Posted on 10/16/2005 2:14:25 AM PDT by LibertyRocks
Indonesian forensic experts fear terrorists have developed a bomb that does not leave a trace.
Police working with Australian, Japanese and British experts to piece together the methods used for the October 1 bombings in Bali believe that Malaysian terrorist Azahari bin Husin may have used ingredients that are impossible to detect after detonation, the Indonesian investigative magazine Tempo reports.
Few details are known about the analysis being conducted at police headquarters in Jakarta to establish what was used in the attack that killed 23 people, including four Australians.
But there is speculation hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen chloride and triacetone triperoxide (TATP) was mixed with citric acid, a catalyst, for the explosion. TATP has been used by suicide bombers in Israel.
Investigators of the London bombings reportedly told Indonesian police such a combination would leave only traces that were already in the atmosphere: carbon monoxide and water.
Well, if you state it that way, it is wrong. You can 'destroy' matter in a nuclear reaction but it shows up as energy. You can 'destroy' energy in a nuclear reaction but it shows up as matter. From Einstein's E = mc^2 we learn that matter and energy are interchangeable. What you cannot do is destroy matter and have no energy released. You cannot create matter without using energy.
What they meant by 'no trace' in this article was not that matter was destroyed, but that the reaction causes only products that are not unusual and/or easily detectible. Such as water, CO2, etc. I find it hard to believe there are NO traces. Even in a raging arson fire, they can find traces of the accelerant. Maybe they just need to look harder.
Gentlemen, could you help us, the uninformed re the so called untraceable.
Are they talking about the ingredients or the lack of taggers?
Thanks
Actually since the explosive used in Bali might have been the same as the one used in London and at the OU Game, there is a big connection.
shhhboom...
"shhhboom...,shhhboom..."
For some reason that reminds of an old song.:)
That too, it was a reference to a Rocky and Bullwinkle episode...
Rocky and Bullwinkle episode...
That show became a cult show for many us who were supposedly past the cartoon watching age in the early 1960's.
A Green Bomb...
Earth Liberation Front-Animal Liberation Front are rejoicing and taking notes...
No trace? This will provide investigators with yet another excuse to claim no links to terrorism whenever something explodes. Who knows, maybe Hinrichs just self-combusted.
Thanks for the exhaustive set of links, backhoe.
Thanks for looking- I appreciate it!
"Well that does make a lot of sense, but what about in cases where a bomb squad detonates a suspicious device/package. Wouldn't it make it rather hard to prove there was explosive material in the device to begin with?"
When EOD detonate a suspected bomb, they use a small charge to destroy it. If it's a bomb (or several other substances that can be ignited or set off by shock) they get a secondary explosion that is larger than the little charge they used could be. Most EOD types will be able to tell from the sound if there was anything explosive there, even if there were no residue. (I'd not expect there to be NO residue, but very little is possible, but I'm neither an explosives expert nor a chemist.)
Mechanical vs chemical.......
Well. Nothing to see here. ; )
Isn't this fascinating?
Why does any of this even matter? These were the actions of despondent Indonesian college students who were picked on as "yutes" and felt so down that they decided to end it all but unfortuneately mistook restaurants for the outsides of soccer stadiums.
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