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Official: Explosive PETN Used in Attack (Carried in Condom by Suspect?)
CBS News/AP ^ | Saturday, December 26, 2009

Posted on 12/26/2009 10:20:58 AM PST by kristinn

The suspect in the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253 used a highly explosive substance called PETN, a law enforcement official told CBS News Saturday.

The explosives were carried in a soft plastic container - possibly a condom - though much of the packaging was destroyed in the fire, the official said.

The FBI is questioning the suspect, identified as 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who claimed to be acting on orders from al Qaeda to blow up the airliner, officials said.

A high-ranking law enforcement official told CBS News that the suspect apparently used a syringe to inject a chemical into the powder, which was located near his groin. It is a technique not seen in previous attempted attacks and it's possible that this incident was a test of whether the materials could pass screening and how effective they might be at causing damage, the source said.

(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: abdulmutallab; airlinesecurity; explosives; flight253; globaljihad; northwestflight253; petn; tm
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To: El Gato

Amish, it’s always the Amish


61 posted on 12/26/2009 10:57:26 AM PST by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years.)
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To: gov_bean_ counter

OK, so the Army knew about the Ft. Hood guy and the FAA knew about this clown, yet they were still allowed access to soft targets.

&&&

Perhaps if there are enough incidents, Dear Leader will have a good enough excuse to declare marshal law, suspend elections, consfiscate firearms, etc.....


62 posted on 12/26/2009 10:57:52 AM PST by Bigg Red (Palin/Hunter 2012 -- Bolton their Secretary of State)
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To: El Gato
Wiki article says: 8400 m/s for PETN, which would be 27,560 fps.

Thanks. My memory is off or things have changed. In any case, I don't know if that is the best explosive for what he was trying to do. Not in small quantity, anyway.

63 posted on 12/26/2009 10:57:56 AM PST by decimon
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To: driftdiver
you have to couple the properties with the delivery device as well.

Faster explosives generally deliver a more cutting effect due to the fast moving wave but the energy is also extremely short lived as one would expect. Fast explosives in a "shampoo" bottle as I have heard this one described would result in exactly what we saw. A pliable plastic container would not allow the energy released to build adequate pressure in the vessel prior to the secondary energy release... so all you heard was the shampoo bottle pop and all you saw was a guy running around with his nuts on fire.

Had this been contained in a more stable container, the result would have been exponentially more damaging relative to the rigidity of the container or if the container was designed in a fashion to direct the secondary energy release and focus it in a specific direction.

Slower explosives tend to expand slower (of course) but are also capable of much more expansion on a relative scale. They will deliver the energy further from the ignition point.

They had a workable idea but the shampoo bottle would have never delivered the damage they wanted

64 posted on 12/26/2009 10:58:00 AM PST by FunkyZero ("It's not about duck hunting !")
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To: RobFromGa

% Jihadist Nuts Roasted In An Airplane Fire... %


65 posted on 12/26/2009 10:59:37 AM PST by mikrofon (Happy New Year to All)
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To: mikrofon
% Jihadist Nuts Roasted In An Airplane Fire... %

I'll stick with the pretzels, thanks.

66 posted on 12/26/2009 11:01:22 AM PST by gov_bean_ counter (Sarah Palin - For such a time as this)
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To: tiredoflaundry
You all might want to view this video...but for the grace of god...we escaped a VERY SERIOUS attempt. click thru until you can watch.

http://www.livevideo.com/video/B9BF2E8594CD4C89AA35D3DF3F53302F/how-to-make-a-binary-explosive-or-ied.aspx

note how little was needed.

67 posted on 12/26/2009 11:01:36 AM PST by Dog
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To: hennie pennie
Anybody know anything more about the explosive?

'PETN was the explosive chosen by Richard Reid for his plot to blow up the Boeing 767 he was traveling in from Paris to Miami. ' -- wiki

68 posted on 12/26/2009 11:02:33 AM PST by Lucius Cornelius Sulla (Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of.-- Idylls of the King)
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To: finnsheep

...It makes one think he was heavily drugged....

***
Hmmm...Perhaps. IIRC, the word “assasin” comes from an Arabic word for “hashish” because they used to have the perps smoke it before sending them out on their missions. I could be wrong, as I am just relying on a memory scrap and not looking it up.


69 posted on 12/26/2009 11:02:51 AM PST by Bigg Red (Palin/Hunter 2012 -- Bolton their Secretary of State)
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To: hennie pennie

PETN is a serious explosive and requires very little mass to create a great deal of damage.

It is also fairly unstable and can detonate without using a blasting cap.


70 posted on 12/26/2009 11:03:05 AM PST by Zathras
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To: kristinn

Wonder how much stuff a woman can smuggle in possibly a condom? and will a woman be the next one to try the same thing.


71 posted on 12/26/2009 11:04:56 AM PST by Vaduz
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To: driftdiver

That’s why they call it “security”.


72 posted on 12/26/2009 11:05:57 AM PST by Just Lori (What we have is a TOXIC government, and that aint no ASSET!!!!)
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To: El Gato

He was in his fricken seat!!! Bureaucrats are useless!


73 posted on 12/26/2009 11:06:07 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Gritty

I think that might’ve been the case had the flight been from Amsterdam to San Francisco


74 posted on 12/26/2009 11:07:22 AM PST by A_Former_Democrat
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To: Malacoda

There’s a photo that needs to leak, but nowhere any of us would ever see it. Have our hackers slip it into their networks. And privacy concerns shouldn’t apply. Obama is going to give him a public trial and this should be evidence, which the public has every bit as much a right to see as the Abu Graib photos.


75 posted on 12/26/2009 11:08:06 AM PST by JohnBovenmyer
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To: kristinn

Now that the package has been destroyed sic the seventy two virgins on him...oh cant do that it would be torture oh wait beter yet just turn him loose we dont want want the oath keepers on trial. s/


76 posted on 12/26/2009 11:08:28 AM PST by Tigen (I shall raise you one .)
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To: kcvl
recently retired Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Umaru Abdul Mutallab.

Hey. I think that's the guy that's been sending me emails and wants to give me an ATM card.

77 posted on 12/26/2009 11:08:34 AM PST by 386wt
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To: Berlin_Freeper

Heck he looks Amish...


78 posted on 12/26/2009 11:10:58 AM PST by Tigen (I shall raise you one .)
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To: grey_whiskers

and both for pleasure


79 posted on 12/26/2009 11:13:17 AM PST by al baby (Hi Mom sarc ;))
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To: GeronL

“...condoms...”

Stuck it up his butt to get past security? Require all Muslims to endura an enema before being allowed to fly. Maybe we just include an OB/GYN and a Proctologist to each airport security dedtail...for muslims only.


80 posted on 12/26/2009 11:13:36 AM PST by GGpaX4DumpedTea (I am a tea party descendant - steeped in the Constitutional legacy handed down by the Founders)
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