He tried to buy Ammonium Nitrate as well. Do you think that choice suggests something too? I don't know anything about explosives.
"He tried to buy Ammonium Nitrate as well. Do you think that choice suggests something too? I don't know anything about explosives."
Unfortunately we know how effective a fuel fertilizer bomb can be... but dropping down to TATP says something about his resources, I think - Now the Shoe bomber used TATP too so maybe I am wrong but I've wondered if he wan't a loner too.
BTW, I generally don't post Wikipedia links but in this case they seem to have a good article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TATP
Ammonium nitrate is generally pretty difficult to work with in the sense that it is very hard to get a sustained detonation without the proper setup and a little competence. While very popular in the mindshare of the public, it is quite a bit safer in that rank amateurs will have a hard time getting results out of it. TATP is much, much easier for an amateur to deploy successfully.
Yes, it suggests to me that he was acting alone, trying to find something that would work, and was able to find a recipe with obtainable ingredients by reading jihadist publications.
Sounds like he was going to use the TATP as a primary to set off the AN.