer a lot of oxidizer and a lot of combustible), typically in an enclosed space that maximizes the effect.
I couldn't think of a way to make a car explode with any force using gasoline or propane, especially not with a mix of the two. Not enough air, and not enough oxidizer. Now you can set a car on fire, quite handily, and perhaps set a nearby person or two on fire, but you get a wet Hollywood looking FPWOOMPH! of a fireball and not much actual explosive power. Certainly not enough to move nails out of their cardboard boxes.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/02/terror_idiocy_outbreak/
I refer you to this article by a former UK bomb squad tech, who confirms what I've heard in every description of the devices.
They couldn't have worked as intended.
"There are ways to get a killer blast out of nothing more than fuel and air, but you need a lot more air than there is inside a car for a decent bang and you need to mix the two ingredients thoroughly and in the right proportions."
"We used to be constantly disappointed, on the bomb teams, at the consistently rubbish efforts of the ordinary bomber. Many people seem to think that any kind of fire or loud noise will become deadly if you add nails."
On the one hand, I'm pleased that terrorists have once again demonstrated themselves to be totally incompetent boobs.
On the other hand, I'd really rather that they not keep trying. They might just accidentally get it right, and that would suck.
Not least of which, because of the massive over-reaction that would take place. A car bomb that blows up 1200 people would suck, a lot, and be a human tragedy. It would not endanger Western civilization.
Only we could do that, by over-reacting to the fleabites of rabid fanatics.
And once again, the world news media hysterically over-reacts.
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Date: 2007-07-02 11:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-03 04:07 pm (UTC)Terrorists have demonstrated time and time again an inability to learn from the mistakes of others. Sometimes they don't even learn from their own.