Posted on 07/21/2005 8:55:11 PM PDT by traumer
Experts were unsure last night whether yesterday's devices were intended to cause greater harm.
Unconfirmed reports suggested that most of the explosives used in the attempted attacks were triacetonetriperoxide - TACP - the same substance thought to have been used in the 7/7 attacks and was said to have been recovered from a suspected bomb factory in Leeds.
TACP is known to degrade over time, which may explain why none of yesterday's devices exploded after the detonators were activated.
Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan police commissioner, said some of the devices remained unexploded and that attempts had been made to set them off.
An explosives expert, Andy Oppenheimer of Jane's Information Group, said the small blasts could have been down to the bombs failing to explode properly or there being little explosive present.
"It may be that there was a malfunction but it is not certain that there was substantial explosive in the devices.
"This type of malfunction used to happen to the IRA, who had expert bombmakers ... It could be bad workmanship or it could be a deliberate attempt to disrupt the city two weeks later."
An army bomb disposal expert told the Guardian it was very unlikely that four devices would malfunction in the same way at the same time.
"It is possible for the detonator to come out and just explode. The chances of all four doing that are remote."
Homemade bombs typically use a small amount of high explosive to set off a larger quantity of less volatile material.
Witnesses reported seeing white powder after the blast on the Hackney Road bus. Acetone peroxide, linked to the July 7 attacks, can be used both as a detonator and to cause larger explosions.
The compound, which looks like a white power, was used as a detonator by the attempted shoe bomber Richard Reid.
Hans Michels, an explosives expert at Imperial College London, said a batch of acetone peroxide would turn to vapour so quickly it would lose almost two-thirds of its mass over a couple of weeks unless stored properly.
I continue to have images of Stupid Reid, the shoe bomber.
Dope did not know how to use matches to ignite a fuse. What a jerk. The Taliban are scraping the bottom of the barrel.
I believe in mircales........Thank You, Lord.....
If you're going to go to the trouble of making and planting a bomb, you're going to want the big bang. And what would disrupt the city more--some dud bombs or massive death and destruction?
Maybe all (or almost all) acetone in UK (and in US, too) should henceforth be spiked by trace amounts of heavy metals (like, say, cobalt, iron, or manganese). These would normally cause accelerated decomposition of any peroxides around - and make any acetone peroxide prepared from such a material particularly unstable, more than it normally is.
It's true that it seems unlikely that all 4 bombs would fail to detonate. But it would make sense if they were made at the same time and the failure was due to some time related deterioration of material.
So, in any event, they don't seem to think it is a hoax/joke. It is scary that someone pulled this off, that may be the actual "message".
Assuming a single cell of terrorists, I can't understand why everyone discounts a failure of all of the devices. Isn't the main bomb maker in custody or hiding now? How hard would it be for the "b" team to mess up the recipe? One mistake and all the bombs are fizzles.
Exactly. Divine intervention is all around us.
Interesting thing about TATP, from what I have read, is that it generates no to very low heat when it explodes. It's a "cool" explosion.
A bomb maker had been back in Egypt about two weeks????? Another possibility is that, since, in my admittedly prejudiced opinion, anyone who blows themselves to hell and gone for Allah is basically stupid, the bombs were not well made.
'...It could be bad workmanship or it could be a deliberate attempt to disrupt the city two weeks later."
What do you expect, military explosives experts? These are teenagers who are dumb enough to believe The Big Lie from their fascists coaches.
(The Big Lie = tell a lie often enough and eventually it becomes true)
I remember an MSNBC interview of a suicide bomber- he was partially retarted and the only reason he didn't go through with it is because a different terrorist organization recruited him a couple days before he was going to blow himself up.
Perhaps it is just an in our face brag ... see we can get to you anytime we want. Making the point that all the tighter security could be penetrated at will.
Thus the two weeks to the day as well as similiar hour of day and the exact same number ... three trains and a bus just as it was two weeks age...
Makes Londoners nervous and unsettles some.
Always check the "born on" date!
Israeli invention detects TATP explosives
http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Briefs/4884.htm
The 7/7 bombs were set to detonate at a certain time and I believe the terrorists did not know that. I have a feeling that these terrorists didn't want to go up in smoke so they set them differently and didn't do it in a way that they were sure that they would detonate. I guess they figured better safe than sorry.
Funny. I was thinking the same thing. I believe it was angels and the power of prayer. What were the chances of no innocent bystanders being hurt today by 4 bombs, and yet there were no resulting injuries? There was a woman and baby standing right next to one of the bombers when his rucksack exploded, according to a news story, and even they were ok.
We have to keep praying against the terrorists and for the protection of ordinary people who the bombers now specifically target.
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