Terrorist attack halted or just slowed down?

[thop]

well i can certainly understand that the people in the US dont want do see 9/11 happen again. but i think the government is overreacting a bit.

there was a similar situation in germany about two weeks ago: it was reported that a radical muslim with connections to al-qaida and his girlfirend (from the US) where arrested as they planned a attack on the US military base in heidelberg with 130kg of explosives. in the end they found out that the guy wasn't even a real muslim and that he only possesed 270g gun powder.

[ZokesPro]

Originally posted by thop
well i can certainly understand that the people in the US dont want do see 9/11 happen again. but i think the government is overreacting a bit.

Well said.

[mutz]

...270 grams? That's about the right amount for Zokes to blow up his old GeFarce...

[ZokesPro]

Hehe, or my old PSU or my old stick of ram!

[Dr Mordrid]

As far as these guys go they were obviously talking trash and wandered into turf that scared more than just one person in that restaurant.

As far as the authorities goes their comment "better safe than sorry" works for me. I can just imagine the s***storm if they had ignored them and these guys had blown the Epcot Center or the like

Now...regarding the German incident. Bear with me a bit as I am a reloader & familiar with gunpowders.

270g = about .5 pounds = 3500 grains (the unit used to measure gunpowder charges)

If we're talking about smokeless gunpowder as used in modern arms this is enough to load 100 or more rounds of .30 caiber ammunition.

It's also more than enough to make several pipe bombs given that very little of it is actually necessary, especially if one of the fastest burning types are used. These can easily produce pressures of over 50,000 PSI.

Put a small charge in a scored metal pipe and you have a very effective fragmentation grenade. Several of these could decimate the populace in a market or other public place.

If it was black gunpowder it's still a dangerous amount. I can remember being a kid on the farm and using about that amount to blow tree stumps when we were clearing fields. Add some fertilizer and some ******** as a secondary charge and you had a powerful explosive capable of blasting solid rock.

.5 lb is more than enough for two decent sized pipe bombs and more if you do the noted "enhancement".

I for one would certainly not take the "small" amount found as indicative of innocent intent.

Dr. Mordrid

[mutz]

...and many more rounds for a MAC 10 or an Uzi, or plenty of letter bombs, but how did the original amounts reported get 1,000% bloated, unless someone wanted to create an international scare? The difference between barrels and baggies is obvious to any idiot...

[thop]

it was black gunpowder.

[mutz]

...perhaps we find out much later that they were fireworks left over from New Years, but now "somebody" has gotten the uproar they wanted...

[Dogbert]

Actually, like Dr. Mordid pointed out, there are many many potential explosives around us.

To make a bomb you don't need gun poweder, C4, TNT or anything like that. Some of the chemicals found in any supermarket and gardening shop can be used to create some stable and very effective explosives.

[Dr Mordrid]

Yup. Long ago in an earlier and more adventureous life I learned how to make a C4 analog using petroleum jelly and items found in any decent pharmacy (Walgrens etc.). It worked pretty damned good for blowing tree stumps in one of our bean fields.

Another interesting one is picric acid, which is usable as either a primer charge (in very tiny amounts) or as a very powerful main charge. It was at one time used as a main charge in torpedos.

Source: either an analgesic or a certain vegetable dye

Dr. Mordrid

[mutz]

...uhoh! I'm seeing spikes here! Hey Scott, call that team in Michigan, and get the Mossad on the horn. Hot dawg, this is fun...

[The PIT]

quote:
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- On the day Americans mourned the victims of the September 11 attacks, one of Britain's leading Muslim extremist groups met and issued warnings to the United States.

In a mosque in London's Finsbury Park, with banners outside proclaiming: "Islam is the future for Britain," three radical Muslim clerics -- Sheikh Abu Hanza, Omar Bakri Mohammad, and Muhammed al Masseri -- held a three-hour closed-door session.

Afterwards, the clerics told reporters the United States has to suffer much more to learn "obedience."
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Why do we put up with such people.